The first publicly listed "nuclear fusion" company: General Fusion, supported by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos

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The nuclear fusion sector is witnessing a historic moment.

This Friday, General Fusion completed its SPAC merger with Spring Valley Acquisition Corp III, with a company valuation of $724 million, a financing scale of up to $338 million, and will officially be listed on Nasdaq next Monday.

This Canadian company has received support from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who has participated in multiple rounds of funding over the past 15 years.

CEO Greg Twinney told the Financial Times that companies that enter the public market first are often able to "dominate the narrative", defining investors' expectations for commercial fusion companies.

He also pointed out that, as there are currently no publicly listed competitors, the company will be able to access a "larger" group of investors. "There’s only one, and that’s us."

However, just before the listing, a recent scientific paper published by the company has sparked a new round of doubts about whether its technological approach can advance commercialization. Many in the market also questioned the company’s motivation to go public now rather than continue seeking private funding.

A Unique "Steampunk" Approach

Unlike most nuclear fusion startups, which adopt the tokamak design, General Fusion has chosen a completely different technological path.

Tokamak fusion is a ring device using magnetic confinement to achieve controlled nuclear fusion. Its main structure includes superconducting toroidal coils, poloidal coils, and a double-layer vacuum chamber, using a helical magnetic field to confine high-temperature plasma to achieve fusion reactions.

General Fusion, however, uses a mechanical piston to rapidly contract a liquid metal cavity, compressing magnetized plasma.

Dan Brunner, advisor at consulting firm Future Tech Partners and former CTO of Commonwealth Fusion Systems, called this method "steampunk", and believes that compared with the more mature tokamak approach, this path has greater uncertainty.

General Fusion is currently testing its Lawson Machine 26 prototype in Vancouver to verify economic feasibility and plans to build an operational commercial fusion plant by the mid-2030s.

Technical Progress Questioned by Experts

Brunner gave a stern assessment of the company's latest scientific results.

He said that General Fusion’s latest results are "far from" the targets required for building a commercially viable device, and bluntly stated that the company’s commercialization timeline is "unconvincing".

Specifically, Brunner noted that the paper shows the company's plasma compression failed to increase ion temperatures to adequate levels, meaning energy continues to be lost through thermal leakage, which is one of the core challenges of achieving commercial fusion power generation.

In response, Tony Donné, chairman of General Fusion’s Technical Advisory Committee and former CEO of EUROfusion, offered a different view.

He believes that low ion temperature is not an inherent flaw of the prototype’s design, but rather the result of prematurely publishing the paper. He said the company was under "pressure" to disclose progress before its IPO, leading to the early release of these results. Donné stated that the temperature issue is "under investigation" and expects follow-up tests to show improvement.

General Fusion, for its part, said it remains confident in its development trajectory.

Competition Intensifies in Fusion Sector

General Fusion’s listing did not go entirely smoothly.

General Fusion announced layoffs of one-quarter of its workforce in 2025 due to a funding shortfall, though CEO Greg Twinney said that most employees had been rehired after the new round of investment was secured.

Many investors, executives, and market observers suspect that General Fusion’s choice to go public is partly because private funding channels have become increasingly difficult.

In response, Twinney argued that the company deliberately avoided "raising billions of dollars to build large scientific devices", instead opting for a more capital-efficient commercialization path. He emphasized:

Scientific milestones are just steps in the process, not the ultimate goal.

General Fusion’s listing reflects the intensifying fundraising race throughout the nuclear fusion industry. Over the past five years, the number of private fusion companies has more than doubled, competition is intensifying, and companies are scrambling to secure funds for ever more expensive experimental devices.

The aim of fusion technology is to mimic reactions inside the sun, fusing atomic nuclei in ultra-high temperature plasma to release energy, which is fundamentally different from fission nuclear power, and is seen by the industry as a low-carbon, almost limitless "holy grail" of energy.

However, private fusion companies have yet to prove that their systems can produce more energy than is needed to sustain the plasma. The old joke of "fusion is always 20 years away" has circulated in the industry for a long time.

General Fusion’s listing is the industry’s latest attempt to break this curse and achieve commercial viability. Whether it succeeds or not, the market will continue to judge.

Risk Warning and DisclaimerThe market entails risks; investment should be carried out cautiously. This article does not constitute personal investment advice and does not take into account any user's specific investment objectives, financial situation, or needs. Users should consider whether any opinions, views, or conclusions in this article fit their particular circumstances. Investment is at your own risk. ```