TAE has recently begun pivoting, for example trying to use their technology for cancer treatment(!). Their name change was part of this. Generally a company doesn't do something like that unless they are forced to.

TAE's response was not at all strong, IMO. And that was not the only critique.

Plasma confinement is not the issue for TAE. The problem is even with perfect confinement, their non-Maxwellian scheme doesn't work.