Unlocking AGI: How Life Changes for Everyone w/ Jack Hidary, Salim Ismail & Dave Blundin | EP #213
Timestamps are as accurate as they can be but may be slightly off. We encourage you to listen to the full context.
Podcast Summary
This Moonshots podcast episode, recorded live at FII9 in Riyadh, features Peter Diamandis in conversation with Jack Hidary (CEO of SandboxAQ), Salim Ismail (founder of OpenExO), and Dave Blundin (founder & GP of Link Ventures). The discussion explores three transformative technologies that will reshape our world: energy abundance, humanoid robotics, and quantum computing. (02:00)
- The conversation addresses how abundant energy will revolutionize global economics and geopolitics, the rapid advancement of humanoid robotics threatening traditional labor markets, and quantum computing's dual potential to unlock scientific breakthroughs while threatening current cybersecurity systems.
Speakers
Jack Hidary
Jack Hidary is the CEO of SandboxAQ (AI + Quantum) and author of "Quantum Computing: An Applied Approach." He leads a company that emerged from Google X with a significant valuation and has experienced exponential growth, with Eric Schmidt serving as chairman. Hidary is recognized as a thought leader in quantum computing and its commercial applications.
Salim Ismail
Salim Ismail is the founder of OpenExO and a leading expert on exponential organizations. He is also the author of "Abundance" and is known for his insights on how organizations can adapt to rapid technological change and exponential growth patterns.
Dave Blundin
Dave Blundin is the founder and General Partner of Link Ventures. He provides strategic investment perspectives on emerging technologies and their market implications, particularly in the areas of energy, robotics, and quantum computing.
Key Takeaways
Energy Abundance Will Transform Global Economics Within a Decade
The world is transitioning from energy scarcity to abundance within 7-8 years, despite current supply constraints. (04:43) Jack Hidary explains that while gas turbines currently have a 4.5-year wait time due to limited manufacturing capacity, this bottleneck will be resolved as governments build new factories and SMRs (Small Modular Reactors) come online. This shift will fundamentally alter geopolitics, as countries dependent on oil exports (like Russia, Venezuela, and Canada) will lose their economic advantage when abundant solar and other renewable sources make expensive extraction methods uncompetitive. The ripple effects include cheaper desalination leading to fresh water access, dramatically reducing infectious diseases, and transforming transportation economics.
Humanoid Robots Will Achieve Industrial Scale Through Robot-Built Manufacturing
The robotics revolution is accelerating with five factories currently under construction where robots will build robots - two in the US and three in China. (11:22) Jack Hidary notes these facilities will be operational within 6-18 months, enabling iPhone-scale production volumes. Combined with LLM intelligence, robots will no longer require complex programming as they can observe and learn tasks directly. Industrial adoption is already happening with 20% of US hospitals using robotic helpers for non-medical tasks. However, household adoption faces significant challenges due to the complexity of home environments compared to controlled factory settings.
2030 Will Mark Quantum Computing's Breakthrough Year
Quantum computing will reach practical usability by 2030, bringing both revolutionary capabilities and critical cybersecurity threats. (19:45) Jack Hidary predicts quantum computers will excel at modeling the physical world down to subatomic levels, accelerating drug discovery for cancer and Alzheimer's, and advancing fusion power by 10-20 years through better plasma modeling. However, the same technology will break current encryption methods, threatening everything from WhatsApp's end-to-end encryption to Bitcoin's blockchain security. Organizations must begin transitioning to quantum-safe protocols now to avoid having their secrets exposed when hackers gain cloud-based access to quantum techniques.
Data Centers Will Migrate to Energy Sources, Not Vice Versa
A fundamental shift is occurring where computational infrastructure moves to energy-rich locations rather than energy being transported to population centers. (09:15) Dave Blundin highlights that Saudi Arabia exemplifies this trend perfectly, offering solar energy at three times lower cost than the US while positioning itself as a destination for AI data centers. This geographic arbitrage creates new competitive advantages for countries with abundant natural energy resources, as AI workloads can be processed anywhere and don't require proximity to end users like traditional manufacturing.
China's Robotics Strategy Targets Developing Nations While Advanced Countries Resist
Chinese robotics exports show a clear pattern where technologically advanced countries resist adoption while developing nations embrace Chinese robots. (15:21) Poland shows a 1700% increase in Chinese robot imports, Mexico 275%, Russia 135%, and Vietnam 114%, while South Korea, Germany, and the US maintain resistance. This reflects China's strategic response to its aging workforce crisis - as their 1.4 billion person labor pool shrinks due to demographic changes, they must rapidly deploy robotics to maintain manufacturing competitiveness. The strategy creates a two-tier global robotics market with Chinese solutions dominating cost-sensitive markets and Western solutions serving security-conscious applications.
Statistics & Facts
- China added 429 gigawatts of new power in 2024 compared to the US at 51 gigawatts, creating a significant "electron gap" between the two superpowers. (02:32)
- Gas turbines currently have a 4.5-year wait time, with GE, Mitsubishi Heavy, and Siemens unable to expand capacity due to previous market burns. (04:16)
- 50% of all hospital beds occupied in Africa are due to bad water-related infections and diseases, highlighting the massive healthcare impact that abundant energy and desalination could address. (07:52)
