Mustafa Suleyman helped build DeepMind, sold to Google, licensed to Microsoft for a billion—and now he’s warning us what’s coming next.
The Coming Wave is a global crash course in AI, biology, and the power games driving the next era of human history.
Enjoy!
10-Second Takeaways
China’s AI Surge: AlphaGo’s victory was China’s “Sputnik moment,” triggering a full-blown national push to lead in AI.
Job Disruption Is Coming: AI won’t just help us—it will replace many white-collar jobs faster than past tech waves.
AI + Biology = Superwave: Two powerful tech trends—AI and synthetic biology—are colliding, accelerating change even faster.
Regulation Is Critical: We need safety rules for AI like we have for aviation and laser weapons—before it’s too late.
Tech = Power: Nations treat innovation as a race. Whoever leads in AI and bio will shape the global balance of power.
“Waves”
So what’s the “wave”?
For Suleyman, it’s the unstoppable force of exponential technologies.
In the past, it was stone work, fire railways, electricity.
Now it’s AI.
With synthetic biology as a close second.
Inside Baseball on AlphaGo
He walks us through how breakthroughs like AlphaGo weren’t just about software beating a board game—they were geopolitical earthquakes.
And he was there.
When DeepMind’s AlphaGo beat a top Go master in Korea, 280 million people watched.
It wasn’t just East vs. West—it was a wake-up call for China, which shortly after announced its plan to dominate AI by 2030.
FYI — I rank “AlphaGo” the film as the #1 documentary in my list of “The Best AI Documentaries” (I’m up to 15!).
The “Superwave”
That brings us to what Suleyman calls a “super wave”—when two waves collide.
AI and biology are now fusing. Genome sequencing dropped from a billion dollars to under $1,000 in 20 years.
He imagines the same happening with AI models. If LLMs cost $100 million now, we might each have one in our pockets—biological and personalized—for $100 within two decades.
But Suleyman isn’t starry-eyed.
Job Displacement
He warns these tools won’t just make us faster and smarter. They’ll replace jobs—especially white collar, cognitive ones.
Think writers, lawyers, call center agents. He believes this displacement is inevitable.
That’s why regulation matters.
Government & Regulation are Good
Suleyman wants governments in the game—not just watching from the sidelines.
He compares AI safety to airline safety and laser weapons: progress is possible, but only when we create standards and share learnings across borders.
Imagine an FAA for AI or a World Bank for biotech.
China is the Biggest Wild Card
China looms large in the book. From CRISPR babies to robot dogs enforcing COVID lockdowns, Suleyman paints a picture of a nation sprinting ahead in AI—whether for good or dystopia.
Western nations may not like the model, but they can’t ignore the pace.
In The Coming Wave, Suleyman isn’t predicting doom. He’s calling for direction. The wave is coming. The only question is whether we ride it—or get wiped out by it.
You can buy The Coming Wave here
Final Takeaways
For Content Executives:
Get to know the thought leaders/CEOs of the AI companies you’re partnering with.
There aren’t that many top AI Thought Leaders — read their stuff!
For AI Executives:
Writing a book, essays or giving long-form interviews helps the world understand your point of view. “The more you tell, the more you sell”
…so communicate your opinions. The world needs it.
Thanks for reading!
Rob Kelly, Creator & Host of Media & the Machine
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