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OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman is stepping down as chair of Oklo to avoid a conflict of interest ahead of talks between his company and the nuclear start-up on an energy supply agreement, as the race to power artificial intelligence intensifies.
Altman, who was an early-stage investor in Oklo, will step down immediately and be replaced by Jacob DeWitte, the group’s CEO and co-founder.
The move comes as the AI industry strives to procure high-wattage, low-carbon energy supplies. Although it may be years before tech companies can benefit from nuclear power, the launch of DeepSeek, the less energy-intensive Chinese large language model competitor, has underscored the urgency for western companies such as OpenAI to compete.
Oklo has yet to enter into any firm partnerships or receive approval for any of its designs from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the US.
While the size of any potential agreement between Oklo and OpenAI is not known, it would add to a growing trend of direct contracts between small modular reactor developers and the technology industry.
Altman has repeatedly emphasised the importance of new infrastructure in the race to develop new AI models, and OpenAI is set to massively increase its power demands over the next four years as it bids to dominate the nascent sector.
The company has launched Stargate, a $500bn project with SoftBank, to develop data centres to fuel its ambitions.
Small modular reactors are advanced nuclear plants with a capacity of 300 megawatts or less, about a third of standard facilities.
Small reactor developers including Oklo, X-energy and Newcleo have raised at least $1.5bn since early 2024, with companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, Rolls-Royce and Holtec International committing funds.
Altman became Oklo’s chair in 2015. The OpenAI co-founder has a series of other business interests, including an investment of hundreds of millions of dollars in Helion, a nuclear fusion company.
Altman’s web of financial interests and side projects had caused concern before OpenAI’s board ousted him in 2023 — and subsequently reinstated him a week later. Following a review into his sacking, OpenAI announced it would strengthen its policy on conflicts of interest.
“Fission is an essential solution for meeting the growing energy demands of artificial intelligence,” said Altman in a statement. “As Oklo explores strategic partnerships to deploy clean energy at scale, particularly to enable the deployment of AI, I believe now is the right time for me to step down.”
Oklo has signed a number of nonbinding agreements to supply power, such as a 12GW deal with Switch, a data centre operator.
A power purchase agreement was what Oklo “needs to move forward”, said Marc Bianchi, an energy analyst at investment bank TD Cowen. “They can put financing in place if they’ve got a PPA, which helps fund the investment.”
Oklo’s share price has lost 61 per cent of its value since investor enthusiasm drove it to a high of $55.49 in February 2025.
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