TechCrunch Industry News Commonwealth Fusion Systems installs reactor magnet, lands deal with Nvidia; plus, Meta paused expansion of its Ray-Ban Display glasses
Jan 6, 2026
Commonwealth Fusion Systems is making strides with its Sparc reactor by installing its first magnet and creating a digital twin for simulations. The advanced magnets feature a robust 20 Tesla field and extreme cooling needs. Meanwhile, Meta is hitting the brakes on global launches of its Ray-Ban Display glasses, citing overwhelming demand in the U.S. Exciting demos at CES showcase features like teleprompters and gesture controls for the Neural Band, hinting at innovative tech on the horizon.
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SPARC Magnet Milestone And Design
- Commonwealth Fusion Systems installed the first of 18 high-field magnets for its SPARC reactor and expects all to be in place by end of summer.
- The magnets will run at -423°F, generate ~20 Tesla fields, and confine plasma above 180 million degrees to aim for net energy gain.
Extreme Magnet Specs
- SPARC's magnets weigh ~24 tons each and can generate fields about 13 times stronger than a typical MRI machine.
- CFS expects the magnets to handle over 30,000 amps and even joked they could "lift an aircraft carrier."
Test Changes In The Digital Twin First
- Use the digital twin to run experiments and tweak reactor parameters before applying changes to the physical machine.
- Compare virtual results to live behavior constantly to accelerate learning and reduce trial-and-error on the real reactor.