Isaiah Taylor (Valar Atomics), JC Btaiche (Fuse), & Packy McCormick (Not Boring) join Molly O’Shea to explore how nuclear energy—fission and fusion—is at the heart of America's industrial resurgence and the race for AI dominance.

Isaiah unpacks Valar’s plan to scale modular fission reactors across the U.S., breaking decades of regulatory stagnation and reimagining how America powers its factories and data centers. JC shares Fuse’s rapid-fire progress in fusion technology, from breakthroughs in pulse neutron generation to vertical integration strategies that echo SpaceX. Packy ties it all together with insights from his investing & writing in Nuclear through Not Boring, explaining why energy-rich, hardware-driven businesses will define the AI age.. Bonus we talk about his popular essay The Great Differentiation.

Together, we dive into:

• Fission to fusion, atoms to AI, and Detroit to D.C.

• The role of next-gen nuclear in energy sovereignty

• The strategic urgency to outpace China

• Regulatory tailwinds post-EOs and DOE testing

• Why AI’s energy demands are the catalyst

• How differentiated brand, design, & execution will define the winners in an AI slop world

This conversation is part of Sourcery’s “Made in America” Mini-Series recorded at the Reindustrialize 2025 Summit.

(00:00) The American Atomic Age

(01:15) Isaiah Taylor on U.S. nuclear industry

(03:34) Why modular reactors are the key to scale

(06:47) China’s nuclear lead

(08:32) Valar’s path to criticality & DOE testing

(11:06) Foreign funding & misinformation campaigns

(13:01) Nuclear myths: “It wouldn’t fill an Olympic pool”

(15:29) Why Gen IV reactors are meltdown-proof

(17:29) AI as a tailwind for nuclear infrastructure

(19:21) Misconceptions in nuclear & energy performance

(21:13) Pressure to deliver in this presidency term

(22:59) The future of global energy

(24:26) JC Btaiche: Building the world’s highest-power pulse system

(26:41) Fuse’s strategy: revenue today, power tomorrow

(28:34) Fusion’s role in reindustrialization

(33:12) The AI-power constraint: “Energy = Intelligence”

(35:31) Can we catch up to China in energy?

(38:13) Packy McCormick on vertical integration

(41:11) The Great Differentiation: Why brand matters in the age of AI