Talen Energy and Amazon Partner on Nuclear Power Deal to Fuel AWS Data Centers

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U.S. utility Talen Energy announced an expanded partnership with Amazon to supply up to 1,920 megawatts of carbon-free electricity from its Susquehanna nuclear plant in Pennsylvania to Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centers. The long-term agreement, lasting until 2042, provides Talen with a stable revenue stream while supporting Amazon’s growing energy needs for AI and cloud operations.

Both companies are also exploring the construction of new Small Modular Reactors within Talen’s Pennsylvania footprint and considering expanding the existing nuclear plant’s capacity. This deal comes amid rising U.S. electricity demand for data centers and AI workloads—the first increase in two decades—pushing Big Tech firms to secure reliable and sustainable power sources.

Earlier this month, Constellation Energy reached a similar deal with Meta Platforms to keep an Illinois nuclear reactor operational for 20 more years.

Following the announcement, Talen Energy shares rose nearly 8% in premarket trading.

Kevin Miller, AWS vice president of global data centers, highlighted the investment’s local economic impact, calling it the largest private sector investment in Pennsylvania’s history with $20 billion committed and 1,250 high-skilled jobs created. Miller also emphasized AWS’s commitment to powering its infrastructure with carbon-free energy through this collaboration.

Macron Pushes EU Ban on Social Media for Under-15s Following School Stabbing

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French President Emmanuel Macron announced plans to advocate for an EU-wide ban on social media use for children under 15 years old, following a fatal stabbing at a middle school in eastern France. The attack, which involved a 14-year-old student stabbing a 31-year-old school aide during a bag search for weapons, has heightened concerns about youth violence.

Macron said in a Tuesday interview that he hopes to see results from European regulation efforts within months but emphasized France would act independently if progress stalls. “We cannot wait,” he told France 2 public broadcaster.

Prime Minister Francois Bayrou described the incident as part of a broader pattern of violence among young people, with Macron pointing to social media as a contributing factor. Macron reinforced his stance on social media platform X, urging companies to implement age verification systems, noting that experts support such measures.

The push aligns with a global trend toward stricter regulation of children’s social media access. Australia, for example, introduced a ban last year prohibiting under-16s from using social media, one of the toughest moves worldwide amid ongoing debates over Big Tech’s role in youth safety.

Despite most platforms officially restricting users under 13, reports such as one from Australia’s online safety regulator highlight how easily children circumvent these rules.

Nvidia and Perplexity Collaborate with European AI Firms to Enhance Local Language Models

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Nvidia and AI search company Perplexity announced a partnership on Wednesday with over a dozen AI firms across Europe and the Middle East to advance AI technologies tailored to local languages and distribute them to regional businesses.

The collaboration targets countries including France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and Sweden, aiming to develop reasoning AI models capable of handling complex tasks in languages that traditionally have less training data available. Nvidia plans to assist by generating synthetic data in these languages to improve model performance.

Kari Briski, Nvidia’s Vice President of Generative AI Software for Enterprise, emphasized the importance of strong AI models that capture the unique languages and cultures of each nation. Once refined, Perplexity will facilitate deployment of these models through local data centers, enabling businesses to leverage AI for tasks like research and data analysis.

Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas highlighted Germany as one of the company’s largest markets, underscoring the regional demand for localized AI solutions. The partnership announcement was part of a series of updates from Nvidia at an AI conference in Paris, though financial details were not disclosed.

This initiative reflects a growing focus on decentralizing AI development, shifting from dominant English and Chinese models to diverse, localized systems that better serve different linguistic communities.