General Fusion squeezes plasma to 8.4M°C on LM26, then lists via SPAC

General Fusion bets mechanical compression, not magnets or lasers, makes fusion practical: LM26 first plasma in 2025, 8.4M°C heating, then a US$150M SPAC.

General Fusion

它在赌什么That mechanically compressing plasma with a lithium liner can reach fusion conditions using existing materials — no superconducting magnets or giant lasers.已上线

做的是什么生意

General Fusion builds magnetized target fusion machines: pistons mechanically compress a plasma inside a liquid-lithium liner to reach fusion conditions, aiming for practical, low-cost power plants.

启动资金：More than C$440M raised by August 2024 (~75% private, incl. Jeff Bezos); ~US$150M cash at its July 2026 SPAC close

起因

Founded in Vancouver in 2002, General Fusion spent two decades funding MTF research with private investors (including Jeff Bezos) and Canadian government agencies. The late-2022 National Ignition Facility gain demonstration reset the fusion market, and in 2023 the company launched LM26, a large-scale MTF machine it designed, built and began operating in under two years.

经过

LM26 was assembled in December 2024, achieved first plasma in February 2025, and first plasma compression in April 2025. In June 2026 General Fusion reported compressional heating to ~8.4 million °C (0.72 keV) — a more-than-3x electron-temperature rise — documented in a peer-reviewed paper on the first 11 compression shots. In July 2026 it closed a SPAC merger with Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. III, entering Nasdaq as GFUZ with ~US$150M in cash, the first publicly listed fusion company.

报道arXiv: compressional heating on LM26 新闻GF: LM26 compressional heating results 新闻Bloomberg: C$440M raised by 2024

结果

Still running and now public: LM26 continues toward its next milestone of 1 keV (10 million °C), then 10 keV, with the SPAC cash meant to carry the program through key milestones by 2028.

新闻General Fusion completes SPAC, lists as GFUZ

背景

General Fusion, founded in Vancouver in 2002, is betting that magnetized target fusion (MTF) — mechanically compressing a plasma with a lithium liner — can reach fusion conditions using existing materials, avoiding superconducting magnets and giant lasers. Its claim is cost and durability: machines that survive, at prices a utility can afford.

After two decades of private and government funding (more than C$440M by 2024, about 75% from private investors including Jeff Bezos), the company built LM26, the first MTF demonstration machine at commercially relevant scale — roughly 50% of a plant's diameter. LM26 was assembled in December 2024, reached first plasma in February 2025, and performed its first plasma compression in April 2025.

In June 2026 General Fusion reported compressional heating to ~8.4 million °C (0.72 keV), a more-than-3x electron-temperature rise, documented in a peer-reviewed paper on the first 11 compression shots. A month later it closed a SPAC merger with Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. III, listing on Nasdaq as GFUZ with ~US$150M in cash — the first publicly listed fusion company — to fund the run at 1 keV, then 10 keV.

这件事要成立，得有什么

MTF sidesteps the two most expensive fusion paths — superconducting magnets and giant lasers — so the company could build a large machine on a fraction of rivals' capital.
LM26 is purpose-built at 50% commercial scale, so each milestone (first plasma, compression, heating) is a directly scalable result rather than a lab curiosity.
The June 2026 peer-reviewed results gave the SPAC story real evidence: 3x temperature, 10x density and 10x magnetic field during mechanical compression.
The bet is still open: 0.72 keV is far from the 1 keV then 10 keV milestones, and net energy has not been shown.

可借鉴之处

Picking a physically awkward but cheap path — mechanical compression — bought decades of survival; a demo machine at half scale, not a full reactor, finally convinced public-market money to arrive.

后续进展

As of September 2026 General Fusion trades on Nasdaq as GFUZ with roughly US$150M in cash — the first listed fusion company — and is optimizing LM26 toward its 1 keV electron-temperature milestone, with funding planned through 2028. It still needs 1 keV, then 10 keV, then the Lawson criterion before a commercial plant around the mid-2030s.

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