Things That Will Blow Your Mind | Global Conference 2026

Lila Sciences: AI-Driven Scientific Method

• Core Mission: Building "scientific superintelligence" to solve challenges across life, chemical, and material sciences by automating the scientific method.
• Strategic Shift: Rejects the "ChatGPT moment" (conversational utility) in favor of a "Kasparov vs. Deep Blue moment" where AI models provide human-level or superior intelligence in scientific discovery.
• Operational Model: Operating "AI science factories" that autonomously hypothesize, design experiments, execute them via robotics, interpret results, and update models 24/7 without human intervention.
• Data Advantage: Accumulated 10 trillion tokens of AI-reasoned experimental data; projected to reach twice the size of the entire Internet by year-end.
• Biotech Breakthroughs:
  • mRNA designs by Lila's AI maintain expression for 15 days in living systems, compared to 1.5 days for existing industry leaders (Moderna, BioNTech).
  • Discovered binders for every protein surface on every cell in the human body, a task previously unachievable.
• Material Science: Identified the highest-performing earth-abundant catalyst for water splitting (hydrogen/oxygen) without precious metals; found solutions for permanent magnets without critical minerals.
• Competitive Thesis: The highest scientific intelligence will reside with entities operating the largest general autonomous laboratories, not just those with the largest data centers.

Field AI: Embodied Robotics and Physical Action

• Value Proposition: Developing a "brain" for physical AI that generates actions rather than just text, targeting the 97% of the global economy represented by physical work.
• Hardware Agnosticism: Deploying the same AI model across diverse platforms, from 10-lb "dog" robots to humanoids and multi-ton vehicles, without requiring custom code for each.
• Deployment Capabilities:
  • Systems operate without GPS, Wi-Fi, or 5G; they create digital twins of the environment on the edge.
  • Successfully deployed in varied environments including snowy Hokkaido and Dubai deserts.
• Autonomy Levels:
  • Physical Layer: Commodity hardware ($2,000–$3,000 robots) powered by sophisticated software to extract ROI.
  • Operational Layer: Autonomous workflow integration for inspection, security, and material transport (e.g., detecting burglaries, comparing BIM models to reality).
  • Coordination Layer: Multi-agent swarms (walking, wheeled, and flying robots) coordinating autonomously to survey millions of square feet in unchartered environments.
• Labor Market Response: Addressing severe labor shortages in "dirty, dull, dangerous" sectors (mining, construction) and aging populations in Japan and Europe; estimates 30,000–40,000 labor deficits in the Gulf of Mexico alone over five years.
• Performance Metrics: Platforms have completed 40-mile autonomous runs in complex off-road terrain with "superhuman" stability performance compared to human drivers.

Heaven Aerotech: Endurance Drones and Defense Innovation

• Geopolitical Context: 90% of casualties in current European conflicts are drone-related; China produces 90% of global drones and controls the supply chain, outproducing the US by a factor of 100.
• Energy Solution: Utilizing hydrogen fuel cells to achieve 10+ hour flight endurance and 600-mile range, eliminating noise and thermal signatures associated with combustion engines.
• Point-of-Origin Fueling: Developing portable refueling trailers that generate hydrogen on-site using solar panels, enabling long-term stealth deployments.
• Navigation & Comms: Partnering with INQ (largest quantum company) to develop quantum sensors and networking for GPS-denied and jammed environments.
• Manufacturing Strategy: Launching a "gigafactory" for drones in the US to achieve automotive-scale production rates; plans to deploy 10 facilities with US government support over the next few years.
• Mission Profiles: Moving beyond photography to autonomous decision-making for payload delivery, swarms of 100,000+ drones, and defense logistics (e.g., dropping blood in battlefields).
• Regulatory Path: Prioritizing defense applications (highest value/lives saved) to overcome commercial regulatory hurdles before scaling to civilian infrastructure and industrial use.

Carbon Mapper: Methane Detection and Climate Mitigation

• Mission: A non-profit organization mapping methane and carbon dioxide emissions to drive reductions; all data is free and accessible within 30 days (72 hours in some cases).
• Focus Area: Targeting "super emitters" (large, localized leaks) which account for a disproportionate share of global methane emissions; methane is 80x more potent than CO2 but leaves the atmosphere in ~12 years.
• Capabilities:
  • Mapped 37,000 super emitting events across 187 countries using aircraft and satellite spectrometry.
  • Deployed the Tanager 1 satellite (August 2024) with additional satellites scheduled for late 2025 and 2026.
• Future Targets: Launching next-gen aerial (2027) and satellite (2028) technology with 5x current capability and 2x accuracy, specifically targeting the agriculture sector which is difficult to map.
• Stakeholder Collaboration:
  • Operators: Partnered with OGCI to notify oil and gas companies; 31 of 113 reported leak operators in California mitigated emissions within one year.
  • Governments: Data used by California, Colorado, Texas, North Dakota, and Brazil for regulatory enforcement and public health monitoring.
  • Public Health: Identified co-emissions of benzene in Adams County, Colorado, linking leaks to health risks for a town of 3,500 including a daycare and school.
• Future Vision: Leveraging AI to improve attribution in regions lacking infrastructure data and deploying robots to mitigate leaks in hazardous environments.

Panel Consensus: Future Outlook and Global Implications

• Economic Impact: Intelligence is the primary determinant of ROI in science; AI automation is expected to expand the scale of scientific output 4x (by operating 24/7) and potentially 1,000x if decision speed exceeds human limits.
• Labor Market Dynamics:
  • Panelists reject "job erasure," predicting that AI will create new roles in managing infrastructure, training, and higher-order creative tasks.
  • Historical precedent cited: The transition from horses to cars eliminated jobs but created mechanics and drivers; similar shifts are expected in construction and energy.
• Geopolitical Competition:
  • China's centralized government subsidies and early focus on drones have created a massive scale advantage over the West.
  • Experts warn that falling behind in scientific intelligence or drone manufacturing is an existential threat to US economic and military dominance this century.
  • Call to action: Reindustrialize the US, invest in automation, and lead in AI values to maintain a deterrent advantage against adversaries.
• Challenges:
  • Managing swarms of 10,000+ drones requires centralized AI coordination rather than human management.
  • Ensuring AI decision-making processes are robust enough to handle high-stakes scenarios (defense, climate mitigation) without human intervention.
• Near-Term Outlook (3-5 Years):
  • Ali Agha: Predicts a "physical AI moment" within two years where platforms can perform domestic tasks (grocery, nursing) autonomously.
  • Jeff Van Maltzen: Anticipates a "bonanza" of innovations as AI makes decisions 100-1,000 times faster than humans, unlocking discoveries previously unreachable.
  • Aaron Blanton: Excited by the discovery of unexpected emission sources (e.g., offshore fuel transfer vs. platforms) and the ability to fix them.
  • Ben Levinson: Emphasizes the critical need for the West to catch up in manufacturing scale and automation to counter China's lead.