# Fusion Startup Inertia Raises $450 Million; Pacific Fusion finds cheaper path forward; Helion reaches 150 million degrees Celsius Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/fusion-news-2296831/fusion-startup-inertia-raises-450-million-pacific-fusion-finds-cheaper-path-forward-helion-reaches-150-million-degrees-celsius Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/fusion-news-2296831/fusion-startup-inertia-raises-450-million-pacific-fusion-finds-cheaper-path-forward-helion-reaches-150-million-degrees-celsius.md Podcast: [Fusion News](https://stenobird.com/podcast/fusion-news-2296831) Published: 2026-02-18T09:00:00+00:00 Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fusionindustry/episodes/Fusion-Startup-Inertia-Raises-450-Million-Pacific-Fusion-finds-cheaper-path-forward-Helion-reaches-150-million-degrees-Celsius-e3f7cnd Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/48e20d54/podcast/play/115634349/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-1-17%2Fc0035f70-3862-bb23-186a-bede0e2d5eff.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/fusion-news-2296831/episodes/fusion-startup-inertia-raises-450-million-pacific-fusion-finds-cheaper-path-forward-helion-reaches-150-million-degrees-celsius Duration seconds: 616 ## Resource Dr. Cyd Cowley, working at the intersection of fusion and AI at FIA affiliate member digiLab, gives today's global fusion news update. Links to all of the stories mentioned are included below. 1. Fusion Startup Raises $450 Million in Bid to Make Power Using World’s Biggest Lasers https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-02-11/nuclear-fusion-startup-raises-450-million-to-make-power-with-lasers 2. Who Will Be First To Unlock Nuclear Fusion? https://www.forbes.com/sites/drewbernstein/2026/02/12/who-will-be-first-to-unlock-nuclear-fusion/ 3. Pacific Fusion finds a cheaper way to make its fusion reactor work https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/05/pacific-fusion-finds-a-cheaper-way-to-make-its-fusion-reactor-work/ 4. Fusion startup Helion hits blistering temps as it races toward 2028 deadline https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/13/fusion-startup-helion-hits-blistering-temps-as-it-races-toward-2028-deadline/ Bonus: https://stepfusion.com/step-fusion-milestone-remountable-magnet-technology-passes-major-tests/ https://bluedotliving.com/can-fusion-energy-really-power-the-future-with-alex-creely-commonwealth-fusion-systems/ ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/fusion-news-2296831/episodes/fusion-startup-inertia-raises-450-million-pacific-fusion-finds-cheaper-path-forward-helion-reaches-150-million-degrees-celsius/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/fusion-news-2296831/fusion-startup-inertia-raises-450-million-pacific-fusion-finds-cheaper-path-forward-helion-reaches-150-million-degrees-celsius.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.