SovAI and BAM Energy Sign Memorandum of Understanding to Co-Develop Super Intelligent, Nuclear-Powered AI Factories
The factory-built Pearl reactor — natural uranium, heavy water, no enrichment, no megaproject — is designed to power
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SovAI, Inc. (“SovAI”), The AI Factory Architect, and BAM Energy LLC (“BAM Energy”), developer of the Pearl reactor, today announced a memorandum of understanding to co-develop super intelligent, nuclear-powered AI Factories: behind-the-meter AI compute campuses designed by SovAI to the NVIDIA DSX reference architecture, orchestrated by Scotty, SovAI’s digital operating engineer, and designed to be powered by Pearl reactors.
As designed by BAM Energy, the Pearl is a factory-built, sealed microreactor of about 7 to 10 megawatts electric that runs on natural uranium with heavy-water moderation. It needs no uranium enrichment, no high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) and no heavy reactor-vessel forgings — three supply-chain constraints that gate many advanced reactor programs — and, delivered as a factory product, it avoids the large engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) outlay of a conventional nuclear build. Each module is designed to ship as a road-legal unit, install in under 14 days and return to the factory intact at the end of its sealed operating life, so the site never refuels the reactor or stores spent fuel. Pearl reactors are to be delivered through BridgePower Nuclear, the joint venture of BAM Energy and USP&E, which powers SovAI’s campuses with interim gas generation while the Pearl’s design is finalized.
Under the MOU the companies will co-develop a reference design that places four Pearl modules on a single steam plant — about 40 megawatts electric (gross) of carbon-free power — with SovAI’s 800-volt DC backbone and compute built to the NVIDIA DSX reference architecture, and will study the integration of SovSTOR storage, SovCOOL heat recovery and SovGRID interconnection with the Pearl block. SovAI will model the design as a digital twin. Scotty will orchestrate the campus around the reactors — dispatching storage, cooling and compute, holding firm output through swings in compute demand, and selling stored energy to the grid when prices are high — and will give the reactor operators an independent view of the plant. Reactor operation remains with NRC-licensed operators, and the Pearl’s reactor protection systems remain independent of Scotty.
BAM Energy plans to license the first Pearl block under 10 CFR Part 53, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s risk-informed, technology-inclusive framework for commercial nuclear plants, which took effect on April 29, 2026. Pre-application engagement with the NRC is planned once site control is secured, with first commercial operation of a Pearl block targeted for 2028, subject to customer agreements, site selection, regulatory approvals and project financing. SovAI’s campuses are laid out with a nuclear layer from the start; the companies expect to identify the first campus for a Pearl block as its site agreements are completed.
“I started my career in the years right after Three Mile Island, working on the safety modifications and the system-design changes the industry made because of it,” said Joe Doyle, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of SovAI. “Now I’m back in the business, and the business is building nuclear-powered super intelligent AI Factories. The Pearl is the reactor I would have asked for then: natural uranium and heavy water, so there is no enrichment, no HALEU and no heavy forging in the way, sealed at the factory and shipped back intact. Its safety systems stand on their own. Scotty runs everything around them — the storage, the cooling and the data halls — as one plant.”
“BAM Energy designed the Pearl around natural uranium and heavy water because it makes everything about a nuclear site safer, less costly and faster — the licensing, the security, the staffing, the supply chain,” Doyle continued. “A Pearl can go where an AI Factory needs to be, without the EPC costs that make a conventional nuclear build so hard to predict, so the capital for development and installation is far more predictable. We bring the other half: a complete AI Factory design built to NVIDIA’s reference architecture and an intelligence layer that runs the campus around the reactor as one system. This MOU puts the two together and gives both companies a path to a first licensed site.”
The MOU establishes joint workstreams for the reference design and its digital twin, the licensing program for the first Pearl block, joint go-to-market and capital planning, and the companies’ joint presence at SC26.
See it at SC26. In the SHI International booth #2000 on November 16–19, visitors can see Scotty’s first release running live with a digital twin of a Pearl-powered AI Factory — a Pearl block brought to power and steadied at the operators’ direction, the compute halls at full load, a reactor trip and the re-dispatch that keeps the factory running on storage and the grid interface, and several Pearl units aggregated on one steam header — beside a scale model of the Pearl reactor and its plant. The booth theater session “Powering the AI Factory,” presented by SHI International and SovAI and closing with BridgePower Nuclear and the Pearl by BAM Energy, runs during show week.
About SovAI, Inc.
SovAI, Inc. is The AI Factory Architect. SovAI builds Super Intelligent Nuclear-powered AI Factories. The company designs, builds and operates sovereign, behind-the-meter AI Factories on three pillars: Sovereign Fuel, Sovereign Power and Sovereign Compute. Scotty, the company’s orchestration platform, makes them super intelligent. SovAI is a member of the NVIDIA Inception program and serves enterprises, communities and nations seeking dedicated AI capacity delivered behind the meter. SovAI, Inc. is headquartered in Dana Point, CA. Learn more at sovai.ai.
About BAM Energy
BAM Energy is the developer of the Pearl reactor, a factory-built, sealed microreactor designed to use natural uranium fuel and heavy-water moderation, removing enrichment, HALEU and heavy forgings from the nuclear supply chain and the EPC megaproject from the build. BAM Energy is headquartered at 1800 Augusta Dr., Suite 312, Houston, Texas. bam-energy.com
About BridgePower Nuclear
BridgePower Nuclear is the joint venture of BAM Energy and USP&E (United States Power & Environmental), the power EPC and engineer of record on SovAI’s campuses, formed to deliver the Pearl reactor and the interim power bridges that precede it on behind-the-meter campuses. www.uspeglobal.com/pages/bridgepower-nuclear-jv/
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws regarding SovAI’s and BAM Energy’s plans, partnerships, projects, products, licensing timelines and financings. These statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially. The Pearl is under development; no NRC license application has been filed, and licensing and deployment dates are targets. The memorandum of understanding is non-binding except as to confidentiality, publicity and non-circumvention; planned projects remain subject to definitive agreements, site control, financing, regulatory licensing and partner consent. Nothing herein constitutes an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security. Neither company undertakes any obligation to update these statements except as required by law.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261112425098/en/
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