Both are kind of right from my understanding. It's semantics.
Energy put into the lasers > Energy output of the fusion reaction
Energy delivered to the reaction from the lasers < Energy output of the fusion reaction
So the energy from the reaction itself only counting the input and output was a net positive, but the energy used in the experiment as a whole was a net negative.
@BE @primonatura
Agreed.
And they have done a amazing work.
But the idea some people are spreading that soon vasts amounts of electricity will be generated from this fraction of a second reaction, is false.