This Week’s Science News from SWTG

Nuclear Fusion & A Quantum Breakthrough?

What’s Behind the Nuclear Fusion Startup Backed by Sam Altman?

Artificial intelligence has an energy problem. Indeed, if you listen to Donald Trump then the United States has an energy emergency. Experts advise citizens to conserve energy by staying off Twitter until further notice.

More seriously, one of the biggest tech hopes for clean energy has for a long time been nuclear fusion. And among the nuclear fusion startups the one that has attracted the biggest attention is Helion energy. Is that attention justified? Let’s have a look.

Helion energy made headlines last week for raising another $425 million, which puts its total funding above a billion. Helion is a privately owned company. Its probably most famous backer is Sam Altman the CEO of OpenAI.

Helion was founded in 2013. In 2014, they wrote on their website that they “aim to have a commercial plant operational in six years”. Six years later, they still “aim to have the plant operational in six years”. Come 2022 and they want to get it done by 2024. The website now says that they want to get it done by 2028. Let me just say I’m a little skeptical.