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While the world fights over chips, one company is building the power supply to run them all. In this episode of The Generalist, I'm joined by Bob Mumgaard, CEO and co-founder of Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), and Vinod Khosla, legendary venture capitalist and founder of Khosla Ventures. With over 800 employees and $2 billion in funding, CFS has accelerated the timeline for commercial fusion from being perpetually "30 years away" to potentially just a few years out. If CFS succeeds, it will unlock limitless clean energy for humanity, powering everything from AI to water desalination.
In our conversation, we explore:
How fusion could transform everything from AI to water desalination and agriculture
The fundamental science behind fusion energy and how it differs from traditional nuclear fission
The breakthrough in magnet technology that changed the timeline for fusion
The strategic approach of partnering with existing power plant operators to rapidly scale fusion deployment
Why fusion is essential for powering AI and other energy-intensive innovations
CFS’s method for creating fusion using magnetic fields
The final hurdles to completing SPARC, the company’s demonstration reactor
The six-stage roadmap for fusion development, where CFS currently stands, and when they expect to begin delivering power to the grid
What clean energy could make possible for future technologies and industries
The geopolitical implications of a world with abundant clean energy
Much more
Explore the episode
Timestamps
(00:00) Intro
(04:13) An overview of fusion energy, and why it’s so important
(08:23) The connection between AI and fusion energy
(10:20) How Bob became interested in fusion
(13:06) The importance of entrepreneurs in bringing crazy ideas to life
(14:55) The advancement in magnets that caused the leap in fusion technology
(17:33) The extreme conditions required for fusion
(19:46) What made Vinod interested in funding CFS
(21:30) The alternatives that CFS looked at if the magnet hadn’t worked
(25:18) Different methods for creating fusion
(27:43) Bob’s entrepreneurial lens for fusion at scale
(31:52) CFS’s strategy of partnering with existing power infrastructure
(35:32) An overview of ARC and SPARC
(40:03) Final hurdles to complete SPARC
(42:29) The six-stage roadmap for fusion development
(46:11) What clean energy unlocks
(48:06) Entrepreneurial opportunities for supporting fusion power
(50:43) Final meditations
Follow Vinod Khosla
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vinod-khosla-65387416/
Follow Bob Mumgaard
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mumgaard/
Resources and episode mentions
Books
Unweaving The Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder: https://www.amazon.com/Unweaving-Rainbow-Science-Delusion-Appetite/dp/0618056734
The Intel Trinity: How Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore, and Andy Grove Built the World's Most Important Company: https://www.amazon.com/Intel-Trinity-Robert-Important-Company/dp/0062226762
People
Elon Musk on X: https://x.com/elonmusk
Other resources
Commonwealth Fusion Systems: https://cfs.energy/
Sun Microsystems: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Microsystems
OpenAI: https://openai.com/
Moore’s Law: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore%27s_law
The Hunt for Red October: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099810/
Magnetohydrodynamic drive: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetohydrodynamic_drive
ITER: https://www.iter.org/
ARC: Putting fusion energy on the grid: https://cfs.energy/technology/arc
SPARC: Proving commercial fusion energy is possible: https://cfs.energy/technology/sparc
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