Helion is one of three developers to amass $1 billion in investments, according to the 2025 annual report by the Fusion Industry Association. The company is aiming to build the first U.S. power plant to harness fusion energy for the grid at a site in Malaga, Washington, which is roughly halfway between Seattle and Spokane.

Helion Energy, a startup backed by OpenAI’s Sam Altman and SoftBank’s venture capital arm, has started construction on a site for a planned nuclear fusion power plant that will supply power to Microsoft data centers by 2028, the company said on Wednesday.

Fusion energy developer Helion Energy announced it has begun initial earthwork and construction on the site of Orion power plant in Malaga, in the US state of Washington. The plant will provide electricity to technology company Microsoft.