China’s push to move fusion forward could threaten US, CEO warns

During the Cold War, the U.S. and the Soviet Union competed across nearly every arena, including space. 

The rivalry shifted dramatically on Oct. 4, 1957, when the U.S.S.R. launched Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite, officially ushering in the Space Age. Nearly 70 years later, the U.S. is facing a new technological race over fusion energy, and one CEO is warning Washington could be headed for another “Sputnik moment” as China accelerates.

“Fusion is at an inflection point,” Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) CEO Bob Mumgaard told FOX Business. “We’ve got foreign governments that are investing big, and we can start to see what the future fusion industry looks like, and it’s going to be an important industry in the world, especially in the intersection with AI.”

“The U.S. government, long a proponent of fusion, is not currently structured to be able to take advantage of the moment and really lead to energy dominance,” he added.

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President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping stand next to each other, as they hold a bilateral meeting at Gimhae International Airport, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, in Busan, South Korea, Oct. 3 (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters / Reuters)

Mumgaard sees China as the U.S.’s main competitor as Beijing ramps up investment and coordination around fusion energy.

In July, People’s Daily Online, the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) official newspaper, reported that Beijing had launched the China Fusion Energy Co. Ltd (CFEC), a subsidiary of the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC). The outlet said that the company had a registered capital of 15 billion yuan, or about $2.1 billion.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) noted in October that fusion energy development had “entered a decisive new phase,” emphasizing global activity in the industry. The agency referenced the work of 33 countries and thousands of engineers and scientists who are working together to build a tokamak, a doughnut-shaped magnetic fusion device. The collaboration is aimed at showing “the feasibility of fusion as a large-scale, carbon-free source of energy.”

Mumgaard acknowledges that the possible impacts of China winning the fusion energy race are difficult to measure, as the technology is unlike anything that has ever existed.

“We’ve never had an energy source quite like fusion before,” Mumgaard said. He emphasized that fusion, unlike other energy sources, did not require large amounts of land or underground infrastructure, making it revolutionary.

“It’s hard to know exactly how this will play out, but it is a big technological shift. And China, like every other country that would have fusion, would want to use it to power their economy,” the CEO added.