Cambridge Heavy Industries has been quietly building a desktop fusion device
Cambridge Heavy Industries is developing a compact, benchtop fusion reactor designed for rapid experimentation. By using a simplified laser-based ignition system, the startup aims to iterate designs quickly using AI-driven simulations.
Why it matters
Successful miniaturization of fusion technology could revolutionize clean energy production by making it more accessible and easier to iterate than massive industrial facilities.
Fusion power usually conjures images of massive industrial facilities laced with large lasers or magnets, but a startup in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has been quietly building a device that can fit on a tabletop.
The optics of the device were on display behind Yun Kai, co-founder and CEO of Cambridge Heavy Industries , while he chatted with me on a video call. The company has been operating in stealth out of a small lab near MIT, and Kai gave TechCrunch an exclusive look at the technology it has been developing.
“We purposely built a small modular reactor. It’s tiny, it’s benchtop,” he told me. “Because it’s small, it makes everything easier.”
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