yeah hopefully it’s just darkest before the dawn.

my own sci-fi prediction is that China cracks commercial fusion using thorium reactors as a springboard and sells modular reactors to anyone who will buy them and manufactures cheap fusion fuel.

that would basically be it. that kind of energy and thermal power available would mean generating fuel from carbon dioxide, cracking water, massive desalination, true automation, and actual AI development without wrecking the environment. once a fusion economy is actually spun up and working, it can get exponential in capability. i think this is what the U.S. fears more then anything else, but only at a background level.

they are closer and more driven then anyone else.