Assessing the Moonshots 2026 Predictions: Bold Calls or Overreach?

By Futurist Thomas Frey

When Futurists Make Specific Near-Term Predictions

The Moonshots podcast crew—Peter Diamandis, Salim Ismail, Alex Wissner-Gross, Dave Blundin, and Emad Mostaque—just made specific predictions for 2026. These aren’t vague trends or decade-long forecasts. They’re concrete, falsifiable claims about what happens in the next 12 months.

Let me assess each prediction’s credibility, examine what’s realistic versus optimistic, and identify which forecasts matter most if they prove accurate.

Continue reading… “Assessing the Moonshots 2026 Predictions: Bold Calls or Overreach?”

2026: The Year Corporate America Faces Its AI Reckoning (Maybe)

By Futurist Thomas Frey

The Bold Prediction That Might Be Half Right

Salim Ismail recently made a stunning prediction on the Moonshots Podcast with Peter Diamandis: “I think 2026 is going to see the biggest collapse of the corporate world in the history of business.”

The context: rapid AI advancements with models like GPT-5.2 automating knowledge work at superhuman speed and low cost, building on 1.1-1.17 million U.S. layoffs announced in 2025—the highest since the 2020 pandemic. Ismail, author of Exponential Organizations, argues companies failing to radically transform by scrapping legacy systems, adopting AI-native approaches, and reskilling workforces will face existential threats as adoption tips into panic mode.

Is he right? Probably not about “biggest collapse ever”—but he might be right about something more important: 2026 is when the gap between AI-adopters and AI-resisters becomes catastrophic.

Continue reading… “2026: The Year Corporate America Faces Its AI Reckoning (Maybe)”

Energy abundance : The future of nuclear

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Yes, I want nuclear energy *in my back yard*!

Extraordinary new innovations are giving us failsafe nuclear fission and the potential to achieve our age-old dream of fusion.

This year, Bill Gates commented: “Nuclear is ideal for dealing with climate change, because it is the only carbon-free, scalable energy source that’s available 24 hours a day. The problems with today’s reactors, such as the risk of accidents, can be solved through innovation.”

This blog is about convincing you to re-consider nuclear as a viable and critical idea. The upside of success is extraordinary, which is why, for the first time, we’re beginning to see venture capital make massive investments in the field.

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Top 5 Predictions for VR/AR Breakthroughs

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Convergence is accelerating disruption… everywhere!

Exponential technologies are colliding into each other, reinventing products, services and industries.

In this third installment of our Convergence Catalyzer series, I’ll be synthesizing key insights from my annual entrepreneurs’ mastermind event, Abundance 360, which takes place every January in Beverly Hills. This five-blog series looks at 3D Printing, Artificial Intelligence, VR/AR, Energy & Transportation, and Blockchain.

Today, let’s dive into Virtual and Augmented Reality…

Continue reading… “Top 5 Predictions for VR/AR Breakthroughs”

Imagining the Smart Cities of 2050

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Tomorrow’s cities are reshaping almost every industry imaginable, and birthing those we’ve never heard of.

Riding an explosion of sensors, megacity AI ‘brains’, high-speed networks, new materials and breakthrough green solutions, cities are quickly becoming versatile organisms, sustaining and responding to the livelihood patterns of millions.

Over the next decade, cities will revolutionize everything about the way we live, travel, eat, work, learn, stay healthy, and even hydrate.

And countless urban centers, companies, and visionaries are already building out decades-long visions of the future.

Continue reading… “Imagining the Smart Cities of 2050”

What if AI can make us more human in the age of robotic automation?

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“We now live in a global, exponential world,” Steven Kotler tells my coauthor Michael Ashley and I from his Santa Monica office. We’re interviewing the New York Times bestselling author and entrepreneur for our upcoming book: Uber Yourself Before You Get Kodaked: A Modern Primer on A.I. for the Modern Business. “You need to understand our brains evolved in a local, linear environment. We cannot process change at this speed or this scale; we’re bad at it. But in the 21st century, according to research done by Ray Kurzweil, we will experience over 20,000 years’ worth of change. To put it succinctly, over the next 80-something years we will go through the birth of agriculture to the industrial revolution — twice — in terms of our technological advancement.”

Much has been made of the fact that humans are poised to be replaced by artificial intelligence in the workplace, from home-care robots to robot waiters. However, what Kotler and his coauthor Peter Diamandis have asserted in such books as Bold: How to Go Big, Create Wealth and the Impact the World, is that unprecedented technological abundance is also coming. Importantly, these thinkers suggest the future of prosperity depends not just on exponential technological innovation, but also on exponential creativity.

Continue reading… “What if AI can make us more human in the age of robotic automation?”

Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent (BAT) are now valued at a combined $1 trillion USD.

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Alibaba and Tencent alone now account for almost one-third of the MSCI China Index, fueling its 47 percent gain in 2017.

As of this past March, China had skyrocketed to 164 unicorns, worth a combined $628.4 billion USD. Roughly 50 percent are controlled or backed by BAT.

But BAT isn’t keeping ambitions local. Worldwide, BAT invests in over 150 companies, spanning the gamut from AI to biotech.

And with access to more internet users than the U.S. and all of Europe combined, BAT is fueled by the greatest treasure trove of data on the planet.

Continue reading… “Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent (BAT) are now valued at a combined $1 trillion USD.”

XPRIZE Founder Peter Diamandis: ‘We’re Living at a Time When Individual Entrepreneurs Are More Powerful Than Governments’

The Venture Final Pitch Sponsored By Chivas

Peter Diamandis is the founder and executive chairman of the XPRIZE Foundation, which designs and operates large-scale incentive competitions to, in essence, change the world.

In the words of its own criteria, an Xprize must be bold, audacious, and achievable. It must target market failure, drive investment, and give birth to a new industry. And, of course, it must give other innovators hope.

Continue reading… “XPRIZE Founder Peter Diamandis: ‘We’re Living at a Time When Individual Entrepreneurs Are More Powerful Than Governments’”

XPrize’s Peter Diamandis and Google Venture’s Bill Maris discuss the future of technology

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Both Google Ventures’ Bill Maris and XPrize head Peter Diamandis discussed a gamut of subjects, including life extension research, sentient robots, and self-driving cars versus those that can fly at the Wall Street Journal Live conference in Laguna Beach, California this week.

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Discover the Hidden Patterns of Tomorrow with Futurist Thomas Frey
Unlock Your Potential, Ignite Your Success.

By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.

Learn More about this exciting program.