Azeem Azhar's Exponential View

What is the metaverse, how will we use it and why might the financial innovations of Web3 and blockchain technology be crucial to its success? Citi’s Ronit Ghose, one of the world’s foremost analysts of technology’s influence on financial innovation, returns to the podcast to discuss how money will function in the metaverse with Azeem Azhar. Ghose argues that we shouldn’t think of the metaverse as replacing our real world with a virtual world, but instead imagine how real and virtual experiences could be combined to create an entirely new experience that will touch every aspect of our lives – from commerce to health, industry, and education. They also discuss: The importance of differentiating between the centralized and decentralized metaverse to understand how the experience could be widely adopted. What “Web 2.5” is and why it might allow centralized gatekeepers of the metaverse (e.g., Meta, Apple, Tencent, etc.) to offer the benefits of blockchain technologies without a befuddling user experience. Why corporate excitement remains, even as consumer interest in the metaverse has waned. @Azeem @exponentialview @RonitA380 Further resources: Metaverse and Money: Decrypting the Future (Citi Global Perspective & Solutions, 2022) Crypto and the Future of Money (Exponential View Podcast with Do Kwon, 2022) Bubbles, Golden Ages & Tech Revolutions (Exponential View Podcast with Carlota Perez, 2019)

Venture capitalists offer their investors outsized financial returns in exchange for taking on considerable risk. But what if that risk includes backing products where the economics of the end market aren’t clear? Moreover, what if the companies being supported have the non-financial goal of tackling climate change? As more money than ever pours into climate tech, Azeem Azhar speaks with Shayle Kann, a partner at Energy Impact Partners, about the challenges of investing in the net zero economy and why his framing of the problem as “deep decarbonization” may offer a way forward. They also discuss: Five challenges and opportunities facing “deep decarbonization.” To what extent net zero electricity is the solution to climate change. What metrics VCs should consider when investing in climate tech. @Azeem @exponentialview @shaylekann Further resources: Five Frontier Challenges to Deep Decarbonization (Climate Tech VC, 2022) Decarbonization by the Numbers (Exponential View Podcast, 2021) Why Energy Storage is the Future of the Grid (Exponential View Podcast, 2021)

Today’s cancer therapies are difficult, expensive, and slow to create. But the combination of new computing and new biological technologies is leading to a better understanding of the human immune system, with the goal of offering a better class of cancer therapies. Azeem Azhar speaks with Immunai co-founder and chief technology officer Luis Voloch about how AI is unlocking the secrets of the immune system and opening new avenues for novel cancer treatments. They also discuss: Why Luis and his co-founder, two machine learning engineers, decided to start a bio startup. How Immunai uses single-cell genomics to map out the immune system. The trajectory of Immunai’s experiments from the lab to the patient. @Azeem @exponentialview @Immunaitech Further resources: Scaling Synthetic Biology (with Gingko’s Reshma Shetty), Exponential View Podcast, 2022 The Future of Healthcare: Personalization and AI (with ZOE’s Jonathan Wolf), Exponential View Podcast, 2022

Meeting rising energy requirements in a safe and climate-friendly way is one of the key challenges humanity needs to solve. Danish start-up Seaborg Technologies has a blueprint for the future of power that uses a new type of nuclear reactor that is safe, can be manufactured quickly, and deployed on barges to any location worldwide. Seaborg CEO Troels Schönfeldt talks to Azeem Azhar about how the future of power stations could be sailing to your town soon. They also discuss: How the anti-nuclear movement influenced their thinking about the future of energy. What it takes to create and scale safe nuclear power. The learning rates that are driving the optimization of new energy systems. @Azeem @exponentialview @SeaborgTech Further resources: Nuclear Fusion’s Time is Coming, Exponential View Podcast, 2022 Why Energy Storage is the Future of the Grid, Exponential View Podcast, 2022

We could soon be living more of our lives in immersive virtual worlds, but what will that look like and how will it affect us? New York University professor of philosophy and neural science David Chalmers joins Azeem Azhar to discuss what the metaverse might offer us, the moral quandaries it could pose, and what our rights there might look like. They also address: What the consequences of wrongdoing in the metaverse might be. How governance and society could develop in virtual worlds. The philosophical precedents for virtual worlds. @Azeem @exponentialview David Chalmers Further resources: Azeem’s 2022 Trends: Web 3.0, Sci-Fi Tech, and the Metaverse – Exponential View podcast, 2022 What Studying Consciousness Can Reveal about AI and the Metaverse (with Anil Seth) – Exponential View podcast, 2022 Reality+, by David Chalmers

General Sir Richard Barrons, the former commander of the UK’s Joint Forces Command — whose remit included military intelligence, special forces, and cyber, joins Azeem Azhar to discuss how technology is changing the definition of warfare and why our society’s resilience in the face of threats to peace must be founded on education. As war returns to Europe, General Barrons’ warning about how technology is transforming conflict is more prescient than ever. They also address: The nature of Russia’s offensive capabilities and how they have previously deployed cyber and disinformation strategies. What societal resilience is and how it can ensure democracy’s survival. What better leadership looks like in the exponential age. This episode was originally broadcast on October 23, 2019. @Azeem @exponentialview Further resources: When the Pieces Land (Exponential View 2022) How The Russia-Ukraine Conflict Will Change Cyber War (Exponential View Podcast 2022) How to Stay Informed on the Future of War  (Tim Fernholz, 2019) The Future of War is Already Here  (P. W. Singer, 2019)

Many experts expected Russia’s war with Ukraine to be accompanied by a large-scale cyberattack, but that hasn’t yet materialized. Azeem Azhar speaks to Robert Hannigan, the former director of the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) – the UK’s equivalent to America’s NSA, to find out how the conflict is playing out in cyberspace and what might happen next. @Azeem @exponentialview Blue Voyant Further resources: ‘AI and the Future of Warfare’ – Exponential View Podcast, 2019 ‘Cybersecurity in the Age of AI’ – Exponential View Podcast, 2019 ‘AI, Warfare and Global Security’ – Exponential View Podcast, 2018

Technology is making traditional agriculture more efficient, but farming still has its problems. It takes a huge amount of land and can be energy- and water-intensive. In addition, produce needs to be transported to customers, often over great distances. Daniele Modesto, CEO of ZERO Farms, tells Azeem Azhar how building upward will be part of the solution for the future of farming and why his technology could be used to produce more than just food. @Azeem @exponentialview Further resources: How AI and Genomics are Reshaping Farming – Exponential View Podcast, 2020 Zero Farms

Science is getting better at re-engineering micro-organisms for all kinds of uses, from better medical treatments to more durable materials. But there are still hurdles to overcome, including scaling the process. Boston-based Ginkgo Bioworks was one of the first billion-dollar companies in the synthetic biology space. The NYSE-listed company uses machine learning and automation to coax biology to work at industrial scale. COO Reshma Shetty talks to Azeem Azhar about the company’s technology, business model, and how big she thinks synthetic biology could become. @Azeem @exponentialview @reshmapshetty Further resources: The Bio Revolution: Innovations transforming economies, societies, and our lives – McKinsey, May 2020 Engineering Biology: The Next Frontier – Exponential View Podcast ft. Vijay Pande, June 2020 The Next Trillion-Dollar Market – Exponential View Podcast ft. Deep Nishar, April 2020

Eighty percent of urban trips are less than two miles long. So why do so many of us make them in big, inefficient, and expensive vehicles? Tech analyst Horace Dediu, who coined the term “micromobility,” joins Azeem Azhar to discuss why the future of cities lies in “looking up,” rather than “looking down,” and what that tells us about a new era of consumer behavior both on- and offline. They also discuss how the micromobility industry has grown so fast, how an urbanizing population will further boost the market, and how big tech firms like Apple and Alphabet might claim a piece of the pie. @Azeem @exponentialview @asymco Further resources: ‘The Impermanence of Modes,’ Horace Dediu, ‘The 10 Micromobility Commandments,’ Micromobility Industries/Horace Dediu Free EV briefing today: Micromobility with Horace Dediu