A Company That Wants to Power AI with Nuclear Reactors Finally Has a New CEO

Fermi Inc. (FRMI.O), a company building nuclear-powered facilities for artificial intelligence in Texas, has named Lee McIntire as its new chief executive officer, starting August 11, 2026. The job had been empty for over three months, since the company fired its co-founder and previous CEO, Toby Neugebauer, on April 30, 2026. TechCrunch

McIntire, 74, brings more than 45 years of leadership experience. He was already a member of Fermi's board of directors before getting the top job. He previously served as CEO of two notable companies: CH2M Hill, a large engineering and construction firm, and TerraPower, a nuclear reactor startup founded by Bill Gates. TechCrunch That background in both big construction projects and nuclear technology is a strong match for what Fermi needs right now.

Fermi's main project, called Project Matador, is a campus in Amarillo, Texas, where nuclear reactors would generate electricity specifically to power AI data centers. Board chairman Marius Haas said McIntire is the right person to lead the company through its construction and power-generation phase. TechCrunch The wording matters, because building a physical facility and actually producing electricity calls for different skills than the fundraising and company-building that got Fermi started.

The path to this appointment was messy. In April 2026, Fermi removed both Neugebauer and its chief financial officer, Miles Everson, announcing the changes as part of a plan it called "Fermi 2.0," which included a new headquarters in Dallas. TechCrunch PR Newswire Neugebauer stayed on the board of directors even after being removed as CEO, which created an awkward dynamic between the company's original leadership and its new direction. SEC Filing After that, a $375 million fundraising effort preceded Everson's full departure from the board. PR Newswire

The stock market has reacted positively to the recent developments. Fermi's stock rose nearly 23 percent since August 10, 2026, when the company announced its first real customer agreement for the Project Matador campus with TensorWave, a company that provides AI computing power. TechCrunch The TensorWave deal, signed before McIntire's appointment was made public but while he was already on the board, gives Project Matador its first paying tenant and a source of expected revenue.

The bigger picture matters here. Fermi America was co-founded by former U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry. Its Amarillo campus exists at the meeting point of two trends: the massive and growing electricity demands of AI computing, and renewed interest in nuclear power as a clean, around-the-clock energy source. Data center operators in places like Northern Virginia and Texas are running into limits on how much power the local grid can provide. Nuclear power has moved from a theoretical idea to a serious option for these companies. Fermi's approach of building AI computing facilities right next to dedicated nuclear reactors would, in theory, bypass the normal process of waiting in line to connect to the power grid.

The leadership history here raises some concern. A company that fired its co-founder CEO, saw its CFO leave the board after a fundraising round, and then went without a chief executive for over three months while trying to build a multi-billion-dollar infrastructure project is not running smoothly. McIntire's qualifications look strong. But building Project Matador means getting licenses from nuclear regulators, managing construction risks, meeting reactor deployment schedules, and delivering on customer promises all at the same time. The distance between signing a customer agreement and actually delivering nuclear-powered computing is measured in years, not months.

Still, the basic ingredients for a serious attempt are now in place. Fermi has a CEO with nuclear and large-project experience, a board chairman focused on construction execution, a first customer under contract, and a rising stock price. Whether McIntire can turn that foundation into actual electricity flowing to AI computers at Project Matador will determine the company's path from here.