Samsung's construction arm is putting up to $100 million into Kairos Power's first nuclear reactor.
Samsung C&T, the construction and trading arm of the Samsung conglomerate, signed on to help build Kairos Power's first commercial nuclear reactor. The plant will generate 50 megawatts, and Samsung's contribution is worth up to $100 million. Kairos Power is already lined up as a future electricity supplier for Google, though the deal itself doesn't specify that this particular reactor is earmarked for Google's data centers.
Data centers, especially ones built for AI, are power-hungry enough that tech companies are now bankrolling nuclear projects directly instead of just buying electricity off the grid. A Samsung construction giant funding a nuclear startup's first reactor shows how much industrial capital is chasing this bet before the plant is even built. It's also a preview of how these deals could work going forward: hyperscaler electricity demand pulling in big industrial partners to actually build the plants.
Whether Kairos can actually deliver a working 50-megawatt reactor on schedule remains the real question. Small nuclear developers have a well-earned reputation for slipping their own timelines.