Fusion Startups Raise Billions Despite Unresolved Power-Plant Physics Hurdles
Private fusion companies raised $3.8 billion in the first eight months of this year, already surpassing all of last year's investment, as firms like Pacific Fusion and Helion Energy push toward commercial electricity targets. Despite this funding surge and scientific milestones like the National Ignition Facility's 2022 net energy gain experiment, no company has yet demonstrated a system that produces more electricity than it consumes on a sustained, grid-ready basis.