Climate Politics
Nuclear AI Startup Fermi Promised Land and Ample Power. But It Couldn't Sign a Single Client
Now the ex-CEO is waging a battle for Fermi’s future and its vision of atomic-powered data centers in the Texas panhandle.
Fermi’s construction site near Amarillo, Texas in December, 2025
Photographer: Ramsay de GiveFor a brief moment, no startup rode the data center boom better than Fermi Inc.
Co-founded by a former Texas governor and a brash entrepreneur, Fermi offered companies racing to build data centers the two things they crave most: open land and an astonishing amount of power.