Meta’s nuclear-powered AI data center plans thwarted by bees, FT reports

Meta’s (META) plans to build a U.S. nuclear-powered AI data center were thwarted in part after a rare bee species was found on land earmarked for the project, The Financial Times’ Hannah Murphy and Cristina Criddle report. According to people familiar with the matter, CEO Mark Zuckerberg planned to strike a deal with an existing nuclear power plant operator to provide emissions-free electricity for a new data center, but the potential deal faced multiple complications including environmental and regulatory challenges. Rivals Amazon (AMZN), Google (GOOGL), and Microsoft (MSFT), have all struck deals recently with nuclear power plant operators to fulfill rising energy demands from data centers, the report notes. Meta continues to explore various deals for carbon-free energy, including nuclear, one of the people says.