MIT Professor Nuno Loureiro was shot and killed two days ago. He lead the MIT Plasma Science Department and was working with Commonwealth fusion. Commonwealth Fusion is one of the leading nuclear fusion startups. Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), a leading private fusion energy company spun out from MIT, has raised close to $3 billion in total private funding as of late 2025. This latest round supports completion of the SPARC demonstration machine (targeting net energy gain) and early work on the ARC commercial power plant in Virginia.CFS's total represents about one-third of all private capital invested in fusion companies worldwide, making it the most-funded fusion startup.

How might that impact the fusion companies timeline ?

CFS has grown rapidly and currently employs approximately 1,000 people as of late 2025 and the MIT Physics group has 250. The tragic death of Nuno Loureiro will not impact the CFS timeline.