IMPOSSIBLE SCI-FI-TEK MEETS THE GRIFTER
Trump’s Truth Social Merges With Nuclear Fusion Company in $6 Billion Deal
- Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), the operator of Truth Social, has agreed to an all-stock merger with nuclear fusion firm TAE Technologies, valued at roughly $6 billion.
- The deal is a strategic pivot to address the massive electricity demand from the artificial intelligence sector, transforming the social media company into a vertically integrated tech and energy giant.
- The new entity plans to build a 50-megawatt fusion pilot plant starting in 2026, marking an attempt to become one of the first publicly traded commercial fusion energy firms.
Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), the operator of Truth Social, announced Thursday it has reached a definitive agreement to merge with TAE Technologies in an all-stock deal valued at roughly $6 billion. The move effectively turns a social media company into a deep-tech player, targeting the massive power requirements of the artificial intelligence boom.
The deal, which is set to close in mid-2026, would create one of the first publicly traded fusion energy firms. TMTG is putting up $200 million in cash at signing and another $100 million when the merger paperwork is officially filed.
For TMTG, the deal offers a bridge to the physical infrastructure world. For TAE, it provides a massive cash injection and a direct path to the Nasdaq.
The tie-up comes as the tech world faces an increasingly desperate hunt for electricity. AI data centers are devouring power at rates the current U.S. grid was never designed to handle. This has sparked a "nuclear renaissance" among big tech firms; Microsoft recently signed a deal to help revive the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania, while Amazon has been buying up data center sites located right next to existing reactors.
Unlike traditional nuclear fission, which splits atoms, TAE focuses on fusion, the same process that powers the sun. It has long been considered the "holy grail" of energy because it creates almost no long-term waste and cannot suffer a meltdown. The catch has always been the timeline; scientists have been promising commercial fusion for decades without quite getting it to the finish line.
TAE says it is finally ready. Based in California and backed by more than $1.3 billion from the likes of Google and Chevron, the company plans to start building a 50-megawatt pilot plant in 2026. If that works, they intend to scale up to much larger 350- to 500-megawatt facilities.
The deal essentially bets that the future of tech is as much about the "pipes" and the power as it is about the platforms. By bringing TAE Power Solutions, a subsidiary that builds energy storage for data centers, under the same roof as Truth Social, TMTG is attempting to build a vertically integrated tech and energy giant.
Despite the $6 billion valuation, the merger is not without risk. Nuclear fusion remains one of the most difficult engineering challenges on the planet. While TAE has operated five experimental reactors over 25 years, moving to a utility-scale plant is a massive leap that will face intense regulatory scrutiny and technical hurdles.
If the 2026 construction goal holds, the company would be moving at a pace rarely seen in the nuclear industry. The deal still requires the green light from shareholders and federal regulators before it can close.
For now, the merger stands as one of the most unusual bets in the energy sector. It suggests that the next phase of the "AI revolution" might not be won by the companies building the software, but by whoever can figure out how to keep the lights on.
By Michael Kern for Oilprice.com
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