1st Annual Fusion Summit: Welcome, Opening Remarks, and Distinguished Keynote Lecture

  • Ashley Llorens, Microsoft; Kenji Takeda, Microsoft; Shruti Rajurkar, Microsoft; Sir Steven Cowley, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL)
  • 1st Annual Fusion Summit

The pursuit of nuclear fusion as a limitless, clean energy source has long been one of humanity’s most ambitious scientific goals. While scalable fusion energy is still years away, researchers are now exploring how AI can help accelerate fusion research and bring this energy to the grid sooner.

In March 2025, Microsoft Research held its inaugural Fusion Summit, a landmark event that brought together distinguished speakers and panelists from within and outside Microsoft Research to explore this question.

Ashley Llorens, Corporate Vice President and Managing Director of Microsoft Research Accelerator, opened the Summit by outlining his vision for a self-reinforcing system that uses AI to drive sustainability. Steven Cowley, laboratory director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (opens in new tab), professor at Princeton University, and former head of the UK Atomic Energy Authority, followed with a keynote explaining the intricate science and engineering behind fusion reactors.

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