Yahoo Finance OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to take nuclear energy startup Oklo public
The chief executive behind ChatGPT is taking a nuclear energy startup public via his special purpose acquisition company.
The startup, Oklo, will merge with AltC Acquisition Corp, co-founded by Sam Altman and Churchill Capital. Altman has long been a lead investor of Oklo, serving as chairman since 2015.
"Obviously AI requires lots of energy, but energy is needed for many other things that we do in this world of atoms,” said Altman during an investor conference call on Tuesday. "So I have been focused on ways to get energy, particularly nuclear, as a path for a very long time. And that is what led me originally to Oklo."
"If the availability of inexpensive accessible safe clean energy and inexpensive accessible powerful intelligence — if the structure of those change, the economy can really change too. And I think it can be a quite remarkable future for people," he added.
The advanced nuclear fission company will build plants and sell power under long-term contracts in order to create recurring revenue. Its customers can range from data centers to defense facilities, factories, and industrial sites.
The company says it has secured three sites, two in southeast Ohio and a commercial-scale advanced fission power plant in Idaho, slated to go online in 2026 or 2027.
Oklo says its technology requires significantly less land compared to traditional nuclear reactors and can run on recycled fuel. The company also plans to sell used nuclear fuel recycling services.
"We’ve been building Oklo for over a decade, and we have the right technology," co-founder Jake DeWitte said during the conference call.
Oklo is expected to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “OKLO” once the merger goes through in early 2024.
Ines is a senior business reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter at @ines_ferre
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