All posts tagged: Helion

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman exits Helion Energy’s board as firms explore partnership

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman exits Helion Energy’s board as firms explore partnership

Published by Sam Flores

March 23 : OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman said on Monday he has stepped down from the board of directors of Helion Energy, the fusion startup he has backed since 2015, as the companies start to explore working together “at significant scale”. Altman, who is also on the OpenAI board, said the dual roles had become untenable as the ChatGPT maker eyes future partnerships with Helion. In a post on social media platform X, Altman added that he will have a financial interest in Helion and will recuse himself from any deal negotiations. “Sam has played an integral role in Helion’s development… I look forward to working with (Altman) in this new capacity,” Helion CEO David Kirtley said in an X post separately. OpenAI is also in advanced talks to buy electricity from Helion Energy, Axios reported on Monday, citing a person familiar with the situation. Under the terms being discussed, OpenAI could secure a guaranteed portion of Helion’s production, initially 12.5 per cent, with talks centering on OpenAI receiving the equivalent of 5 gigawatts …

Fusion startup Helion hits blistering temps as it races toward 2028 deadline

Fusion startup Helion hits blistering temps as it races toward 2028 deadline

Published by skeptic

The Everett, Washington-based fusion energy startup Helion announced Friday that it has hit a key milestone in its quest for fusion power. Plasmas inside the company’s Polaris prototype reactor have reached 150 million degrees Celsius, three-quarters of the way toward what the company thinks it will need to operate a commercial fusion power plant. “We’re obviously really excited to be able to get to this place,” David Kirtley, Helion’s co-founder and CEO, told TechCrunch. Polaris is also operating using deuterium-tritium fuel — a mixture of two hydrogen isotopes — which Kirtley said makes Helion the first fusion company to do so. “We were able to see the fusion power output increase dramatically as expected in the form of heat,” he said. The startup is locked in a race with several other companies that are seeking to commercialize fusion power, potentially unlimited source of clean energy. That potential has investors rushing to bet on the technology. This week, Inertia Enterprises announced a $450 million Series A round that included Bessemer and GV. In January, Type One …