The Companies of the Future Are Public Benefits: A Conversation With Faye Wattleton

I am honored and thrilled to announce our guest.

She has a long history of activism

in reproductive health, she's the former president

of Planned Parenthood, and recently, she's made

a fascinating career pivot.

She co-founded a quantum computing hardware company, EeroQ,

and she's gonna tell us all about it

and what it's gonna do to the future,

and please give Faye Wattleton a very warm welcome.

[audience clapping]

Thank you so much for being here.

For having me. Of course.

So before we talk about what quantum computing

is going to do to the future and how we can build

the best future possible using quantum computing,

we should probably explain what quantum computing

is a little bit because I'm not going to lie,

when I told my parents that I was doing this chat,

they said, We don't know what you're talking about.

And I'm not going to lie either,

I'm a culture writer historically,

so I do not know exactly how quantum computing works

and when I explained it to them, I said,

Well, it's sort of like the most sophisticated version

of the computing that you're thinking of,

but it incorporates quantum mechanics

into its majestic problem solving capabilities.

And Faye, did I do it- Terrific, terrific.

[laughs] Anything to add, any critique?

Well, I would say that it is very different

from any of the computation powers that we have today.

It's not an extension of AI as some believe it to be,

it's a totally different science.

It has been a science that has challenged physicists,

mathematicians, and scientists for a century.

Albert Einstein said that the laws of nature

simply didn't work the way that we know

that they do in quantum.

So quantum computing is a technology that is...

As I said, it's not the same as the binary technology

that each of us uses when we open our computers,

but it is either the choices of zero or one,

and in quantum it's zero or one

and zero and one at the same time.

So I've heard of [indistinct] characterized recently

as calling heads and tail or tails and...

Heads and tails at the same time.

So exponentially, the potential to process information

is dramatically and unprecedentedly expanded

and enlarged beyond what we have in today's capabilities.

It's incredible.

Right now, quantum computing is sort

of at an incubational stage, is that fair to say?

Where there's a lot of work being done,

there's a lot of excitement about the field,

but practical applications are still a ways away?

Well, it depends on how you define a ways away.

There are some that say that by the end of decade,

we will have working machines.

We expect that EeroQ will have working qubits,

quantum chips are known as qubits.

There are the working mechanisms in quantum are qubits

and there are those that may in fact reached

that milestone even before the end of the decade.

So while it's a young technology,

it is not a new technology.

It has been in development for a very long time,

but it's a very complex and challenging technology

because with this kind of power, the capacity for mistakes

and errors is significant and intolerable.

So that's really the challenge for those of us

who are on this journey and there are more than one...

Believe it or not, there's more than one IBM out there

with their golden machines, all of which we have,

but we just don't uncover ours and show them

as though we have a proprietary ownership of them,

but quantum utilizes electrons on, in our case,

on a medium of helium that can be cooled

400 degrees Fahrenheit below zero and at that temperature,

the capacity and the stability of the process is liquid

and the electrons float on the liquid

and that is the process that we are pursuing.

Others are pursuing other methods,

as was the case with the silicon ship.

Not every silicon ship is made the same

and not every quantum qubit will be made the same.

So there will be a number of winners in the quantum race,

but what will be for those, for humanity hopefully will be

the winners of access to more knowledge and information.

So when you get a little further along,

what are you hoping that your quantum computers will do?

Like what will some of the practical applications be?

Well, some of the practical applications...

I'll just tell you.

I came to this from a healthcare perspective

from a world that has violated many ethical standards

and the potential to do it right, perhaps this time

with this type of technology,

healthcare and drug discovery is one of the main

frontline potential beneficiaries of this type of computing

or word or information processing powers.

At this time, it takes tremendous effort to look

at all of the possibilities in drug discovery

and quantum has the potential to short circuit

that and it is estimated that what takes

many, many effort...

Much, much effort in many, many years to develop can be done

in a matter of minutes with the powers of quantum.

So for the career and for the profession that I have spent

the bulk of my career to be involved in something

that offers the potential to revolutionize healthcare,

to revolutionize drug discovery,

to revolutionize the production of food and the possibility

of reducing through knowledge, reducing the contamination

of our planet is one that has captured me in this work

and so those are some of the examples.

On the other hand, the finance folks think

that they can do better optimization with more knowledge

and having the capacity to trade more dramatically

and so that raises a lot of questions

about who gets the benefit, who will get the benefit

of this next generation of computing

and I just wanna underestimate that quantum computing

is not an extension of AI.

It will further empower AI, so if we are really afraid

of what's going on with AI today,

well, quantum is probably within this decade going

to raise enormous issues with respect to the capacity of AI

to process even more data and more information.

And it, you know, because these quantum computers are...

They're big, you know, it's not something

that we're gonna have in laptop form anytime soon or-

Well, at this point, no.

Some folks like to say not so far away, but at this point,

our computer is on a chip and it will go to the Cloud.

We are especially proud of the pathway

that we have chosen that is EeroQ has chosen electrons

and helium because of the energy conservation

that we will not need to string together enormous machines

that talk to each other, but there are other folks

who are pursuing the superconducting roots.

Others are pursuing protons.

There are different methods to quantum effectiveness

in their production of their machines.

But right now, because they're kind...

They're not accessible to...

Like I can't go to a store and buy one, right?

You can't go to a store and buy one.

Although there are those that dream...

You know, listen, Kate, I remember

the Selectic [indistinct] typewriter.

So I, you know, I'm thrilled that I have been compelled

to join this journey out of a long career of activism

and it gives me perspective on how quickly things can change

and how unforeseen circumstances can result in problems

and in mistakes that could have been avoidant

and prevented had we not said,

Well, that's not gonna happen,

or, We'll deal with it when it happens.

I come from a profession that is replete

in its historic record for violating ethical standards

of human conduct and so I think that, you know,

if it comes in the next decade, well, that's tomorrow,

in historic terms or even not, that's next in the next hour.

[Kate] So how do we make sure that this computing first

is accessible to all people who might benefit from it

and not just like a few wealthy corporations?

Well, you know, it's kind of interesting.

This is probably my fifth quantum, I mean,

technology conference that I've attended.

I'm not a technology per se person

and so I've spent the last seven years learning a lot

of physics, although my earlier career was founded

in a bachelor's degree in nursing from Ohio State.

So to get that, I had to take a lot of science course

and so this was not unfamiliar to me,

and so I, you know, I come to these conferences

and I wonder why I don't see more people like me

at these conferences and whether the patterns

are going to be repeated.

These are technologies that affect the future of the world

and multiple disciplines need to be at the table

and that's not possible by delegation,

it requires multiple engagements.

When we look at the major shifts in human sophistication

and knowledge, it was not just done by the folks

who invented the printing press or the tablet.

They brought in philosophers and scientists

and other disciplines and there needs to be a commitment

and quantum that we will develop ethical principles

and standards, but not just within our profession,

but through a collusive effort with other disciplines

that can see how this type of technology can affect

society and society stakeholders and not just those

who produce the results of this science.

So are you envisioning like a multidisciplinary coalition

of industry leaders?

We have been calling for a multidisciplinary coalition,

are many coalitions, it doesn't just need to happen

in one centralized format,

but throughout the industry, but throughout society.

Because quantum has the potential

to change the way society functions,

but capacity to blow through cryptography

and the national security issues

that it raises are phenomenal.

We have the...

That will have the ability to blow

through right now the cryptography

and we know that the Chinese are probably warehousing

the data for the day when those powers are unleashed

and when those powers are operational.

So yes, it does require a collaboration,

but not just within the industry, but throughout society

because of the societal implications.

I mean, I tend to think industries are sometimes decent

at self-regulating, but sometimes it requires

actual government regulators, like are...

How do you think that people should be thinking

about how quantum computing should be regulated

in the future?

Well, I mean, I think that we may have a chance,

there's still a window of opportunity,

and when I listen today to all of the hoop-law around AI-AI

and I think, boy, they don't even begin

to understand what's coming down the road

that will effectively give powers to AI.

It is not the same and I wanna underscore that.

It is not simply extending classical computing,

it's a new science and computers and computing

or information processing that is unparalleled,

and so when we think about that,

yes, it would be quick to go to regulating the science,

that will certainly bring all of the opposition

that the industry can muster to say,

We don't need the regulation, we will behave ourselves.

And we know that that's probably not the case,

and I'm old enough to remember and Asilomar and when we hear

the CRISPR conversation this morning that gave rise

to what can happen in terms of gene modification in the lab,

but the industry got together across several disciplines,

and I'm saying with quantum, the potential impact

is so vast that we have to go beyond just the lawyers

and the policy makers.

We need to bring in the theologians,

the philosophers, educators.

Are we preparing a quantum workforce?

What happens in our local school boards?

Are they insisting that there be quantum education

and mathematics taught even to our children

because that is the future, and so it can't...

We can't go from what we have now where we're kvetching

over AI and how we're gonna bring...

Put this genie in the bottle when there's another genie

that is emerging that we seem not to have any notion

of the enormity of it other than the people

who are actually producing it, and so I think that it...

Let's think about collaboration

and how we broaden the circle of conversation

about how we can set the standards

and the ethical guideposts that will enable us to...

For this to be beneficial to the world

and also beneficial to people who do not currently have

access to the powers of knowledge.

Are there any lessons that you're currently drawing

from what's happening in AI right now?

Oh, yeah, there are lessons.

All of the hand wringing that's going on are the lessons.

Because what I'm proposing is not what was done with AI

and so it has...

And also what I'm proposing is that we diversify

the people who are at the table.

I think I may have seen one or two other African-Americans

at this conference and this has been my fifth

or sixth conference that I've attended

in a conference related to AI or quantum,

and so the people who are traditionally not at the table

are still not at the table.

[Kate] How do we bring them to the table?

Well, there are many organizations if you...

The EeroQ has a database that has identified a number

of disciplines that include anthropologists, psychologists,

as I mentioned earlier, theologians,

people in communications, and the law.

Now, there will certainly be laws

that will definitely regulate it.

If for no other reason than that,

the national security issues are so dramatic here

that the government will certainly be invested.

Although the commitment of the US government has been

quite puny, quite frankly, compared to the Chinese

who've made a major commitment to dominate

the quantum race. And that blows my mind

because I mean, the idea of technology that enables

the break, like universal breaking of encryption seems

like it would be urgent national security.

Well, I'm not suggesting that it's being ignored.

I'm saying that the effort that needs to be put forth

around the complexity of the technology

and the science of the technology itself.

There's an entire industry, by the way,

that gives legitimacy to what I'm saying that has grown up

to begin to build firewalls to prevent that from occurring,

but that does not in any way impede the progress of those

of us who are pursuing the technology to make access

to these tools for more information.

You know, who...

There are risks, but there is enormous potential

for good to...

For food production, for better understanding

of the elements that create climate change,

and as I said earlier, I was drawn to this

because of the interests that I have in healthcare

and what this means for drug discovery

and I'm drawn to it because I'm an African-American woman

who recognizes that who will be left out will not be...

Will most likely be those who have always been left out

if there are not more of us at the table.

And the drug discovery potential sounds incredible.

I'm wondering- Yes, it takes years

and years and years, and part of the cost that is given

as justification for the enormous expense of drugs

and the groundbreaking drugs and the lack of accessibility

to those who are economically deprived

is because it takes so much to develop them,

but capacity to get...

To not have to go through every molecular step of trial

and error, but to get to the answer because it has

the capacity to process so much data so quickly, really,

alone compels the necessity to pay attention

to this technology as a serious, serious development

in human history.

Would this be something that like pharmaceutical companies

are currently- Absolutely.

Pursuing right now? Absolutely.

[Kate] Would EeroQ like what...

Would it have a direct role in drug discovery?

Would you be leasing your equipment

to pharmaceutical companies like-

Well, we hope they'll buy our machines.

Okay. So we would like to see.

[both laughing]

But we would like to see the leaders of the industry

at the table.

I mean, because at the end of the day,

how will this technology be used for good

and where are the harms?

Where are the risk for harms and who will have the benefit?

You know, I think that, you know, we heard

an excellent, excellent panel discussion today

on sickle cell anemia, and it's a disease

that primarily affects people of African descent.

I'm a person of African descent,

my great-grandmother was born a slave and I knew her,

so it wasn't that long ago,

and yet, this is a disease that we have the technology

to correct it and God bless us,

but there aren't many black people that will have access

to the CRISPR technology and that's not, you know,

that's not a criticism of them, it's a...

It's a recognition of how do we change this paradigm

that we're all on this planet together

and it just should not just be about are we making

our communities good for our children,

but rather do we see them as children of the earth?

And how does this technology and the science of quantum,

the science of AI get distributed so that those

around the planet have better access to a quality of life

and a decent, decent, hopeful outcome?

How do you pursue that goal and, really, inhabit

the role of a steward for this technology

for universal good while also, you know,

you're a for-profit company pursuing...

Like how do you balance the desire to be a for-profit?

Well, we talk about...

That's a good question.

I mean, I think that the public benefits corporation

structure, which OpenAI, you know,

just a few years ago we were kind of ha-ha about AI,

OpenAI, when they were going to do their retreats

and they were, you know, online discover,

you know, they were gonna save the world

and how quickly a public benefits company can be perceived

as just an ordinary technology company,

and I think that it does require

who are the people on the board?

That remains mysterious for OpenAI,

but, you know, listen, I've been on 45 corporate boards

from public companies to foundations, universities,

nonprofits, and at the end of the day,

the people in a boardroom that are making decisions

and the decisions, really, are whether you feel

any accountability to stakeholders to be good citizens

and not just to the people who want to see

what comes in their checks for the benefit

of the sales of stock, but whether we see

a public benefit basis for our engagement

in any of these enterprises is really at the heart

of what I'm describing or attempting to advocate for.

I think you're doing a great job advocating for it

and I do- Well, I've, you know,

I've always been a talker [audience laughing]

and also I come to it because...

I mean, I'm a nurse by profession, by training.

Somebody referenced Ohio State this morning, I thought,

Yay Buckeyes, even though we didn't beat

Michigan this year, but I was given

a very solid science background, but what I was also taught

is that I really had a responsibility

to do more than just serve my patients one day at a...

One patient at a time, but to use my privilege

because as I said, I'm a great-granddaughter of a slave

and that to have achieved what I have managed

to achieve carries great responsibility and that carries...

Every one of us in this room carries great responsibility

to pay off what we have been given the opportunity to do

and that means, you know, what's going

on in our local communities?

Are you talking to the local school superintendent

about integrating quantum information into the curriculum

of our local schools?

We have to prepare for that.

This is coming folks.

It's not a matter of will it come, maybe it'll come,

it may be somebody's idea.

That's what happened when I started seven years ago.

It has been nothing short of a revolution

in that seven years in terms of the progress

that has been made, largely based on the anticipation

of enormous amounts of money.

It's estimated that when the credible pathways are achieved,

that this could become very quickly

a multi-billion dollar industry.

That's enormous wealth and let it not be concentrated,

let it be also used for the benefit of the well-being

of human beings. Well thank you so much

for advocating for a sunnier future

and thank you so much- Well, I don't know

that it's gonna be sunnier.

I think that it should be... [audience laughing]

I think it should be more aspirational for good

and that there ought to be more that even now,

that the conversation should be more diverse

from the potential stakeholders in the development.

Thank you so much for being here.

Our half hour's gone? It is.

It flew by. [audience clapping]

Yes, please give it up for Faye,

she is such a special person.

Thank you, and here I was terrified

that we wouldn't have enough...

That we would have too much time.

[Kate laughs]