X-energy has been announced as a founding member of the Prometheus project, a research initiative led by Idaho National Laboratory, NVIDIA, and Amazon Web Services to accelerate advanced nuclear deployment through artificial intelligence. The three-year initiative was awarded $60 million under the U.S. Department of Energy’s Genesis Mission, targeting long-term schedule acceleration and operational cost reduction for advanced nuclear technologies. X-energy joins as a Tier 1 partner, committing financial support and the use of its proprietary Xe-100 small modular reactor and TRISO-X fuel designs.

The Prometheus project aligns 32 of the United States’ leading laboratories, universities, and private technology developers toward a national effort aimed at accelerating the application of AI for transformative scientific discovery. X-energy will provide $10 million in private capital and board of directors representation as part of its participation. The Company expects to directly leverage advancements to help accelerate commercial deployment across its 11 GW commercial pipeline.

X-energy’s Xe-100 and TRISO-X fuel will serve as a technical platform for a three-year research campaign, leveraging the Department’s test reactors and supercomputing capabilities. The project aims to integrate frontier-class AI models into reactor design, licensing, manufacturing, construction, and semi-autonomous operation workflows, as well as fuel fabrication. Participation builds on the ongoing development of APEX, a proprietary multi-agentic platform currently deployed across X-energy’s engineering, licensing, and operations teams.

Project Details

X-energy is currently advancing more than 11 GW of new nuclear capacity across the United States and United Kingdom with commercial Xe-100 projects underway with Dow, Amazon, and Centrica. X-energy and Amazon have the option to deploy more than 5 GW of new nuclear by 2039 to support grid reliability and AWS data center needs. AI-enabled advancements pursued through the Prometheus project aim to accelerate licensing, manufacturing, construction, and operation across this growing portfolio.

"We stand at the edge of one of humanity’s great technical evolutions, and its infrastructure build-out has already begun. We are proud to be part of the coalition driving it forward," said J. Clay Sell, the CEO of X-energy.

Ark Invest, led by Cathie Wood, has aggressively increased its holdings in X-Energy Inc across three exchange-traded funds, signaling a strong conviction in the nuclear energy sector. The firm has purchased shares of the recently public company in four straight trading sessions, excluding the recent weekend of July 11 and July 12. This buying activity spans the Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK), the Ark Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF (ARKQ), and the Ark Space & Defense Innovation ETF (ARX).

X-Energy Inc, which is backed by Amazon.com Inc, listed on the NASDAQ in late April 2026. The company raised approximately $1 billion through its initial public offering, pricing shares at $23, which was above the initial range of $16 to $19. The stock opened for trading at $30.11 and closed its first day at $29.20. Since the IPO, Ark Invest has added the stock to its portfolios on multiple occasions, with activity dating back to April 2026 and intensifying from June 25 onward.

The asset manager's strategy involves building positions in what it identifies as disruptive technology. X-Energy represents Ark's latest bet on nuclear energy, a category where the firm already holds stakes in companies such as Oklo Inc and BWX Technologies. The sector has garnered attention in 2026 due to factors including the Trump administration's policies, growing demand for AI data centers, and the search for power sources to meet increased energy needs.

As of Thursday, the current position sizes for the three Ark ETFs show significant exposure to the nuclear company. The Ark Innovation ETF holds 4,091,632 shares valued at $61.6 million, making it the 34th largest position and accounting for 0.95% of the fund. The Ark Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF holds 1,311,793 shares worth $19.8 million, also the 34th largest position at 0.98% of the ETF. The Ark Space & Defense Innovation ETF holds 608,926 shares valued at $9.2 million, representing the 29th largest position and 1.10% of the fund.

The accumulation of shares comes during a period of sell-off for X-Energy stock in its post-IPO phase. On Thursday, shares traded at $13.52, hitting new intraday lows of $13.29. The stock has traded as high as $37.10 since its public debut and is currently down 53% from its initial listing price. Additional purchases in the coming days could elevate the stock's position within the Ark funds' holdings lists.