Oklo enters $1B equity distribution agreement with 10 banks

Oklo, the advanced nuclear fission company chaired by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, has signed a new at-the-market equity distribution agreement that allows it to sell up to $1 billion in Class A common stock through a consortium of ten investment banks.

The agreement, announced on May 13, replaces a prior ATM program established on December 4, 2025, which was fully utilized. That earlier facility generated approximately $1.5 billion in gross proceeds from the sale of roughly 15.77 million shares.

How the deal works

An at-the-market offering is essentially a slow-drip stock sale. Instead of pricing a traditional follow-on offering all at once, the company sells shares gradually at prevailing market prices on the NYSE or other trading venues.

The ten banks acting as selling agents will earn commissions of up to 1.5% on gross proceeds. The shares are sold on a best-efforts basis, meaning the banks aren’t guaranteeing they’ll move all $1 billion worth of stock. The program operates under Oklo’s Form S-3 shelf registration that became effective on December 4, 2025, and carries no termination penalties.

Why Oklo needs the money

Oklo is developing small modular reactors, a class of nuclear power plant designed to be smaller, cheaper, and faster to deploy than the massive conventional reactors that have defined the industry for decades. The company’s focus on powering energy-intensive applications, particularly AI data centers, puts it squarely at the intersection of clean energy and artificial intelligence infrastructure.

The company is still in the pre-revenue stage of its development, which means every dollar of operating expense comes from the capital markets rather than from customers paying electricity bills. Having already raised roughly $1.5 billion through its previous ATM program, the decision to immediately reload with another $1 billion facility suggests the company sees a long runway of spending ahead.

Microsoft, Google, and Amazon have all made nuclear-related energy commitments in recent years, creating a tailwind for companies like Oklo that promise to deliver compact, deployable reactor technology.

The bigger picture for nuclear startups

Oklo itself has navigated regulatory headwinds. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission denied the company’s initial combined license application in 2022, citing insufficient information. The company has since reengaged with the regulatory process, but the path from concept to operating reactor remains long and uncertain.

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