Google has signed a deal to use small nuclear reactors to generate the vast amounts of energy needed to power its artificial intelligence (AI) data centers.

The company said the deal with Kairos Power will see it start using the first reactor this decade and bring more online by 2035.

The companies did not provide details on how much the deal is worth or where the plant will be built.

Technology companies are increasingly turning to nuclear sources of energy to provide electricity used by AI-powered massive data centers.

"The grid needs new power sources to support AI technologies," said Michael Terrell, Google's senior director of energy and climate.

"This agreement helps accelerate a new technology to meet energy needs cleanly and reliably and unlocks the full potential of AI for everyone."

"The agreement with Google is critical to accelerating the commercialization of advanced nuclear power by demonstrating the technical and market viability of a solution critical to decarbonizing power grids," said Kairos executive Jeff Olson.

The plans must still be approved by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission as well as local agencies before they are allowed to move forward

Last year, US regulators gave California-based Kairos Power the first permit in 50 years to build a new type of nuclear reactor.

In July, the company began construction of a demonstration reactor in Tennessee.

The startup specializes in developing small reactors that use molten fluoride salts as a coolant instead of water, which is used by traditional nuclear plants.

Nuclear power, which is virtually carbon-free and provides electricity 24 hours a day, has become increasingly attractive to the technology industry as it tries to cut emissions even as it uses more energy.

According to Wall Street banking giant Goldman Sachs, global energy consumption by data centers is expected to more than double by the end of the decade.

John Moore, industry editor at TechTarget website, told the BBC that AI data centers require large amounts of electricity to power and keep equipment cool.

"These data centers are equipped with specialized hardware... which requires a lot of power, which generates a lot of heat".

At a UN climate change conference last year, the United States joined a group that wants to triple its nuclear power capacity by 2050 as part of an effort to transition away from fossil fuels.

However, critics say nuclear power is not risk-free and produces long-lasting radioactive waste.

Last month, Microsoft reached an agreement to resume operations at the Three Mile Island Energy Plant, the site of America's worst nuclear accident in 1979.

In March, Amazon said it would buy a nuclear-powered data center in the state of Pennsylvania.

"Google's partnership with Kairos Power signals another big step in the technology's embrace of nuclear power," said Somnath Kangsabnik from research firm Rystad Energy.