TAE Technologies, a nuclear fusion firm, has raised more than $150 million in its latest funding round, with backing from Google.

Google has backed the company since 2015, with the partners collaborating on advancing fusion technology through the use of machine learning, something we profiled back in 2019.

During this process, Google engineers co-developed advanced plasma reconstruction algorithms, which TAE has said have led to significantly improved performance.

According to the company, the renewed commitment from Google followed a thorough technical and commercial evaluation of TAE’s distinctive fusion approach and will support its next milestone of validating net energy capability in its Copernicus reactor.

“We’ve been an investor in TAE since 2015, and recently participated in TAE’s latest funding round, positioning them as a leading contender in the race to achieve fusion. We look forward to TAE’s continued progress with their distinctive pathway to fusion — one of our bets for a cleaner energy future,” said Ross Koningstein, engineer, director emeritus focusing on advanced nuclear energy at Google, in a statement.

Other investors in the funding round included Chevron and NEA. TEA now has the option to raise additional capital as part of the funding round. Since its inception, the company has raised more than $1.3 billion in equity capital.

Reflecting on the announcement, Michl Binderbauer, CEO of TAE Technologies, said: “Fusion has the potential to transform the energy landscape, providing near-limitless clean power at a time when the world’s energy needs are growing exponentially due to the growth of AI and data centers.

“TAE’s technology uses the soundest physics to deliver superior performance in a compact machine, with attractive economics and best-in-class maintainability. We are leading the charge to develop revolutionary fusion technology for full-scale commercial deployment.”

If successfully commercialized, nuclear fusion has the potential to provide an almost unlimited amount of energy. Unlike traditional nuclear plants, which rely on fission - a process that generates unstable nuclear waste - fusion does not produce any form of radioactive waste.

The sector has seen increased investment over recent years, with several firms vying to be the first to develop a viable fusion reactor. Earlier this month, Commonwealth Fusion Systems, which has gained the backing of both Microsoft and Google, announced it had raised more than $1 billion.

Despite the vast capital commitments to the sector, there remains doubt over whether fusion can be successfully commercialized, with most estimates falling in the mid-2040s. At present, no company or state has successfully built a fusion reactor that has achieved net power.