Autonomy was once the domain of science fiction, but thanks to advancements in artificial intelligence and automotive technology, the first step in monetizing that idle asset is here in the form of robotaxi networks. How it will scale is another question entirely.

In February 2024, a Ukrainian Magura V5 slammed into a Russian guided-missile corvette and sank it. It was the first time an uncrewed vessel had destroyed a warship in combat, and just as aerial drones are redefining aerial combat, sea drones are redefining naval combat.

Thirty years away? Maybe not. Unlike fission, which relies on splitting the atom, nuclear fusion works by forcing light atomic nuclei to merge. It’s the same reaction that powers the sun, and unlike fission, fusion produces no long-lived radioactive waste, cannot melt down, and runs on fuel that can ultimately be drawn from seawater.

Tax credits can be an important prerequisite for self-sustaining industry. For domestic solar, two decades of federal support built the cost structure the market now takes for granted, and the 2025 rewrite of that support is reshaping the back half of a decade that promised to make it self-sustaining.