Forecast 2050

Philip Johnston, founder and CEO of Starcloud, builds orbital data centers to power space-based AI. He imagines lunar luxury hotels, robot-led lunar and Martian industry, self-replicating probes, and the race to cheap reusable launch. The conversation jumps to civilization-scale compute, the Fermi paradox and simulation ideas, and a looming man-made calamity that demands global cooperation.

Sir Malcolm Rifkind, former UK Foreign and Defence Secretary with decades of frontline diplomacy, shares hard-earned tales from Cold War spycraft to modern brinkmanship. He discusses social media's disruption of diplomatic norms. He explores how military credibility, shifting demographics, China’s long game, frozen conflicts like Ukraine, and the erosion of old rules will shape the next quarter century.

Noor Siddiqui, founder and CEO of Orchid who builds whole-genome embryo screening, explains why reading ~99% of embryo DNA could change reproduction. She discusses artificial wombs as an engineering moonshot. They talk about falling birth rates, making IVF more humane and at-home, robot nannies and caregiving choices, and why young people’s energy lacks outlets.

Scott Aaronson, a leading theoretical computer scientist known for work on quantum computing, joins to explore quantum vs classical AI. They discuss whether classical AI could outpace quantum, the urgency of post-quantum cryptography, quantum effects in biology and the mind, teleportation and identity thought experiments, and the risks of competing superintelligences in the coming decades.

Tyler Cowen, economist and author known for his work on growth and innovation, offers a bold tour of the next 25 years. He traces plunging birthrates to changing contraception and social shifts. He maps aging societies, immigration’s role, AI’s stealthy rise into institutions, the surge of caregiving and fake jobs, and the rapid technological revolution remaking norms.

Forecast 2050 is a series about the next 25 years, and the builders, thinkers, and leaders shaping what lies ahead. Hosted by Nebular General Partner Finn Murphy.