Fusion energy actually works now — so why don't we have it yet?

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:00]Fusion energy just crossed a line [music] that scientists spent 70 years chasing.

[00:00:06]The reaction now produces more energy than it takes to start it. That's not a theory anymore.

[00:00:11]>> [music] >> That's a result.

[00:00:14]But there's a gap between it [music] works in a lab and it powers your city.

[00:00:20]And this video is honest [music] about exactly how wide that gap is.

[00:00:25]Three things changed [music] at roughly the same time. Scientists achieved ignition.

[00:00:30]>> [music] >> A new generation of high-temperature superconducting magnets made compact reactors physically possible.

[00:00:38]And private capital, billions of it, started flowing in for the first time.

[00:00:44]Companies like [music] Commonwealth Fusion Systems and TAE Technologies are now building [music] real hardware in real facilities.

[00:00:53]The ITER project in [music] France, the biggest fusion machine ever constructed, is still being assembled right now.

[00:01:01]It looks like a cathedral built for a star.

[00:01:05]The honest [music] timeline?

[00:01:06]First commercial power by the mid-2030s is the current target.

[00:01:11]Most experts call that optimistic. Some don't. [music] The fuel is hydrogen. The waste is helium. The potential is limitless.