"Many small suns." That's how Alexander Galitsky envisions the future of fusion energy—a future where clean, abundant energy is accessible to all. Fusion, the process that powers the Sun and other stars, involves combining nuclei to produce extraordinary amounts of energy in the form of heat and light. It's the same thing that scientists want to achieve here on Earth, and artificial intelligence may illuminate new paths.
As a highly impactful entrepreneur, Alexander Galitsky constantly seeks innovative ways to tackle complex challenges. Before founding Almaz Capital, he invested in EverNote, NavMaps, Acronis, Parallels, and other cutting-edge technology companies. He also created and served as the chief executive officer for a few successful firms, ELVIS+, ELVIS Telecom, EzWIM, and Trustworks Systems, and pioneered Wi-Fi and VPN technology and product development. After founding Almaz, Galitsky continued to invest in transformative companies like Element Energy and Clickhouse.
This vision of accessible clean energy is part of Galitsky's broader commitment to solving global challenges. As a technology investor and entrepreneur, he has consistently backed innovations that address critical human needs—from supporting the B612 Foundation's work on asteroid detection to launching a Track and Trace project after discovering that hundreds of thousands of children work in Ivory Coast cocoa plantations without ever tasting chocolate themselves. Track and Trace is especially important because old logistic and supply systems in countries like Ivory Coast leverage "old fashion" quality control for products and corrupt distribution supply chains.
But it was his travels through Africa and Madagascar that crystallized his focus on energy accessibility as a fundamental driver of human potential.
Unlike traditional energy sources like oil, coal, or even nuclear fission, fusion produces no harmful byproducts such as radioactive waste or greenhouse gases. It's clean, efficient, and incredibly powerful. In fact, research indicates that fusion can create much more energy than other energy sources—up to four million times more than burning coal or oil and four times more than fission.
Despite fusion's potential, the technology isn't yet as advanced as its promise suggests. While scientists have made promising breakthroughs, the facilities to conduct tests on fusion have historically been a challenge, confining the new technologies—and related research efforts—to massive, billion-dollar reactors that haven't yet balanced energy production and consumption. These big, centralized systems are far from Galitsky's vision of small, accessible, compact fusion devices that could democratize energy access and transform lives, especially in regions where reliable electricity is scarce.
The Big Idea: Fusion Energy and AI's Role
With advancements in technology, particularly artificial intelligence, accessible and compact fusion devices accessible seem increasingly feasible. These efforts reflect the same spirit of accessibility and innovation that once defined the IT revolution, putting the future of energy within reach of more hands and minds.
It offers an instructive parallel, too. What was once thought of as impossible became reality within roughly a decade. Now, with AI accelerating technological progress, fusion energy could follow a similar trajectory.
The convergence of AI and fusion energy might seem unexpected, given they represent very different technologies and sectors. However, AI's rapid evolution and growing capabilities suggest powerful applications in fusion research and development. While current AI applications like ChatGPT have captured public attention, the technology's potential existential extends far beyond generative language models.
Deep learning AI is already transforming multiple industries, from self-driving cars and facial recognition phones to sophisticated chatbots and personalized shopping recommendations. These advances hint at AI's broader potential to accelerate scientific breakthroughs, including in fusion energy development.
Practical Applications and Synergy
AI's role in advancing fusion energy takes three primary forms, each demonstrating the practical synergy between these technologies.
AI supports real-time optimization in nuclear fusion technology. Like an airplane's autopilot system making thousands of micro-adjustments per second, AI systems maintain stable plasma conditions in fusion reactors. This AI oversight acts as a guardian angel, predicting potential issues before they occur and automatically adjusting operations.
AI's deep learning models create massive opportunities for enhanced design and testing. They can output detailed simulations of the fusion environment, letting scientists test adjustments virtually before implementation. AI-driven simulations are transforming how scientists design fusion reactors and develop materials that can withstand extreme conditions.
AI's deep learning capabilities are transforming how researchers work, too. Machine learning models can process vast experimental datasets in hours rather than weeks or months, helping researchers understand complex phenomena like burning plasmas. When existing data proves insufficient—a common challenge in fusion research—AI can generate synthetic data to fill crucial gaps.
This acceleration is particularly significant given fusion energy's decades-long timeline. From initial theories in the 1930s to the development of fusion machines in the 1950s, progress has been limited by researchers' ability to process and learn from experimental data. Now, AI algorithms can rapidly analyze results and suggest adjustments, dramatically speeding up the research cycle.
According to Galitsky, AI has important applications in low-energy fusion, as its computing capabilities far exceed that of humans. AI and GPU computation are capable of creating detailed simulations of the exact fusion environment, making it possible for scientists to see how various material configurations are likely to affect the reaction. AI could also speed up the path to fusion with real-time plasma control systems. Some of the large Tokamak projects are already using AI successfully, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has held conferences on the topic.
Despite the benefits of AI in the fusion environment, scientists face some challenges when incorporating it into their research projects. Galitsky notes that AI is constrained by data and energy demands, so solving the energy challenges of fusion could speed up the development of AI. Unlocking fusion energy would also help scientists reach the ambitious goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
As Galitsky explains, "Scientists will not need to wait years to get access to the huge fusion reactor to prove the theoretical idea. The collection of data and AI will bring us even closer to industrial results and the implications of the new safe energy for life on the planet."
Future of Materials and Design
Technological hurdles continue to stall the accessibility of compact fusion reactors. In fact, apart from the large, traditional fusion reactors, there hasn't been any significant advancement in development. Traditional fusion reactors are, by default, not portable. That makes them more expensive to purchase, complicated to install, and difficult to access, given safety and security concerns. Additionally, scientists haven't been fully able to develop materials that can withstand fusion conditions (which require a lot of heat) for years. AI's machine and deep learning models can help solve these issues.
Much like how computer-aided design revolutionized architecture and engineering, AI-driven simulations are transforming how scientists design fusion reactors and develop new materials. These tools allow researchers to test thousands of material combinations virtually before physical prototyping begins.
Global and Human-Centric Impacts
For Galitsky, the urgency of this vision became clear during his travels in Madagascar and the African continent, where he saw children studying outside in the dim light of the early morning sunlight because they didn't have access to reliable electricity. This underscored the profound impact that energy equality has on education, opportunity, and quality of life.
That's what led Galitsky to invest in and advise Alpha Ring, a company pioneering the development of compact fusion reactors dedicated to generating a clean, safe, and affordable form of energy. "I was impressed by Alpha Ring technology and its compact device. I saw that it could solve the energy problem for many countries mixed up in war conflicts and natural disasters," says Galitsky.
To achieve their goals, the team at Alpha Ring is collaborating closely with governments in the United States, Brazil, Taiwan, Bulgaria, Monaco, and other countries. The firm also has partnerships with top universities, including Berkeley, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and University of California, Los Angeles. EEI, TQ, Formosa, and other private companies have already pledged their support to Alpha Ring, confirming that aneutronic proton-boron fusion has the potential to revolutionize the energy industry.
Alpha Ring's work aligns seamlessly with Galitsky's vision. Their Micro Fusion Reactor, a proprietary technology aimed at enabling the commercialization of clean energy, takes a different approach to nuclear fusion. It uses aneutronic fusion, which produces helium as its only byproduct, avoiding the dangerous ionizing radiation found in other approaches.
One standout innovation from Alpha Ring is Alpha–E, an educational device designed for safe, hands-on exploration of fusion energy. By allowing students and researchers to "play with the future of energy right on the lab tabletop," as Galitsky puts it, the device fosters broader access to the tools needed for progress.
Galitsky sees the potential for a number of practical applications of these small devices. He imagines a miniature nuclear reactor at each house, giving civilians access to power in spite of government unrest, weather challenges, or natural disasters. Similarly, in areas where it's difficult to build energy pipes—due to geographical limitations or lack of resources like gas and oil to drill and lay the groundwork—a device like this could make a big difference.
There's a fusion application for medical purposes, too. When surgeons use these beams, which Galitsky describes as "small and precise," they can minimize damage to surrounding healthy tissue, which could be game-changing in removing tumors, directly attacking cancer, and more. "You can't use a multibillion atomic station to do small medical stuff, but small reactors can do it," Galitsky says. The devices may be small, but the potential is huge.
AI as a Catalyst for Rapid Iteration
This same principle of making fusion technology more accessible and practical through miniaturization extends to the research process itself.
These compact fusion devices, combined with AI capabilities, essentially create a "lab-on-a-chip" for physicists. Just as microprocessors miniaturized computing power, these devices miniaturized fusion experimentation, allowing researchers to conduct tests that once required massive facilities.
This miniaturization, coupled with AI's rapid processing capabilities, represents a fundamental shift in how fusion research can progress from here. Instead of waiting months or years for access to large reactors, researchers can run experiments quickly and iteratively on smaller devices. This approach mirrors the transformation in information technology and computing. Just as PCs allowed programmers to test and refine code without having to rely on massive mainframe computers, compact fusion devices let scientists rapidly test and validate their theories.
The implications are profound. Each small-scale experiment generates valuable data that AI can analyze, leading to quick adjustments and new experiments. This rapid iteration cycle of testing, analyzing, adjusting, and repeating could compress decades of research into years, accelerating the path to practical fusion energy.
"Scientists will not need to wait years to get access to the huge fusion reactor to prove the theoretical idea," explains Galitsky. "Collection of the data and AI will bring us even closer to industrial results and implication of the new safe energy in life on the planet."
A Bright Future for Fusion
Solving current fusion challenges with AI has the potential to unlock the cleanest form of energy available. Galitsky states, "AI supports better energy distribution management and decentralized energy systems by analyzing past usage data and predicting future needs. This capability allows for effective utilization and distribution of fusion energy, ensuring power is delivered where and when it's needed most."
But while AI is illuminating the path to fusion energy, the relationship works both ways. As Galitsky notes, "AI is constrained by data and energy demands, so solving the energy challenges of fusion could speed up the development of AI."
As of 2022, statistics indicated that AI used just under 2 percent of global electricity. That was only two years ago, but with the recent boom of AI, this figure has definitely grown and will continue to grow with the increasing demand for access to AI tools. Notably, USA giants like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and others have started relying on "modern" old dirty nuclear power stations to meet the energy demands of their AI computing facilities. As such, fusion energy, with its promise of creating clean and large amounts of energy, can contribute to faster and better AI models in a short period.
Fusion energy is definitely the future—and so is AI. A future where the two coexist and pour into each other's cups is essential. So, what should come first between the two?
For Galitsky, the answer is both. "Recent breakthroughs in fusion have been as a result of AI. If we're to achieve better outcomes with the possibility of a carbon-free economy, more advancements in AI are a must," he explains. "The same goes for creating better AI models, seeing as this technology requires so much energy to run."
The coming together of AI and fusion energy represents more than just technological progress—it offers a vision of a world where clean, abundant energy is as accessible to all. As Galitsky sees it, we're not just advancing two technologies but building the foundation of a future where energy scarcity becomes obsolete, and every community could have its own "small sun" powered by AI and nuclear fusion to light the way forward.
