Nuclear stocks are hot right now as electricity usage continues its artificial intelligence (AI)-fueled rise. Nuclear start-up Oklo (OKLO -0.04%) has been one of the hottest, with shares trading up more than 225% already this year.
Even though Oklo hasn't built a single small modular reactor (SMR), and even though it's up against some fierce competition, and even though it's a risky bet, I'm predicting that Oklo will be a millionaire-maker stock.
Here's why I'm so confident.
Oklo is all in on AI
Most nuclear companies don't particularly care who their customers are: Their reactors generate electricity, and they'll sell it to whoever's willing to pay for it. Oklo has taken a different approach, specifically tailoring parts of its investment pitch to AI providers.
Image source: Getty Images.
In July, Oklo announced a collaboration agreement with digital infrastructure company Vertiv (VRT -1.35%) to co-develop thermal management solutions for hyperscale data centers co-located with and powered by Oklo's nuclear power plants. The collaboration makes sense because both data centers and nuclear reactors generate lots of heat and require heavy-duty industrial cooling systems.
This AI focus isn't particularly surprising given Oklo's history. It went public in 2024 through a merger with AltC Acquisition, a SPAC helmed by OpenAI founder Sam Altman. Altman himself served as Oklo's board chair until April, when he stepped down to allow the company to pursue deals with AI companies other than OpenAI.
Oklo apparently has friends in high places
Besides Altman, Oklo has its fair share of big investors. Cathie Wood's Ark Invest owns a stake, for example. But the company has some even more powerful players in its corner.
Oklo seems to have found a friend in the Trump administration, which has promoted nuclear power even as it has canceled funding for solar and wind projects. But even beyond its general support for nuclear energy, the Trump administration seems to hold Oklo in particularly high regard.
The U.S. Department of Energy recently selected 11 projects for its Nuclear Reactor Pilot Program. Two of these are Oklo projects, and a third is a project of Oklo's subsidiary Atomic Alchemy. No other company had more than one of its projects selected. The program's stated goal is to have three reactors operational by July 4, 2026, and it seems ready to provide extra help to make that happen.
A little success
In spite of all these elements -- powerful backers, government support, AI buzz -- there's still the very real possibility that Oklo might never get off the ground. SMRs are still a relatively unproven technology, with only a handful operational anywhere in the world (and none in the U.S.). Unforeseen technical issues or design flaws could delay Oklo's projects enough that competitors bring viable products to market first, shutting Oklo out. Oklo's design might fail to deliver the promised output or end up costing too much to be viable. In short, a lot could go wrong here for investors.
That said, Oklo could become a millionaire-maker stock well before it ever fully deploys its technology at scale. If Oklo can bring one of its SMR prototypes online by 2027 as planned, and that prototype performs well enough to convince some big AI companies to place orders for Oklo-powered data centers, the company's share price is likely to skyrocket in anticipation of future business, rewarding investors who buy in now.
Even though it's a speculative investment that might not pan out, I think Oklo's potential makes it worth a look for risk-tolerant investors.
