Annie Kritcher

New Capabilities

Co-founded Inertia Enterprises in 2024 while continuing national security research at LLNL under a federal Outside Business Agreement; Inertia raised $450M in February 2026

NIF achieved ignition for the 11th time on June 20, 2026, producing 7.9 megajoules from 2.08 megajoules of laser energy. The Department of Energy approved a laser upgrade in April that will push NIF's laser energy from 2.2 to 2.6 megajoules, which would allow the 8.6-megajoule yield record to be broken.

Updated Oct 22