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In news outlets, business publications, and scholarly journals, there is a crescendo of commentary about the combined power of human intelligence and artificial intelligence. Without question, that convergence is already yielding exciting discoveries in many fields. Yet a third, equally crucial, kind of intelligence is being left out of the discussion: natures intelligence. The idea that nature itself displays the hallmarks of what we understand as intelligencethe ability to learn, to encode those learnings in new, more effective models, and to continually adaptis not altogether new. Leonardo da Vinci understood this well. Nature was his teacher and his inspiration. Nothing escaped his intensive observation: water, soil, plants, birds. Part of his expansive genius was to perceive the hidden systemsthe invisible forces and lawsthat govern everything from the workings of the human body to the movement of objects through the air. Today, we build on da Vincis wisdom when we analyze the intricate chemical communication of plants, the swarm intelligence of insects, the complex click patterns of whale songs. We are coming to see, with some humility, that nature is far more intelligent than we humans have ever understood. But what seemed to fascinate da Vinci the most was the interconnections among these systems and across disciplines. When he studied the human body, designed machines, or created masterpieces of art, he did so holistically, drawing on his ever-widening range of understanding, and producing work that is greater than the sum of its parts. This approach to innovation has never been more relevant or more possible than it is today. The fusion of natural, human, and machine intelligencea synthesis that I call polyintelligencepromises solutions to some of the worlds most intractable problems. Indeed, this integrated framework is already beginning to revolutionize biotechnology. From drug development to generative synthetic biology, polyintelligence is enabling breakthroughs that no single form of intelligenceor even the convergence of twocould achieve on their own. Take the example of the Human Genome Project, which completed its mapping of the blueprint of human DNA in 2003. More than two decades later, that union of nature, human intelligence, and AI continues to yieldamong other thingsnovel DNA and mRNA sequences that could unlock new breakthrough medicines. Or consider how scientists are using polyintelligence to learn the language of proteins, enabling us to craft new proteins that dont exist in nature with specific therapeutic functions. Just as words and grammar define a spoken language, AI analyzes vast amounts of protein data to understand the rules that dictate protein structure and function. This knowledge allows scientists to design novel proteins by writing new sequences within natures linguistic framework, surpassing traditional limitations, and developing innovative treatments for complex diseases. Beyond biomedicine, polyintelligent thinking, polyintelligent systems, and polyintelligent solutions will have wider applicationsand, I believe, unmatched power to mitigate climate change, increase agricultural yields in a sustainable way, and address other complex, global challenges. Again, this is not theoretical. Natures intelligence, supercharged by AI, is being applied to accelerating the evolutionary process of staple crops such as corn, wheat, and soybeans to enable them to grow in a hotter and drier environment. The promise of polyintelligence is clearly even greater than our hopes for AI. It is vitally important, therefore, that we manage this transition effectively and judiciously. The principles we set todayand the decisions we make regarding governance, ethics, and biasfor the use of AI should advance the goal of enabling polyintelligence. To realize its full potential, we must prioritize interdisciplinary collaboration by fostering cross-disciplinary research and integrating diverse expertise across sectors. By uniting policymakers, scientists, industry leaders, and educators, we can harness the collective strengths needed to both understand and address the worlds most pressing challenges. From urban-resilience planning and conservation of biodiversity to optimizing energy production and distribution, polyintelligence can catalyze sustainable solutions with wide-ranging impact. Lastly and perhaps most importantly, polyintelligence will also require a shift in human intelligence. In particular, we must stop seeing ourselves as the ultimate arbiter of what is good, correct, or intelligent. Whether were talking about the bodys complex and shifting methods of disease resistance, or a recent study showing that horses can think strategically and plan their actions, we should have the humilityas da Vinci, a true genius, didto recognize that much of the natural world operates beyond our ability to comprehend it. Our knowledge is and will always be incomplete. But it is expanding significantly, in exciting waysreshaping the very nature of discovery itself.
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E-Commerce
It’s a simple idea. Aside from its electrical components, the Hoop Table Lamp by Finnish furniture company Vaarnii is made completely from pine timber and pine veneer. The result is a warm, natural statement lamp without any fuss. Released last week, the lamp is available in two sizes. It retails for about $360 for the medium and about $260 for the small. The appropriately-named London designer John Tree designed the lamp, which has a solid wood base created from a knot-free block of solid pine timber. The Hoop table lamp is topped by a pine veneer shade that’s cut thin enough to allow a glow of light through. All in all, the lamp is made up of only two pieces, and a gorgeous example of reductive minimalism that still conveys a sense of warmth. [Photo: Vaarnii] “Hoop is about reduction of form and an unambiguous use of quality pine wood,” Vaarnii says. “Simple yet painstakingly engineered, monolithic yet delicate, this is an effortless and essential lamp for illuminating any space with warm pine-filtered light.” Vaarnii sets itself apart from other furniture companies by creating its products from raw materials, including chairs and tables to ceiling lights all made from materials sourced from Finland. The wood for its Hoop Table Lamp comes from Finnish Scots Pine trees that the company says are sustainably managed and slowly grown. That means each piece is unique with its own grain pattern, and because pine changes as it ages, the color of the lamp deepens the longer you have it until it settles into a honey tone. The natural simplicity of the Hoop table lamp proves it doesn’t necessarily take much for timeless, sustainable design.
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E-Commerce
The Trump administration’s fight against electric vehicles includes everything from trying to get rid of the EV tax credit to freezing funding for charging stations. But EV company Rivian says its strategy hasn’t changed. We talked to CEO RJ Scaringe about why his long-term vision isn’t dependent on current policy, and the company’s future plans for its products. The company makes luxury SUVs and trucks, including 2024’s bestselling premium SUV in California (electric or gas); next year, it will launch a more affordable vehicle that starts at $45,000. Construction on a new factory outside Atlanta is set to begin in 2026, with a $6.57 billion loan guarantee that the Department of Energy finalized just before Biden left officethat legally, Trump shouldn’t be able to take away. The Trump administration is pushing to cut EV incentives, including the $7,500 federal tax credit. What impact do you think that will have on the EV market in the U.S.? There’s a lot of emphasis right now on the very short termwhat happens in the next months or even weeks with policy. But the way we make decisions as a company, were looking at this on a much more long-term basis. The product roadmap we built, the technology we’ve developed, the way we’re designing and building and growing the businesses, is really being architected around a long-term view that the market will move over time to 100% electric. RJ Scaringe [Photo: Rivian] In that transition, it’s critical that there’s a collection of great companies being built in the United States, employing the U.S. workforce, developing the technology, building the products, and making sure that we as a country maintain leadership and what undoubtedly and unavoidably is going to be the core of personal transportation. Combustion will become an increasingly small percentage over time. Even though youre focused on the long-term view, how much do you think current policy matters in terms of pushing EVs forward faster? Policy, of course, matters, but its not the only driver, especially in a situation like this where the end state is so clear. Were paying very close attention to [policy]. But we will adjust around whatever the policy is. When I started the company [in 2009], I didnt start with any idea that there would be policies that are either tailwinds or headwinds. We just said that this is something that needs to happen. And its going to happen with the collective efforts of companies that are innovating with technology and creating compelling products. I think the other thing to recognize, in all the noise and the discussion of electrification and how it’s become politicized, there’s one thing that’s very consistent that’s on all sides of the political spectrum: Creating jobs in new technology, creating manufacturing in the United States, building a really robust ecosystem of companies that are facing that future state is something everyone’s aligned on. We have a plant today in Normal, Illinois and a plant that were building just outside Atlanta, Georgia, with support from both states. They’re different very different states politically, but the amount of excitement and reception we have in both states is outstanding. If some legacy automakers pull back from EVs because there are fewer incentives, does that give you a competitive advantage? We talk about making decisions in the context of our [kids’ futures] . . . I think its really important that every manufacturer is investing heavily in electrification and creating products that are so compelling and so exciting that regardless of whether they’re electric or gasoline theyre going to draw customers in. If we really want to accelerate the speed at which we electrify, the speed at which that transition happens, it’s going to require a lot of choices [for consumers]. Certainly, a lot more than we have today. I say all that because I do think it’s important that other manufacturers invest. If I looked at it purely through the lens of what’s best for Rivian, I think that manufacturers pulling back, myopically, is actually better for Rivian. It [hurts the] competition. But I don’t think that’s good for the world. If some other U.S. automakers do retreat temporarily from EVs, how much is China’s EV industry likely to get farther ahead? If you’re optimizing for the next quarter, I think you can make bad decisions as a business and bad decisions for us as a country. But every business is going to make decisions [based on] what they believe is going to maximize value for their shareholders. Its not an easy challenge, especially in a world where youve got a legacy business that is maybe highly profitable, and youve got a lot of experience. Its a hard decision to say were going to go build products that, by definition, pull demand from our legacy products. Those new products, by virtue of being lower volume and the technology being different, may not have the same profitability to start. Over time, I think electric vehiclesgiven the dramatically enhanced simplicity and fewer partswill become not only cost-competitive, but theyll have a cost advantage relative to combustion-powered vehicles. But theres a lot of work to do in battery technology to get there. [Photo: Rivian] How long will that take? Isnt it right that some EVs are at cost parity with their counterparts now, if you look at total cost of ownership? How far away are competitive sticker prices? I think it depends on the segment. In the premium segment, it’s there. As evidenced by us. We only sell our flagship products today (our R1T, R1S) and the average transaction price is over $90,000. It’s the bestselling premium SUV in Californianot premium electric SUV, preium SUV. It’s doing really well. If you look at other premium SUVs, you could even say it’s priced at a discount. It’s much higher performance. In a premium product like that, there’s a lot of other contributors to cost, so that the relative cost of the battery to the rest of the vehicle is not as significant. To get to cost parity on something that is a $20,000 car, $25,000 car, the battery then makes up such a a large percentage of its price that today it is still difficult. I think over time we’re going to solve that, but it’s a few years out. Whether it’s three years out or five years out, when you squint, you can see it. We’re getting close to it. It’s not, like, 20 years away. Youre launching a more affordable EV next year, right? Yes, and Im so excited. Its probably the most excited Ive ever been for a product were developing, which is funny because I didnt think I could be more excited than when we launched the R1, something Id been working on since I started the company. R2 takes all of the learnings from R1. The cost for us to make it is less than half of R1, and the price is quite a bit lowerit starts at $45,000. [Photo: Eric Anderson/Rivian] You mentioned the idea of designing a car thats compelling not just because its electric but for other reasons. What does that involve? It’s important to have a really clear vision for what both the product and the company stand for and represent. I mean that not just in philosophical ways, but in terms of product/attribute tradeoff. The best products, whether they’re cars or electronics or furniture, are the products that feel really holistically thought through. Where despite the fact that maybe hundreds or maybe even thousands of people have worked on that product, it feels like a singular vision. Apple has done an amazing job of this. Of course, I think we did a really nice job on it with our R1 products. What we’re trying to do with R2 is to capture that. For us, it’s really blending the aspiration of something that feels premiumthe materials are nicely executed, we’re thoughtful in the selection of materialsbut at the same time, the fact that it’s aspirational doesn’t take away from its usability. You can get it dirty. You can fit a lot of gear into it. We often think of it as a platform to go generate the kinds of memories that you’re going to want to hold on to for many years to comethe kinds of things you want to take photographs of. [The cars also] accelerate incredibly well. They’re very capable on road. They’re very capable off road. But we really want all the attributes, all the characteristics of that mosaic, to come together into this feeling. Like this vehicle is your adventure partner. When you look into the future, how do you see EV technology continuing to change? With battery technology, for example, how is that evolving? The most important element is getting cost down, both through the chemistry in the batteries and the rest of the battery packconcepts like cell to pack where were minimizing the amount of structural overhead that exists in the pack to take the overall cost down. And we see with our own products that the cell costs have come down, the pack costs have come down, modules have been massively simplified. I expect that innovation to continue. Of course, [there’s] competition between all the different manufacturerseveryones trying to drive cost down on this system. We have thousands and thousands of people across many different companies that are working on this problem. Its great to see the healthy and, Id say, highly productive competition between different companies in trying to address costs. What about something like solid state batteries? Are they likely to be in cars in the market soon? I think it’ll make its way into cars. It depends on how you define soon. I’d say within the next 10 years, for sure, but within the next two years, not likely, and not at scale. You may see some premium applications sooner, but they’re going to be really expensive because there’s lots of different ways you can accomplish solid state, but the industrialization of solid state still has a ways to go. Last year, you made a $5.8 billion deal with Volkswagen that lets VW access your vehicle software. How do you think about technology differently than some of the legacy automakers? We don’t have large teams of people that used to do something in the old waywe’ve only architected the business around a future state. So, obviously, that means we don’t have an engine design department. And our propulsion team has only ever worked on electric propulsion. There’s not an electric division and a gas division. The existing manufacturers can develop motors, develop battery systems. I think a more challenging aspect for them has been building out software teams and the computer design teams, the electronics design teams. And the reason is it’s so different from what they’ve done historically. [Image: Rivian] How does your “zonal” electrical architecture work? Over time, [other car companies] had this massive proliferation of what are called ECUseffectively little comuters across the car. A modern car might have 75 to somewhere north of 100 ECUs. It was never architected in a proper way. [We have controllers in a few larger zones] versus all these little computers, and we built an entire software operating system and software stack around it that is a very different topology than what incumbents have. It represents various essential cost savings, but importantly, makes managing software many orders of magnitude easier. [Photo: Elliot Ross/Rivian] What’s coming next for Rivian? We have some products that we’re already planning that essentially extend our brand into different segments, different form factors. Obviously, it should be different price points. [Editor’s note: One of the next products is the R3, an even more affordable car.] With the form factor and the overall aesthetics of the [R3], you sort of find yourself saying, is it a hatchback, is it a crossover, is it an SUV? We really wanted something that gave us a chance to demonstrate what we felt really strongly about, which is that the brand we’re building and the company we’re creating has a lot of elasticity. It represents an idea that’s bigger than just a single segment of cars. It’s this idea of, as I said before, enabling the kinds of adventures you want to take photographs of.
Category:
E-Commerce
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