(Bloomberg) — Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has set up an electricity generation venture with one of China’s leading nuclear conglomerates, a move that could help secure the immense power needed to run AI data centers.
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Alibaba this week established a 250 million yuan ($35.9 million) joint venture with China National Nuclear Power Co. and several other partners, according to data on corporate database Tianyancha. The registration documents outlined areas of cooperation including energy generation, but didn’t specify the exact scope of their partnership or operations. Alibaba representatives didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Global tech giants from Meta Platforms Inc. to Microsoft Corp. have inked deals with nuclear power firms to provide clean, around-the-clock electricity to run their energy-hungry data centers. In China, government policies have leaned more towards using the country’s world-leading solar and wind buildout to meet computing growth.
Leading tech players have grown increasingly concerned about the future availability of power, while governments worry about the subsequent effect on energy prices. The Trump administration is now pushing a sweeping plan to compel technology companies to effectively fund construction of new power plants in an ambitious bid to speed the country’s AI build-out and tame surging consumer utility bills.
Alibaba has earmarked more than $53 billion of spending on AI development and research over several years, and much of that is expected to go toward data center construction.
