Google-backed nuclear fusion company TAE Technologies has merged with President Donald Trump's social media firm, Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), in a $6 billion deal.

The new company is expected to encompass several businesses, including Truth Social, TAE Power Solutions, and TAE Life Sciences. Upon closing, shareholders of each company will own approximately 50 percent of the combined company.

As part of the transaction, TMTG has agreed to provide up to $200 million in cash to TAE at signing, with an additional $100m available upon the initial filing of the Form S-4.

Devin Nunes, TMTG chairman and CEO, and Dr. Michl Binderbauer, TAE CEO and director, plan to serve as co-CEOs of the combined company.

“Trump Media & Technology Group built uncancellable infrastructure to secure free expression online for Americans, and now we’re taking a big step forward toward a revolutionary technology that will cement America’s global energy dominance for generations. Fusion power will be the most dramatic energy breakthrough since the onset of commercial nuclear energy in the 1950s—an innovation that will lower energy prices, boost supply, ensure America’s A.I.-supremacy, revive our manufacturing base, and bolster national defense. TMTG brings the capital and public market access to quickly move TAE’s proven technology to commercial viability,” said Nunes.

Following the merger, the company intends to site and begin construction on the world’s first utility-scale fusion power plant, expected to have a capacity of approximately 50MW. Following this, the company plans to build additional plants with a capacity of between 350 and 500MW.

Fusion is becoming increasingly popular amongst the hyperscalers who are backing the technology with a view to it becoming a low-carbon energy source going forward. TAE first gained backing from Google in 2015, with the company partnering with other companies to collaborate on advancing fusion technology through the use of machine learning, something we profiled back in 2019.

Following this in June, TAE raised more than $150m with the backing of Google to support the development of its first reactor. Since its inception, the company has raised more than $1.3bn in equity capital.

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.

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.

In addition to its fusion business, TAE has two partially-owned subsidiaries, TAE Power Solutions and TAE Life Sciences. TAE Power partnered with Bitcoin mining firm MARA in June to develop a high-frequency, real-time responsive load management system to meet energy demands from the AI and high-performance computing data center sector.