Latest news with #RayKurzweil
Daily Mail
7 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Futurist who predicted the iPhone reveals date humans will cheat death
A leading futurist who accurately predicted the rise of the iPhone has now set the date for humanity's most phenomenal breakthrough yet, the ability to cheat death. Ray Kurzweil, a former Google engineering director, has long been known for his bold predictions about the future of technology and humanity. His forecasts often focus on the convergence of biotech, AI, and nanotechnology to radically extend human capabilities. Now, Kurzweil claims humanity is just four years away from its most transformative leap yet, achieving 'longevity escape velocity' by 2029. While some experts remain skeptical, Kurzweil's influence in Silicon Valley ensures his predictions continue to shape the broader conversation around life extension and the future of human health. Longevity escape velocity (LEV) is a hypothetical scenario where the rate of medical advancement outpaces the aging process, leading to an ever-increasing life expectancy. Kurzweil believes that threshold is within reach because of recent exponential growth in the fields of line gene editing, mRNA vaccines, drug discovery led by artificial intelligence, and synthetic biology. He pointed to the development of COVID-19 vaccines as proof of humanity's rapid progress. 'We got the COVID vaccine out in 10 months,' he said in an interview with Bessemer Venture Partners. 'It took two days to create it. Because we sequenced through several billion different sequences in two days,' Kurzweil added. The controversial idea has long stirred debate in tech and scientific circles, with many gerontologists and longevity experts warning that the science is not yet close to achieving such a feat. In recent study, researchers noted that while some treatments have extended lifespan in animals, translating those results to humans remains a major challenge. Others, like Charles Brenner, a biochemist at City of Hope National Medical Center known as a 'longevity skeptic,' have cautioned against the hype surrounding claims of defeating aging and life-extension theories. We can't stop aging, he told the crowd. We can not use longevity genes to stay young because getting older is a fundamental property of life. But Kurzweil insists the world is on the verge of achieving it, pointing to exponential advances in AI, nanotechnology, and regenerative medicine as indicators that 'longevity escape velocity' could be reached within the decade. The concept hinges on cutting edge medicine becoming universally accessible, something many experts warn is far from guaranteed. While it does not promise immortality, it does suggest that death from old age could be delayed indefinitely, as technology advances over time. 'There's many other advances happening,' Kurzweil said. 'We're starting to see simulated biology being used and that's one of the reasons that we're going to make so much progress in the next five years.' Kurzweil has built a career on predicting the future, with many of his past forecasts coming true during the exact year he stated it would happen. He correctly foresaw the rise of portable computing in the 1990s, predicted the internet boom in the mid-1990s, and a computer would defeat a chess grandmaster by 1997. A milestone reached when IBM's Deep Blue defeated Garry Kasparov that year. Still, critics argue that forecasting a future without death, is far more complex than spotting tech trends. Venki Ramakrishnan, a Nobel Prize winning biologist, explained in his book ' ' that aging happens because of many connected biological factors, not just one cause. This makes it a very complex problem. Unlike technology, which usually improves in clear and predictable steps, the process of aging is much harder to understand and predict. Even if longevity escape velocity is technically possible by 2029, experts warn that widespread access could be limited by socioeconomic and ethical challenges. The technology needed to extend life in this way, such as genetic reprogramming, precision medicine, or nanobots, is expensive and still largely experimental. Medical advancements have significantly improved life expectancies, but achieving longevity escape velocity is not the same as achieving immortality. Kurzweil acknowledged that broad adoption is a massive hurdle. 'This doesn't mean you're going to live forever. A 10-year-old might have decades of potential, but they could still die tomorrow,' he said. There are limits. Randomness still plays a role. Cancer, for example, isn't a single disease but hundreds of mutations with no universal cure. While self-driving cars may reduce accidents, they won't eliminate them. Equally concerning is the disparity in global health care. Diseases like tuberculosis, which has a known cure, still kill more than a million people annually because treatments are unevenly distributed. The last few years have seen major breakthroughs in life-extension science. mRNA technology is now being adapted for cancer vaccines. CRISPR gene editing is being used in clinical trials to treat hereditary blindness and sickle cell disease. Meanwhile, researchers are growing entire organs in labs and experimenting with reversing aging in mice using cellular reprogramming techniques. AI is also accelerating biology. DeepMind's AlphaFold project solved one of biology's biggest puzzles, predicting how proteins fold in a feat that could revolutionize drug discovery. These advances are what Kurzweil cites as evidence that the human clock may soon start ticking backwards. Still, the idea of LEV captures something deeper, a human desire to defy mortality, to stay a step ahead of the inevitable. Kurzweil is not promising a magic pill or overnight change. He is predicting a tipping point in the near future, when medical progress starts to outpace aging in small, accumulating ways. If his timeline holds true, the early 2030s could mark the beginning of a very different relationship with aging, one in which dying of old age is no longer an assumed endpoint.
Daily Mail
01-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Experts see path to eternal life unfolding as early 2050
Scientists predict that in just 25 years we will have technology allowing humankind to live forever. They say we're on the cusp of knowledge that will make immortality possible, with aging becoming a curable disease by 2050 and AI allowing mergers between humans and bots. This could conceivably allow humans to live to 1,000 years and beyond, they claim. In Silicon Valley, entrepreneurs such as Bryan Johnson follow intense routines, like his 'Blueprint' plan, to slow or reverse aging, and companies like Altos Labs are testing treatments that have already extended the lives of mice. Three visionaries stand out in this quest: futurologist Dr Ian Pearson, Google 's Ray Kurzweil, and biomedical researcher Aubrey de Grey. Pearson predicts that by 2050, the wealthy will use advanced tech to live forever, perhaps by uploading their minds to computers or android bodies. Kurzweil believes that by 2029, artificial intelligence (AI) will match human intelligence, starting a merger between humans and machines that leads to immortality by 2045. Meanwhile, De Grey argues medical advances could make aging a curable disease by 2050, allowing people to live to 1,000 or beyond. Each of the next three breakthroughs offers a different path to immortality. They're not just about living longer - they're about changing what it means to be human. 2050: Immortality for the Elite By 2050, the wealthiest people could achieve immortality through a mix of cutting-edge technologies, predicts futurologist Pearson. He has suggested that advances in computing, genetic engineering, and robotics will let people live forever, either in enhanced bodies or as digital minds. 'By 2050, it will only really be for the rich and famous,' Pearson said, noting these technologies will start expensive but become affordable by the 2060s for middle-class people. Pearson also envisioned a world where medical treatments fix deadly conditions, like heart disease or cancer, before they become fatal. Genetic engineering could reverse aging, keeping cells young and healthy. Meanwhile, technologies like brain-computer interfaces might let people 'upload' their minds into virtual reality or android bodies. 'This would allow people to have multiple existences and identities, or to carry on living long after their biological death,' Pearson explained. Although only the ultra-rich will be able to afford these breakthroughs at first, Pearson is optimistic that anyone under the age of 50 has got a good chance of affording this in their lifetime, and anyone under 40 will almost definitely have access to immortality. His vision depends on technologies already in development, like 3D-printed organs and AI-driven medicine, scaling up dramatically in the next few decades. 2029: The Dawn of Human-Machine Hybrids By 2029, artificial intelligence will match human intelligence, kicking off a new era where humans merge with machines, according to Ray Kurzweil, a renowned futurist and former Google engineer. Kurzweil, who accurately predicted computers beating chess champions and the rise of smartphones, believes this milestone will lead to immortality by 2045, a point he calls 'The Singularity.' Kurzweil has predicted that AI will transform society, making necessities like food and housing cheaper and connecting human brains to the cloud via devices like Elon Musk's Neuralink. 'A key capability in the 2030s will be to connect the upper ranges of our neocortices to the cloud, which will directly extend our thinking,' he wrote in the 2024 book The Singularity Is Nearer. According to Kurzweil, this merger will multiply human intelligence millions of times, letting us solve problems faster and live in new ways. By 2045, the futurist said humans could become cyborgs, capable of copying their minds or downloading into new bodies printed with advanced tech. 'Rather than AI being a competitor, it will become an extension of ourselves,' he explained. This vision starts in 2029, when AI reaches human levels of ability, setting the stage for a future where immortality means becoming part machine, part human. 2050: Curing Aging Like a Disease Aubrey de Grey, a Cambridge-educated scientist with a striking two-foot beard, believes aging is a disease we can cure. Through his Longevity Escape Velocity Foundation, de Grey has researched ways to repair the body's cells, potentially letting people live to 1,000. He's famously said the first person to reach 1,000 has already been born. De Grey's approach, called 'integrative rejuvenation,' uses multiple treatments to fix cellular damage, like clearing out harmful waste or repairing DNA. If medical advances keep pace with aging, humans could reach 'longevity escape velocity,' where life expectancy grows faster than time passes. 'Aging is a disease,' de Grey argued, saying that we should treat it like we treat cancer or diabetes. Other experts, like Dr Andrew Steele, author of Ageless, have agreed that new drugs like senolytics could lead to healthier aging, even if not full immortality. Senolytics are a new class of drug designed to eliminate dead, 'zombie cells' from the body before they accumulate and contribute to harmful inflammation. 'We're at a point where we understand enough about the process that we can start to try to intervene,' Steele said. By 2050, de Grey's vision could make death from aging a thing of the past, offering a medical path to eternal life.
Daily Mail
31-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Longevity experts reveal when humans will start living to 1,000... and it's sooner than you think
What if you could live forever, staying healthy and young for centuries? Scientists and tech pioneers now believe this dream could become reality. In Silicon Valley, entrepreneurs like Bryan Johnson follow intense routines, like his 'Blueprint' plan, to slow or reverse aging, and companies like Altos Labs are testing treatments that have already extended the lives of mice. Experts say we're on the cusp of technologies that could make immortality possible, and they've even set dates for when this future might arrive. Three visionaries stand out in this quest: futurologist Dr. Ian Pearson, Google 's Ray Kurzweil, and biomedical researcher Aubrey de Grey. Pearson predicts that by 2050, the wealthy will use advanced tech to live forever, perhaps by uploading their minds to computers or android bodies. Kurzweil believes that by 2029, artificial intelligence (AI) will match human intelligence, starting a merger between humans and machines that leads to immortality by 2045. De Grey argues that medical advances could make aging a curable disease by 2050, allowing people to live to 1,000 or beyond. Each of the next three breakthroughs offers a different path to immortality. They're not just about living longer - they're about changing what it means to be human. 2050: Immortality for the Elite By 2050, the wealthiest people could achieve immortality through a mix of cutting-edge technologies, predicts futurologist Dr Ian Pearson. He has suggested that advances in computing, genetic engineering, and robotics will let people live forever, either in enhanced bodies or as digital minds. 'By 2050, it will only really be for the rich and famous,' Pearson said, noting that these technologies will start expensive but become affordable by the 2060s for middle-class people. Pearson also envisioned a world where medical treatments fix deadly conditions, like heart disease or cancer, before they become fatal. Genetic engineering could reverse aging, keeping cells young and healthy. Meanwhile, technologies like brain-computer interfaces might let people 'upload' their minds into virtual reality or android bodies. 'This would allow people to have multiple existences and identities, or to carry on living long after their biological death,' Pearson explained. Although only the ultra-rich will be able to afford these breakthroughs at first, Pearson is optimistic that anyone under the age of 50 has got a good chance of affording this in their lifetime, and anyone under 40 will almost definitely will have access to immortality. His vision depends on technologies already in development, like 3D-printed organs and AI-driven medicine, scaling up dramatically in the next few decades. 2029: The Dawn of Human-Machine Hybrids By 2029, artificial intelligence will match human intelligence, kicking off a new era where humans merge with machines, according to Ray Kurzweil, a renowned futurist and former Google engineer. Kurzweil, who accurately predicted computers beating chess champions and the rise of smartphones, believes this milestone will lead to immortality by 2045, a point he calls 'The Singularity.' Kurzweil has predicted that AI will transform society, making necessities like food and housing cheaper and connecting human brains to the cloud via devices like Elon Musk's Neuralink. 'A key capability in the 2030s will be to connect the upper ranges of our neocortices to the cloud, which will directly extend our thinking,' he wrote in the 2024 book 'The Singularity Is Nearer.' According to Kurzweil, this merger will multiply human intelligence millions of times, letting us solve problems faster and live in new ways. By 2045, the futurist said humans could become cyborgs, capable of copying their minds or downloading into new bodies printed with advanced tech. 'Rather than AI being a competitor, it will become an extension of ourselves,' he explained. This vision starts in 2029, when AI reaches human levels of ability, setting the stage for a future where immortality means becoming part machine, part human. 2050: Curing Aging Like a Disease Aubrey de Grey, a Cambridge-educated scientist with a striking two-foot beard, believes aging is a disease we can cure. Through his Longevity Escape Velocity Foundation, de Grey has researched ways to repair the body's cells, potentially letting people live to 1,000. He's famously said the first person to reach 1,000 has already been born. De Grey's approach, called 'integrative rejuvenation,' uses multiple treatments to fix cellular damage, like clearing out harmful waste or repairing DNA. If medical advances keep pace with aging, humans could reach 'longevity escape velocity,' where life expectancy grows faster than time passes. 'Aging is a disease,' de Grey argued, saying that we should treat it like we treat cancer or diabetes. With a two-foot beard, Cambridge-educated author and 'immortalist' Aubrey de Grey believes that 'aging is a disease' and that will soon be possible to live until the age of 1,000 Other experts, like Dr Andrew Steele, author of 'Ageless,' have agreed that new drugs like senolytics could lead to healthier aging, even if not full immortality. Senolytics are a new class of drug designed to eliminate dead, 'zombie cells' from the body before they accumulate and contribute to harmful inflammation. 'We're at a point where we understand enough about the process that we can start to try to intervene,' Steele said. By 2050, de Grey's vision could make death from aging a thing of the past, offering a medical path to eternal life.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Elon Musk Rival? Ray Kurzweil's Beyond Imagination Lands $100M Deal As Tesla, Nvidia, Meta Race Toward AI-Powered Humanoid Robots
Ray Kurzweil, the AI futurist best known for predicting the rise of the singularity, is taking a major step toward turning science fiction into industrial reality. His humanoid robotics company, Beyond Imagination, has secured a $100 million investment from Gauntlet Ventures in a Series B round that pushes the startup's valuation to $500 million, Reuters reports. Founded alongside scientist, entrepreneur, and filmmaker Harry Kloor, Beyond Imagination is building Beomni, an advanced humanoid robot developed for deployment in high-demand industrial settings, according to the company's website. Reuters says that the startup is also working on a universal operating system called Aura, designed to streamline communication and functionality between humans, robots, and legacy machinery. Don't Miss: Hasbro, MGM, and Skechers trust this AI marketing firm — 'Scrolling To UBI' — Deloitte's #1 fastest-growing software company allows users to earn money on their phones. Kurzweil's long-held vision of a future dominated by intelligent machines is moving from bookshelves to production lines. His prediction that artificial intelligence would exceed human intelligence by 2045 once raised eyebrows, Reuters reports. According to Bloomberg, AI startups raised a record $97 billion in funding in 2024 alone, making artificial intelligence one of the most heavily backed sectors in venture capital. According to Gauntlet Ventures co-founder Oliver Carmack, the decision to back Beyond Imagination stemmed from the company's capacity to address a looming global issue: the skilled labor shortage. The startup's bot, with its AI-driven adaptability, is being positioned as a solution for industries like pharmaceutical manufacturing, chip fabrication, and automotive assembly, sectors that demand high precision and long-term workforce support, Reuters says. Beyond Imagination is currently testing its humanoid robots and seeking enterprise partners for deployment in industrial settings, aiming to help revolutionize U.S. manufacturing through AI-driven automation, according to Reuters. Trending: Maker of the $60,000 foldable home has 3 factory buildings, 600+ houses built, and big plans to solve housing — The company isn't short on heavyweight support. According to Beyond Imagination's website, its advisory board includes former Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) CEO Paul Jacobs, motivational speaker and business strategist Tony Robbins, and former Paramount Pictures Chair Jim Gianopulos. Their backing, combined with Gauntlet's $100 million investment, sets Beyond Imagination apart in a market flooded with robotics startups vying for capital and attention. According to Reuters, Gauntlet Ventures is the sole investor in this Series B round, a bold show of confidence in both Kurzweil's vision and the company's near-term commercial potential. This latest funding round comes at a time when several major players are entering or expanding their own robotics divisions. Tesla's (NASDAQ:TSLA) Optimus robot, Meta's (NASDAQ:META) AI systems, and Nvidia's (NASDAQ:NVDA) development tools are all pushing the industry forward. Kurzweil's company is positioning Aura as a system designed to integrate humans, robots, and legacy machinery, Reuters the hype, progress in robotics has remained slower than in conversational AI. According to Vox, while chatbots and other language-based AIs have surged ahead, powered by vast amounts of readily available training data from text, images, and video, physical robots remain years behind. Unlike language models, which can be trained in parallel across millions of central processing unit cores and datasets scraped from the internet, robots need to learn by interacting with the physical world in real time, Vox says. As industrial sectors look for automation that delivers beyond traditional robotics, Beyond Imagination may lead that charge with fresh capital and an AI strategy focused on industrial deployment. Read Next: Invest where it hurts — and help millions heal:.Image: Shutterstock Up Next: Transform your trading with Benzinga Edge's one-of-a-kind market trade ideas and tools. Click now to access unique insights that can set you ahead in today's competitive market. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? APPLE (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report TESLA (TSLA): Free Stock Analysis Report This article Elon Musk Rival? Ray Kurzweil's Beyond Imagination Lands $100M Deal As Tesla, Nvidia, Meta Race Toward AI-Powered Humanoid Robots originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Time of India
24-05-2025
- Science
- Time of India
Humans will be immortal by 2030, futurist Ray Kurzweil predicts—here's how technology could make it happen
The notion of immortality has captivated human imagination for millennia. From ancient myths of life elixirs to contemporary science fiction with characters overcoming death, the notion of eternal life has been a beguiling prospect. Until recently, immortality was quite often a philosophical or fictional endeavor. Yet, with progress in artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, and nanotechnology, the horizon of life itself is being extended, turning a fantasy into a scientific debate. At the forefront of this revolution is Ray Kurzweil, a prophet thinker, inventor, and erstwhile Google engineer, whose recent prophecy has reawakened universal curiosity and debate. Humans could achieve immortality by 2030 through nanobots Kurzweil has forecast that by 2030, humans can accomplish what was previously considered impossible—biological immortality. The statement, though incredible, is not an imaginary one. Rather, it is underpinned by the rapid advancement of major scientific disciplines like nanotechnology, genetics, and robotics. The future of medicine, Kurzweil predicts, will be characterized by the emergence of microscopic machines called nanobots. These kind of small robots will help travel in the human circulatory system, continuously checking the body's status, healing the cells that are broken, and reversing the signs of aging. If realized, this technology might not only heal diseases before their appearance but also restore the human body on a cellular level, effectively stopping the aging process. Who is Ray Kurzweil by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Trade Bitcoin & Ethereum – No Wallet Needed! IC Markets Start Now Undo Ray Kurzweil is no stranger to the realm of dramatic technological predictions. He is best known for his vision in anticipating the direction of digital innovation. Most of his predictions, made many years ago and considered unlikely at the time, have come true with astonishing precision. He famously predicted the emergence of the internet, artificial intelligence, and the merging of biology and computing, sometimes decades before they reached popular adoption. With a batting average of success—almost 86 percent of his 147 predictions have held true—Kurzweil has gained both praise and criticism. In 1999, he was awarded the National Medal of Technology, the highest award given by the American government to its innovators. His credibility does not only come from his professional success but also because of his hands-on approach to research and development of advanced technologies. How AI and human minds will merge to redefine intelligence by 2029 Together with this biological transformation comes the unprecedented evolution of artificial intelligence. Kurzweil thinks AI will hit its crucial benchmark by 2029, when machines will have human-level intelligence and will be able to pass the Turing test—a benchmark of a machine's capability to simulate behavior indistinguishable from a human's. He predicts that humans and machines will not just coexist, but will come together. The merger of human consciousness with AI would augment memory, perception, and decision-making to take human abilities past the natural biological boundaries. Human intelligence will multiply beyond imagination around 2045 At the heart of Kurzweil's prophecy is the idea of the Singularity, a theoretical point in time in the future where technological development accelerates to the point at which it radically changes human civilization. He predicts this transition to take place around 2045. Human intelligence will be raised a billion times as we start to integrate with our own inventions. This integration should bring about a new type of existence where consciousness is not limited to carbon-based tissue but can be uploaded, augmented, and even made to last forever. Kurzweil is not the only one imagining such a world. Tech innovators globally have seconded such thoughts. One of them is Masayoshi Son, the CEO of SoftBank, who has also forecasted the emergence of super-intelligent machines by 2047. According to Son, the machines will learn on their own and potentially acquire emotional intelligence that can topple humanity's position at the pinnacle of the intellectual chain. SoftBank's creation of Pepper, a humanoid robot with the ability to sense human emotions, is an instance of how emotional computation is already making inroads. How the latest AI breakthroughs are reshaping society and raising alarms The world is already experiencing the initial stages of this revolution. In 2023, Google and Microsoft, among other leading tech companies, launched advanced AI-based chatbots, both intriguing and terrifying people. Although these developments brought concerns about the capabilities of AI, they also reflected its uncertain nature. Public opinion varied from enthusiasm at the potential of new abilities to fear about the social consequences of AI systems that learn, improve, and behave autonomously beyond the control of humans. In March 2023, a collective of scientists, engineers, and technology entrepreneurs led by Elon Musk signed a public letter demanding a pause in AI research. They said that existing AI systems are a serious threat to society and need to be properly regulated before they can be permitted to go further. What happens when death is no longer the end—questions we can't ignore While Kurzweil's vision of immortality is based on hope in the power of science, it is raising very fundamental ethical and philosophical issues. If human beings no longer age and die naturally, how will society manage population growth, distribution of resources, and economic balance? Will immortality only be an option for the rich, or will it be a right that everyone has? And, more fundamentally, what does our perception of life, purpose, and legacy do when death is no longer an unavoidable reality? These are not scientific questions alone—they are cultural, ethical, and profoundly human issues that we need to get ready to deal with. Also Read | Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja receives $139 million compensation package; know who is he, educational qualifications, net worth and more AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
