Let Us Face the Future

Let Us Face the Future explores the intersection of technology and politics, focusing on emerging and future technologies like AI, computing innovations, privacy-enhancing tech, and their socio-economic and geopolitical impacts. It discusses from foundational technologies to revolutionary applications and the venture capital perspectives on tech adoption and investment.

Artificial Intelligence Computing Technologies Quantum Computing Privacy and Data Security Venture Capital in Technology Renewable Energy Brain-Computer Interfaces Semiconductor Industry Digital Economy

The hottest Substack posts of Let Us Face the Future

And their main takeaways

🔮E08: Optical Computing

235 implied HN points • 14 Jul 23
🕹 Technology Computing Manufacturing Chip Design Artificial Intelligence
  1. Optical computing uses light particles instead of electrons for computations, promising faster processing speeds and energy efficiency.
  2. Opto-electronic computing is close to commercialization, combining optical and electronic functions to leverage speed and bandwidth advantages.
  3. Optical computing faces challenges in adoption due to the need for changing components and manufacturing processes, but has potential for high-performance tasks like AI training.

💾 E14: The Real AI Bottleneck: High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) 💾

137 implied HN points • 08 Sep 23
🕹 Technology Memory AI Hardware Innovation Market
  1. High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) is crucial for datacenter AI accelerators and large language models due to its high bandwidth, low latency, and low power consumption.
  2. HBM is commercially viable, but cost and complexity remain restraints, making it more suitable for high-performance computing and AI rather than mainstream applications.
  3. The future growth of HBM depends on reducing costs, advancing technology like through-silicon vias, and addressing challenges like thermal management for wider adoption beyond datacenter and HPC.

☎️ E15: In Conversation with Wisear on The State of Hearables, Brain Computer Interfaces and Augmented Reality 👂🎧🧠

117 implied HN points • 18 Sep 23
🕹 Technology Augmented reality Wearable Technology Human-Machine Interaction
  1. Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) could be incorporated into user experience as early as 2025, providing a more seamless interaction with technology.
  2. The use of non-invasive ear biosignals for consumer neural interfaces could lead to faster scaling and data acquisition compared to invasive methods.
  3. Devices like AirPods could serve as the entry point for brain-computer interfaces, offering a way to collect biosignals and enable various control functions.
Get a weekly roundup of the best Substack posts, by hacker news affinity:

☎️ E11: In Conversation with Lux Capital on the State of the Future

137 implied HN points • 18 Aug 23
💼 Business Venture Capital Funding Research Innovation Startups
  1. In venture capital, focusing on stochastic opportunities and thinking qualitatively can bring competitive advantage.
  2. Research in venture capital is rare but can uncover novel investment theses and give a long-term competitive edge.
  3. Balancing science risk and political landscape awareness is crucial in deep tech investments.

🔮 Launching State of the Future_The Worlds First Deep Tech Tracker #001

216 implied HN points • 24 May 23
🕹 Technology Deep Tech Artificial Intelligence Quantum Computing Data Infrastructure Startups
  1. State of the Future is a deep tech tracker covering a wide range of technologies like computer vision, generative AI, and quantum hardware.
  2. The three main trends identified in the future include solving productivity paradox, the shift from software in digital world to real world, and having optimism for the future.
  3. Important news includes suppressing quantum errors, challenges faced by Amazon's drone delivery project, and closures of vertical farming startups due to high costs.

🧩E13: Chiplets - How Chip Lego is Driving AI Progress

117 implied HN points • 31 Aug 23
🕹 Technology Semiconductors Innovation Market Analysis Research and Development
  1. Chiplets are a modular approach to building computer chips by combining multiple smaller 'chiplets' instead of a single monolithic design.
  2. Chiplets offer benefits like improved manufacturing yield, diverse process nodes, and cost savings through reusing pre-tested chiplets.
  3. The chiplet market is growing rapidly, expected to be worth $20 billion by 2027, driven by demand for AI and HPC accelerators.

🔮 E05: The Future of Edge AI: "Brain-inspired" Neuromorphic Computing

176 implied HN points • 23 Jun 23
🕹 Technology Research Hardware Architecture Market Trends
  1. Neuromorphic computing is inspired by the biological brain and integrates memory and processing, leading to more efficient computing systems.
  2. Neuromorphic chip designs are expected to win 20% of the edge AI hardware market by 2030.
  3. RRAM development is crucial for viable neuromorphic chip production, enabling cost-effective fabrication and addressing memory technology requirements.

🔮 Three Underrated Technologies from the Future: Brain Recording; Deep Geothermal; IVF + Updates BCI; Clean Meat; LEO Internet++ #002

137 implied HN points • 31 May 23
🕹 Technology Renewable Energy
  1. Brain recording technology is advancing with non-invasive methods, opening more possibilities for brain-computer interfaces.
  2. Digging deeper into the Earth for deep geothermal energy could provide a sustainable and abundant source of renewable energy.
  3. Assisted reproductive technologies like IVF are becoming more crucial as global fertility rates decline, impacting societies and economies.

🔮E07: Decentralised AI

17 HN points • 06 Jul 23
🕹 Technology AI Blockchain Startups
  1. Decentralised AI is an alternative way to build AI systems that distributes machine learning computations across multiple independent nodes.
  2. Decentralised AI is currently at the R&D stage with few commercial products available, but it holds promise due to the GPU crunch, maturation of privacy-enhancing technologies, and concerns about AI monopolies.
  3. Decentralised AI competes with centralised AI by offering no single controller, efficient economic activity, and greater data access, though it may face challenges in performance compared to centralized systems.

☎️ Interview: Stijn Christiaens, CEO of Collibra on the State of Privacy-Enhancing Technologies #004

19 implied HN points • 05 Apr 23
🕹 Technology Data Governance Data Sharing Data Monetization
  1. Collaborative computing is shaping the future of data use and value maximization.
  2. Selling data products often means competing against non-consumption and overcoming organizational inertia.
  3. The rise of Chief Data Officers is simplifying the sales process and driving internal data sharing before external collaboration.

☎️ Interview: Dr Hyoduk Shin, Professor of Innovation at UC San Diego on the State of Privacy-Enhancing Technologies #003

19 implied HN points • 05 Mar 23
🕹 Technology Privacy Data Sharing Data Governance Regulation
  1. Collaborative computing is becoming a trillion-dollar market reshaping how data is used in the economy.
  2. To promote data sharing, companies need to realign incentives, focus on building relationships, work on culture, and segment data by time.
  3. Financial services and healthcare are early adopters of data collaboration tools due to confidentiality and regulation around privacy and data security.

🔮E10: Pushing Moore's Law to the Limit with High-NA EUV (aka Nanoscale Chip Printing)

1 HN point • 27 Jul 23
🕹 Technology Manufacturing Semiconductors Innovation Supply Chain Startups
  1. High-NA EUV lithography enables more precise and densely packed chip patterns below 10nm, crucial for continuing Moore's Law.
  2. The first High-NA EUV systems are expected to be available commercially around 2025-2026, with known engineering hurdles to overcome.
  3. High-NA EUV may produce chips worth $200 billion annually, impacting advanced logic, analog, photonic, and quantum semiconductors.