Nuclear fusion is the process in which two light atomic nuclei fuse under extreme conditions (heat and pressure) to form a heavier nucleus, releasing enormous amounts of energy—similar to what happens in the sun and has been exploited in hydrogen bombs, but this time for the purpose of future energy production.
Nuclear fusion is a kind of holy grail for scientists, as power plants operating in this way would produce huge amounts of energy at low cost. Why so much energy? – one might immediately ask. Well, AI (and cryptocurrencies, for that matter) only work thanks to huge amounts of energy.
Has something new happened? Have we achieved a breakthrough in nuclear fusion technology? Apparently so: on December 19, the owner of the Truth Social platform (Trump Media & Technology Group, DJT) announced a merger with Tae Technologies, a private nuclear fusion company. The transaction is valued at more than $6 billion and its goal was to create the world’s first publicly traded company dedicated to this revolutionary technology. According to Donald the Great, construction of the first power plant was supposed to begin as early as 2026, which is unlikely. However, ambitious promises arise from actual needs. As mentioned, the data centers created by the flood of artificial intelligence around the world require gigantic amounts of energy that the system simply cannot provide.
However, the merger of DJT with TAE Technologies is cause for concern. Nuclear fusion is a technology that requires stable financing, while Trump’s media company is considered a “meme stock” due to its high volatility.
TAE Technologies is not an uninteresting company—it is in a key development phase. In collaboration with Google, they are building a machine called Copernicus, which is intended to demonstrate that it can produce more energy than it consumes. The challenge is great because previous devices heated the plasma to 75 million °C, while a temperature of 1 billion °C is required for efficient power generation. Their technology has a chance of success, but it now requires large investments to lead to its potential commercialization. There is still a long way to go, and given the volatility of DJT, it may just be hot air.
As always, regardless of who is at the helm of the US, a Democrat or a Republican, it is the markets that save the day and play into the hands of Wall Street, especially now that more and more analysts are pointing out the overvaluation of companies such as Nvidia and others in the Magnificent 7.
Conclusion: Perpetual growth is the holy grail of America’s political class.
