New survey says central banks are lining up to create CBDCs but not on the blockchain
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF While blockchain is the technology of the decade, alongside a few others, central banks don’t appear to be fans of it. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, read about exponential tech and trends, connect, watch a keynote,...
Google DeepMind is teaching AI to play Diplomacy before taking on the real thing
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF AI might be getting alot better at strategy, but sometimes diplomacy is called for and that’s a skill that AI has yet to master … Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. Now...
The future of power is transcontinental supergrids that connect the world’s energy supplies
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Today if you generate electricity in one part of the world you can’t transport it to any other place in the world – supergrids are a paradigm shift. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote,...
French central bank successfully completes first test of their sovereign digital currency
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF National fiat currencies will all one day be digital, and the move’s already starting … Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. France’s central bank has announced it successfully completed a pilot transaction...
The Maldives Government announces plans to build the world’s first ocean city
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Climate change and rising sea levels will displace billions of people, and the Maldives government is preparing itself … Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. As sea levels rise thanks to climate...
Federal Reserve’s Digital Dollar initiative has Wall Street panicking
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF A CBDC, a government digital currency, could cut the banking middle men, and that’s freaking some of them out. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. The financial services industry, braced for what...
Bank of England jumps on the central bank digital currency bandwagon
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF A digital national currency would help the unbanked, save governments money, and give them unprecedented real time insights into their economies. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. As several central banks race...
This ferret died 33 years ago and scientists bought it back to life
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Our ability to clone and de-extinct complex organisms and animals is getting better – and one day humans will be next. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. Like most of us you...
China says its new digital currency will be an insurance policy in case tech giants fail
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Tech giants are increasingly powerful and interwoven with society, and the Chinese government is making contingency plans in case they fail. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. China has been at the...
DARPA looks for new ways to decouple legacy code from hardware
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Legacy code is the bane of many older organisations existence and it’s hard to modernise, upgrade, and secure, so DARPA wants to change the paradigm. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. The...
Bitcoin is helping human rights activists avoid government crack downs
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF If you want to suppress people you do two things – send in the military and cut off their funding, and Bitcoin is making the latter harder. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my...
Humans suck at saving the planet so AI is coming to the rescue
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The United Nations has 17 Sustainable Development Goals, global problems that need global solutions, but so far progress has been slow so a new approach is needed. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my...
Elon Musk’s SpaceX will make its own laws on Mars when it colonises the planet
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Elon Musk wants to colonise Mars, and it looks like he doesn’t want to play by Earth’s rules when he gets there … Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. Elon Musk,...
IBM Watson filters public opinion to help Bloomberg debate redistributing wealth
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Most humans are good at debating, and now AI is getting better at it too, but its ability to analyse huge volumes of data in real time makes it a formidable tool and opponent. Interested in the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof...
Air Force One to go hypersonic after USAF signs contract with US engine maker
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF If you were the President of the United States you wouldn’t want to have to waste time commuting, which is why a hypersonic Air Force One is now in the making. Love the Exponential Future? Join our FREE XPotential Community, enjoy exclusive content, future proof yourself...
A new Virtual Government is helping the UN solve global inequality
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF There are many inequalities in the world, but sometimes governments don’t know which investment or programs will make the biggest impact, now they have help. Interested in the Exponential Future? Connect, download a free E-Book, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. As we see all too clearly today...
Israeli researchers newest hack uses fans to steal classified data from top secret servers
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Security is a game of cat and mouse, and there are plenty of ways to steal top secret data … Interested in the Exponential Future? Connect, download a free E-Book, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. If you have top secret data to protect like, in today’s time...
Canada finally reveals the results of its Universal Basic Income experiment
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As AI and other technologies make it easier for companies to automate jobs governments are scrambling to find ways to support their citizens in the future. Interested in the Exponential Future? Connect, download a free E-Book, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. A while ago, before Covid-19 made...
Sweden starts breaking up with cash as government starts trials of digital E-Krona
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Cash use is falling in many countries, so governments are now starting to trial fully digital alternatives. Interested in the Exponential Future? Connect, download a free E-Book, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. Cash is dying as more and more people use contactless payment systems and digital cash,...