Now that we have early AI, can’t we get Cold Fusion to work on a regular basis?
Because the problems haven't changed, and are insurmountable. A star works because it is big and isolated. Its gravity holds all of the gases together "in containment" while the nuclear reactions take place. When we do this in our little boxes, there is no gravity to hold it all together. The constituent gases are held in place by enormous magnets. When the reaction starts, it opposes that magnetic field causing it to collapse. The fusion stops.
AI won't be able to undo physics.