AI is the new trend for unpopular Prime Ministers who are in desperate need of a media distraction.

Keir Starmer started doing it a few months ago in the hopes those unflattering ‘two-tier Keir’ headlines would go away (they didn’t).

‘AI and tech makes us more human…’ said Starmer, laughably.

Today, it was Albanese’s turn with a tweet announcing the extension of Australia’s partnership with Amazon Web Services:

‘We’re taking advantage of the AI revolution – the Australian way. Amazon Web Services’ $20 billion investment in data centres in Australia will set us up for the future, boosting our economy and productivity.

This is a huge vote of confidence in the Australian economy. Australia is already a leader in technology, and we’re keeping our eyes on the future while putting Aussie jobs front and centre.’

Does anyone want to take a guess at how world leaders are powering the AI revolution?

What sort of power sits at the heart of a recent energy deal signed by the very same Amazon Web Services in America?

Wind? Solar? Batteries?

No.

Nuclear energy.

While Silicon Valley has created massive investment in renewable energy when it was ‘cool’, the reality of energy-hungry databases is starting to hit home (and no one wants to be anywhere near solar and wind as they reach their end of life).

Amazon Web Services has signed a deal with Talen Energy to use nuclear energy for its AI data centres, guaranteed through to 2042. This deal includes plans to look at small modular reactors.

Meta signed a nuclear deal in June and Microsoft signed a similar deal at the end of 2024 involving the re-opening of the Three-Mile Island nuclear site. They are expected to be online by 2028.

The story is the same in Europe, with nuclear being brought in as the preferred green solution.

One might say that the famed ‘greening’ of Silicon Valley has given way to a nuclear Renaissance.

Intermittent, unstable power is not suitable for AI and must be backed by something else. In Australia, that ‘something else’ is coal, oil, and gas. Keep in mind, AI is seeing energy demand triple. Add a few million electric cars to the grid and I’d like to see the government explain supply…

Albanese can crow about the AI tech revolution all he likes, but you rarely hear anyone address the logistical stress that accompanies the headline.

Amazon released this message:

Nuclear power is one part of that [Net Zero carbon] mix. It can be brought online at scale, and has a decades-long record of providing a reliable source of safe carbon-free energy for communities around the world.

Today, we’re announcing that we’ve signed three new agreements to support the development of nuclear energy projects including enabling the construction of several new Small Modular Reactors (SMRs).

SMRs are an advanced kind of nuclear reactor with a smaller physical footprint, allowing them to be built closer to the grid. They also have faster build times than traditional reactors allowing them to come online sooner.

And then the CEO of Amazon Web Servers added:

Nuclear is a safe source of carbon-free energy that can help power our operations and meet the growing demands of our customers, while helping us progress toward our Climate Pledge commitment to be Net Zero carbon across our operations by 2040.

One of the fastest ways to address climate change is by transitioning our society to carbon-free energy sources, and nuclear energy is both carbon-free and able to scale – which is why it’s an important area of investment for Amazon. Our agreements will encourage the construction of new nuclear technologies that will generate energy for decades to come.

How does Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen feel about this declaration from Amazon Web Services?

Does the Minister believe his hostile opinion toward nuclear energy is smarter and better informed than the company driving AI across the world?

Is Mr Bowen of the opinion that Amazon is foolish, deluded, and reckless in its pursuit of nuclear energy?

If Mr Bowen is not prepared to challenge the wisdom of Amazon, why is his ministry determined to demonise nuclear energy as a fantasy and hold Australia back from not only its climate goals (which the government pretends to care about) but our energy demands to keep the lights on?

With the tech revolution chewing up our grid and renewable energy farms decommissioning in wave after wave of wasted tech, Australia faces a grim future.

And why did the MSM flock of click-bait brainless seagulls squawk fake news about nuclear during the election campaign? Did they butcher nuclear to kill off the Coalition … or are their editors actually stupid?

Someone is out of date and I doubt it’s the CEO of Amazon Web Services.

It’s rather pathetic that instead of Australia being able to leverage this $20 billion investment for a few nuclear reactors, Anthony Albanese has sold our country into a backwater with three new solar farms in Victoria and Queensland.

Thanks.

America is powering AI with nuclear and we’re hobbling along in the Stone Age with solar.

From AWS:

AWS’s commitment to Australia began in 2012 with the opening of the AWS Asia Pacific (Sydney) Region. In 2023, AWS launched the AWS Asia Pacific (Melbourne) Region and the country’s first AWS Local Zones in Perth. In April 2024, AWS launched Amazon Bedrock, AWS’s fully managed generative AI service, in the AWS Asia Pacific (Sydney) Region, and in 2024, the Australian government announced a partnership with AWS to provide “Top Secret” AWS Cloud to deliver cloud innovation in national security and defence, and enhance the nation’s defence and intelligence capabilities.

It is disturbing to discover how many solar farms, which are still a matter of great civil upset and questionable environmental merit, are influenced by Silicon Valley money.

The press release from AWS says that in addition to three new solar farms, it is already involved in eight solar and wind projects in New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria.

How are Australian citizens supposed to amend government policy, or use their democratic power to oppose solar and wind farms, if the government is doing deals with a foreign tech giant like Amazon? What chance does a small farming community have against that sort of clout?

From 2020 to 2022, Amazon invested an estimated $467 million in renewable energy projects in Australia.

That was during the Morrison era. Would someone from the Liberal Party like to explain the relationship between Net Zero and Silicon Valley?

It feels as though Australia’s farmlands, beaches, waters, and rainforests are at the mercy of government ministers doing deals with foreign companies. They may believe they are doing the right thing, or chasing some sort of environmental goal, but in no way does this represent a proper energy market.

When it comes to the AI revolution, we should be allowed to choose our energy future.

As a final thought, AWS obviously has no objection to nuclear, which makes me wonder, why didn’t the Coalition pitch some sort of deal to offset the cost of a reactor during the election?