Silicon Valley Billionaires Pursue the Impossible
In his new book More Everything Forever, physicist and science journalist Adam Becker explores the lofty ambitions of some of Silicon Valley’s wealthiest figures. These tech leaders are not merely seeking faster processors or higher-resolution displays—they’re investing billions to conquer death, infinite computing power, and limitless growth. We sat down with Becker to unpack the technical, financial, and philosophical underpinnings of these grand pursuits.
Interview with Adam Becker
Q: What motivated you to write More Everything Forever?
A: I’ve been tracking the intersection of fundamental physics and technology development for over a decade. When I saw venture capital flowing into projects like cryonics, digital mind uploading, and AI-driven immortality research, I realized there was a deeper narrative: the belief that science and engineering could overcome every boundary.
Q: Were you surprised by the level of technical detail these billionaires demand?
A: Absolutely. These backers don’t just write checks—they form advisory boards composed of leading neuroscientists, quantum physicists, and AI experts. For instance, several have funded exascale supercomputing clusters specifically to model protein folding at atom-by-atom resolution, pushing projects such as DeepMind’s AlphaFold beyond purely academic settings into startup roadmaps.
Key Themes of “More Everything Forever”
- Transhumanist Visions: From indefinite lifespans to synthetic consciousness.
- Infrastructure Scale-Up: Building data centers with megawatt-scale cooling, custom liquid-cooled GPUs, and petaflop-level clusters solely dedicated to life-extension simulations.
- Philosophical Debates: Ethical considerations around altering human identity and societal impacts of unequal access.
Technical Approaches to Eternal Life
Current efforts break down into three main pillars:
- Cryopreservation and Vitrification: Advanced protocols aim to minimize ice crystal formation by using cryoprotectants such as dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and ethylene glycol. Companies like Alcor are refining perfusion rates to distribute these agents uniformly in tissue, while experimental high-pressure freezing units are under development.
- Whole-Brain Emulation: Leveraging neural nets with 10^14 synaptic parameters, labs funded by high-net-worth individuals are deploying mixed-precision HPC clusters with NVIDIA H100 GPUs to capture connectome data at submicron resolution.
- Genetic Reprogramming and Senolytics: Using CRISPR-Cas9 systems delivered via AAV vectors, researchers aim to knock out key senescence markers (p16INK4a) and activate telomerase expression. Startups like BioViva have already raised Series B to scale animal trials.
Infrastructure Requirements: AI, Cloud, and Hardware
Scaling these projects demands unprecedented computing resources. Some backers partner with cloud providers to spin up thousands of GPUs within hours:
- On-Premise Exascale Installations: Custom-built data centers with 50+ MW power capacity, advanced liquid cooling loops, and direct liquid immersion for GPU clusters.
- Cloud Bursting: Elastic expansion into public clouds (AWS, Google Cloud) when peak demand for batch simulations hits.
- Quantum Computing Horizons: Though still nascent, investments in superconducting qubit arrays (e.g., IBM’s 1,000+ qubit roadmap) promise to accelerate molecular dynamics and optimization tasks relevant to cryopreservation algorithms.
Ethical and Societal Implications
Experts warn these pursuits risk deepening inequities. As bioethicist Dr. Sarah Chan at the University of Edinburgh notes, “If only the ultra-rich can afford immortality or enhanced cognition, societal stratification will intensify.” Regulatory bodies are scrambling to catch up: the FDA recently issued draft guidelines on human genome editing, and the European Union is drafting AI oversight legislation that could impact mind-uploading startups.
Historical Context: From Alchemy to Algorithms
Efforts to transcend biological limits date back to medieval alchemists seeking the Philosopher’s Stone. Today’s “digital alchemists” employ machine learning and advanced materials science rather than lead and mercury. The convergence of improved imaging (cryogenic electron microscopy at 0.3 Å resolution), big data analytics, and synthetic biology has changed the game—making some once-esoteric ideas experimentally tractable.
Future Outlook: Beyond the Horizon
As of early 2024, Neuralink’s first human trial for brain–computer interfaces has begun, offering a potential path toward continuous neural data streaming. Meanwhile, DeepMind’s work on automated lab robotics and self-driving labs could further accelerate drug discovery for age-related diseases.
Becker concludes: “We’re witnessing a new scientific era where technology investors are not just passive financiers—they’re shaping research agendas in real time. Whether they succeed or not, they’re forcing the rest of us to think about what ‘forever’ truly means.”