Google has signed a landmark deal to purchase 200 megawatts of fusion energy from Commonwealth Fusion Systems’ (CFS) planned ARC plant in Virginia.
Calling fusion “the same energy that fuels the sun and the stars,” the tech giant said the agreement is the largest direct corporate purchase of its kind, aimed at moving the technology toward commercial deployment.
According to the company, the partnership will provide future clean power for its operations and support CFS’s push to bring fusion to market, a goal still years away. ARC is expected to become the first commercial fusion facility connected to the grid.
A long-term bet on fusion’s potential
Google said its investment will help CFS build on technical advances, including a magnet system that allows for more compact reactor designs. The use of high-temperature superconductors, the company noted, enables machines that are faster and cheaper to construct than conventional models.
In a LinkedIn post, Google CEO Sundar Pichai described the move as a long-term bet on fusion’s potential, pointing to recent engineering breakthroughs while acknowledging that the “path to commercialization won’t be easy.”
Michael Terrell, Google’s head of advanced energy, echoed that assessment, telling Reuters that “serious physics and engineering challenges” still need to be solved to make fusion scalable and commercially viable.
This is Google’s second time backing CFS, following an initial investment made during the development of its SPARC prototype in Massachusetts. Financial terms of the latest commitment were not disclosed.
AI demand drives renewed interest in nuclear power
AI systems require high-density computing and constant power, fueling concern over rising grid pressure and emissions. Google, Meta, and Amazon have pledged to support a global effort to triple nuclear capacity by 2050, calling for the accelerated deployment of reactors across the energy sector.
Meta has also signed a 20-year contract to buy power from the Clinton nuclear plant in Illinois. The agreement secures the facility’s operation into the 2040s and includes a planned 30-megawatt upgrade.
Google is betting on both ends of the nuclear spectrum. In addition to this fusion deal, the company is backing a small modular reactor project with Kairos Power, part of a $300 million federal initiative. Between the two efforts, Google plans to add up to 700 megawatts of zero-carbon capacity to support its AI infrastructure by 2035.
The Google-CFS fusion agreement demonstrates how the company is spearheading a broader initiative among tech giants to address AI’s growing power consumption. These investments in next-generation energy technologies offer hope that innovation can meet demand without compromising the planet.
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