A few key points:
1. The NIF breakthrough here is being able to use the plasma itself to focus the laser energy. The announcement today was basically that they’ve figured out how to do that. Which leads them to be confident that they will be able to achieve theoretical net gain by (I’ve read) sometime this summer.
2. There is no way to turn this device into a practical electrical generator, as the posts above make clear.
3. The real problem is one of headline-stealing and meme creation. I’m reminded of Langley vs. the Wright brothers in 1902/03. Langley had Smithsonian big bucks behind him, he built the big expensive, heavy machine, and it failed. The Wrights had nothing but ingenuity and the right approach. The Wrights did succeed, but nobody knew and nobody took the story seriously. If Langley failed, it must be impossible, right?