5 promising technologies that modern millionaires are investing in

1. Renewable energy

Green technologies are attracting more and more investors. For example, a group of billionaires, including Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Jack Ma, Michael Bloomberg and Richard Branson, founded Breakthrough Energy Ventures. Its goal is to ensure that everyone on the planet has a good standard of living (including electricity, healthy food, convenient housing and transportation) that does not exacerbate climate change.

The fund selects companies that can reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by at least 0.5 gigatons per year. Scientifically feasible and “filling the gaps” are also important. The latter means that the fund is more likely to invest in those areas of green energy that are still underdeveloped.

So far, Breakthrough Energy Ventures has invested in 14 companies that focus on energy storage, geothermal and fusion power generation.

2. Space flights

5 promising technologies that modern millionaires are investing in

Entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Richard Branson are actively investing in the development of space technologies and have their own companies that develop in this industry. Musk's SpaceX and Branson's Virgin Galactic are committed to making the dream of human settlements off-planet a reality.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who is considered the richest man in the world, is not far behind. He founded the aerospace company Blue Origin. In 2019, she was included in the list of those that NASA has selected for the development and production of prototypes of spacecraft for landing on the moon.

3. Artificial intelligence

For Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, this is one of the most common areas of investment. For example, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, along with other investors, have invested $ 40 million in Vicarious, a company that seeks to create artificial general intelligence (AGI) and teach robots to learn.

And billionaire Mark Cuban, among other things, is investing in speech recognition technology. Almost all consumer electronics manufacturers now want to embed voice launch into their products, and investors see the field as very promising. “Voice activation will change consumer electronics,” Cuban says. "I think all devices without voice or touch triggering will eventually disappear."

Moreover, he invests not only in Amazon, which itself invests a lot in the development of speech technologies, but also in small startups. Cuban said that at the Consumer Electronics Show, he pays special attention to the latter. “I look closely at the stands of small companies from all over the world,” says the entrepreneur. "Those with only one table usually have the most interesting technologies."

4. Biotechnology

Awareness of the approaching old age makes many people think about health. When you are very rich, you can not only exercise and eat right, but also invest in new drugs that slow down aging. And in the process, you can also get a good profit.

Biotechnology is a very promising area for investment, both venture capitalists and giants of the rank of Bezos and Gates are investing in them. For example, the founder of the Bloomberg news agency, Michael Bloomberg, has invested in the development of microbiological treatments. Richard Branson - to the Doctor On Demand app, which allows you to remotely consult with specialists. Bill Gates is at Ginkgo Bioworks, which designs microorganisms to order. And the founder of PayPal, Peter Thiel, is in the cure for immune diseases.

5. Life extension

Today, digitization of consciousness is the most likely option for immortality. Scientists are looking for ways to achieve it, and millionaires are actively investing in such projects.

It is already possible to store digital data using artificial DNA. For this, zeros and ones are encoded as a sequence of proteins (A, T, C, G) and synthesized into a DNA molecule. Such a molecule is stored in a test tube and can be decoded using special equipment.

With this technology, it would be possible to fit all the information on the Internet in one shoebox.

Of course, loading consciousness into a computer is the reverse process. But the very fact that we can already combine digital technology and natural phenomenon sounds promising. Futurologist and inventor Ray Kurzweil believes that "we will increasingly lose our biological nature until the non-biological part becomes dominant, and the biological part loses its importance."

In addition, millionaires are interested in another possible option for extending life - cryogenic freezing. During it, the body is cooled to -196 ℃, after which it can be stored for an infinitely long time. In theory, it is possible to freeze the body immediately after death and reanimate in the future, when medical technologies become more advanced and we can treat deadly diseases.

We do not yet have the opportunity to revive the thawed body, but many are optimistic. For example, Dennis Kowalski, director of the American organization Cryonics Institute, calls the freezing process "an ambulance that takes you to the future."