After crossing the $15 billion cumulative investment milestone in late 2025, the fusion industry entered 2026 with a fundamentally different capital structure. No longer a collection of isolated lab experiments, fusion investment is now forming a full industrial stack. Here are the five key investment trends defining the fusion industry in 2026.

What comes after building the fusion power plant? It’s just the beginning. From achieving net energy gain to earning public trust, the road ahead remains long and complex. Here are the five biggest challenges fusion must overcome before it can truly power the world.

As fusion energy races toward commercialization, the spotlight often shines on breakthroughs inside the reactor. But the real challenge may lie outside the core, in the infrastructure, workforce, supply chains, and financing systems that will turn scientific success into global impact. Here's why the future of clean energy depends on more than science.