Magnetized target fusion using mechanically compressed liquid metal liners. Went public on Nasdaq (GFUZ) on 10 Jul 2026 via SPAC with Spring Valley III (~$1B pro forma) — the first publicly traded pure-play fusion company.
General Fusion said its LM26 machine compressed a magnetized plasma to electron temperatures above 1 keV, about 12 million °C, measured by Thomson scattering, in results co-published on October 8 with the UK Atomic Energy Authority. It is the first of three LM26 milestones; the next is 10 keV. The shares rose sharply. The peer-reviewed paper is still pending.
General Fusion LM26, co-published with UKAEA — General Fusion's LM26 compressed a magnetized plasma to electron temperatures above 1 keV (about 12 million °C), with meaningful ion heating, reported on 8 Oct 2026 and co-published by the UK Atomic Energy Authority. Temperature was measured with Thomson scattering and absolute extreme-ultraviolet diagnostics. It follows the 0.72 keV compression result in June and is the first of three LM26 technical milestones; the next is 10 keV. The UKAEA co-publication puts a national fusion laboratory's name on the measurement, which is more than a company figure alone, but the peer-reviewed paper is still pending. 1 keV is far below the temperatures tokamaks routinely reach; the result matters for whether this cheaper, magnet-light approach can heat plasma by compression at all.
The FIA's 2026 industry report counts a record $4.48B raised by 56 fusion companies in the 12 months to July — up 69% on 2025 — taking cumulative funding to $14.24B (7x since 2021), with 16,000+ employed and all five $1B+ raisers US-based.
General Fusion — General Fusion completed its business combination with Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. III and began trading on Nasdaq as GFUZ (10 Jul 2026) — the first publicly traded pure-play fusion company. The de-SPAC (~$1B pro forma) was backed by a ~$107.5M PIPE plus trust proceeds.
General Fusion — General Fusion's LM26 magnetized-target machine mechanically compressed a magnetized plasma with a lithium liner, tripling electron temperature to ~8.4M°C (0.72 keV) — its first compressional-heating result, a concrete step on the in-progress path to a practical MTF demonstration (1 keV target next). Company-measured; results submitted for peer review.
Commonwealth Fusion Systems 
Proxima Fusion