Sam Altman takes nuclear energy company Oklo public to help further his AI ambitions

Sam Altman is now chairman of a public company. But it's not OpenAI.

On Friday, advanced nuclear fission company Oklo started trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The company, which has yet to generate any revenue, went public through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) called AltC Acquisition Corp., founded and led by Altman.

Under the ticker symbol "OKLO," shares dropped 26% on Friday to $13.54, valuing the company at close to $600 million. Oklo was set to receive more than $306 million in gross proceeds upon closing the transaction, according to a release.

Oklo's business model is based on commercializing nuclear fission, the reaction that fuels all nuclear power plants. Instead of conventional reactors, the company aims to use mini nuclear reactors housed in A-frame structures. Its goal is to sell the energy to end users such as the U.S. Air Force and big tech companies.

Oklo is currently working to build its first small-scale reactor in Idaho, which could eventually power the types of data centers that OpenAI and other artificial intelligence companies need to run their AI models and services.

Altman is co-founder and CEO of OpenAI, which has been valued at over $80 billion by private investors. He's said that he sees nuclear energy as one of the best ways to solve the problem of growing demand for AI, and the energy that powers the technology, without relying on fossil fuels. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos have also invested in nuclear plants in recent years.

"I don't see a way for us to get there without nuclear," Altman told CNBC in 2023. "I mean, maybe we could get there just with solar and storage. But from my vantage point, I feel like this is the most likely and the best