With a career centered on the complex web of global trade agreements and compliance, Desiree Sainthrope has a unique vantage point on the intersection of big-money projects and international politics. Her expertise in intellectual property and the legal ramifications of emerging technologies like AI provides a critical lens through which to view one of America’s most ambitious undertakings: Fermi America’s plan to build a private, nuclear-powered AI campus in Texas. This interview explores the project’s strategy of leveraging national security to attract capital, the immense challenges of securing cornerstone tech partners in a volatile market, and the critical path to building nuclear reactors on schedule for the first time in a generation. We also delve into the leadership style of its CEO, the delicate balance of managing vital local resources like water, and the intricate financial model designed to turn gas-powered profits into a nuclear-powered future.
The project is branded as the “Donald J. Trump Advanced Energy and Intelligence Campus” with the goal of achieving “AI supremacy.” Beyond the name, how does this national security framing help attract investors and navigate regulatory hurdles? Please share a specific example of this strategy in action.
The national security framing is absolutely central to their entire strategy; it’s not just a name, it’s a narrative that transforms a high-risk infrastructure project into a patriotic imperative. When you frame something as a “war” against China for AI dominance, as the CEO has, it creates a powerful sense of urgency that appeals directly to a specific class of investors and political allies. It reframes the venture from a simple real estate and energy play into a matter of national priority. This helps attract capital from those aligned with that political vision and provides a potent argument for fast-tracking approvals. A perfect example of this in action was their Thanksgiving ad buy in the Fox News market that serves Mar-a-Lago. They explicitly asked for a presidential “tush push” to overcome resistance from “the swamp” and get nuclear construction started by 2026. That’s not a typical corporate request; it’s a direct appeal to political power, leveraging the national security angle to seek intervention and clear regulatory roadblocks.
After a potential deal with an anchor tenant collapsed, the company’s valuation saw a significant decline. Given this volatility and the reliance on leasing space to tech giants, what is the step-by-step strategy to secure a new cornerstone partner in such a competitive market?
Recovering from a setback like that requires a multifaceted strategy that leans heavily on the project’s unique, non-replicable advantages. First, they must aggressively market the physical and logistical superiority of the site itself. Neugebauer calls it “the best spot on planet Earth to manufacture electrons” for a reason—it sits at a nexus of natural gas pipelines, it’s near the Permian Basin, and the proximity to the Pantex plant provides unparalleled security and existing nuclear safety infrastructure. Second, they have to double down on the speed-to-market advantage of their initial phase. By promising the first gigawatt from gas-powered turbines by the end of 2026, they offer something tangible and immediate to a tech giant, which is critical given the short depreciation cycle of computer chips. The final, and perhaps most crucial, step is to relentlessly leverage their political capital. The project aligns perfectly with the administration’s vision for off-grid computing campuses. By continuing to court political favor and highlighting their alignment with national policy, they create an environment where partnering with them feels like a strategic, government-endorsed move for a major tech company.
Building nuclear reactors on schedule has been a historic challenge in the U.S. With a 2032 target for the first AP1000 reactor, what specific operational and managerial lessons from past projects is Fermi America implementing to avoid the typical cost overruns and delays?
Their approach is a direct reaction to the American nuclear industry’s legacy of delays and budget bloat, which saw the last two reactors end up costing twice their original budget. The core of their strategy is to sidestep the domestic industry’s institutional inertia by bringing in outside talent with a proven, recent track record of success. They’ve hired Mesut and Sezin Uzman, a team that has hands-on experience developing reactors overseas, including in China and the UAE. This isn’t about reinventing the wheel; it’s about finding people who have already built the exact machine they need, and recently. Operationally, they are standardizing with the Westinghouse AP1000 reactor, which already has federal approval, cutting down a significant portion of the regulatory timeline. The CEO’s self-described “radically different” approach is to reject the cautious, advice-heavy culture of the industry and simply, as he puts it, find people “who have actually built reactors.” This focus on proven, external execution over theoretical domestic planning is their primary hedge against the historical failures we’ve seen.
CEO Toby Neugebauer has a background in private equity and a past venture, GloriFi, which ended in a contentious bankruptcy. How does his self-described “radically different” and “impetuous” approach give Fermi an edge in the slow-moving nuclear industry, and what safeguards are in place?
Toby Neugebauer’s approach is the definition of a high-risk, high-reward proposition, and in the context of the notoriously stagnant nuclear industry, that can be a powerful edge. His “impetuous” nature, as a judge described it, translates into a breakneck speed that is completely alien to this sector. While the industry is bogged down in decades-long planning cycles, he’s moving dirt, securing turbines, and talking about a 2032 operational date. This relentless drive is what attracts investors and creates momentum. The GloriFi bankruptcy, however, is the cautionary tale here, highlighting potential blind spots in management and partner relations. The primary safeguard Fermi seems to have put in place is a clear delegation of technical expertise. While Neugebauer drives the vision, finance, and political maneuvering, he has explicitly hired seasoned nuclear professionals like the Uzmans to lead the actual reactor program. This creates a firewall of sorts, where his aggressive, norm-breaking style is applied to the business and political side, while the highly regulated, safety-critical nuclear construction is in the hands of specialists who have done it before.
The project plans to draw significant water from the Ogallala Aquifer, a critical resource for the region. Beyond offering to pay above market value, what specific technological and community-focused steps are being taken to address local concerns about long-term water security for residents and farmers?
They are tackling the water issue from three angles: technological, financial, and relational. Technologically, they’ve proposed using a dry cooling system for the nuclear reactors. This is a significant concession because it uses air instead of water to condense steam, and while it’s a more expensive and less energy-efficient method, it dramatically reduces the water footprint of the most demanding part of the facility. Financially, their offer to pay three times the market value for the 2.5 million gallons a day they’ve requested is a straightforward attempt to demonstrate the immense economic value they bring and to compensate the community directly. But perhaps most importantly, they’ve embedded themselves in the community by hiring Trent Sisemore, a former Amarillo mayor, as a liaison. His job is to translate the project’s needs into local terms, handing out his cell number, attending small business meetings, and framing the water usage—which he notes is a small fraction of what agriculture uses—as a necessary investment for a project that continues Amarillo’s history of national security contributions. This combination of engineering choices, economic incentives, and a trusted local face is their strategy to win over a skeptical public.
The business model involves simultaneously constructing multiple power plants while managing tech clients, functioning like a private utility. Could you walk me through the key milestones and financial metrics for the initial gas-powered phase, and explain how its success will directly finance the more ambitious nuclear construction?
The business model is cleverly de-risked by phasing. It’s not a single, massive bet on nuclear from day one. The first critical milestone is getting the initial natural gas-powered plants operational. Specifically, they are targeting the end of 2026 to bring the first gigawatt of gas-powered electricity online. This is the financial engine that makes the whole enterprise possible. By getting this power up and running quickly, they can sign leases and start generating revenue from data center tenants almost immediately. That early cash flow does two things: first, it provides tangible proof of concept to the market and validates their massive valuation, which took a hit after the initial tenant deal fell through. Second, and more directly, that revenue stream from the gas phase provides the financial backing for the much longer, more capital-intensive construction of the four AP1000 nuclear reactors. In essence, the gas plants are the bridge; they pay the bills and build investor confidence while the decadelong nuclear project gets underway.
What is your forecast for the intersection of private nuclear energy and artificial intelligence over the next decade?
My forecast is that this intersection will become one of the most dynamic and contentious arenas in the global economy. The demand for power from AI is not just growing, it’s exploding in a way that existing grid infrastructure simply cannot handle. Goldman Sachs analysts estimate tech giants will spend over $500 billion next year alone on AI infrastructure. This creates an unprecedented pull for massive, reliable, and preferably clean power sources. Private nuclear energy, unshackled from the pace of traditional utilities, is positioned as the perfect solution, offering a 24/7 power source that AI data centers crave. Over the next decade, I expect to see a surge of ventures like Fermi America, where private equity, tech capital, and political will converge to build dedicated power islands for AI. This will lead to intense battles over resources like land and water, a regulatory scramble to keep pace with new off-grid models, and a re-emergence of nuclear power as a central pillar of technological and, by extension, national power. The success or failure of these early projects will determine whether this is a true renaissance or another tech-fueled bubble.
