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Meta has announced deals with two nuclear energy start-ups as it turns to developers of small reactors to power its push into AI.

The social media group announced on Friday that it would pre-pay for power from a 1.2 gigawatt development by Oklo and a 2.8 gigawatt project by TerraPower, which was founded by Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates.

It has struck a separate deal for 2.1 gigawatts from existing nuclear power plants owned by Vistra. The deals for a combined 6GW — enough to power about 5mn homes — follow an agreement last June for Meta to buy the output of a nuclear plant in Illinois owned by Constellation Energy.

Meta is turning to nascent nuclear technologies to power its expansion into energy-intensive AI technology, including by providing an anchor to cash-hungry, unlicensed start-ups developing small reactors.

The agreement with Oklo, which is backed by OpenAI’s Sam Altman, will help fund a 206-acre site in Pike County, Ohio, which the start-up expects to begin construction this year with the aim of coming online by 2030.

Meta’s funding will help Oklo purchase nuclear fuel and develop its reactor technology, which uses liquid sodium rather than water as a coolant. The companies did not disclose the cost at which Meta would buy power from Oklo and TerraPower.

Oklo, which has a $15bn market capitalisation and close ties to US President Donald Trump’s energy secretary, reported no revenues and increasing quarterly losses throughout 2025. Its share price has fallen more than 40 per cent since its October peak.

Shares in Oklo surged more than 17 per cent in pre -market trading following the announcement of the deal, while Vistra was up 14 per cent. TerraPower is privately held.

Meta said its agreement with TerraPower would support the development of 690 megawatts by 2032, and an additional 2.1GW targeted for 2035.

While 2025 featured an explosion of interest in small modular reactors to meet the needs of power-hungry AI data centres, companies in the sector are facing increasing scrutiny over their valuations and the feasibility of building and licensing their technologies.

Oklo hopes to deliver commercial power to its first customers by 2027 but it has yet to secure a licence from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, having been rejected in 2022. It has not resubmitted its application despite pledging to do so by the end of 2025.

Short sellers are eyeing the company, with 16 per cent of its stock borrowed by investors betting its valuation will slip further.

The company said the deal with Meta was its first binding agreement for the sale of power, having previously announced looser collaborations with data centre developers Switch and Equinix.

However, industry experts say that until it has licensed and built its technology, any agreements are on uncertain ground.

“There are so many agreements, it’s like ‘snore’. What they’re buying is something on paper or a PowerPoint,” said Chris Gadomski, head of nuclear research at BloombergNEF.

“People don’t understand how slow and how challenging it is to commercialise nuclear technology.”

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According to Wood Mackenzie, a consultancy, the price small modular reactors would need to charge to break even will be about 44 per cent higher than natural gas by 2030.

The eventual costs of power from small nuclear reactors are unclear but large companies betting on growth from AI were keen to secure access to vast amounts of power and were probably willing to pay a premium, said Adam Stein, a nuclear specialist at the Breakthrough Institute, a research group.

“The designs are not finalised to the point where you would be able to do a final cost estimate,” he said. “But if you’re selling to a company with a larger risk appetite, they might be willing to take the other end of the bargain.”