MIT spinout raises $134M to advance three-mile drilling into Earth’s superhot rock ⁠72%

By Neetika Walter⁠62%

7/7/2026, 8:52:13 PM

BS Summary: This article contains 22 faulty reasoning types, including Appeal to Authority, Biased Writer Voice, and Confirmation Bias, with Optimism Bias as the most egregious example at 44.3% saturation with 228 hits. Analysis detected 1,283 faulty-reasoning hits from 515 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 64.9% and a BS Rank of ⁠72% (5,776 of 20,498 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 71.80% of the article peer group.

Quaise Energy, a geothermal startup spun out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has raised $134 million to commercialize a millimeter-wave drilling technology designed to reach ultra-hot rock deep beneath the Earth’s surface, paving the way for what it says will be the world’s first commercial superhot geothermal power plant. 
The Series B funding will support construction of Project Obsidian in Central Oregon while accelerating development of Quaise’s non-contact drilling system beyond depths of 3 miles. 
The round was led by Prelude Ventures, with participation from Japan’s JERA Co. and Idemitsu Kosan, alongside existing investors including Safar Partners. 
The company said its drilling system is approaching nearly 0.6 miles of depth at its Central Texas test site after successfully penetrating more than 100 meters of granite under full-scale field conditions earlier this year. 
If achieved, the milestone would mark the deepest penetration ever recorded using non-contact drilling technology. 
Unlike conventional drilling, which relies on rotating drill bits that wear down in hard rock, the Houston-based startup’s system directs high-power millimeter waves into the borehole to ablate rock. 
The process converts solid rock directly into vapor, allowing drilling to continue into geological formations that are too hot and abrasive for traditional equipment. 
Drilling beyond drill bits 
The technology was developed following more than a decade of research at MIT. 
Quaise says it could unlock rock temperatures between 572°F and 932°F across much of the world, enabling geothermal systems capable of producing power densities comparable to fossil fuel and nuclear plants while maintaining the low emissions of renewable energy. 
Current geothermal plants are limited by the depth that conventional drilling systems can economically reach. 
By accessing much hotter rock, superhot geothermal systems can generate significantly more energy from a single well, reducing the number of wells needed for commercial-scale power production. 
“Our ambition is to power civilization with Earth’s most compelling energy source. 
This round takes us from field-proven technology to first commercial revenues,” said Carlos Araque, CEO and President of Quaise Energy. 
Chasing Earth’s deepest heat 
Project Obsidian is being built on federal geothermal leases in Oregon’s Deschutes National Forest, one of the most extensively studied geothermal regions in the United States. 
Quaise said the site has gigawatt-scale potential and is expected to deliver its first electricity to the grid by 2030, helping improve grid stability across the Pacific Northwest. 
The company said the latest drilling results validate the core technology that will be deployed at Project Obsidian and future geothermal developments. 
The funding will also support continued commercialization of the millimeter-wave drilling system as Quaise raises additional project-level equity and debt financing. 
“We have backed Quaise since the beginning because we believed accessing superhot rock would unlock geothermal energy at a scale the world has never seen,” said Mark Cupta, Managing Director at Prelude Ventures. 
Quaise has now raised a total of $230 million. 
The company says its broader financing package will also include project-level capital and debt as it moves toward commercial operations and first power sales through undisclosed off-take partners. 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 17.5%Neetika Walter: 4.0%Interesting Engineering: 3.9%Confirmation Bias17.5%This article: 1.7%Neetika Walter: 0.9%Interesting Engineering: 1.2%Anchoring Bias1.7%This article: 0.0%Neetika Walter: 1.8%Interesting Engineering: 2.5%Availability Heuristic0.0%This article: 10.7%Neetika Walter: 1.1%Interesting Engineering: 1.2%Representativeness Heuristic10.7%This article: 0.0%Neetika Walter: 0.2%Interesting Engineering: 0.3%Hindsight Bias0.0%This article: 9.9%Neetika Walter: 5.3%Interesting Engineering: 5.4%Overconfidence Bias9.9%This article: 15.0%Neetika Walter: 6.9%Interesting Engineering: 6.4%Framing Effect15.0%This article: 0.0%Neetika Walter: 0.1%Interesting Engineering: 0.2%Loss Aversion0.0%This article: 2.9%Neetika Walter: 0.3%Interesting Engineering: 0.6%Status Quo Bias2.9%This article: 0.0%Neetika Walter: 0.2%Interesting Engineering: 0.4%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 44.3%Neetika Walter: 19.0%Interesting Engineering: 16.6%Optimism Bias44.3%This article: 0.0%Neetika Walter: 0.3%Interesting Engineering: 0.5%Pessimism Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Neetika Walter: 0.2%Interesting Engineering: 1.0%Negativity Bias0.0%This article: 10.3%Neetika Walter: 6.8%Interesting Engineering: 4.7%Self-Serving Bias10.3%This article: 0.0%Neetika Walter: 0.0%Interesting Engineering: 0.1%Fundamental Attribution Error0.0%This article: 0.0%Neetika Walter: 0.1%Interesting Engineering: 0.0%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Neetika Walter: 2.5%Interesting Engineering: 1.0%In-Group Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Neetika Walter: 0.1%Interesting Engineering: 0.1%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 11.8%Neetika Walter: 4.7%Interesting Engineering: 5.0%Halo Effect11.8%This article: 0.0%Neetika Walter: 0.0%Interesting Engineering: 0.0%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Neetika Walter: 0.0%Interesting Engineering: 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Neetika Walter: 0.5%Interesting Engineering: 1.0%Recency Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Neetika Walter: 0.3%Interesting Engineering: 0.2%Primacy Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Neetika Walter: 0.0%Interesting Engineering: 0.0%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Neetika Walter: 0.0%Interesting Engineering: 0.0%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 0.0%Neetika Walter: 0.0%Interesting Engineering: 0.0%Straw Man0.0%This article: 21.4%Neetika Walter: 6.1%Interesting Engineering: 9.0%Appeal to Authority21.4%This article: 13.2%Neetika Walter: 1.2%Interesting Engineering: 1.5%False Dilemma13.2%This article: 0.0%Neetika Walter: 0.1%Interesting Engineering: 0.3%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 0.0%Neetika Walter: 0.1%Interesting Engineering: 0.1%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 11.1%Neetika Walter: 4.0%Interesting Engineering: 5.1%Hasty Generalization11.1%This article: 0.0%Neetika Walter: 0.0%Interesting Engineering: 0.2%Red Herring0.0%This article: 0.0%Neetika Walter: 0.5%Interesting Engineering: 0.8%Bandwagon0.0%This article: 8.7%Neetika Walter: 2.8%Interesting Engineering: 2.4%Appeal to Emotion8.7%This article: 2.3%Neetika Walter: 1.0%Interesting Engineering: 1.3%Begging the Question2.3%This article: 15.3%Neetika Walter: 1.6%Interesting Engineering: 2.2%Post Hoc (False Cause)15.3%This article: 0.0%Neetika Walter: 0.0%Interesting Engineering: 0.0%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 7.6%Neetika Walter: 0.3%Interesting Engineering: 0.6%Burden of Proof7.6%This article: 0.0%Neetika Walter: 0.3%Interesting Engineering: 0.2%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Neetika Walter: 0.0%Interesting Engineering: 0.3%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 0.0%Neetika Walter: 0.4%Interesting Engineering: 0.7%Anecdotal0.0%This article: 0.0%Neetika Walter: 0.1%Interesting Engineering: 0.1%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 2.9%Neetika Walter: 1.1%Interesting Engineering: 2.7%Ambiguity (Equivocation)2.9%This article: 0.0%Neetika Walter: 0.0%Interesting Engineering: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Neetika Walter: 0.0%Interesting Engineering: 0.0%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Neetika Walter: 0.0%Interesting Engineering: 0.0%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Neetika Walter: 0.0%Interesting Engineering: 0.2%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Neetika Walter: 0.0%Interesting Engineering: 0.0%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 2.3%Neetika Walter: 0.9%Interesting Engineering: 1.8%Unattributed Quote2.3%This article: 2.3%Neetika Walter: 0.3%Interesting Engineering: 0.7%Quote-first Misdirection2.3%This article: 20.4%Neetika Walter: 2.1%Interesting Engineering: 3.8%Biased Writer Voice20.4%This article: 7.6%Neetika Walter: 0.5%Interesting Engineering: 0.8%Indoctrination7.6%This article: 0.0%Neetika Walter: 0.0%Interesting Engineering: 0.0%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Neetika Walter: 0.3%Interesting Engineering: 0.1%Politically Right Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 9.9%Neetika Walter: 15.5%Interesting Engineering: 10.6%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…9.9%

515 words analyzed.

Speakers

3speakers18%attributed speech423writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Writer's voice • 12 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 51 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 26 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 22 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 35 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 15 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 29 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 24 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 4 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 13 words • 0.0% coverageQuaise says it could unlock rock temperatures between 572°F and 932°F across much of the world, enabling geothermal systems capable of producing power densities comparable to fossil fuel and nuclear plants while maintaining the low emissions of renewable energy. • 39 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 15 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 27 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 12 words • 100.0% coverageCarlos Araque • 20 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 4 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 26 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 28 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 22 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 21 words • 0.0% coverageMark Cupta • 33 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 9 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 28 words • 100.0% coverage
100%flagged-word coverage
39 attributed words42% of attributed speech95% writer coverage
0%50.0%100.0%Indoctrination+100.0 ptsWriter: 0.0%Quaise says it could unlock rock temperatures between 572°F and 932°F across much of the world, enabling geothermal systems capable of producing power densities comparable to fossil fuel and nuclear plants while maintaining the low emissions of renewable energy.: 100.0%100.0%Biased Writer Voice-24.8 ptsWriter: 24.8%Quaise says it could unlock rock temperatures between 572°F and 932°F across much of the world, enabling geothermal systems capable of producing power densities comparable to fossil fuel and nuclear plants while maintaining the low emissions of renewable energy.: 0.0%0.0%Attempt to Sell a Product -12.1 ptsWriter: 12.1%Quaise says it could unlock rock temperatures between 572°F and 932°F across much of the world, enabling geothermal systems capable of producing power densities comparable to fossil fuel and nuclear plants while maintaining the low emissions of renewable energy.: 0.0%0.0%Unattributed Quote-2.8 ptsWriter: 2.8%Quaise says it could unlock rock temperatures between 572°F and 932°F across much of the world, enabling geothermal systems capable of producing power densities comparable to fossil fuel and nuclear plants while maintaining the low emissions of renewable energy.: 0.0%0.0%Quote-first Misdirection-2.8 ptsWriter: 2.8%Quaise says it could unlock rock temperatures between 572°F and 932°F across much of the world, enabling geothermal systems capable of producing power densities comparable to fossil fuel and nuclear plants while maintaining the low emissions of renewable energy.: 0.0%0.0%

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

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