The start-up chaired by the boss of OpenAI (ChatGPT), which is working on the development of small nuclear fission reactors, will go public, with a valuation of 850 million dollars.
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Involved in several cutting-edge sectors, Sam Altman invested in Oklo, the name of this young company, in 2015, and also became its president.
The 30-year-old made a name for himself with the launch, in November, of ChatGPT, a so-called generative artificial intelligence interface, which offers detailed answers to questions formulated in everyday language.
Oklo plans to build small nuclear reactors, also called SMRs (small modular reactors), whose construction times are theoretically shorter than those of traditional power plants and which can be installed more easily in remote areas.
Oklo also wants to offer a nuclear fuel recycling service.
The young company does not yet have any site of its own and was refused, in January 2022, a permit to build an SMR in Idaho by the Nuclear Regulatory Agency (NRC).
The NRC rejected this application in particular because of a lack of information on the risks of accidents and the responses provided in such cases.
Concretely, Oklo will merge with AltC Acquisition, an ad hoc acquisition entity already listed on the New York Stock Exchange and whose sole purpose is to allow a company to go public more easily (also called Spac in English), with reduced regulatory constraints.
The start-up plans to raise 500 million dollars during this operation, an amount which will be devoted to the construction of Oklo’s first fission reactor, called Aurora, according to a press release published on Tuesday.
The Santa Clara (California) group is aiming for commissioning in 2026 or 2027.
“The two most important ingredients for a promising future are the abundance of intelligence and energy,” commented Sam Altman, quoted in the press release.
“I have long been interested in the potential of nuclear to create clean, reliable and affordable energy on a large scale,” he added.