Silicon Valley Giants Fueling Fusion Power: A 4-Year, 3-Bid Frenzy

The current trend is AI. What’s the next big thing? It’s electricity. More specifically, nuclear power.

In this era of explosive AI growth, the demand for computing power is skyrocketing. Major tech giants, in their quest to fuel these tirelessly operating servers, are already looking ahead, with their sights set on nuclear fusion.

In a notable development, tech behemoth Google has announced a further investment in nuclear fusion startup Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), alongside signing an agreement for electricity procurement from the company.

This marks Google’s third investment in the nuclear power sector within the past four years.

Google’s latest move with CFS signifies further progress in their engagement with nuclear fusion.

Google’s foray into the nuclear fusion landscape dates back to 2021. Their early involvement included participation in CFS’s Series B funding round, focusing on high-temperature superconducting tokamak technology. In 2023, Google led the Series E funding for TAE Technologies, a company advancing field-reversed configuration (FRC) technology. Now, in 2025, Google is doubling down with fresh investments in both companies and this pivotal power purchase agreement with CFS.

Under the terms of the agreement, CFS will supply 200 megawatts of electricity from its first power plant, Arc, to Google. This landmark facility is slated to commence operations in 2030. Google is the inaugural customer for the Arc plant and holds the option to purchase power from CFS’s future facilities.

CFS, an entity spun out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has successfully raised over $2 billion to date, positioning itself as one of the leading and most closely watched nuclear fusion companies globally. Its investor roster includes prominent names like Tiger Global Capital, Bill Gates, Google, and energy major Eni.

Notably, CFS has developed the world’s most powerful fusion magnet using a novel high-temperature superconductor (HTS) – specifically, rare-earth barium copper oxide (REBCO). This technological leap is expected to accelerate the realization of SPARC, a demonstration reactor currently under construction by CFS on the outskirts of Boston. SPARC aims to be the world’s first fusion device to achieve a plasma that produces more energy than it consumes. The project is 60% complete and projected for commissioning in 2026.

The research underpinning SPARC largely draws from MIT’s compact, high-field tokamak, Alcator C-Mod. The C-Mod experiment previously set a record for plasma pressure in magnetic confinement devices, a critical metric in fusion research.

CFS’s commercial power plant, Arc, is slated for construction near Richmond, Virginia. If all proceeds as planned, Google will begin sourcing electricity from this fusion power plant starting in 2030.

CFS CEO Bob Mumgaard indicated that the newly secured funding round would be “comparable” in size to the Series B round completed in 2021, which raised $1.8 billion with Google’s participation.

Jeff Dean, Google DeepMind’s Chief Scientist and head of the Gemini project, remarked:

Nuclear fusion energy has the potential to be a truly transformative force for the world.

Beyond its direct investment in CFS, Google is also forging partnerships with other nuclear energy innovators like Kairos Power and Helion to secure its vast energy requirements.

Silicon Valley’s Nuclear Power Play: A Trend Emerges

Google is not alone in this strategic pivot. A palpable investment fervor in nuclear fusion power is sweeping through the tech industry.

In 2023, Microsoft secured a groundbreaking power purchase agreement with controlled nuclear fusion company Helion, marking the first such deal globally. Helion anticipates its power plant to be operational by 2028.

Helion employs a distinctive technological approach, opting for magnetic confinement rather than the tokamak route and focusing on pulsed non-ignition fusion systems. The company believes this strategy enables smaller fusion devices and allows for on-demand power output adjustments.

Adding to this momentum, Sam Altman has personally invested a significant $375 million in Helion.

Looking beyond the forward-looking realm of fusion, numerous Silicon Valley tech giants are also increasing their stakes in conventional nuclear fission power plants.

In 2024, Microsoft partnered with Constellation Energy to invest $16 billion in the restart of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. This ambitious project, scheduled for completion in 2028, is expected to supply Microsoft with electricity for two decades.

Amazon has also been highly active in 2024, backing Energy Northwest’s development of several new small modular reactors (SMRs) in the Pacific Northwest. Furthermore, Amazon led a $500 million funding round for X-energy, which plans to construct a 320-megawatt SMR facility.

Just this past June, Meta entered into a 20-year nuclear power procurement agreement with Constellation Energy.

Another prominent SMR-focused company, Oklo – backed by Sam Altman – recently closed a $460 million funding round.

Nvidia has participated in the latest $650 million funding round for TerraPower, Bill Gates’ nuclear energy venture. This marks Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s initial foray into the nuclear power sector, although he has frequently voiced his support for nuclear energy as a power source for computing.

Nuclear power presents a compelling option for meeting the substantial energy demands of data centers.

China’s Nuclear Energy Ambitions

Beyond international players, China’s domestic nuclear energy firms are also stepping up their investments in nuclear fusion energy.

Announced in February of this year, China National Nuclear Power Co., Ltd. and Zhejiang Zheneng Electric Power Co., Ltd. have both declared their intentions to inject RMB 1 billion and RMB 750 million respectively into China Fusion Energy Co., Ltd.

On the startup front, the Peking University-affiliated fusion energy company, Energy Singularity (which has received investment from miHoYo), has completed its Series B funding. Its all-high-temperature superconducting tokamak is now entering the engineering validation phase.

The transformative potential of nuclear fusion, amplified by the accelerating advancements in AI, is increasingly capturing significant attention.

The next major wave of innovation is already being secured.