Sam Altmann is considered one of the leading figures in the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution after OpenAI’s ChatGPT became the first major language model to demonstrate to the world the seemingly limitless opportunities that artificial intelligence can unlock.
As more and more companies look to develop artificial intelligence, people are starting to wonder about the future power requirements of accelerated computing. Altman could be ahead once again.
What to know: Altman has an undisclosed special purpose acquisition company (SPAC): AltC Acquisition Corp ALCC.
The SPAC has already identified advanced nuclear fission startup Oklo as a merger partner. Altman is also the chairman of Oklo’s board of directors.
Oklo is working to develop next-generation fission reactors to produce abundant amounts of clean, affordable energy on a global scale.
Altman previously said he believes nuclear energy is necessary to meet growing global energy demand, especially as artificial intelligence continues to advance rapidly. His vision for a better future involves the parallel development of artificial intelligence and energy.
“I’m all in on energy. I think there’s an urgent demand for tons and tons of cheap, safe, clean energy at scale,” Altman told CNBC last year when Oklo announced the deal with AltC. “I don’t see a way to get there without nuclear… I feel like this is the most likely and best way to get there.”
Altman has put his money where his mouth is. He invested helium, an energy startup focused on nuclear fusion, which aims to replicate the way the sun generates energy on earth. He has also been involved since its inception with Oklo, which focuses on commercializing nuclear fission using smaller reactors.
Altman met Oklo’s co-founders in 2013 and recruited them to join tech startup accelerator firm Y Combinator, where he served as president from 2014 to 2019. Altman ended up leading Oklo’s seed round in 2015 before to join the company’s board of directors.
Check this out: 5 Things You May Not Know About OpenAI Founder Sam Altman: Doomsday Prepper, Donald Trump Critic, and More
Oklo hosted its first Investor Day in New York City on February 2. Altman spoke at the end of the presentation.
“In the time that I have been working with the company, for quite some time now, the continued progress, the thoughtful decision making, the path to a solution that works safely, economically, at scale, is something that I feel I’m privileged to be a part of it,” Altman said.
The other co-founder of AltC
Altman co-founded AltC Acquisition Corp with Michael Kleinfounder of Churchill Capital Corpthe SPAC best known for pioneering electric vehicle startups Lucid Group Inc LCID public in 2021.
AltC’s stock symbol appears to incorporate “AL” for Altman and “CC” for Churchill Capital.
In September, AltC filed a definitive proxy statement with the SEC to extend the date by which the company must consummate a merger from October 12, 2023 to July 12, 2024.
Co-founder and CEO of Oklo Jacob DeWitte spoke to the UBS research analyst Jon Windham last week. He noted that the company is currently targeting a merger in the first half of the second quarter, meaning an official announcement could come as early as next month.
Benzinga’s take: If you think the rapid development of artificial intelligence will impose constraints on the power grid that could potentially be alleviated by splitting atoms and harnessing nuclear energy, then Oklo might be worth a look. If the long-term prospects aren’t compelling enough, you might want to take a look at the near-term potential of the SPAC merger.
SPACs surged in popularity in 2020 as retail investors began tracking merger targets and adding to shares before deals were announced. However, they quickly fell out of favor after most companies going public via SPACs failed to perform well in the public markets.
AltC is likely to generate significant interest from retail traders due to its founders. Altman is one of the most recognizable faces of the AI revolution, and Klein executed one of the most anticipated SPAC mergers in 2021 when Churchill Capital IV (CCIV) merged with Lucid.
Read next: Computing, not Fiat or Bitcoin, will be the ‘currency of the future,’ says Sam Altman as Nvidia’s Jensen Huang highlights $100 trillion AI opportunity
Photo: Shutterstock.
Disclosure: The author of this report owns shares of AltC Acquisition Corp. shares