Inside the wild race to power AI with rat brains – Business News
The grid is hungry.
The technology growth has led to a large demand for power era throughout the US and startups, scientists and atomic entrepreneurs are stepping up with ingenious new techniques and options to increase manufacturing.
Billions of {dollars} in contracts from tech giants and the authorities are at stake, and ahead pondering firms are working a two-pronged strategy — some specializing in creating power, others making its use more environment friendly.
Silicon Valley is betting huge on the giant floating AI knowledge facilities, that are manufactured in a manufacturing unit in Oregon. Youtube/@panthalassa.vitality
San Francisco-based Biological Computing Company is in the second class, betting the best place to begin is with what’s, actually, high of thoughts.
The company, based in 2022, grows mind cells from rat brains or stem cells and stimulates them with electrical impulses to examine how they reply. The knowledge they gather is used to construct mathematical fashions, known as adapters, which sit on high of and improve current AI fashions.
“The brain is the best computer we’ve ever known,” Jonathan Pomeranic, the company’s co-founder and COO advised The Post. “What we’re doing is taking hundreds of millions of years of evolutionary advantages and applying them in the real world.”
Biological Computing Company claims its first adapter, constructed for a generative video model, demonstrated effectivity positive factors as high as 500% whereas additionally rising the high quality of video output.
Valar Atomics turned the first company to ever use a nuclear reactor to power an AI chip in July 2026. courtesy of Valar Atomics
On the heels of a $25 million fundraising spherical that closed earlier this 12 months, the company is now developing its first text-to-video adapter.
Some 600 miles north of Silicon Valley in Portland, Ore., Panthalassa has developed a new sort of knowledge middle powered by one of the earth’s strongest forces: our oceans.
The company, named after an historic superocean, makes spaceship-sized contraptions known as nodes, which float at sea degree and harness the power of waves.
Biological Computing Company was based on the concept that the mind is the strongest ‘computer’ humanity has ever recognized — and if we will higher perceive the secrets and techniques to its effectivity, we will construct smarter AI fashions. courtesy of Biological Computing Company
Often positioned many miles from shore, the place waves are largest, the undersea portion of the node rocks up and down with every wave, pushing water by way of a turbine to generated near-continuous power.
There are no wires or cables connecting the almost 300-foot tall nodes to land, however they’ve banks of built-in computer systems which may course of computing duties on the spot and ship solutions back by way of satellite tv for pc.
In essence, it’s a floating knowledge middle. And it runs totally on the clean and limitless vitality source of waves.
Panthalassa’s floating AI “node,” which consists of a giant white sphere atop a vertical construction extending down under the water’s floor. Panthalassa
Across the nation, the American nuclear industry is using a wave of its own — inspired by the Trump Administration.
Since taking workplace, the President has signed 4 government orders to cut purple tape and construct out America’s nuclear infrastructure. Private sector firms have responded with milestone after milestone — in file time.
Valar Atomics was based simply three years in the past and constructed their first reactor in a mere 9 months.
Valar Atomics is one of the new age nuclear vitality firms developing reactors with the capabilities to power artificial intelligence knowledge facilities. courtesy of Valar Atomics
“Our focus is on scaling nuclear as quickly and as safely as possible,” mentioned Isaiah Taylor, Valar’s founder. “We want to make as much power as we possibly can for the American people.”
Valar manufactures microreactors — primarily, shrunken-down nuclear power plants. The company’s plan is to construct their reactors then ship them throughout the nation, offering power to particular person knowledge facilities, factories and different energy-hungry amenities, quite than complete cities or areas.
Like conventional nuclear plants, microreactors generate electrical energy by way of fission, the splitting of atoms.
In June, Valar’s first reactor, Ward 250, efficiently accomplished a zero-power fueled criticality demonstration at Utah San Rafael Energy Lab in Utah.
Deployable Energy’s micro-nuclear reactor reached criticality — a state of self-sustaining stability — on July 1, 2026. Only three different nuclear startups have ever achieved the feat. courtesy of Deployable Energy
Reaching criticality means the Ward 250 demonstrated it could possibly maintain a managed nuclear chain response, needed to be confirmed earlier than the reactor can generate power.
The reactor — roughly the measurement of an RV — will likely be ready to generate 100 kilowatts of power when operational. The company says its items are designed to be meltdown-proof by advantage of their passive cooling systems.
The microreactor’s small measurement additionally opens the door to potential standardized mass-production in factories.
Valar Atomics and the U.S. navy labored collectively to airlift one of the company’s micro-nuclear reactors in February 2026. courtesy of Valar Atomics
“Traditional nuclear companies can’t build fast enough, or at the scale required, to actually fix [these energy demand] problems,” Taylor mentioned.
Venture capitalists are bullish on Valar’s answer. In August, the company closed a $1 billion Series B spherical led by Sequoia Capital.
Now valued at $6 billion, Valar is gearing up to assemble its first “Gigasite,” the place it is going to assemble a number of microreactors side-by-side to create a multi‑gigawatt output and power the large-scale knowledge facilities the AI industry wants.
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“It’s the American spirit that’s enabling these innovations,” mentioned Bobby Gallagher, CEO and co-founder of Deployable Energy. Another microreactor producer, Deployable turned the third of 5 startups in the US which have achieved criticality.
As of August, the different three firms are: Antares Nuclear, Oklo and Aalo Atomics.
“We’re finally treating nuclear power as a product, not a project,” Gallagher mentioned.
The Three Mile Island nuclear power plant is now beneath the possession of, Constellation Energy. The company is spending $1.6 billion to refurbish and restart the reactor after Microsoft agreed to buy its electrical energy to power knowledge facilities. Getty Images
And Big Tech is shopping for in.
Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Meta have all signed unbiased offers supporting vastly formidable initiatives that purpose to make nuclear power one of — if not the — primary source of power for his or her AI wants.
And but, the nuclear industry’s final prize lies in a totally different course of: fusion.
Micro-nuclear reactors like the ones manufactured by Deployable Energy could be inbuilt factories and transported to websites throughout the nation by way of car or aircraft.
Whereas fission splits atoms, fusion combines. Both are carbon-free, however the latter produces upwards of four-times more vitality per response.
Recreating and sustaining the excessive situations required for fusion reactions has remained stubbornly out of attain for over half a century regardless of scientists from round the world engaged on it, however latest developments point out there are causes for renewed hope.
In December 2025, nuclear power company TAE Technologies merged with Trump Media and unveiled plans to construct a fusion plant in the US. Once that website comes online, it may very well be the greatest power era website in the world. But the science has to be confirmed first.
“Nuclear fusion is a huge golden goose opportunity,” mentioned Dan Ives, tech analyst at Yorkville. “China is already ahead on this front, [so it’s] a big focus for [American] tech players.”
