OpenAI is in talks to purchase electricity from fusion startup Helion; Sam Altman resigns from Helion's board of directors.

It has been revealed that OpenAI, which requires a massive amount of electricity, is in discussions to purchase power from the nuclear fusion startup

I have loved being on the Helion board; I continue to be extremely excited about a future with abundant energy and Helion in particular.

As Helion and OpenAI start to explore working together at significant scale, it is difficult for me to be on both boards. (I will have a… https://t.co/hbc82a8mPG

— Sam Altman (@sama) March 23, 2026

According to the news site Axios, OpenAI may initially secure 12.5% of Helion's production volume as a guarantee. Discussions are underway to expand this figure to 5 GW by 2030 and 50 GW by 2035. Helion has already announced that it will supply 50 MW of energy to Microsoft, so 5 GW would be 100 times that amount, and 50 GW would be 1000 times that amount.

OpenAI is promoting the 'Stargate' project, which will involve investing $500 billion (approximately 73.6 trillion yen) over four years starting in 2025 to build large-scale data centers and revitalize AI development and operations. It is expected that the power secured from Helion will help meet the demand for Stargate.

OpenAI and SoftBank announce 'Stargate' project to establish AI data center with investment exceeding 70 trillion yen - GIGAZINE

Helion is a nuclear fusion startup founded in 2013, and Altman was a director with a significant stake in the company. However, with the possibility of OpenAI collaborating with Helion, he resigned from the board of directors, stating that he 'could not fulfill two roles.'

David Kurtley, a founding member and CEO of Helion, commented on Altman's resignation from the board of directors, saying, 'This decision allows Helion and OpenAI to explore a future partnership to bring zero-carbon, safe power to the world, and Helion is ready for that.' He also thanked Altman for his work to date and said, 'I look forward to working with you all in my new role.'

Sam Altman is stepping down from Helion's Board of Directors.

This decision enables Helion and OpenAI to explore future partnerships to bring zero-carbon, safe electricity to the world, which Helion is perfectly poised to deliver.

Sam has played an integral role in Helion’s…

— David Kirtley (@Dkirtley) March 23, 2026

A Helion spokesperson stated, 'Aside from our previously announced agreements with Microsoft and Nucor, we have not made any new customer announcements,' and did not comment on the agreement with OpenAI.

Furthermore, Helion and OpenAI plan to deploy their first commercial nuclear fusion plant in 2028 in collaboration with 'Stargate'.