Summary
Peter Diamandis interviews Jack Hidary (CEO, Sandbox AQ) on why quantum technologies — not just quantum computers — are the technology bigger than AI. Sandbox AQ spun out of Alphabet’s X moonshot factory after 5+ years in stealth, with Eric Schmidt as chairman ($500M raise). Hidary argues the tech sector gets an A for manipulating bits but an F for atoms — drug design, battery chemistry, materials science are barely improved in decades. The breakthrough: quantum sensing using nitrogen-vacancy diamond sensors that detect magnetic fields at 10^-12 Tesla (a trillionth of Tesla), enabling magnetocardiography without leads/wires through clothing, already in clinical trials at UCSF. Second application: GPS-free navigation using Earth’s unique magnetic fingerprint per square meter, critical given GPS jamming by China and Russia. Hidary draws a historical parallel to the AI winter caused by the 1969 “Perceptrons” book, warning against groupthink in quantum approaches.
Key Segments
- [00:04] Sandbox AQ origin: 5-6 years in stealth inside Alphabet X; Eric Schmidt chose it as his next decade’s work
- [00:07] Antarctica expedition: brought 15 scientists, submarine; may have discovered two new species; applying AI+quantum to climate science
- [00:12] Quantum computers vs. quantum technologies: ~48 quantum computing companies; 1000:1 physical-to-logical qubit ratio still needed
- [00:14] Quantum sensing is here now: no error correction needed, immediately deployable
- [00:22] NV diamond sensors: nitrogen-vacancy centers in synthetic diamond; billion+ dopings per cubic millimeter
- [00:25] Magnetocardiography: detects heart magnetic field at 10^-12 Tesla through clothing; no leads, no contact; at UCSF now
- [00:30] AI+quantum convergence: 2+ years of ML work to extract heart signal from noise; elevator interference anecdote
- [00:33] GPS-free navigation: Earth’s magnetic field has unique fingerprint per square meter; quantum diamond sensors can read it
- [00:33] GPS jamming: Qantas warning about PRC jamming near Taiwan; Maersk shipping losing signal near Shanghai
- [00:18] AI winter parallel: 1969 Perceptrons book killed neural networks for 25 years; don’t repeat with quantum
Notable Claims
- Sandbox AQ raised $500M (described as “seed round”)
- Heart magnetic field is 10^-12 Tesla (a trillionth of what MRI machines produce)
- Every square meter of Earth has a unique magnetic signature from cooled ferromagnetic materials in the mantle
- Fetal cardiac diagnostics standard of care is already magnetocardiography
- GPS jammer available on eBay for $700 can block signal across an entire area
- Sandbox may have discovered two new marine species on Antarctic expedition
Guests
- Jack Hidary — CEO, Sandbox AQ (ex-Alphabet X)
RDCO Mapping
- Bits-to-atoms thesis: tech sector needs to move from information manipulation to physical world impact — quantum sensing is the bridge
- Near-term quantum value: sensing and simulation are deployable now, not waiting for fault-tolerant quantum computers
- GPS alternative as geopolitical infrastructure: magnetic navigation removes dependency on jammable satellite systems
- AI winter lesson: diversity of approaches prevents technological dead ends; directly applicable to current AI development
Related
- quantum-computing
- quantum-sensing
- exponential-technologies
- geopolitics
- health-tech