Latest / Elon Musk Podcast / Sam Altman's Nuclear Power Company, Oklo, Set to Go Public

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Sam Altman's Nuclear Power Company, Oklo, Set to Go Public · Elon Musk Podcast

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  Hi everybody and welcome back to the Elon Musk podcast, where we
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  delve into the world of technology and innovation.
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  Today we're spotlighting Sam Altman, founder of Open AI
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  Visionary, with an ambitious plan to reshape the future of
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  clean energy now. And his focus Oclo, A
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  groundbreaking nuclear technology startup which has
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  recently revealed its plans to go public next year.
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  Altman, alongside former Global Banking CEO of Citigroup Michael
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  Klein, have cofounded a special purpose acquisition company on S
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  Pack known as Alt C Acquisition Corp, to facilitate the process.
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  Now OCLO, under Altman stewardship aims to
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  revolutionize power generation by miniaturization of nuclear
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  reactors, providing accessible clean energy to communities
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  around the globe. Now, Oclo's nuclear fission
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  technology involves creating micro reactors housed in smaller
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  power plants. To generate nuclear power
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  without creating nuclear waste at all, and if successful, this
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  could allow remote locations to access power autonomously, a
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  critical game changer in today's energy landscape.
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  And with the upcoming public offering expected to inject $500
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  million in Oclo's operations, the company plans to expedite
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  the construction of its first microreactor.
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  Meanwhile, Altman, a known proponent of both a I and clean
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  energy innovations, is invested significantly in Helion.
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  Another nuclear energy company broadening his approach to
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  advancing nuclear energy research.
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  Now stay tuned as we delve deeper into the nuclear energy
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  topic and Sam Altman will be taking a quick break, but don't
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  go anywhere. We'll be back shortly.
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  More on Oclo's exciting journey and Sam Altman's vision for a
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  clean energy future. Oclo's pursuit of clean energy
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  begins with its attempt to miniaturize nuclear power
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  generation. The company is currently working
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  on perfecting the science behind nuclear fission.
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  The process that is typically associated with huge traditional
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  nuclear power plants. By reducing the scale of the
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  reactor, AKLO seeks to create a more manageable and arguably a
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  more safe version of the energy sources that we're used to.
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  Established in 2013 by Carolyn Cochran and Jacob DeWitt, who
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  currently serve as the Chief Operating Officer and CEO,
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  respectively, AKLO had a serendipitous encounter with
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  Altman in its founding year. It was through a meeting with
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  DeWitt and Cochran that Altman discovered Oclo's potential,
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  eventually inviting this startup to join Y Combinator, the
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  renowned startup accelerator group.
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  Now this encounter, as reported by CNBC, marked the beginning of
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  Altman's involvement in Oclo's vision for the future of nuclear
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  power. And since its founding, OCLO is
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  raised approximately $50 million, with DeWitt disclosing
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  this figure in a recent interview with Fortune.
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  Data from the deal tracking website Pitch Book further
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  indicates that Oclo received an additional grant of around
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  $420,000 from the US Department of Energy.
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  The upcoming public offering is expected to inject an additional
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  $500 million into Oclo's coffers, earmarked for the
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  construction of its first microreactor.
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  Into its words, going public has anticipated to attract the right
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  kind of financing and at a larger scale given the
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  similarities of what's been done.
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  And other power generation technologies with similar power
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  sales models. Oclo's business model is
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  inspired by those of burgeoning renewable energy firms, which
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  leverage their public status to attract financing.
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  Oclo's unique approach to nuclear energy involves creating
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  smaller power plants that house their micro reactor technology.
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  Based on the designs available on Oclo's website, these power
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  plants will resemble Nordic mountain lodges and beyond their
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  aesthetically pleasing designs. These power plants have a
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  transformative goal to generate nuclear power without creating
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  any nuclear waste and if successful, Oclo's micro
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  reactors could potentially operate autonomously.
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  Critical feature considering their design for deployment in
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  very remote locations. And according to the Witt,
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  Oclo's micro reactors could serve 2 distinct markets in the
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  future. The first comprises of
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  facilities such as data centers and military bases that seek to
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  boost their power capacity. Will lack access to an existing
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  power grid. The 2nd includes companies they
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  make to meet their decarbonization goals through
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  innovative means. A promotional video featuring
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  the Wits highlights Oclo's ambitious goals.
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  They say building 1 plant is relatively easy.
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  The fun part is thinking about how you build hundreds or even
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  thousands. This underscores the company's
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  large scale aspirations for the future.
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  Now OCLO has already secured a permit from the Department of
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  Energy. To construct its first micro
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  reactor at the Idaho National Laboratory, a premier US Center
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  for nuclear research, and the company expects this plan to be
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  operational by about 2026 or 2027 and will receive used
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  nuclear fuel from the laboratory to power its micro reactor.
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  For Altman, though, Oclo is only a part of his broader vision for
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  the future, this vision hinged on advancements in a I and
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  energy has spurred him to invest $375 million, his highest.
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  Personal investment to date at Helion, another nuclear energy
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  company, and then return Microsoft, which has reportedly
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  invested 13 billion in open AI. That's also Altman's recently
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  agreed to purchase energy from Helion, started in 2028.
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  And in the grand scheme of things, Altman's simultaneous
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  investments in Oclo and Helion represent a broader approach to
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  advancing nuclear energy research while Helion delves
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  into nuclear fusion. Which combines unstable atoms to
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  create energy. OCLO works on nuclear fission, a
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  process that releases energy by splitting atoms.
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  And despite the infancy of nuclear fusion technology, a
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  significant milestone was achieved in December of 2022
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  when scientists from the Department of Energy reported a
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  net energy gained from a nuclear fusion reactor.
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  In an interview with CNBC, Outman cited the lowering of
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  energy costs as a key enabler of a better future for humanity.
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  This perspective aligns with Altman's larger narrative, which
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  has garnered attention following the release of the revolutionary
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  A I Language Model ChatGPT in November, he said.
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  I think we can have a much, much better world, and that's from
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  Insider in April. Altman's future focus thinking
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  resonates with DeWitt nocla. Altman's future focus thinking
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  resonates with DeWitt and Oclo, with a CEO noting that such a
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  perspective is what's really important to provide clarity on
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  what problems to focus on. While running the daytoday
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  operations of Oclo keeps the wit grounded in immediate concerns
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  like plant construction and public offerings.
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  The longterm vision of Altman inspires him to dream of a
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  future where Oclo provides energy at planetary scales for a
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  billion plus years Now. Thank you so much for listening
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  to the show today. I really do appreciate your time
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  and you spending it here with me.
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  So please, if you could take a second and hit the subscriber
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  follow button on whatever podcast platform that you're on
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  right now. Greatly appreciate it and also
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  as always, please take care of yourselves and each other and
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  I'll see you in the next one.