Fusion Startup Gets an AI Boost From Nvidia and Siemens

 

 

“A Bill Gates-backed nuclear fusion company has teamed up with tech giants Nvidia and Siemens in an effort to bring the energy that powers the sun a step closer to commercial reality.

 

Commonwealth Fusion Systems is working with the tech companies to develop a virtual replica of CFS's nuclear fusion machine, courtesy of Nvidia's and Siemens's AI and industrial software might. Fusion engineers will use this "digital twin" to run simulations, ultimately to hasten the goal of producing fusion energy at a commercial scale.

 

CFS, which announced the project on Tuesday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, "will be able to compress years of manual experimentation into weeks" with the AI assistance, said Bob Mumgaard, co-founder and chief executive. "We're not going to be flying by the seat of our pants; we're not going to be flying blind," Mumgaard said.

 

Nuclear fission, which splits atoms to produce energy, is already in use in power plants, but many companies see fusion, the energy process that powers the sun by joining atoms together, as a longer-term bet because it can provide much more energy in a cleaner process.

 

"Fusion is no longer a science project. It's actually the next big thing in tech," said Mumgaard.

 

CFS, which is backed by Gates's technology fund Breakthrough Energy Ventures, says it is aiming to start producing commercial fusion energy in the 2030s.

 

Nuclear energy appeals to tech giants because it releases minimal carbon emissions while providing round-the-clock power -- particularly as they look to fuel their AI ambitions. Plus, it is backed by political will, with the Trump administration and lawmakers across the aisle supporting a new era for nuclear. President Trump has said he wants to quadruple nuclear-power generation over the next 25 years.

 

The U.S. Energy Department on Monday said it awarded $2.7 billion to nuclear-fuel makers to boost the domestic supply of enriched uranium.

 

The tech industry has been driving the revival of nuclear energy in the U.S., including a deal between Constellation Energy and Microsoft to restart Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island, the site of the worst nuclear-power disaster in the country; Meta's deal with Constellation to secure power from the Clinton Clean Energy Center, an already-operating nuclear plant in Illinois; and Google's partnership with NextEra Energy to reopen the Duane Arnold Energy Center, a nuclear plant in Iowa that was closed after damage from a windstorm.

 

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Clara Hudson writes for WSJ Pro Sustainable Business.” [1]

 

1. Fusion Startup Gets an AI Boost From Nvidia and Siemens. Hudson, Clara.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 07 Jan 2026: B2.