Rare bee species causes environmental and regulatory headache for tech boss

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies during a US Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, DC, on 31 January, 2024
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies during a US Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, DC, on 31 January, 2024 (Getty Images)

Mark Zuckerberg’s plan to build a nuclear-powered AI data centre have been scuppered by the discovery of a rare species of bee on the proposed site.

The chief executive of Meta – the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp – told staff last week that the land for the planned data centre was too ecologically important to build on, according to a report in the Financial Times.

The tech giant would have faced environmental and regulatory challenges had they chosen to pursue the construction, according to people speaking to the publication.

The Independent has reached out to Meta for comment.

Meta is one of several Big Tech firms currently pursuing nuclear power as an energy source for the growing needs of its artificial intelligence ambitions.

The vast energy consumption of AI has thrown into doubt many of the net-zero pledges made by the likes of Microsoft and Google. Nuclear energy offers a costly but clean way to meet the targets, with several of the major tech companies already securing contracts.

Last month, Google announced that it had signed “the world’s first corporate agreement” to purchase nuclear energy to power its AI data centres.

The company made the agreement with California-based startup Kairos Power to use a golf-ball-sized fuel pebble to generate power from a steam turbine, with each pebble capable of generating the same amount of energy as four tones of coal.

“This agreement is part of our efforts to develop and commercialise a broad portfolio of advanced clean electricity technologies to power our global data centres and offices,” Michael Terrell, Google’s senior director of energy and climate, said at the time.

“This approach will complement our use of variable renewables, like solar and wind, and help us reach our ambitious 24/7 carbon-free energy and net-zero goals.”

The same month, Amazon also signed agreements to “support the development of nuclear projects”, which includes the construction of several small modular reactors (SMRs).

Microsoft also has power purchase agreements in place, which include a deal for next-generation nuclear fusion energy. If successful, this “holy grail” of energy could provide near-limitless clean energy to power its AI and data centres.