Google Bets Big on Nuclear Fusion With MIT Spinoff Commonwealth

Google is making a big bet on a power source that hasn’t yet been used successfully anywhere in the world: nuclear fusion. The tech company said on Monday that it will buy power from a planned nuclear fusion plant in Virginia developed by Commonwealth Fusion Systems, using technology based on research at M.I.T. Google will also increase an existing equity investment in Commonwealth, adding to the more than $2 billion the company has already raised. “It’s a world-changing technology, in our view,” said Michael Terrell, Google’s senior director for clean energy and carbon reduction, on a call with journalists.