Constellation Energy and Microsoft plan to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear plant, hoping they have scored a quick source of enough climate-friendly energy to power rapidly expanding data centers for artificial intelligence (AI).

Big Tech needs electricity to fuel its rapid, electricity-guzzling expansion of its AI capabilities, but a recent deal between Constellation Energy and Microsoft can't fill the gap immediately.

Microsoft has announced that it will purchase power from the reactor at a premium to fund its AI data centers as part of a goal of lowering its carbon footprint.

A plan by Microsoft to use the restart of a Three Mile Island nuclear reactor to help power its expanding data centers reflects the tech industry's hopes nuclear energy can be a quick and climate-friendly answer to its massive electricity needs.

With artificial intelligence putting a damper on its clean energy goals, Microsoft is turning to nuclear power in a first-of-its-kind exclusive deal with a nuclear plant. The massive amount of energy needed to power artificial intelligence has contributed to a resurgence of interest in nuclear power,