HD Hyundai, Nvidia join Bill Gates’ TerraPower in $650 million funding round

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HD Hyundai, Nvidia join Bill Gates’ TerraPower in $650 million funding round

Published: 19 Jun. 2025, 14:30 Updated: 19 Jun. 2025, 20:45

SARAH CHEA
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Bill Gates, left in the second row, founder and chairman of TerraPower and Chung Ki-sun, right in the second row, executive vice chairman of HD Hyundai take a commemorative photo after a signing ceremony marking the two companies' partnership to commercialize Natrium reactors in March. [HD HYUNDAI]

A group of companies, including HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Nvidia, invested $650 million in TerraPower, a Washington-based small modular reactor (SMR) developer founded by Bill Gates.

TerraPower announced the fundraising on Wednesday, though specific details on HD Hyundai’s share have not been disclosed. The engaging investors include NVentures, the venture capital arm of Nvidia, Bill Gates and HD Hyundai.

With small size and zero carbon emissions, SMR is being touted as a next-generation green energy source, particularly with the rise in power consumption from the burgeoning AI industry.

The raised funds will be used in its under-construction Natrium plant in Wyoming, which is set to be completed by 2030 with a 345 megawatt capacity. The Natrium is TerraPower's fourth-generation sodium-cooled fast reactor that generates 40 percent less nuclear waste than conventional reactors, which instead use water to slow down neutrons produced in fission.

It's HD Hyundai's second direct investment into TerraPower after it poured $30 million in the SMR developer in 2022. In December, the two also inked a supply deal where HD Hyundai will develop a cylindrical reactor vessel for TerraPower's Natrium reactors.

The duo in March also agreed to expand the supply chain for the manufacture of the reactors, with HD Hyundai Executive Vice Chairman Chung Ki-sun and Gates directly holding the meeting.

BY SARAH CHEA [[email protected]]