Donald Trump’s loss-making social media business has announced plans to merge with a fusion power company.
Trump Media and Technology Group, owner of the US president’s minnow Truth Social platform, unveiled an extraordinary merger worth more than $6bn with TAE Technologies, combining its social media operation with a vast bet on the AI boom driving a surge in energy demand.
TMTG intends to start building “the world’s first utility-scale fusion power plant” next year, it said, in an effort to use the experimental technology to power the huge datacenters behind the development of AI.
Shares in TMTG surged 27% during early trading in New York on Thursday.
Shareholders of TMTG and TAE Technologies will each own about 50% of the combined entity after the deal is completed. The companies expect this to take place in mid-2026.
TAE, backed by Alphabet’s Google and Chevron, the oil giant, is aiming to develop and sell next-generation neutral beam systems for fusion and related applications in a more cost-effective manner.
Nuclear fusion refers to a nascent technology that aims to generate electricity by harnessing the process that powers the sun. It offers the vision of abundant energy without pollution, radioactive waste or greenhouse gases.
TMTG, meanwhile, has struggled to capitalize on its ownership of Trump’s Truth Social platform, which the president regularly updates with musings, announcements and attacks.
The firm reported sales of $927,900 for the three months to 30 September, down from just over $1.01m the previous year. Its losses also widened to $54.8m, from $19.2m in the same quarter of 2024.
Devin Nunes, chairman and CEO of TMTG, made the case for its planned combination of social media and fusion power.
“Trump Media & Technology Group built uncancellable infrastructure to secure free expression online for Americans, and now we’re taking a big step forward toward a revolutionary technology that will cement America’s global energy dominance for generations,” Nunes said in a statement. “Fusion power will be the most dramatic energy breakthrough since the onset of commercial nuclear energy in the 1950s – an innovation that will lower energy prices, boost supply, ensure America’s A.I.-supremacy, revive our manufacturing base and bolster national defense.”
TMTG “brings the capital and public market access to quickly move TAE’s proven technology to commercial viability”, he added.
The tech industry’s insatiable demand for electricity needed to run datacenters that power artificial intelligence technologies has renewed interest in nuclear power supply, including restarting fully shut reactors, expanding capacity and contracting for power from future small modular reactors.
The rising demand is also propelling the development of nuclear power plants, which is widely deemed to be a cleaner source of energy.
Nunes will serve as co-CEO of the new company, along with TAE’s CEO and director, Michl Binderbauer, the companies said, adding the deal was approved by the boards.
Dan Ives, tech analyst at Wedbush, said Trump Media would probably be “now all about TAE”, despite the deal technically being a 50:50 merger between the two firms. “TAE will also clearly have major political support from President Trump in our view and this importantly will create a major nuclear fusion US energy domestic bet over the coming years,” added Ives.
Reuters contributed reporting
