🔎 The Fusion Wager A machine touted to become the world’s first fusion power plant could deliver electricity to the power grid, as well as 50 megawatts to Microsoft data centers, by 2029, reports Alex Pasternack. To achieve fusion on Earth, rather than in stars, light nuclei must be heated to become plasma that’s kept stable and hot long enough for sufficient reactions to occur. Materials and fueling pose hard physics problems for the private endeavor, a company called Helion Energy, which takes its funding from backers including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Why this matters: Data centers constantly require staggering amounts of electricity. Fusion start-ups, if they overcome engineering challenges, could provide a path to firm, carbon-free power. What the experts say: Helion publishes minimal peer-reviewed data about the core performance of its plasma. Troy Carter, director of the Fusion Energy Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory says that without more data, “it is hard to fully a...