Programmable Economies & Governance: Upgrading Society's Operating System
An overview of PL R&D's Programmable Economies & Governance focus area — the programmable infrastructure societies use to decide, allocate, verify, and coordinate — and the four opportunity spaces and inflection points we believe are within reach.
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Insights
Exploring the frontiers of computing, networking, and knowledge systems to build infrastructure that empowers humanity.
Data Sovereignty in a Privacy-First Future↗
Builders redefining privacy and sovereignty — where control of data, identity, and computation is real, not just promised. Highlights from the teams working at the frontier of digital human rights.
Quantum Computing and Bitcoin: The Security Threat No One's Talking About
Bolton Bailey, a researcher specializing in post-quantum cryptography, explains how Grover's algorithm could enable a quantum-powered miner to dominate the Bitcoin network, rewrite transaction history, and undermine its consensus mechanism — not by stealing private keys, but by breaking the proof-of-work foundation itself. A deep look at the timeline for quantum threats to cryptographic infrastructure and what post-quantum migration paths exist.
Applying Indigenous Wisdom to Create Sustainable Tech
Keolu Fox, the first Native Hawaiian to earn a PhD in genome sciences, shares a visionary approach to technology inspired by Indigenous knowledge systems like the Hawaiian ahupuaʻa land management system. He applies the wisdom of circular, balanced systems perfected over generations to modern challenges including genome data sovereignty, sustainable data centers, Earth-friendly computation, and ensuring marginalized communities retain control over their own biological data.
Combatting Orwellian Systems with Technology
Max Tegmark (MIT, Future of Life Institute) and Juan Benet explore how powerful AI and surveillance technologies could enable authoritarian control at civilisational scale — and what technical and institutional interventions can prevent it. Tegmark draws on his AI safety research and work with the Future of Life Institute to argue that open, privacy-preserving, decentralised infrastructure is a prerequisite for preserving human agency in an AI-enabled world. Direct and practical on the connection between cryptography, open protocols, and the defense of democratic freedoms.