We are stuck. Declining. And spiraling. We need a breakthrough | Amana Fontanella-Khan

Silicon Valley billionaires are some of the most optimistic people on earth .

But the left is skeptical of the rosy 'techno-optimism' advanced by the likes of Elon Musk .

To tech oligarchs, technological advancement is best delivered by unfettered free market capitalism.

Green “degrowth” movement views industry and technology as root of our climate crisis.

In 2024 , artificial intelligence ( AI ) was recognised with not one, but two , Nobel prizes .

Google’s DeepMind discovered 2.2 m entirely new materials 800 years of science in a few months .

Last year saw the first time that sickle cell disease, a disease that was hitherto incurable and predominantly affects people of African descent, was reversed in a novel Crispr gene-editing therapy.

Cancer and heart disease vaccines could be ready within the next five years .

If we are to move out of the fossil fuel era into a new, cleaner and sustainable era, this will require a combination of political will and technology.

Silicon Valley billionaires are investing billions in chasing the holy grail of limitless, clean fusion energy to power AI .