Trump Media to merge with nuclear fusion company TAE
“We are taking a major step toward a revolutionary technology that will cement America’s global energy dominance for generations,” Nunes said in a prepared statement.
TAE focuses on nuclear fusion, a technology that combines two light atomic nuclei to form a single heavy atomic nucleus. It releases enormous amounts of energy, a process that occurs in the sun and other stars, according to the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency.
TAE and Trump Media shareholders will each own approximately 50 percent of the combined company.
Nuclear fusion is seen as a promising solution to climate change caused by burning fossil fuels, but it is a long way off compared to today’s clean technologies such as wind and solar.Credit: access point
In October, the U.S. Department of Energy released what it called a “road map” for fusion technology with the goal of promoting “a fusion private sector industry evolving to maturity in the United States on the fastest timeline.” A number of tech companies, including Google, Microsoft and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, have expressed interest in fusion technology as a way to power power-hungry data centers needed to build and run AI products.
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Andrew Holland, CEO of the Fusion Industry Association, said Thursday that a new source of funding and the creation of a publicly traded nuclear fusion company “can only be a positive” because any technological breakthrough is a function of time and resources.
He added that this allows TAE to move forward and establish its pilot plant as quickly as possible at a yet-to-be-announced location.
“It is exciting for any of our member companies to raise new capital and secure a path to building a fusion-powered future, which is our ultimate goal,” Holland said.
Holland said fusion is the technology that can meet the huge energy demands of artificial intelligence. That’s because fusion is a clean, safe and sustainable energy that can be scaled when commercialized, he said.
Before this deal, $10 billion had been raised globally by private fusion companies racing to make fusion commercially viable for the first time, Holland said. The vast majority of fundraising and development occurs in the United States.
Republican congressman Devin Nunes, who resigned in 2021 to become CEO of Trump Media, will be co-CEO of the new company along with TAE CEO Michl Binderbauer.Credit: access point
Holland said the Trump administration has said it strongly supports fusion but has not yet provided new financial support.
Holland said that in the association’s surveys of the industry, companies expect to see fusion energy on the power grid in the 2030s, with most expecting it in the first half of the 2030s.
TAE and Trump Media say the transaction values each TAE stock at $53.89 per share.
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Upon closing, Trump Media & Technology Group, along with its subsidiaries TAE Power Solutions and TAE Life Sciences, will become the holding company for Truth Social and TAE.
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