Bees against Meta: the construction of a “nuclear” AI data center was prevented by rare insects

Meta✴’s plan to build a nuclear powered data center has hit an unexpected roadblock. According to The Register, its implementation was prevented by insects, or more precisely, by a rare species of bees that settled in the “disputed” territory.

According to the head of the company, Mark Zuckerberg, the discovery of a rare insect species at the future construction site influenced the decision of regulators, who ultimately rejected the data center project, reports the Financial Times. Meta✴ negotiated the energy supply for the new AI data center with the operator of the existing power plant, hoping to receive large volumes of carbon-free energy.

It is unknown where exactly the data center was to be built. In 2018, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), a clean energy research organization, launched the Power-In-Pollinators initiative, which encourages utilities to support pollinating insects like bees and butterflies. In particular, they talked about restoring their populations on the territory of former nuclear power plants. Today, the EPRI Pollinator Stewardship Dashboard includes 19 member companies.

Image source: Sandy Millar/unsplash.com

AI computing requires a lot of energy, so hyperscalers in the US are interested in nuclear projects to meet the demand for electricity without using fossil fuels. In September, Microsoft entered into a 20-year deal related to the resumption of operation of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant (Crane Clean Energy Center). Last month, Google announced a deal with Kairos Power to buy energy generated from small modular reactors (SMRs). Oracle said it has received permits to build three SMRs to power AI data centers with a capacity of more than 1 GW.

In a recent earnings report, Meta✴ raised its 2024 capex cap from $37 billion to $38 billion, with the cap remaining at $40 billion. A significant portion of this spending is earmarked for building and maintaining AI data centers. However, Amazon also encountered obstacles in its attempt to obtain nuclear energy for its data centers – the regulator refused to increase energy supplies to the AWS campus from the Susquehanna nuclear power plant.