Wisconsin-based Realta Fusion announced it successfully powered a lightbulb using electricity harvested directly from its WHAM fusion device on June 19. The company claims this is the first public demonstration by a private company of direct electricity conversion from fusion.
Fusion power, once a distant dream, is now a tangible technology attracting significant investment. Advances in computing, AI, and superconducting magnets are driving innovation, with several startups aiming for commercial viability and potentially disrupting trillion-dollar energy markets.
Avalanche's desktop-scale fusion prototype has reached 11 million degrees Celsius, a key milestone in fusion energy development. The company claims to have achieved this with less than $50 million in venture funding, potentially paving the way for smaller, more affordable fusion power plants.
Commonwealth Fusion's ARC reactor aims to achieve fusion power by using high-temperature superconductors for powerful magnetic fields. Peer-reviewed papers detail its design, including a 1.13 GW power output, 15-minute fusion cycles, and strategies for managing plasma instabilities and waste heat.
Germany-based Focused Energy secured $240 million in Series A funding, bringing its total private capital to $300 million. The company is developing a laser-based fusion reactor, inspired by the National Ignition Facility, aiming for 10 shots per second.
If the “China shock” of the early 2000s was about China catching up, then “China shock 2.0” is about the country redefining the boundaries of what is economically possible across manufacturing sectors, according to Columbia University professor Adam Tooze. Amid complaints about the trade and industrial policies accelerating China’s rise in many sectors – including aviation, space, artificial intelligence (AI), telecoms, microprocessors, robotics, nuclear and fusion power, quantum computing,...
Fusion energy has been “20 years away” for decades, but has the science finally caught up? Private investment in fusion companies surged from $10 billion to $15 billion in just months, and the money is coming from places you wouldn’t expect.  Watch as Rebecca Bellan and guest host Tim De Chant sit down with Rachel Slaybaugh, general partner at DCVC on this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast. The trio breaks […]
