Latest news with #PeterDiamandis
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
XPrize founder Peter Diamandis projects hope for AI, biotech amid US-China tech war
Peter Diamandis, the entrepreneur behind the XPrize Foundation, has long championed a future of technological promise, building a career on innovation competitions meant to solve grand challenges. But in a recent conversation in Hong Kong, a subtle shift in tone emerged as he addressed the current complexities of global scientific collaboration, clouded by geopolitical tensions and the looming threat of technological decoupling. Advertisement 'One of the things that is important to realise is that human biology is conserved across 8 billion people, as is math and physics and chemistry,' he said. 'So a breakthrough by a brilliant entrepreneur or scientist in Beijing is fully usable and accessible by a brilliant scientist in Boston. That elevates humanity as a whole.' His cosmopolitan vision of scientific progress stands in contrast to the current political climate, in which the US, under the administration of President Donald Trump, has sought to curb international student visas and made drastic cuts to scientific funding and universities. 'There's a huge amount of concern,' Diamandis said, pointing specifically to the cuts at the National Institutes of Health. 'Unless it gets corrected and changed back, I think that the cuts being made … will have long-term implications to the speed of scientific discoveries.' Diamandis spoke with the Post on May 28 while visiting Hong Kong for the UBS Asian Investment Conference. He is perhaps best known for incentivising breakthroughs through his XPrize competitions, which served as an early catalyst for the private space flight industry that spawned companies such as Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin. Discussing the more positive aspects of technological progress is clearly where he feels most comfortable. Advertisement 'Our brains are wired for fear and scarcity, and my job through my work is to help people see the world in a different fashion,' he said.
Medscape
5 days ago
- Health
- Medscape
Medscape 2050: Peter Diamandis
Medscape 2050: The Future of Medicine The bowhead whale can live for 200 years. The Greenland shark can live up to 500 years. Why can't humans live that long? For Peter Diamandis, MD, executive founder of Singularity, founder and executive chairman of the XPRIZE Foundation, and founding partner of Fountain Life, the answer is simple. 'It's either a software problem or a hardware problem. And we're going to be able to solve that.' The medical field is on an 'exponential growth curve' owing to the impact of AI systems, Diamandis says. Soon, we will be able to map the human body on a cellular level for each individual. Trillions of cells, running billions of chemical reactions every second, are too vast for the human brain to grasp. But not for AI. 'Imagine a future,' Diamandis says, 'where drugs are designed, not discovered. Drugs are designed specifically not just for a disease, but for your version of the disease.' A shift from reactive to preventive medicine is also getting closer. Sensor technology will pick up details such as voice tone, walking rhythm, or the sound of a cough and recommend further tests to catch health issues earlier. For Diamandis, 'data is king.' Your data can reveal your optimal lifestyle plan for diet, exercise, sleep, and mindset. And 'your mindset,' Diamandis says, 'is the most important thing that you possess.' If you believe that we will bend the longevity curve, if you approach these new technologies with optimism, you might just live long enough to experience them.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Global longevity competition for $101 million names semifinalists—here are their ideas for extending life by 10 years or more
The contestants in a race to extend life are on their second lap. In a seven-year global competition, teams are rushing to discover novel therapeutics and interventions that can extend human life by a decade and help people age well. In 2023, Peter Diamandis, an entrepreneur, self-proclaimed futurist, and founder and executive chairman of the XPRIZE Foundation, launched the $101 million healthspan competition. Since then, over 600 teams from 58 countries have put their ideas in the ring, including medical devices, lifestyle interventions, and biological therapies. Today, the competition awarded each of the top 40 teams $250,000 to help them test their hypotheses in clinical trials. 'We're really pushing at a global scale for people to accelerate the process, so we can get real solutions in the hands of people who need them,' Jamie Justice, PhD, executive director of XPRIZE Healthspan, tells Fortune. Teams from all over the globe, composed of students, university researchers, and even a Nobel Prize winner, are competing for the coveted prize, which will amount to $81 million. One team of high schoolers from Malaysia pitched a community-based solution that includes facilitating drum circles with older adults. Another team is testing the potential life-extending benefits of popular diabetes and weight-loss drugs, GLP-1s. Still another is examining whether the drug Metformin can help prevent cognitive decline. By 2030, the winner will have shown that their therapy can restore muscle, cognitive, and immune function in a one-year clinical trial of older adults. "The next breakthrough in aging could come from scientists and entrepreneurs, anywhere. With this prize, we're igniting a global healthspan revolution, and these semifinalists are leading the charge," said Diamandis, in a press release. "This competition isn't just accelerating progress, it's challenging our society's beliefs in what's possible when it comes to aging." Judges made up of leading researchers and scientists in the field assessed teams based on whether they illustrated 'really solid innovation [on a] potential breakthrough that could affect all of the processes that underlie how we age,' says Justice. Teams had to show a readiness for clinical trials with strong evidence of an intervention that can be scaled to the broader population. While people are living longer, there is still a decade-long gap, on average, between how well people live and how well they live in good health. This competition is hoping to reduce the gap and extend how long people live in good health. 'We're looking at solutions that can be proactive and can be generalized to a greater population, so that we can begin to address that gap at a population level,' Justice says. Teams will submit data from their clinical trials by April of next year, ahead of XPRIZE selecting the top ten finalists in July of 2026, followed by the grand prize winner selected in 2030. This story was originally featured on
Forbes
01-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Humanoid Robot Mass Adoption Will Start In 2028, Says Bank Of America
Neura Robotics shows off 4NE-1, a humanoid robot, in an outdoor ad campaign Humanoid robots will begin a mass adoption trend for commercial use as early as 2028, according to a new Bank of America research report. Annual shipments could hit 1 million by 2030, with a production cost of just $17,000 per unit. 'BofA Global Research believes the adoption of humanoid robots will follow a three-stage development trajectory in the coming decade, starting from industrial and logistic applications, then on to business services, and finally to household use,' a company representative told me via email. 'In the long run, BofA Global Research expects the total units in ownership for humanoid robots to reach an estimated three billion units globally by 2060.' That three billion unit projection is based on three assumptions: According to the report, the first mass commercializations period for humanoid robots will be from 2028 to 2034, and it will focus on commercial use. The second mass adoption period will be for home and all other uses, and will run from 2035 onwards. Futurists like Peter Diamandis have speculated that robots will help us in our homes with laundry, vacuuming, dishes, and all other tasks, and serve multiple purposes in healthcare, elder care, manufacturing, transport, and the service industry. The future is starting now: Bank of America says that humanoid robot manufactures will ship 18,000 units this year, in 2025. By 2030, researchers expect that shipments will reach up to 10 million units globally per year. Projected humanoid robot shipments to 2060. Interestingly, the report suggests that the vast majority of humanoid robots will be household tools, with about two billion of the three billion shipped by 2060 in use in private homes, versus about a billion in the service industry, and only a few hundred million in industrial settings. If so, that could be good news for human workers: many of the household robots will be replacing unpaid work that people do for themselves, rather than paid work by employees. There are still challenges to mass adoption, the Bank of America says: In addition, there is regulatory risk: will nations regulate against humanoid robots in ways that delay or entirely stop deployments? Workers could rise up against them as well, with a historical precedent being the Luddite movement in the early 1800s in which textile workers protested against mechanized looms. Over 100 global manufacturers are working on humanoid robots, and it's a tough challenge. Humanoid robot components, with cost estimates for each part. One of the biggest: dextrous hands. Almost 20% of the cost of a robot is in the hands alone. One of the reasons why: more than half the complexity of a humanoid robot body is in the hands, Sanctuary AI CEO Geordie Rose told me last year. Other major cost components include rotary actuators in joints, linear actuators, and the chips that drive the brain of a humanoid robot.
Associated Press
29-04-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Near Space Labs Raises $20M Series B Round to Scale Stratospheric Imaging for the AI Age
BROOKLYN, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 29, 2025-- Near Space Labs today announced $20 million in Series B funding to accelerate delivery of its ultra-high-resolution, frequent aerial imagery across the continental United States. Bold Capital Partners, founded by entrepreneur Peter Diamandis of XPRIZE and Singularity University, led the round, with participation from USAA, Climate Capital, Gaingels, and River Park Ventures, joined by existing investors Crosslink Capital, Third Sphere, Draper Associates, and others. 'Near Space Labs has solved a fundamental challenge in geospatial intelligence: delivering high-resolution imagery with the frequency, scale, and economics that truly unlock commercial value,' said Will Borthwick, Principal at Bold Capital. 'Their industry-first, nationwide stratospheric robotics platform is uniquely positioned to do for aerial imagery what SpaceX did for satellite launches—dramatically increasing access while reducing costs.' The funding announcement comes as the multi-trillion-dollar insurance industry increasingly demands detailed, frequent data to drive competitive decision-making. This trend, largely driven by a greater focus on AI enabled workflows in insurance, is a determined move away from traditional risk analysis that relied on static, decades-old modeling containing significant variances due to extensive data gaps. 'We are proud to announce an investment in Near Space Labs,' said Nathan McKinley, USAA vice president and head of corporate development. 'We believe that high-resolution stratospheric imaging will transform how the insurance industry underwrites policies and fulfills claims. The novel way Near Space Labs provides this data drives higher quality, faster turnaround, and lower cost than other sources, which ultimately results in better service for policy holders.' As organizations increasingly rely on high-resolution geospatial insights, Near Space Labs will leverage its new funding to increase imagery coverage to include 80 percent of the U.S. population twice a year, providing industries like property and casualty (P&C) insurance with mission-critical 7cm imagery to modernize decision-making. To do so, Near Space Labs is significantly expanding its proprietary fleet of Swift robots, capable of capturing imagery of areas equivalent to entire cities like New York or Los Angeles within just a few hours. This coverage capability would otherwise require approximately 800,000 drone flights to achieve, and the fleet accomplishes in a single flight what traditional systems need days or weeks to complete. Operating at altitudes three times higher than airplanes—the strategic point above aircraft but below satellites, the robots can mobilize rapidly for urgent missions or provide regular, scheduled coverage updates across extensive geographic regions. 'Earth observation users have been forced to choose between satellite imagery lacking detail and traditional aerial surveys that are costly and infrequent,' said Rema Matevosyan, CEO and co-founder of Near Space Labs. 'Our unique stratospheric approach eliminates this dilemma, combining satellite-like coverage with market-leading resolution. With our nationwide technical infrastructure now in place, this funding enables us to scale our operations and execute on our product roadmap.' In 2025, carriers and partners subscribing to the nationwide coverage program will also gain access to customized coverage plans, tailored to their specific operational needs. Businesses looking to enhance their intelligence capabilities with scalable, geospatial data are encouraged to connect with Near Space Labs today. About Near Space Labs Near Space Labs is the leader in stratospheric remote sensing, providing high-resolution, frequently updated aerial imagery through its nationwide network of Swift robots. Near Space Labs' platform delivers unmatched 7cm resolution imagery that revolutionizes how organizations monitor and respond to our changing world. The company's private market focus has enabled it to build sustainable technology that meets the needs of commercial clients while reducing reliance on federal funding. Founded in 2017 and based in Brooklyn, NY, Near Space Labs has raised over $40 million to date. For enquires, please contact Near Space Labs at View source version on CONTACT: Media Jillian Smith [email protected] KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA NEW YORK INDUSTRY KEYWORD: SATELLITE INSURANCE DATA MANAGEMENT ENGINEERING PROFESSIONAL SERVICES TECHNOLOGY AEROSPACE MANUFACTURING SOURCE: Near Space Labs Copyright Business Wire 2025. PUB: 04/29/2025 10:40 AM/DISC: 04/29/2025 10:39 AM
