OpenAI’s Helion Talks Show Why Google Is Warning About AI Power

OpenAI is reportedly in talks to buy fusion power from Helion, while Google has warned that the US is not building energy fast enough for AI. Those developments landed within hours of each other this week. They may look like separate stories, but together they point in the same direction.

The AI boom is starting to run into more physical limits, with electricity joining chips and models as a core bottleneck.

Axios reported that OpenAI is in advanced discussions with Helion on a framework that could eventually give it access to 5 gigawatts of power by 2030 and 50 gigawatts by 2035, with an initial slice equal to 12.5% of Helion’s output. The deal is not done, and major questions still need to be settled, including where that power would actually be generated. Sam Altman has stepped away from Helion’s board and recused himself from the talks, showing how sensitive the arrangement already is.

Google’s message was less flashy, but it cut closer to the core issue. Speaking at CERAWeek, Ruth Porat said “We are concerned that we are not full throttle on energy,” even as AI data centers demand huge new amounts of power. That gets at the harder reality under the AI rush.

Data centers can be planned and announced quickly. Building generation, transmission and grid connections take much longer.

The scale is already getting harder to ignore. The International Energy Agency says data centers used about 415 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2024 and could reach roughly 945 terawatt-hours by 2030 in its base case. That helps explain why companies are no longer waiting for one ideal solution to arrive. In the meantime, the industry is looking at nuclear, gas, geothermal and any other source that can deliver steady power fast enough.

OpenAI’s Helion talks show how far AI companies are willing to go to secure future energy. Google’s warning shows the strain is already here. For years, AI was framed as a race over models and chips. It is starting to look just as much like a race over power, land and infrastructure.