Descriptions:
Bloomberg Technology interviews Isaiah Taylor, CEO of Vela Atomic, following what the company claims are two historic firsts: the first advanced nuclear reactor built on American soil outside the national laboratory system, and the first such reactor to power an Nvidia Blackwell AI chip — specifically the Nvidia Spark. The demonstration used Vela’s 1450 reactor, which produces 100 kilowatts, a deliberately small scale that reflects the company’s philosophy of moving quickly in incremental steps.
The interview digs into the technical rationale behind Vela’s high-temperature gas reactor design. Because the reactor operates at elevated temperatures, it can reject heat into the air rather than requiring water cooling — a significant advantage as AI data center operators face growing scrutiny over water consumption. Taylor explains that Nvidia is simultaneously working on data center architectures that eliminate water cooling on the compute side, making the two companies natural partners. Together, they are targeting a 30-megawatt waterless data center as the next milestone in their collaboration.
Taylor declines to confirm any equity investment from Nvidia but acknowledges that the partnership is focused on scaling both the energy supply and the compute architecture simultaneously. He frames nuclear power as a necessary long-term alternative to natural gas, which he describes as a useful bridge but insufficient for the scale of AI infrastructure the U.S. needs to remain competitive — particularly in regions without existing natural gas pipeline infrastructure.
📺 Source: Bloomberg Technology · Published July 02, 2026
🏷️ Format: Interview
