📍 Nuclear fusion just moved from science project to strategic infrastructure. ⸻ Hey Builders! Heading into the final stretch of 2025, a signal emerged that has far bigger implications than most climate headlines or quarterly energy forecasts: Fusion energy is no longer being treated as a distant breakthrough — it’s being positioned as future-critical infrastructure. The renewed momentum isn’t coming from idealism. It’s coming from pressure. Data centers, AI systems, and cloud infrastructure are driving demand for always-on, energy-dense power. At the same time, grid constraints, geopolitical risk, and carbon targets are exposing the limits of today’s energy mix. Even US President Donald Trump’s social media company surprised markets by announcing plans in late 2025 to merge with fusion developer TAE Technologies — a move that signals how broad the strategic interest has become. This isn’t about climate optics. It’s about control, resilience, and long-run economic leverage. ⸻ 🗞 Top Story — Fusion’s Comeback Reveals the New Rules of Energy Power For decades, fusion lived in the realm of “eventually.” Promising, but perpetually out of reach. That framing is changing. What’s happening now shows how power is shifting toward actors willing to invest in capability long before certainty arrives. 1️⃣ Energy demand is being redefined by AI and compute Fusion interest is rising not because it’s cheap today, but because future compute-driven economies require uninterrupted, high-density power that intermittent sources alone can’t provide. 2️⃣ Capital is moving upstream into foundational systems More than 50 fusion companies now operate globally, having raised roughly $9.8B as of mid-2025 — more than double the total just three years earlier (Fusion Industry Association). 3️⃣ Big Tech is buying optionality, not electrons Companies like Microsoft and Google have signed long-term agreements for future fusion power, despite knowing commercial delivery is years away. This is about access and positioning, not short-term supply (Bloomberg). 4️⃣ Governments are reframing fusion as energy security The US created a new Office of Fusion in November, while China and Europe continue to fund long-horizon fusion programs. ITER, the world’s largest fusion experiment, is now expected to be fully operational around 2039, with costs exceeding $25B (Bloomberg). ⸻ ⚡ Quick Briefs — What This Means for the Economy ▪️ Fusion differs fundamentally from nuclear fission: it produces no long-lived radioactive waste and carries no meltdown risk, making it politically and geographically more flexible (Bloomberg). ▪️ Scientific breakthroughs like the 2022–2023 ignition milestone proved the core physics works — but scaling remains the challenge. ▪️ Optimists project grid delivery within 10 years; many experts expect 20–30 years, placing fusion beyond 2050 climate timelines but squarely inside post-2050 power planning. ▪️ Regions hosting data centers are emerging as early fusion demand hubs, reshaping local energy and land-use economics. This is not an energy transition story. It’s a systems-capacity story. ⸻ 🧱 Builder Insight The future of energy advantage won’t be decided by who generates the most megawatts today. It will be shaped by who controls: 1️⃣ Long-duration power capacity 2️⃣ The infrastructure stack supporting AI and compute 3️⃣ The patience to invest before returns are visible 4️⃣ The geographic nodes where energy, talent, and data converge Fusion isn’t about flipping a switch tomorrow. It’s about shaping the constraints of the next economic era. ⸻ 🎬 Closing Thought Fusion may not power the grid next year — or even next decade. But the behavior around it has already changed. Capital, policy, and technology leaders are treating fusion as a strategic hedge against an energy-constrained future. And in every cycle, those who secure optionality early tend to define the rules later. The real question for 2026 and beyond isn’t “Will fusion work?” It’s “Who is positioning themselves inside the systems it will eventually power?” ⸻ 💬 Quote of the Day “The future belongs to those who prepare for it today.” — Malcolm X ⸻ ⚡ OHUBNext Daily Brief — investments, edge tech, and moves that matter. For 12+ years, OHUB has been building pathways to multigenerational wealth through exposure, skills, entrepreneurship, capital markets, and inclusive ecosystems.