The Next Billion Seconds with Mark Pesce

While everyone was going gaga over ChatGPT, Meta - the former Facebook - rewrote the AI playbook with LLaMA. Small enough to run on a smartphone, LLaMA gives us a glimpse of what the world will look like at the end of next year - with AI chatbots everywhere, inside almost everything. LLaMA and its tiny kin are amazing - but are they safe? On this second episode of a three-part miniseries, we explo...

On 30 November 2022 startup OpenAI released ChatGPT, resetting expectations for artificial intelligence. Only one year later and billions now have access to ‘good enough’ AI, resetting our expectations for what computers can do - and leaving us wondering how we’ll adapt to this latest breakthrough. On this first of a three-part miniseries, we explore how ChatGPT rose to become the fastest growing...

While they've worked together for five years, Mark, Sal and Drew have never met face-to-face - until this show. Eyeball-to-eyball they ask one another some 'hard questions', and learn some hard truths about the state of micromobility, EVs - and the future of the transition that may be better for the auto industry than for the planet. For more information about this podcast and The Next Billion Sec...

SPECIAL EPISODE. We were so happy with Special Correspondent Drew Smith’s rich and powerful interview with Horace Dediu, we wanted to share an episode featuring their complete conversation. Drew Smith sat down for an hour-plus interview with Horace Dediu, the ‘father’ of micromobility - Horace coined the word! - exploring its origins and future. Along the way, Horace offers a blistering critique o...

What is ‘micromobility’? It’s a philosophy that emphasises choice and urban-centered design in our transportation networks and transport options. Drew Smith speaks with Horace Dediu, the ‘father’ of micromobility, about its origins, his critique of the new generation of EV companies, and the way things must change in order to provide a transport future that we can all enjoy. Mark looks at the ‘whe...

Long-promised as the ‘fuel of the future’, hydrogen fails to live up to its hype. Co-host Sally Dominguez looks at the the future for big hydrogen-powered vehicles, speaking with Brendan Norman of Australian hydrogen vehicle startup H2X . Mark speaks to Romesh Rodrigo at Daimler Trucks Australia about the future of ‘liquid’ hydrogen - a fuel that needs to be cooled to within 20 degrees of Absolute...

The number of electric cars in Australia doubled in 2022 - yet it remains nearly impossible to buy the model you want, and the nation’s public charging infrastructure remains on the drawing board. Big things will need to change, quickly. Co-hosts Sally Dominguez and Drew Smith dive into the systemic changes needed to get these ‘batteries-with-wheels’ charged and charging into the future. With cont...

The Next Billion Cars Mini-Series is BACK for another mini series. In this episode about the future of Autonomous Vehicles, Mark Pesce with co-hosts Sally Dominguez and Drew Smith explore what the future holds for the car industry and how we move. In the first episode, Mark and guests explore the future of autonomous vehicles.  It all started in 2016 when Tesla made a video touting their 'self-dri...

Work futurist Dom Price and resilience expert Sally Dominguez guide us through a new world of work, post-pandemic. Mark speaks with two leaders at the coalface, Julie Watkins, Chief People Officer of Uni Super, and Dr Rajkuma Buyya, Director of the Cloud Computing and Distributed Systems (CLOUDS) Laboratory, and a Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor at the University of Melbourne and CEO of Manj...

TSMC now makes the best computer chips - making Taiwan a prize that China needs in order to continue its rise as an economic and military superpower.  Rebroadcast from June 7, 2021.  The 2023 season of The Next Billion Cars is proudly made possible by our sponsors GIO Insurance and BMW. GIO has spent nearly 100 years continually developing our products and services to meet our customer’s needs, wi...

In the 2010s, VR roared back into life with Oculus, Vive, WebGL and Hololens. Minecraft, Roblox and Fortnite gave millions a deep drink of the potential of the Metaverse. Facebook - renamed Meta - bet the house on the Metaverse. Where is the Metaverse headed? We hear insights from forty years of experts.   For more information about this and all our other 'The Next Billion Seconds" content, please...

In the early 2000s, the Metaverse blossomed into the foundation for a new generation of video games such as 'Ultima Online', and big data 'digital twins' like Google Earth. It's "Game On!" for Tony and Mark - and on and on and on and on... Featuring Raph Koster, Philip Rosedale, Ken Birdwell, Amy Jo Kim, Avi Bar-Zeev, Clay Graham and Justin Liang. For more information about this and all our other...

In the second half of the 1990s, VRML became the platform of choice for 'virtual worlds' filled with 'avatars' - digital representations of real people. The Web goes big - and stays big - yet VRML crashes back to Earth, as Second Life becomes the last best hope for the Metaverse. Featuring Neal Stephenson, David Frerichs, John McCrea, Jan Mallis, Bruce Damer, Mark Jeffrey, Christopher Caen, Linda...

Tony and Mark - supported by a global community of technologists, enthusiasts and dreamers - brought 3D to the brand-new Web with VRML, creating the foundations for the “DIY Metaverse”. Featuring Owen Rowley, Linda Jacobson, John McCrea, Coco Conn and Neal Stephenson. Read the interview with Jaron Lanier in  MONDO 2000  issue 2  that changed Mark’s life. “ Homebrew VR “, written by Linda Jacobson,...

The technology behind the metaverse has its origins in the darkest days of the Cold War. This ‘Military metaverse’ gave birth to the Internet, transforming warfare - and, a generation later, online gaming. Featuring Michael Zyda. JCR Licklider  – “Lick” to his friends and colleagues – is little-known but absolutely an essential figure in the development of modern computing. Ivan Sutherland  is pro...

Welcome to the first episode of our new series, "A Brief History of the Metaverse". Mark and co-host Tony Parisi travel back more than a century to uncover the roots of the Metaverse. From pioneers Chip Morningstar and Randy Farmer, creators of "Habitat", the first massively multiplayer online environment, we learn the Metaverse has never been about technology - but always about people. Featuring...

A clever bit of AI software transforms my voice into a silky-smooth 'Lisa' - almost an archetypal radio host. In the near future, we'll be able to make ourselves sound - and look - like anyone else. How will we know if we're being fooled? To find out more about Lisa (sorry, Mark) and this show, check out https://nextbillionseconds.com If you enjoyed this show, please leave a rating and/or review o...

With our new series 'A Brief History of the Metaverse' just around the corner here on The Next Billion Seconds, we thought we would share Mark's recent appearance on The Futurists podcast where some very relevant things are discussed! "Award-winning author and technologist Mark Pesce tells us about the deep history of today’s consumer technology in military R&D including the 30 year arc of the...

In this live interview with Oculus and Anduril founder Palmer Luckey - joined by Anduril Chief Engineer Shane Arnott - we look at the future of defense, geopolitics, and Australia's future in a transformed Indo-Pacific region. Have we shifted toward a defense-driven future? For more information about this and all our other Next Billion Seconds content, please check out https://nextbillionseconds.c...

Three big transformations - one that's has already happened, one happening now, and one about to happen - illuminate the path (and pitfalls) for those anyone who wants to articulate the future. Listen and learn how to be your own futurist! For more information about this and all our other Next Billion Seconds content, please check out https://nextbillionseconds.com The 2023 season of The Next Bill...

Mark delves back into the archives to bring you an episode that is particularly relevant to current events. TSMC now makes the best computer chips - making Taiwan a prize that China needs in order to continue its rise as an economic and military superpower. For more information about this and all our other Next Billion Seconds content, please check out https://nextbillionseconds.com The 2023 seaso...

At the age of 19, Palmer Luckey founded Oculus, bringing a comatose VR industry back to life. Will he do the same for defense - and has he solved Australia’s submarine problem? For more information about this and all our other Next Billion Seconds content, please check out https://nextbillionseconds.com The 2023 season of The Next Billion Cars is proudly made possible by our sponsors GIO Insurance...

VR roared back to life this decade due to the efforts of visionary teenager Palmer Luckey. Luckey built Oculus, sold to Facebook for $3 billion - then got fired. We talk to Palmer on next week's show.  In this TNBS re-run, Mark revisits an old episode in which he talks to author Blake Harris whose book 'The History of the Future' looks at Palmer and the founding of Oculus. For more information abo...

If you own cryptocurrency, where do you keep it safe? Who's responsible for the contents of your 'wallet'? Both 'custodial' and 'personal' wallets have strengths and weaknesses - which is right for your needs?  Featuring author and entrepreneur Mark Jeffrey. Want to hear more about Mark and his knowledgeable guests on the topic of Crypto? You can find Mark's previous series "Cryptonomics" on this...

In the middle of a bad 'crypto winter', Mark and Josh go looking for good news. All this bad news has a silver lining, as folks wean themselves off 'hopium' into more realistic expectations for the future. Featuring Ampel E.P. Josh Butt and co-founder of Block Earner Jordan Momtazi. Want to hear more about Mark and his knowledgeable guests on the topic of Crypto? You can find Mark's previous serie...