Electricity demand in the United States has been relatively flat for most of the last few decades, but Josh Parker says that era is ending. In a Fortune commentary, the NVIDIA Head of Sustainability says AI is only one driver of a broader surge that also includes electrification, returning manufacturing, robots, and physical AI.
Parker says the country 'is simply going to need far more electricity than we have today,' and that is why nuclear energy deserves a fresh look. He writes that the debate should move beyond whether to build and focus on how technology can help the industry build safely, faster, and at scale.
He says support for nuclear power is 'converging in Washington' in a way not seen in decades. In his view, nuclear is increasingly seen as a tool for mitigating climate change while also meeting demand for energy abundance and economic growth.
Parker argues that nuclear offers 'clean, firm, abundant energy' and says the nation that sets the standard for safe, affordable, modern nuclear power will gain strategic, security, and commercial advantages. He points to France as evidence that long-term commitment can provide reliable power at scale and sustain public support.
The commentary says the funding behind this new nuclear push is coming from federal agencies and national laboratories, venture-backed startups, and companies investing in the clean power they will need. Parker says the first megawatt of a new nuclear technology is 'extraordinarily expensive,' but costs can fall once a design is developed, tested, and proven viable.
He says companies are pursuing everything from microreactors and small modular reactors to fusion. NVIDIA, he says, sees far more demand for energy than available supply, along with construction and timing delays. The company also works on designing reactors, interpreting technical and regulatory information, simulating plant operations, and integrating new power sources.
Parker cites TerraPower, Atomic Canyon, and Commonwealth Fusion Systems as examples of firms using NVIDIA tools to speed siting, design, operator knowledge, and fusion experimentation. He says those approaches still have to compete and prove what works while rebuilding U.S. industrial capacity, skilled talent, and manufacturing supply chains.
Safety, he says, remains the central hurdle. But Parker argues that advanced reactor designs are being built with passive safety mechanisms, waste management improvements, and smaller modular facilities intended to reduce risk. He also says AI can help, though only within clear boundaries, and notes that Argonne National Laboratory is testing PRO-AID, a system that combines AI with physics-based models to identify and explain equipment problems in real time.
The market case is straightforward: power is becoming a constraint, and constraints are expensive. If Washington wants more manufacturing, more AI, and more industrial output, it will need more baseload electricity and fewer policy bottlenecks. Capital rewards clear rules, not slogans.
Nuclear is no longer being sold as a distant promise. It is being framed as infrastructure for a more energy-hungry economy. The question for policymakers is whether the administrative state can get out of the way long enough for free enterprise to build it.
