Thinking On Paper

Mark Fielding and Jeremy Gilbertson

A technology show for the radically curious. Thinking on Paper isn't about seed rounds and funding. There are plenty of shows for the 1%. Instead, Mark and Jeremy sit down with the CEOs, founders, outliers, and engineers building the future. The premise? The human story of technology. What is the impact for the 99%? 300+ episodes. Guests include IBM, Infleqtion, Nvidia, Microsoft, Kevin Kelly, Don Norman, Carissa Veliz, Philip Metzger, Skyler Chan, Pia Lauritzen, and many more. Start anywhere.

  1. AI Strategy for the Department of War: The Memo That Puts LLMs in Charge of the Kill Chain

    1 DAY AGO

    AI Strategy for the Department of War: The Memo That Puts LLMs in Charge of the Kill Chain

    On January 9th 2026, Pete Hegseth sent a memorandum to every senior official at the Pentagon. It was called "Artificial Intelligence Strategy for the Department of War: Accelerating America's Military AI Dominance." Six weeks later the United States was at war with Iran and AI was identifying targets. Buried inside the bureaucratic language in this memo is a vital conversation about who controls AI, and whether AI makes war more likely or less likely. The DOW make one thing clear: "We must accept that the risks of not moving fast enough outweigh the risks of imperfect alignment." This is pretty important (understatement?), so stick with us to learn:  Why AI became the main official US military strategy (China... anyone?) Why Anthropic was designated a US government supply chain risk for asking that their AI not be used for mass surveillance or to automate the kill chainThe automated kill chain: who decides whether a human needs to approve a strike, and what happens when the answer is speedMove fast and break things applied to weapons: what imperfect AI alignment actually meansSwarm Forge, Agent Network and Ender's Foundry: the pace setting projects inside the memo - what are they, and what do they mean?The race the memo is really about: why China is never named and does not need to beAI hallucinations on the battlefield: what happens when a model that gets things wrong is identifying targetsAnd again, the central question:  Does AI make war more likely or less likely? Please tell us in the comments. Join us for more Thinking on Paper AI and the war machine. -- 🎧 Listen to every podcast⁠ 📺 Follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠ 🏠 Follow us on ⁠X⁠ 🏠 Follow Jeremy on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ To suggest guests or sponsor the show, please email: hello@thinkingonpaper.xyz -- Chapters (00:00) Artificial Intelligence Strategy for the Department of War (00:58) Executive Order 14179: America's AI Military Dominance (01:59) China And AI Arms Race (04:36) Anthropic & Eliminating Bureaucratic Barriers (07:20) The 7 Pace Setting Projects (PSPs) In The Memo (08:28) 100% LLM Kill Chain Capability (10:22) Palmer Luckey (11:53) Intelligence & The AI Open Arsenal (13:57) The War Time Approach To Blockers (16:46) AI Talent Acquisition At The DOW (18:54) We must accept that the risks of not moving fast enough outweigh the risks of imperfect alignment

    22 min
  2. Iran War Propaganda: Lego, Call of Duty & The Battle For Young Minds

    5 DAYS AGO

    Iran War Propaganda: Lego, Call of Duty & The Battle For Young Minds

    Iran posted an AI-generated LEGO propaganda video mocking Trump and Netanyahu. The White House fired back with Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty and a Wii Sports video of Iranian military sites being destroyed. A senior White House official told Politico they were "just grinding away on banger memes, dude."  A hundred million views later… - WATCH ON YOUTUBE - This is the AI slop propaganda war, playing out in public - mostly on Twitter -  as the bombs drop, the drones fly and the smoke and mirrors of a confused story evolve. Operation Epic Fury has killed hundreds, triggered one of the largest oil and energy shocks in history, and will reshape the Middle East - and global politics - for decades to come. This is the meme war that accompanies it. We react to all of it. The Iran LEGO propaganda video. The White House GTA Iran meme. The deleted Call of Duty airstrike video. The Wii bowling Iran war clip.  Why did Iran use LEGO? Is this propaganda, or kids playing video game make believe? What does it mean when governments reach for children's toys and video game aesthetics to sell a real war to a generation raised on screens? The answer is uncomfortable. It is a desensitisation of death. It is a military hiring video dressed as a meme. This is part of our on-going AI and the War Machine Season. Please enjoy the show. -- 🎧 Listen to every podcast⁠ 📺 Follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠ 🏠 Follow us on ⁠X⁠ 🏠 Follow Jeremy on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ To suggest guests or sponsor the show, please email: hello@thinkingonpaper.xyz Timestamps (00:00) What Is Propaganda? (00:36) Iran Lego Propaganda Video (02:45) Reaction (06:55) Whitehouse GTA Iran War Video (09:07) Epic Fury - US Wii Sports Video (13:22) Call Of Duty Iran War Video

    20 min
  3. Astroscale, Space Junk & The SpaceX Monopoly: Space to Grow book club

    23 MAR

    Astroscale, Space Junk & The SpaceX Monopoly: Space to Grow book club

    Space To Grow, By Matthew Wienzierl and Brendan Rosseau. In 2009 an active American satellite collided with a defunct Russian one at 22,300 miles per hour. The resulting debris field created over 150,000 pieces of space junk that won't decay for a century. Nobody paid for it. Nobody cleaned it up... because nobody had to. That is the tragedy of the commons in orbit, and it is getting worse.  Conjunctions, the close-passing events that require satellites to burn fuel to avoid collision, grew from 1.7 million in 2020 to 4 million in 2022. Elon Musk has applied for a licence for a million objects.  This episode covers:  Kessler syndrome: the tipping point where collisions become unstoppable, and how close we are Why the insurance market is not pricing orbital collision risk Astroscale: the company using magnetic docking to clean up space junk, and the Siberian rocket explosion that nearly ended them Why the economic solution to the tragedy of the commons breaks down completely in orbit NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine on SpaceX: "there is only one thing worse than a government monopoly" Whether a mission-driven monopoly plays by different rules- ⁠Listen to every podcast⁠ Follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠ Follow us on ⁠X⁠ Follow Mark on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ Follow Jeremy on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ Read our ⁠Substack⁠ Email: hello@thinkingonpaper.xyz -- Timestamps (00:00) How 150,000 pieces of space junk ended up in orbit and why nobody cleaned them up (06:21) Kessler syndrome explained: the tipping point where collisions become unstoppable (10:57) Why the insurance market is not pricing orbital collision risk (13:50) Government intervention, the Moon Treaty and the five-year deorbit rule (20:26) Active debris removal: magnets, robots and who is building the solutions (22:37) Astroscale: how one company is trying to clean up space junk commercially (24:53) Who pays to clean up orbit when the market has no incentive to (26:26) Is SpaceX a monopoly and does that matter for the space industry (29:08) NASA Administrator: there is only one thing worse than a government monopoly (33:04) Space governance, coordination and whether the tragedy of the commons can be solved in orbit

    36 min
  4. Spin qubits: why semiconductor fabrication is quantum computing's fastest path to scale

    19 MAR

    Spin qubits: why semiconductor fabrication is quantum computing's fastest path to scale

    Spin qubits could scale quantum computing using the same semiconductor fabrication lines that print 50 billion transistors on an Nvidia chip. No new manufacturing paradigm required. Brandon Severin, Oxford PhD and founder of Conductor Quantum, joins Mark and Jeremy to explain why that matters.  You need hundreds of reliable qubits for meaningful quantum computation. The industry has dozens. Spin qubits, built from modified transistors, controlled by classical voltages, no lasers, no vacuum, may be the most practical path to millions. This episode covers: Why qubit fidelity and coherence time determine what a quantum computer can actually doHow AI automates the calibration problem that makes human-controlled quantum scaling impossible - "you can't have a billion Brandons"Why trapped ions vs spin qubits is the wrong debateWhat Google's quantum algorithm result actually proved, and why it mattersWhy the physicists who understand semiconductor manufacturing may unlock use cases pure quantum researchers never reachThe two camps dividing the quantum industry: build one qubit at a time, or build for a million Also: quantum startup culture vs the AI boom, Brandon's Y Combinator experience, and why scaling quantum looks more like building a rocket ship than climbing a ladder. -- Brandon Severin: https://www.conductorquantum.com/ -- ⁠⁠Listen to every podcast⁠⁠ Follow us on⁠ ⁠Instagram⁠⁠ Follow us on⁠ ⁠X⁠⁠ Follow Mark on⁠ ⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ Follow Jeremy on⁠ ⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ Read our⁠ ⁠Substack⁠⁠ Email: ⁠hello@thinkingonpaper.xyz⁠ -- Timestamps (00:00) Introduction: spin qubits and the quantum scaling problem (03:47) Trapped ions vs spin qubits: fidelity, coherence, and tradeoffs (06:14) What qubit fidelity means and why it determines scaling limits (08:25) What is a spin qubit? Building from the transistor up (11:06) Semiconductor fabrication as quantum computing's manufacturing advantage (15:00) The quantum circus: superposition, measurement, Schrödinger's cat (17:17) Shuttling qubits — moving electrons across a chip (20:33) How AI automates quantum calibration (the control problem) (25:00) Quantum scaling vs AI scaling: the GPU parallel (29:08) Quantum startup culture and the AI generation gap (32:59) Building for a million qubits — rocket ships vs ladders (36:52) Why quantum is taking so long: talent, concentration, and meaning (39:43) What seems impossible now that will be routine in 20 years

    44 min
  5. Pranav Gokhale: why 100 logical qubits is quantum computing's real tipping point [Pocket Edition]

    12 MAR

    Pranav Gokhale: why 100 logical qubits is quantum computing's real tipping point [Pocket Edition]

    Quantum computing has been five years away for thirty-five years. Infleqtion CTO Pranav Gokhale makes the case that 2028 is different, because for the first time, logical qubits actually exist. He explains what a logical qubit is using a Wi-Fi analogy: noisy physical qubits are like corrupted data packets; logical qubits are the clean, usable signal that comes out the other end. Humanity had zero logical qubits before 2023. Infleqtion now has twelve, with a public roadmap to thirty in 2026 and one hundred in 2028. At one hundred logical qubits, material science and drug discovery become the first real quantum use cases - and the timeline stops being a prediction and starts being an engineering problem. -- Other ways to connect with us: ⁠Listen to every podcast⁠ Follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠ Follow us on ⁠X⁠ Follow Mark on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ Follow Jeremy on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ Read our ⁠Substack⁠ Email: hello@thinkingonpaper.xyz

    7 min
  6. The Space SPAC Bubble & NASA's $4.2bn Rocket Problem: Space to Grow Book Club

    10 MAR

    The Space SPAC Bubble & NASA's $4.2bn Rocket Problem: Space to Grow Book Club

    Why does it cost NASA $4.2 billion per launch when SpaceX predicts Starship could do the same job for $10 million? Mark and Jeremy work through Part 3 of Space to Grow by Matthew Weinzierl and Brendan Rosseau, the book the space industry is reading, and find two stories running in parallel: the wreckage of the space SPAC bubble, and NASA's uncomfortable reinvention in the commercial era. This episode covers: How SPACs turned space startups into crypto: Virgin Orbit went from a $3.7B valuation to bankruptcy in two years; Astra went public at $2.1B with zero rockets that had ever reached orbit Why $100 invested in space startup stocks at IPO was worth $10 by early 2024 The stag hunt problem: why genuinely big things in space require coordination and trust that the industry hasn't built yet NASA's Artemis programme explained, and why the South Pole of the Moon holds 100,000 Olympic swimming pools of frozen water that could become rocket fuel The $4B SpaceX and $3.4B Blue Origin contracts that signal NASA is finally learning to share Can NASA evolve from doing it to enabling it, before China gets there first? -- ⁠Listen to every podcast⁠ Follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠ Follow us on ⁠X⁠ Follow Mark on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ Follow Jeremy on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ Read our ⁠Substack⁠ Email: hello@thinkingonpaper.xyz -- Chapters (00:00) What is a SPAC?  (01:30) Why space SPACs failed  (03:20) Virgin Orbit & Astra: the worst examples  (06:00) SPACs vs Crypto: same story?  (08:30) The Stag Hunt: why space needs coordination  (11:00) NASA Artemis explained  (13:00) SLS vs Starship cost breakdown  (17:00) SpaceX & Blue Origin lunar contracts  (20:00) The Moon Race vs China  (22:00) Can NASA survive the commercial space era?

    25 min
  7. Infleqtion: neutral atom qubits, quantum clocks, and why one is inside a UK submarine - Matthew Kinsella

    9 MAR

    Infleqtion: neutral atom qubits, quantum clocks, and why one is inside a UK submarine - Matthew Kinsella

    Infleqtion put a quantum atomic clock inside a UK military submarine. Before that, they put quantum technology on the International Space Station. They are building neutral atom quantum computers that operate at room temperature, atoms colder than outer space, controlled by lasers, no freezer required. Mark and Jeremy sit down with Matt Kinsella, CEO of Infleqtion, to learn why neutral atoms are pulling ahead of every other quantum modality. This episode covers: Why GPS is becoming unreliable and how quantum clocks replace it with unspoofable, unjammable precision timing How neutral atoms become the coldest place in the known universe while the surrounding system stays at room temperature Why a quantum clock and a quantum computer are essentially the same technology at different levels of complexity The CPU → GPU → QPU data centre stack: how drug discovery and battery design get split across classical and quantum compute Why logical qubits - which humanity had never demonstrated before 2023 - change the quantum computing timeline How Infleqtion's quantum memory software is already expanding GPU context windows today -- ⁠⁠Listen to every podcast⁠⁠ Follow us on⁠ ⁠Instagram⁠⁠ Follow us on⁠ ⁠X⁠⁠ Follow Mark on⁠ ⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ Follow Jeremy on⁠ ⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ Read our⁠ ⁠Substack⁠⁠ Email: ⁠hello@thinkingonpaper.xyz⁠ -- Timestamps: (00:00) Trailer (01:50) Why coordination matters: From internal strategy to GPS timing (04:48) What is a quantum clock and how does it link to GPS? (07:18) Nature's metronome: How atoms keep time with laser precision (08:14) Room temperature quantum: Why neutral atoms don't need freezers (12:38) The Rydberg state: Making atoms sensitive to the entire RF spectrum (14:03) Quantum clock on a UK submarine (17:06) Quantum in space: Voyager partnership and the International Space Station (18:48) Hybrid quantum-classical workflows: How QPUs layer above GPUs (23:18) Software layers: From laser control to developer applications (25:32) Drug discovery example: GPU, CPU, QPU (29:03) The bridge between classical and quantum: Memory architecture innovations (31:54) How Quantum Clocks & Products Lead To Quantum Computers (33:48) Nvidia (35:42) Quality or Quantity of Qubits  (38:00) Quantum mechanics and free will: Does wave collapse prove consciousness? Love it. Thanks.  -- ⁠⁠Listen to every podcast⁠⁠ Follow us on⁠ ⁠Instagram⁠⁠ Follow us on⁠ ⁠X⁠⁠ Follow Mark on⁠ ⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ Follow Jeremy on⁠ ⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ Read our⁠ ⁠Substack⁠⁠ Email: ⁠hello@thinkingonpaper.xyz⁠ -- Chapters (00:00) Why quantum computing matters right now  (01:20) Why Nvidia is betting big on quantum  (02:52) NVQ-Link: the bridge between quantum and classical computing (09:29) Who decides what runs on the quantum computer vs the GPU? (12:33) AI helping quantum, quantum helping AI  (16:56) Building a space elevator battery: a real quantum workflow  (20:09) The quantum algorithm zoo  (22:04) From noisy qubits to logical qubits  (24:00) How much energy does a quantum computer actually use?  (27:05) The no-cloning theorem: why you can't copy-paste quantum data (27:20) The biggest unanswered question in quantum computing (30:47) A $20M NASA program and a telescope for underground  (33:32) What do we want humans to be?

    40 min
  8. GPU meets quantum computer: Nvidia and Infleqtion's four-microsecond bridge to hybrid computing

    8 MAR

    GPU meets quantum computer: Nvidia and Infleqtion's four-microsecond bridge to hybrid computing

    In 2024, quantum computing crossed a threshold it had failed to cross for 35 years: the entire industry went from noisy, unusable qubits to logical qubits - error-corrected, reliable, and ready to compute. Infleqtion was one of the first companies through. Nvidia built the bridge. Mark and Jeremy sit down with Pranav Gokhale, CTO of Infleqtion, and Sam Stanwyck, Group Product Manager for Quantum Computing at Nvidia, to understand how a four-microsecond connection between a GPU supercomputer and a quantum processor makes hybrid classical-quantum computing real for the first time. This episode covers: Why GPUs and quantum computers are complementary, not competing, one simulates nature, one parallelises data How drug discovery, battery design, and material science become the first real quantum use cases Why a 1,600-qubit quantum computer uses the same power as ten hairdryers Infleqtion's roadmap to 100 logical qubits by 2028 and why that's the tipping point A $20M NASA program sending a quantum gravity sensor to space. What Pranav calls "a telescope for underground" -- ⁠⁠Listen to every podcast⁠⁠ Follow us on⁠ ⁠Instagram⁠⁠ Follow us on⁠ ⁠X⁠⁠ Follow Mark on⁠ ⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ Follow Jeremy on⁠ ⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ Read our⁠ ⁠Substack⁠⁠ Email: ⁠hello@thinkingonpaper.xyz⁠ -- Chapters (00:00) Why quantum computing matters right now  (01:20) Why Nvidia is betting big on quantum  (02:52) NVQ-Link: the bridge between quantum and classical computing (09:29) Who decides what runs on the quantum computer vs the GPU? (12:33) AI helping quantum, quantum helping AI  (16:56) Building a space elevator battery: a real quantum workflow  (20:09) The quantum algorithm zoo  (22:04) From noisy qubits to logical qubits  (24:00) How much energy does a quantum computer actually use?  (27:05) The no-cloning theorem: why you can't copy-paste quantum data (27:20) The biggest unanswered question in quantum computing (30:47) A $20M NASA program and a telescope for underground  (33:32) What do we want humans to be?

    37 min
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Trailer

About

A technology show for the radically curious. Thinking on Paper isn't about seed rounds and funding. There are plenty of shows for the 1%. Instead, Mark and Jeremy sit down with the CEOs, founders, outliers, and engineers building the future. The premise? The human story of technology. What is the impact for the 99%? 300+ episodes. Guests include IBM, Infleqtion, Nvidia, Microsoft, Kevin Kelly, Don Norman, Carissa Veliz, Philip Metzger, Skyler Chan, Pia Lauritzen, and many more. Start anywhere.

Information

  • Creator
    Mark Fielding and Jeremy Gilbertson
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    113
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Mark Fielding and Jeremy Gilbertson
  • Show Website
    Thinking On Paper

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