Google Is Helping Upgrade Southern’s Nuclear Plants. Can 96 MW Ease Its AI Power Bottleneck?

Google and Unity Software partnered to launch an AI-powered gaming platform, Playground, which allows users to create games without coding. Unity CEO Mathew Bromberg said the goal is to simplify game creation for millions. The platform will integrate with Unity's software later this year, starting with mobile gaming. Google DeepMind's expertise in AI and gaming is expected to drive the initiative.

Constellation Energy, Google, and the U.S. DOE announced a 20-year power purchase agreement for 890 MW of nuclear uprates at 11 reactors, with Constellation investing $4.3B. The DOE also committed up to $4.2B for Vistra's nuclear upgrades, adding 433 MW of capacity. Both deals aim to boost existing nuclear capacity to meet rising electricity demand, particularly in the PJM Interconnection.

Google is investing $2 billion to upgrade four nuclear plants in Illinois, adding 450 MW of capacity. Constellation Energy will manage the upgrades and supply 2,700 MW of power to Google over 15 years. The project is expected to create 4,200 jobs and sustain 3,600 existing ones, according to state Senator Sue Rezin.

Meta (META) and Alphabet (GOOGL) units are investing $300M in Biohub's $1.8B Virtual Biology Initiative, aiming to create AI models that predict cell behavior. The project, backed by Mark Zuckerberg, seeks to generate large datasets for biological research, with commercial partners gaining early access. Biohub expects its first dataset within a year and predictive models within five years, though the effectiveness of data scaling in biology remains uncertain.

Constellation Energy (CEG) signed a 20-year PPA with Google for 890 MW of new nuclear capacity, investing $4.3B in upgrades. CEG also has PPAs with Amazon and other customers, totaling $5.7B in 2026 capex. CEG's EPS estimates rose 29.82% for 2026 and 8.76% for 2027, with shares up 23.2% in 3 months.

Data centers are financing new power capacity in Finland, with Google's 507 MW nuclear PPA with Fortum being the largest. By 2035, Finland's data center capacity is expected to grow to 5 GW, accounting for 15% of national power consumption. Data centers have become the largest power buyers, surpassing manufacturing and industrial companies. Rystad Energy expects future contracts to pair renewables with battery storage for baseload supply.