Company:Oklo Inc.

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Short description: American advanced nuclear technology company developing compact fast nuclear reactors
Oklo Inc.
TypePublic
NYSE: OKLO
IndustrySmall Modular Reactor
Founded2013; 13 years ago (2013)
Founders
    • Jacob DeWitte
    • Caroline DeWitte
Headquarters
Santa Clara, California
,
U.S.
Area served
Worldwide
Products
  • Aurora Powerhouse Reactor
Number of employees
100 (2024)
Websiteoklo.com

Oklo Inc. is a designer of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) based in Santa Clara, California.[1][2] Founded in 2013 by Jacob and Caroline DeWitte, Oklo Inc. focuses on fast reactor, SMR plants. OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman served as an early CEO, but stepped down in April 2025[3] to "avoid a conflict of interest ahead of talks between his company and the nuclear start-up on an energy supply agreement."[4][5]

The company's name is derived from Oklo, a region in the country of Gabon, Africa where self-sustaining nuclear fission reactions occurred approximately 1.7 billion years ago.[6]

Oklo's business model is aimed at selling power to customers, and its main product line for producing power is the Aurora nuclear reactor powerhouse product line. The Aurora powerhouse is a design for a small power plant to generate 15-50 MWe of electrical power[7] using a third-party fast neutron reactor to produce heat. Around 20 fast reactors have been tested since the 1950s, all failing to be viable.[8] Oklo Inc's Aurora SMR is intended for off-grid applications, including data centers, artificial intelligence, remote communities, industrial sites, and military bases. It is promoted as being able to operate for up to 10 years without refueling. Oklo also intends to produce radioisotopes through its nuclear fuel recycling process and fast reactor technology.[9] These radioisotopes have a wide range of applications, including medical diagnostic imaging and cancer treatment; industrial uses like non-destructive testing and process control; and energy applications including radioisotope thermoelectric generators, nuclear batteries and fusion research.[10][11][12]

As a liquid metal-cooled fast reactor, the Aurora powerhouse will offer several advantages regarding its operation and safety. The Aurora features strongly negative reactivity feedback coefficients that arise from the system's physics. These inherent feedback mechanisms will reduce reactor power in response to temperature excursions without requiring any operator intervention or active safety systems. This was demonstrated in the Shutdown Heat Removal Test series at the Experimental Breeder Reactor II,[13] a sodium fast reactor operated between 1964 and 1994 that inspired much of the design of the Aurora powerhouse.

Oklo's application for a combined construction and operating license for the Aurora powerhouse was initially denied by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on January 6, 2022.[14] The NRC cited a lack of information provided by Oklo during the application process and that Oklo could re-submit in the future. Oklo plans to build its first Aurora powerhouse at Idaho National Laboratory in 2027.[15] Oklo has also signed letters of intent with Diamondback Energy and Wyoming Hyperscale to provide electricity for Diamondback's Permian Basin operations and Wyoming Hyperscale's data center campus over 20-year periods.[16][17]

The company has received venture capital from various investors, including Hydrazine Capital, founded by Sam Altman with Peter Thiel as its sole limited partner; Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz; Ron Conway of SV Angel; Kevin Efrusy of Accel Partners; and Tim Draper of Draper Associates.[18] In July 2023, it was announced that the company planned to go public via a special purpose acquisition company at a value of $850 million.[19] On May 10, 2024, Oklo merged with AltC Acquisition Corp, a SPAC founded and led by Sam Altman, receiving $306 millions in gross proceeds.[20]

Jacob DeWitte, JoeBen Bevirt, J.P. Nauseef at CES 2026

In May 2025, Reuters reported that Oklo was among several advanced nuclear developers aiming to fast-track deployment at U.S. Department of Energy sites, including Idaho National Laboratory, as part of a federal initiative to power AI data centers with nuclear energy.[21] However, the "fast track" program was unsuccessful in bringing the desired experimental reactors online by July, 2026. A number of SMR construction site projects have received NRC approval, including several for Oklo Inc.[22] However, the first approved SMR for US operation took over 10 years to receive NRC design approval. Oklo has yet to submit its own final design plan for their Aurora Module to the NRC as of 2025. Site approval or sites "under construction" should not be confused with NRC design approval.[23] In January 2022, NRC denied Oklo’s first COLA application due to insufficient information. Since 2023, "new" design documents, including the Principal Design Criteria for the Aurora Powerhouse (ML25220A124), have been accepted for review and remain under active evaluation.[24] However, a "final" design plan has yet to be submitted.

References

  1. ↑ Confino, Paolo (July 11, 2023). "Sam Altman just took a nuclear energy startup public for $500 million. Its CEO wants to provide 'energy at planetary scales for a billion-plus years'". Fortune. https://fortune.com/2023/07/11/sam-altman-oklo-ipo-spac-openai-nuclear-microreactors-green-energy/. 
  2. ↑ Patel, Sonal (May 18, 2023). "Oklo's Next Two Nuclear Power Plants Planned for Southern Ohio". Power. https://www.powermag.com/oklos-next-two-nuclear-power-plants-planned-for-southern-ohio/. 
  3. ↑ Hamilton, Katherine (22 April 2025). "OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to Resign as Oklo Chairman" (in en-US). https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/openai-ceo-sam-altman-to-resign-as-oklo-chairman-10a53edc. 
  4. ↑ Muir, Martha; Hammond, George (2025-04-22). "Sam Altman steps down as chair of nuclear power supplier Oklo to avoid conflict of interest". Financial Times. https://www.ft.com/content/a511bae0-d19f-4ebd-9520-69d3f89d8556. 
  5. ↑ Stevens, Pippa (2025-04-22). "Sam Altman steps down as Oklo board chair, freeing nuclear startup to work with more AI companies" (in en). https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/22/sam-altman-steps-down-as-oklo-chair-freeing-nuclear-company-up-to-work-with-more-ai-companies.html. 
  6. ↑ Judge, Peter (19 July 2023). "Sam Altman-backed nuclear reactor firm Oklo to go public via SPAC". https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/sam-altman-backed-nuclear-breeder-reactor-firm-oklo-to-go-public-via-spac/. 
  7. ↑ "Oklo - Introduction Video". https://oklo.com/files/doc_presentation/2024/FEB/Oklo-Investor-Day-Deck-2024-Final-Draft-Print-Version.pdf. 
  8. ↑ "Fast Neutron Reactors - World Nuclear Association". https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-future-generation/fast-neutron-reactors#:~:text=Over%20400%20reactor%2Dyears%20of%20operating%20experience%20has%20been%20accumulated,fast%20breeder%20reactors%20(FBRs). 
  9. ↑ "Oklo to collaborate with Atomic Alchemy on isotope production -- ANS / Nuclear Newswire". https://www.ans.org/news/article-6041/oklo-to-collaborate-with-atomic-alchemy-on-isotope-production/. 
  10. ↑ "How Radioactive Isotopes are Used in Medicine | Britannica". https://www.britannica.com/story/how-radioactive-isotopes-are-used-in-medicine. 
  11. ↑ "Nondestructive Evaluation Techniques : Radiography". https://www.nde-ed.org/NDETechniques/Radiography/radiationsources.xhtml. 
  12. ↑ "5 Radioactive Products We Use Every Day | Department of Energy". https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/5-radioactive-products-we-use-every-day. 
  13. ↑ Planchon, H. P.; Singer, R. M.; Mohr, D.; Feldman, E. E.; Chang, L. K.; Betten, P. R. (1985-01-01) (in English). EBR-II inherent shutdown and heat removal tests: a survey of test results (Report). Argonne National Lab., IL (USA). https://www.osti.gov/biblio/5913652. 
  14. ↑ "NRC Denies Oklo Combined License Application for Lack of Information; Company May Reapply in the Future". https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/news/2022/22-002.pdf. 
  15. ↑ "DOE signs off on Oklo fuel fabrication facility design" (in en). World Nuclear News. 16 October 2024. https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/doe-signs-off-on-oklo-fuel-fabrication-facility-design. 
  16. ↑ Wade, Will; Ferman, Mitchell (April 2024). "Shale Drillers Weigh Using Small Nuclear Reactors for Permian Oil Patch (FANG) - Bloomberg". Bloomberg. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-01/us-shale-drillers-seek-to-power-oil-patch-with-small-nukes. 
  17. ↑ "Altman-Backed Oklo Sees Rising Nuke Demand From Data Centers" (in en). Bloomberg.com. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-05-24/altman-backed-oklo-sees-rising-nuke-demand-from-data-centers. 
  18. ↑ LASSITER, JOSEPH B. (2017). "UPower Technologies Inc. Case # 9-816-054". Harvard Business School. 
  19. ↑ "Nuclear power Spac: Sam Altman, AI king, seeks to split atoms". https://www.ft.com/content/dfa90dec-3c94-49fd-abf4-539e8e21e2d7. 
  20. ↑ Sigalos, Hayden; Field, MacKenzie (2024-05-10). "Sam Altman's nuclear energy company Oklo plunges 54% in NYSE debut" (in en). https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/10/sam-altman-takes-nuclear-startup-oklo-public-to-power-ai-ambitions.html. 
  21. ↑ "US nuclear builders tight for time in race to power AI". Reuters. 2025-05-13. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-nuclear-builders-tight-time-race-power-ai-2025-05-13/. 
  22. ↑ Davis, Anthony. "Oklo Breaks Ground on Aurora-INL Advanced Nuclear Powerhouse". Highways Today. https://highways.today/2025/11/12/oklo-nuclear-powerhouse/. 
  23. ↑ "Trump Signs Executive Orders on Nuclear Energy to Speed Up Deployment of Nuclear Power Plants". IER. https://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/nuclear/trump-signs-executive-orders-on-nuclear-energy-to-speed-up-deployment-of-nuclear-power-plants/. 
  24. ↑ "Principal Design Criteria for the Aurora Powerhouse". NRC. https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML2522/ML25220A128.pdf. 



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