Secretary Chris Wright - Fusion, AI, and the Future

At the SCSP AI + Fusion Summit on October 14, 2025, U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Wright delivered the US DOE’s vision for America's energy future, placing fusion energy at the center of the nation's technological and economic strategy. His remarks revealed significant policy shifts, new initiatives, and urgent calls for increased investment in what he described as potentially transformative technologies for humanity.

He opened by announcing the release of the DOE's new Fusion Science and Technology Roadmap, developed under the leadership of Under Secretary of Science Dario Gil. This roadmap represents a fundamental shift in how the Department approaches fusion development, emphasizing synergistic partnerships with commercial entities rather than competitive duplication of efforts. "If they're building a big tokamak, we don't want to build the same big tokamak," Wright explained, highlighting the strategy to complement rather than compete with private sector innovations.

AI and Fusion Synergy

Wright emphasized the transformative synergy between artificial intelligence and fusion development. AI is enabling unprecedented modeling and control capabilities for fusion reactions, while fusion energy could eventually provide the massive power requirements needed for AI's continued growth. He described this relationship as mutually reinforcing, with AI serving as a "tremendous enabling technology for fusion" while fusion development would "supercharge the growth of AI." This technological convergence is attracting significant commercial investment and accelerating progress toward practical fusion energy.

"We're just at a different place today. Number one, we have AI, which I believe will be a tremendous enabling technology for fusion. Then the development of fusion will be an enabling technology for supercharging the growth of AI."  -Sec Chris Wright

China Fusion Investment

When asked about China’s fusion investment, he said, “You know they have four separate centers. They spent again, probably close to $10 billion, on major facilities under construction. They've got top scientific talent.” This massive investment, combined with China's reduced transparency about its progress, has created, as Wright characterized it, a serious competitive threat to U.S. leadership in fusion technology. The contrast is stark: China's government fusion expenditures now far exceed those of the United States, creating an urgent need for increased federal investment.

The Manhattan Project for AI Initiative

The Secretary provided updates on his Manhattan Project for AI, revealing remarkable progress in public-private partnerships. After issuing a call for data center development on national laboratory land, the DOE received over 300 responses from private companies. These partnerships involve companies building large data centers on lab property and dedicating approximately 20% of their computing capacity for scientific research, including fusion development. Wright announced that the first privately-funded AI for science data center could be operational by the end of 2025.

Materials Science: The Critical Challenge

A key technical challenge identified was the development of materials capable of withstanding high-energy neutron bombardment from fusion reactions. Wright emphasized that this is "a great national lab problem" that requires fundamental research benefiting all fusion approaches, whether magnetic or inertial confinement. The labs' role in solving these common challenges demonstrates why government investment remains critical even as private funding increases.

The Global Energy Imperative

Wright presented a sobering analysis of global energy needs, noting that while one billion people currently enjoy modern energy-intensive lifestyles, seven billion others desperately seek the same standard of living. He calculated that meeting this demand would require a 5X increase in per capita energy consumption for most of the world's population. Despite $5 trillion invested in wind and solar over 20 years, these sources accounted for only 2.6% of global primary energy in 2024, underscoring the need for breakthrough technologies like fusion.

Budget Battles and Strategic Priorities

Wright acknowledged the challenge of advocating for increased fusion funding amid pressure from the federal government to reduce spending. He revealed his strategy of cutting corporate subsidies for existing technologies—nearly $1 trillion over the next decade to free resources for transformative investments in AI, fusion, and quantum computing. "There are things we spend money on today that we should spend more on, not less on, even though we have a big budget deficit," he argued, placing fundamental science in this critical category.

Commercial Fusion Momentum Building

The private sector's enthusiasm for fusion has reached unprecedented levels, with billions of dollars flowing into companies pursuing diverse technological approaches. Wright noted that commercial money is "less patient" and "driving hard," creating a competitive environment that accelerates innovation. The combination of multiple technological pathways, magnetic, inertial, and electromagnetic, increases the likelihood of breakthrough success.

Wright concluded with strong assurances of President Trump's support for fusion development, promising upcoming announcements that would demonstrate this commitment. He projected more progress in fusion over the next 5-10 years than in all previous history combined, driven by the convergence of AI capabilities, commercial investment, international competition, and political will.

8 Key Takeaways

1. Fusion is now a top DOE priority, with a new strategic roadmap focused on complementing rather than competing with private-sector efforts.
2. China's $10 billion investment in fusion research since 2019 poses a serious competitive threat to U.S. technological leadership.
3. AI and fusion create a powerful synergy, with each technology accelerating the other's development potential.
4. Materials that can withstand high-energy neutrons remain a critical technical challenge requiring national lab research.
5. Global energy demand will require massive scaling beyond what current renewable technologies can provide.
6. Strategic budget reallocation from existing technology subsidies to transformative research is a key administration priority.
7. $10B in private-sector fusion investment has reached critical mass, with multiple technological approaches under development.
8. The following 5-10 years will see unprecedented progress in fusion, potentially exceeding all previous achievements in the field's history.

Secretary Wright's remarks paint a picture of fusion energy at an inflection point, where technological capability, commercial investment, and geopolitical necessity converge to create unprecedented opportunity and urgency for American leadership in what could be humanity's next significant energy transformation.