Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, has stated that the artificial intelligence industry is facing a significant energy shortage, affecting the operation of graphic processors. He discussed this issue during a joint interview with OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, as reported by Tom's Hardware.

“The biggest challenge we currently face is not a lack of computing power but rather a shortage of electricity – the ability to rapidly build data centers near energy sources. If this isn't addressed, we could find ourselves in a situation where a ton of chips are just sitting in warehouses because I can't connect them. This is my main issue today,” Nadella said.

A similar predicament is observed at NVIDIA. After overcoming the shortage of AI accelerators, the focus has shifted to ensuring adequate power supply. Many tech giants are investing in various power sources, including nuclear reactors, to supply electricity to their data centers. These changes have already reflected in increased electricity bills for consumers in the U.S.

Microsoft, in particular, has signed a $1.6 billion deal to revive a closed nuclear power plant. Other companies are taking similar steps. For instance, Meta has signed an agreement with XGS Energy to supply 150 MW of power from geothermal sources and purchases from nuclear power plants. AWS announced a $500 million investment in nuclear energy. Google has entered into a clean energy supply agreement, under which the tech giant will receive up to 3 gigawatts of electricity in the U.S. and announced the location of its first nuclear reactor.