Trump Media & Technology Group and TAE Technologies announced Thursday that they have agreed to a merger worth approximately $6 billion. Once the deal is completed, it could become one of the world’s first publicly traded nuclear fusion companies.
The merger is not expected to be completed until mid-2026, but the companies are already publicizing ambitious plans. According to a press release, the combined company is expected to commission the world’s first utility-scale fusion power plant in 2026. That plant is expected to produce 50 megawatts of energy, enough to power about 15,000 homes. The companies also said they plan to work on larger future plants that could produce between 350 and 500 megawatts.
“We are excited to identify our first site and deploy this revolutionary technology, which we expect to fundamentally transform America’s energy supply,” TAE CEO Michel Binderbauer said in the release.
Under the terms of the deal, Binderbauer will serve as co-CEO of the merged company alongside Trump Media CEO Devin Nunes.
Trump Media launched shortly after President Donald Trump’s first term in office. Initially rumored to be a television network, the company instead launched the social media platform Truth Social, which has struggled to gain traction with both users and advertisers. Since then, Trump Media has expanded into other ventures, including cryptocurrency.
Trump Media shares have fallen nearly 70% so far this year, although they jumped more than 20% in premarket trading after the merger was announced.
For its part, TAE Technologies was founded in 1998 and has raised more than $1 billion from major backers including Google, Chevron Technology Ventures and Goldman Sachs.
Unlike nuclear fission, the technique used in today’s nuclear power plants and producing long-term radioactive waste, fusion mimics the process that provides energy to the Sun. It works by combining atoms to release huge amounts of energy. In theory, fusion could use hydrogen as fuel, produce no greenhouse gas emissions, and pose no risk of melting. According to the University of Pennsylvania, one kilogram of fusion fuel can release about as much energy as 13,000 tons of coal.
The problem is that no one has yet built a fusion reactor or plant that reliably produces electricity on a commercial scale.
One of the biggest challenges of fusion is cost. Today, fusion is significantly more expensive than alternatives such as fossil fuels or renewable sources such as solar power. Nuclear fusion reactors also require advanced and expensive materials that can withstand the extreme temperatures and radiation generated during the fusion process. And while fusion depends on hydrogen isotopes for fuel, one of those isotopes is extremely rare in nature and expensive to produce.
Still, Binderbauer told investors on a call Thursday that the company plans to achieve “first power” by 2031.
TAE is not alone in presenting an aggressive timeline. Helion Energy, a fusion startup backed by Sam Altman, began construction this year on a fusion power plant it says will supply electricity to Microsoft data centers by 2028.
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