The United States is behind China in the nuclear fusion, which is needed to operate artificial intelligence

China and the United States are in a race to create the first nuclear integration capacity. After decades of the US leadership, China is caught by spending twice and building projects at a record speed.

It is often called the Holy Just for Clean Energy, creates nuclear integration Four times more Energy per kilogram of fuel from traditional nuclear fission and four million times more than burning coal, with no greenhouse gases or long -term radioactive waste. If everything is planned, then it will be at least 1 trillion dollar market By 2050, according to ignition research.

There is only one big problem.

“The only only energy generation plants in the universe are stars,” said Dennis White, a professor of nuclear sciences and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The United States was first to use fusion widely with a hydrogen bomb test in 1952. In the seven decades since then, scientists around the world have been struggling to harness the reactions to the integration of power generation.

Fusion reactions occur when hydrogen atoms reach the sufficiently extreme temperatures that combine them together, and they form a superb gas called plasma. The shed can be converted during the theory, in theory, into huge amounts of energy, but it is difficult to control the plasma. One of the popular methods uses a strong magnet to suspend and control plasma inside TOKAMAK, which is a metal Donat -shaped device. Another high -energy laser is used, and Pele is referred to as pepper size, and quickly pressed and detonated.

Thus, the United States directed the first historical ignition of fusion, resulting in the net positive energy at the Lawrence Levermore National Fire facility, or NIF, in 2022.

Since then, private investment in startups in the United States has increased to more than 8 billion dollars, up from $ 1.2 billion in 2021, according to the Integration Industry Association. Of the 40 member companies in FIA, 25 of which are in the United States

Traditional nuclear energy, which was created from fission instead of fusion, witnessed a A significant increase in investment Since Tech Big is looking for ways to fill in the increasing energy needs of artificial intelligence databases. Amazonand Google and Dead They signed a pledge to help Triple nuclear energy All over the world by 2050.

“If you care about AI, if you are interested in driving energy … you must make investments in fusion,” said Andrew Hollande, CEO of FIA. “This is something if the United States does not lead, then China will do.”

While the United States has the most active nuclear power plants, China is the property of new projects.

Despite its first reactor on its first reactor after nearly four decades after the United States was a leader in technology, China is now building much more power plants than any other country.

China entered the fusion A race in the early first decade of the twentieth century, about 50 years after the United States, when it joined more than 30 countries to cooperate in the integration of international thermal heat reactor Megaproject project In France. But Iter has since hit the main delays.

The race for individual countries, but the American private sector remains at the forefront. Of the $ 8 billion in Global Private Fusion investments, $ 6 billion in the United States, according to FIA.

Commonwealth, a start -up company born outside the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has it Stir up Money, nearly two billion dollars such as Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Google.

Washington -based Helion raised one billion dollars from investors such as Open Ai’s Sam Altman and A. A very ambitious deal with Microsoft To submit fusion capacity to the network by 2028, it supports Google Tae Technologies It raised $ 1.2 billion.

“Whoever has an mainly unlimited energy … it can affect everything you think,” said Michel Benderbor, CEO of Tae Technologies. “This is a frightening idea if this is in the hands of the error.”

When it comes to general financing, China is advancing.

Beijing puts an amount of $ 1.5 billion annually in this effort, while the average US federal dollars for fusion reached about 800 million dollars annually in the past few years, according to what he said. Energy Sciences Office at the Ministry of Energy.

President Donald Trump ascended Nuclear supportIncluding fusion, during his first term, and this continued during the era of former President Joe Biden. It is not clear that the fusion financing was made in the second period of Trump Reducing the huge federal size.

American Senate members and fusion experts published a a report In February, he calls for 10 billion dollars From federal funds to help prevent the United States from losing its progress.

But the United States may have already lost the lead when it comes to the size of the reactor. In general, the greater the fingerprint, the more efficient the reactor can heat and restrict the plasma, which increases pure positive energy opportunities.

A series of satellite photos presented to CNBC by Planet Labs shows the fast building in 2024 for a new giant laser site in China. Decker Evilith of CNA Core said that the containment dome in which the reaction of fusion will be twice the size of NIF, the American Fusion project. Holland from FIA said the China site is probably a hybrid for fusion.

Hollande said: “The hybrid fusion is basically like the repetition of a bomb, but as an energy ugliness. It will never succeed, and never fly in a place like the United States, where you have a regulatory system that determines safety,” Hollande said. “But in a system like China, where it does not matter what people who live in the vicinity say, if the government says we want to do so, we will do so.”

It was the current National Tocamac project in China, east, Determination of recordsCalm with France Project West in the last two months to the longest containing the plasma inside the reactor, although this is a lesser milestone than the pure positive energy.

Another huge Chinese project has been appointed by the state, Craft, Access to completion this year. The 700 million acres in eastern China will also have a new Tokamak called Best, which is expected to be completed in 2027.

China’s craft seems to follow a We plan for us The Netherlands said hundreds of scientists in 2020.

“Congress has not done anything to spend money to put this into effect,” he said. “We have published this thing, and the Chinese went and then built it.”

Helion Helion told Fusion Fusion CNBC that some Chinese projects copy their patented designs as well.

“China, specifically, we are witnessing investments from state investment agencies in companies to repeat American companies’ designs,” said David Kerley, founder and director of Helen, Executive.

In the early first decade of the twentieth century, Budget discounts To local fusion research forced Us Us Usings to stop working on new machines and send researchers to learn on other country machines, including China.

“Instead of building new people, we went to China and helped them build them, and think,” said Oh, that would be great. They will have the facility. We’ll be really smart. ”Well, this was a big mistake.”

China now has patents more than any other country, and 10 times the number of doctorates in fusion and engineering sciences such as the United States, according to a report From Nikki Asia.

“There is a limited group in the West that all companies compete,” said Benderbor. “This is essential.”

Besides the workforce, merger projects need a large amount of materials, such as high energy magnets, specific minerals, condensate and semi -conductors. Curliz Heilon said the timeline of the company’s latest model, Polaris, was fully appointed by the availability of semiconductors.

China is making movements to the supply chain corner of many of these materials, in a play similar to how to control it Solar energy And EV Batteries.

“China invests ten times the US rate in developing advanced materials,” Kurly said. “This is something we must change.”

Fusion Fusion Sergarity, based in the CNBC, in a statement that it is “undoubtedly” benefiting from the “effective supply chain” in China. In June, Energy Singularity said it had successfully created plasma in record time, just two years after the start of TOKAMAK design.

This is still far from reaching the power of commercial integration over the network. Helion aims to be for the first time with a goal in 2028. The Commonwealth announced the site in Virginia where it plans to bring the first power plant, ARC, online in the early thirties.

“The finish line is actually a mature merger industry that produces use for use around the world, including in artificial intelligence centers,” said the Massachusetts Institute.

Watch: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2025/03/14/china-is-catching-the-us-in-nuclear-fusion-amid-ai-power-dand.html