Energy · Profile from Energy Research Companion
Oklo
A Santa Clara, California developer of small sodium-cooled fast reactors, founded in 2013 by two MIT-trained engineers, backed early by Sam Altman, listed on the New York Stock Exchange through Altman's SPAC (AltC Acquisition Corp) in May 2024, and in October 2025 valued at ~$25.7bn (14 Oct 2025, reported) without a licensed reactor or meaningful revenue. Oklo plans to build, own and operate its ~75 MWe Aurora "powerhouses" and sell power under long contracts, rather than sell reactors to utilities. Its first application to the NRC was denied in January 2022; it moved its first plant, Aurora-INL in Idaho, onto the Department of Energy's authorisation route, broke ground on 22 Sep 2025 and targets start-up in 2028 (company, Q2 2026). Its customer list is long but mostly non-binding — Equinix up to 500 MW (April 2024), Switch up to 12 GW (December 2024) — with one funded agreement: Meta's prepayment for a campus of up to ~1.2 GW in Pike County, Ohio (January 2026). Oklo is the book's case of pre-revenue nuclear priced by the AI narrative.
At a glance
- Founded
- 2013 (Cambridge, Massachusetts, then California) by Jacob DeWitte and Caroline Cochran; Y Combinator 2014 (reported)
- Headquarters
- Santa Clara, California
- Ownership / structure
- Public, NYSE: OKLO (from 10 May 2024, after the AltC merger closed 9 May 2024); founders and Altman-linked entities large holders at listing (reported); share count up ~26% in the year to mid-2026 from at-the-market sales (reported)
- Leadership (2026)
- Jacob DeWitte (co-founder, CEO); Caroline Cochran (co-founder, COO, verify title); Sam Altman chairman 2015–April 2025; Chris Wright (later US Energy Secretary) a director until his nomination (reported)
- Products
- Aurora powerhouse: sodium-cooled fast reactor, ~75 MWe (uprated from ~15 MWe and ~50 MWe designs), metallic HALEU fuel, derived from the EBR-II reactor at Idaho (company); fuel recycling (Tennessee Advanced Fuel Center, planned); radioisotopes (Oklo Isotopes, from the Atomic Alchemy acquisition)
- Scale
- No power revenue; cash and marketable securities ~$3bn (30 Jun 2026); 2026 capex guidance $400–500m (company, Q2 2026); "customer pipeline" of ~14 GW+ (company claim, mostly non-binding, verify)
- Signature moves (incl. failures)
- Founding and YC (2013–14); INL site permit and HALEU award (2019); NRC denial (2022); SPAC with AltC (2024); Switch 12 GW framework (2024); Altman steps down as chair (2025); DOE pilot programme and Aurora-INL groundbreaking (2025); valuation peak and equity raises (2025–26); Meta Ohio campus prepayment (2026)
9 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
2013
Founding and Y Combinator
Founding / technology bet
2019
INL Site Permit and HALEU Award
State support / fuel supply (DOE site use permit and HALEU allocation)
2022
NRC Denial of the Aurora Application
Regulatory action (licence application denied) / failure
2024
SPAC with AltC and Altmans Role
Spin-off or IPO (merger with a special-purpose acquisition company)
2024
Switch 12 GW Framework
Offtake or supply contract (non-binding master power agreement framework)
2025
Altman Steps Down as Chair
Governance (board change to manage conflicts of interest)
2025
DOE Pilot Program and Aurora INL Groundbreaking
Regulatory route change / construction start
2025
Valuation Peak and Equity Raises
Financing (follow-on offerings and at-the-market programmes) / bubble risk
2026
Meta Ohio Campus Prepayment
Offtake or supply contract (power prepayment and development funding)