Alphabet aims to slash cost of new nuclear with small reactor deployments, CIO says

Published

4 months ago

March 10, 2025

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Ruth Porat, President & Chief Investment Officer of Alphabet & Google, speaks during the Reuters NEXT conference, in New York City, U.S., December 10, 2024.

Mike Segar | Reuters

HOUSTON — Alphabet is aiming to slash the cost of building new nuclear reactors by deploying a series of small reactors through its deal with developer Kairos Power, the tech company’s Chief Investment Officer Ruth Porat said on Monday.

“Nuclear has to be a part of the mix given the qualities of it,” Porat said at the CERAWeek by S&P Global energy conference. The tech sector has made major investments in nuclear projects over the past year to meet rising electricity demand from artificial intelligence with reliable, carbon-free energy.

But new nuclear projects in the U.S. have been plagued by cost overruns and long delays. It is imperative that the public and private sectors move “as soon as possible” to build a series of new plants that replicate the construction process to drive down the cost curve, Porat said.

Alphabet’s Google unit struck a deal last October to buy power from small modular reactors under development by Kairos Power. These smaller nuclear reactors are next-generation technology that the industry hopes will reduce costs and accelerate deployment timelines through manufacturing efficiencies. Google and Kairos aim to bring the first plant online by 2030 with more reactors starting up through 2035.

“If we don’t start now in a focused way and replicate a number of them, which is why the Kairos multi tranche is an important kind of proof point, we’re not going to be able to drive down the cost curve,” Porat said.

Nuclear, however, is unlikely to become a power solution until the 2035 or later, said NextEra CEO John Ketchum said. NextEra is the largest developer of renewables in the U.S., though the company also operates the largest gas-fired generation facility in the nation as well nuclear plants.

Ketchum said renewables are the quickest and cheapest solution available to meet rising energy demand, as the cost of new natural gas turbines has tripled and the queue to build them now stretches to 2030 or later.

“Renewables are ready to go right now because they’ve been up and running,” Ketchum said at the conference. “It’s cheaper and it’s available right now unless you already have a turbine on order or that’s already been permitted.”

Ketchum’s comments come after Energy Secretary Chris Wright said earlier Monday that renewables cannot replace the role of natural gas in producing electricity, vowing to end the Biden administration’s climate policies. The Trump administration is working to launch a new era of nuclear construction, Wright said.

NextEra is projecting a sixfold increase in power demand over the next 20 years compared with the previous 20 years, Ketchum said. About 17% of that growth will come from data centers, the CEO said. The U.S. has installed 175 gigawatts of renewables over the past five years, compared to 13 gigawatts of gas and about three gigawatts nuclear, Ketchum said.

NextEra is evaluating whether the company can bring the shuttered Duane Arnold nuclear plant in Iowa back online, Ketchum said. Duane Arnold is the third potential nuclear restart in the U.S., with the Palisades plant in Michigan aiming to return to power this year and Three Mile Island Unit 1 in 2028 subject to approval by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

In terms of small modular reactors, there is a “tremendous opportunity to co-locate” these reactors “at all of our existing sites,” Ketchum said. “But the industry needs to sort through which companies have the right technology,” he said.

There are around 95 companies involved in the small modular reactor space right now. “That’s really got to be scaled down to five or 10,” Ketchum said.

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Block leads rebound in fintech stocks as analysts downplay JPMorgan data fee risk

Published

6 hours ago

July 14, 2025

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Block leads rebound in fintech stocks as analysts downplay JPMorgan data fee risk

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey testifies during a remote video hearing held by subcommittees of the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee on “Social Media’s Role in Promoting Extremism and Misinformation” in Washington, U.S., March 25, 2021.

Handout | Via Reuters

Block jumped more than 5% on Monday, leading a rally in shares of fintech companies as analysts downplayed the threat of JPMorgan Chase’s reported plan to charge data aggregators for access to customer financial information.

The recovery followed steep declines on Friday, after Bloomberg reported that JPMorgan had circulated pricing sheets outlining potential fees for aggregators like Plaid and Yodlee, which connect fintech platforms to users’ bank data.

In a note to clients on Monday, Evercore ISI analysts said the potential new expenses were “far from a ‘business model-breaking’ cost increase.”

In addition to Block’s rise, PayPal climbed 3.5% on Monday after sliding Friday. Robinhood and Shift4 recorded modest gains.

Broader market momentum helped fuel some of the rebound. The Nasdaq closed at a record, and crypto rallied, with bitcoin climbing past $123,000. Ether, solana, and other altcoins also gained.

JPMorgan announces plans to charge for access to customer bank data

Evercore ISI’s analysts said that even if JPMorgan’s changes were implemented, the most immediate effect would be a slight bump in the cost of one-time account setups — perhaps 50 to 60 cents.

Morgan Stanley echoed that view, writing that any impact would be “negligible,” especially for large fintechs that rely more on debit, credit, or stored balances than bank account pulls for transactions.

PayPal doesn’t anticipate much short-term impact, according to a person with knowledge of the issue. The person, who asked not to be named in order to speak about private financial matters, noted that PayPal relies on aggregators primarily for account verification and already has long-term pricing contracts in place.

While smaller fintechs that depend heavily on automated clearing house (ACH) rails or Open Banking frameworks for onboarding and compliance may face real pressure if the fees take effect, analysts said the larger platforms are largely insulated.

WATCH: Congress moves to redraw $3.7 trillion crypto market rules, opening door to Wall Street

Environment

EV sales hit 9.1M globally in H1 2025, but the US just hit the brakes

Published

6 hours ago

July 14, 2025

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EV sales hit 9.1M globally in H1 2025, but the US just hit the brakes

The global EV market is still charging ahead. According to new numbers from global research firm Rho Motion, 9.1 million EVs were sold worldwide in the first half of 2025, up 28% compared to the same period last year. But not every region is accelerating at the same pace.

China and Europe are doing the heavy lifting

More than half of the world’s EVs this year have been bought in China. That market hit 5.5 million sales in the first six months of 2025 – a 32% jump year-over-year. Around half of new cars bought in China are now electric.

While some Chinese cities’ subsidies have dried up, Rho Motion expects momentum to pick back up later in the year as more funding is released.

In Europe, 2 million EVs were sold in the first half of the year, up 26%. Battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales also rose 26%, thanks in part to affordable models like the Renault 4 (pictured) and 5 entering the market. Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) weren’t far behind, growing 27% year-to-date. Chinese automakers are leaning into PHEVs as a way to work around the EU’s new tariffs on BEVs.

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Spain is leading the pack with EV sales soaring 85% so far this year. Its generous MOVES III incentive program was extended in April and has kept sales strong. The UK and Germany are also seeing solid growth – 32% and 40%, respectively. France, however, is slumping. With subsidies cut, EV sales there have dropped 13%.

North America is stuck in the slow lane

Things aren’t looking quite as bright in North America. EV sales in the US, Canada, and Mexico are up just 3% so far this year.

Mexico is the one bright spot, with a 20% boost. The US is up 6%. But Canada is down a whopping 23%.

And things could get bumpier. On July 4, Trump signed Congress’s big bill into law, which axes all the Inflation Reduction Act EV tax credits. Those consumer credits for EVs now officially end on September 30.

Just over half of the EVs sold in the US this year qualified for those credits. Rho Motion predicts a rush in Q3 before the subsidies disappear – and a decline in sales after that.

Rho Motion data manager Charles Lester said, “With Trump’s latest cuts in his ‘Big Beautiful Bill,’ the US could struggle to see any growth in the EV market overall in 2025.”

Global EV sales snapshot, H1 2025 vs H1 2024

Global: 9.1 million (+28%)
China: 5.5 million (+32%)
Europe: 2.0 million (+26%)
North America: 0.9 million (+3%)
Rest of world: 0.7 million (+40%)

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The Lucid Air is crushing the competition as the best-selling luxury EV sedan in the US

Published

8 hours ago

July 14, 2025

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The Lucid Air is crushing the competition as the best-selling luxury EV sedan in the US

Lucid’s electric sedan can drive further, charge faster, and packs more advanced tech than most of the competition. That might explain why it’s leading the segment. The Lucid Air remained the best-selling luxury EV sedan in the US after widening its lead in the Q2.

The Lucid Air is America’s best-selling luxury EV sedan

The 2025 Lucid Air Pure arrived as the “World’s most efficient car” with an EPA-estimated range of 420 miles and a record 146 MPGe.

It just set a new Guinness World Record last week for the longest journey by an electric car after travelling 749 miles (1,205 km) on a single charge.

That record was set in the range-topping Lucid Air Grand Touring model, which is rated for up to 512 miles of EPA-estimated range. On the WLTP scale, it’s rated at 597 miles (960 km). Either way, it still crushed the estimates.

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According to second-quarter sales data, released by Kelley Blue Book on Monday, the Lucid Air is still America’s best-selling luxury EV.

Lucid sold 2,630 Air models in Q2, up 10% from the previous year. Through the first half of 2025, Lucid Air sales are up 17% with 5,094 units sold.

Lucid-Air-best-selling-luxury-EV-sedan — Lucid Air (Source: Lucid)

Tesla, on the other hand, only sold 1,435 Model Ss during the quarter, 71% fewer than it did in Q2 2024. Tesla Model S sales in the US are down 70% through the first half of the year at 2,715.

Although Porsche Taycan sales were up 32% with 1,064 models sold, the significantly upgraded 2025 model year was expected to see even more demand. Porsche has 2,083 Taycans in the US this year, up just 1% from 2024.

Lucid-best-selling-luxury-EV-sedan — Lucid Air Pure interior (Source: Lucid)

Other luxury EV sedans, such as the BMW i5 (1,434), i7 (820), and the Mercedes EQS (498), experienced steep double-digit sales declines year-over-year.

And it’s not just electric luxury sedans. The Lucid Air is currently outselling many gas-powered vehicles in its segment.

Lucid’s first electric SUV, the Gravity, is also rolling out. Although only five were sold in the second quarter, Lucid is quickly scaling production. Lucid aims to produce 20,000 vehicles this year, more than double the roughly 9,000 it built in 2024.

Earlier today, Lucid’s interim CEO, Marc Winterhoff, confirmed during an interview with Bloomberg that the company expects higher Gravity output in the second half of the year.

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The interview was at the grand opening of Panasonic’s new battery cell plant in De Soto, Kansas. Winterhoff said Lucid will start using new cells from the facility, but not until next year.

Lucid’s CEO stressed the importance of establishing a local supply chain, as policy changes under the Trump Administration are taking effect. Lucid and Panasonic are collaborating to localize EV materials, such as graphite. Last month, Lucid secured a multi-year supply agreement with Graphite One for US-sourced Graphite.

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