Abu Dhabi Finance Week is now one of the most influential hubs in global finance: where capital, regulation, and technology converge. I’m attending the Global AI Show, Bitcoin MENA, and key ADFW arenas across AI, fintech, digital assets, infrastructure, and dispute resolution.

I am joining Al Liwan Group, headquartered in Abu Dhabi, as Head of Innovation, to advance our mission by embedding advanced technologies into every layer of the organisation and empowering people to operate at the frontier of what modern finance can achieve. davidorban.substack.com/p/the-capita...

I am pretty full with meetings related to the launch of Al Liwan, but if you reach out we may find a slot to meet in NYC, Nov 16-23.

How Do Wikipedia And Grokipedia Compare? Grokipedia is superior with faster updates, broader citations, and deeper analytical coverage. Read the full report on pedia.davidorban.com

Humanity can flourish in the age of AI and robots: I believe that through them we will gain new degrees of freedom, and it will enable us to decide and design our future.

Did you know that Bitcoin has had a de facto status as legal tender in Lugano, Switzerland since 2022? Plan ₿ Forum, on Oct 24-25 is the venue to discuss the state of Bitcoin adoption, not only in Switzerland, but worldwide. Meet there?

I’ll be joining Token Talks & Tastes 2.0 on October 13 in Dubai for the panel “From Camels to Code: The Evolution of Value Exchange.” The event gathers innovators and investors to discuss how blockchain, digital assets, and AI are reshaping global finance. luma.com/2t6rm27i?tk=...

I’ll be in Dubai next week for two of the region’s biggest tech gatherings: Expand North Star on October 12 and GITEX Global starting October 13. Both are massive stages where innovation, scale, and ambition come together. Reach out if you'd like to meet

Tech doesn’t grow exponentially. It jolts. The smooth exponential model worked for fifty years, but it doesn’t match what we’re living through now. Explore more at jolting.davidorban.com

This Friday I will talk about how accessibility is more than compliance, improving learning for everyone. At Exploring eLearning in Milan, we will discuss Dotwords' fast, and affordable AI services, giving organizations a new opportunity to lead.

With the release a few hours ago of the Agentic Commerce Protocol and Instant Checkout by OpenAI and Stripe, my keynote at the INMerge Innovation Summit in Baku today about the future of ecommerce which concentrates on AI agents has become even more topical and relevant.

I’ll be speaking in Baku at the INMerge Innovation Summit about the future of eCommerce. AI agents will soon negotiate and transact on our behalf, reshaping how businesses compete. My session will focus on what companies must do today to prepare for this transformation.

I will be in Baku from Sep 29 to Oct 1. Let me know if you want to meet. (Most of my time will be absorbed by Inmerge Innovation Summit, but I may have a few slots here and there..)

Testing my presentation on the ultrawide LED wall for tomorrow’s keynote “Human Flourishing In The Age Of AI And Robots”

I’ll be talking about investing and fundraising in the age of AI on Sep 24 at 10AM in Dubai, hosted by the AIXL8 AI Research & Development Hub & Accelerator together with Dariia Vasylieva and Mikael Boshian. RSVP luma.com/ylk2ugl9

I will be in Dubai from Sept 20 to Sept 24. Let me know if you want to meet. (Most of my time will be absorbed by The Futurists X Summit, but I may have a few slots here and there..)

Finalizing my slides for The Futurists X Summit in Dubai. Finally I am using videos replacing static images, thanks to the latest updates by Midjourney

Join me at the Futurists X Summit on September 22-23 at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai. www.futuristevent.com (Use code FTR40XLND2025 for a 40% discount on full the price of the ticket.)

Download the full PDF of The AI Paradox Report

The AI Paradox - Early Adopters Love AI But Fear Its Future. Early adopters of AI show a striking contradiction. They benefit from AI in their daily work, but doubt its broader impact on society. Adoption is rising, but trust is falling. youtu.be/ND3WIA7yVQE?...

Over 60% of respondents fall into what I call the “Pragmatic Paradox”: they benefit personally from AI but doubt its wider impact on society. This mismatch may shape policy, adoption, and trust for years. Where do you see yourself on this map: optimist, skeptic, or in the paradox quadrant?

The Futurists X Summit - I will talk about how artificial intelligence and robotics are changing society, businesses, and ourselves. I invite you to join me on September 22-23 in Dubai, where we will analyze these trends and how to take advantage of them. www.futuristevent.com

When people talk about AI risks, the biggest themes cluster around truth, identity, and human connection. Other issues, like jobs, inequality, and surveillance vary more by group. If you had to pick just one concern to solve first, which would it be?

Personal AI experiences are trending more optimistic, while views of AI’s societal impact are sliding into concern. This “divergence zone” shows the paradox: my tools get better, but I worry about the world they’re shaping. Do you think this gap will close, or widen further?

The Jolting Technologies Paper is Now Available After months of development and peer review, I'm sharing the complete academic framework for understanding AI's superexponential growth. Paper: arxiv.org/abs/2507.06398 Code: github.com/davidorban/j...

Are AI Agents Jolting? The Jolting Technologies Hypothesis Predicts Superexponential Improvements. If position is where you are, velocity is how fast you're moving, and acceleration is how quickly your speed changes, then jolt is how quickly your acceleration changes.

The world is now increasingly shaped by the superexponential progression in the power of AI. Understanding exponentials like Moore's Law is not enough.

Our tools are getting so good that the gap between having an idea and executing it is shrinking toward zero. We are watching AI tools transform from curiosities to creative partners in real-time, the speed of change feels different, but accelerating in a way that defies conventional models.

Think AI chats are shallow? My twin, R. David Orban, holds 20, 30, even 60-turn conversations, and then gets asked to contact me directly. This is scaled connection, not replacement.

“Is there anything I can say to prove I’m Emiliano?” My AI twin answered in Italian: “No need for proof. You live in Dubai, and your question shows the connection is real.” 🧠 Context. 🌐 Multilingual. 🤖 Personal. Try it → davidorban.com

Meet My AI Twin: R. David Orban What if your insights could be available 24/7, across the globe, without needing to clone your calendar? That is not a thought experiment anymore, but an online service you can interact with today.

Work with David Orban: I speak, advise, and contribute to frontier projects across AI, Web3, governance, and exponential innovation. 🎤 Keynotes 🧭 Strategic Advisory 📊 Board Participation 📅 Book a time to discuss with my agent Jay: api.leadconnectorhq.com/widget/booki...

Discover The Power of the Command Line We have a new generation of AI tools that make accessible to everyone the power of the command line that unlocks possibilities in the use of your computer that you didn't know you had. youtu.be/_RpHqe3xmCs

Vibe coding turns ideas into reality through conversation with AI. Whether you're a developer looking to 10x your productivity or a curious beginner, these tools let you create functional apps, games, and websites with just words. youtu.be/JqeQgAOahSI

Is extraction economics coming to an end? Join me on March 21 at 1PM GMT as we explore the revolutionary vision described in the new book "Stellar" with the authors James Arbib and Tony Seba. A civilization-level transformation may be closer than you think. www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_cA...

Vibe coding at 200 km/h

I'm using Warp Terminal to clean up my download folder and am already imagining in a few years' time being able to do the same for my entire home, using robots.

Backing up your data is essential, whether from social media platforms, YouTube, or AI assistants like ChatGPT. Here you can find a simple way to export and download your interactions from ChatGPT and other AI platforms. open.substack.com/pub/davidorb...

Every new platform brings an opportunity to experiment, learn, and evolve. Here's to this new one, Focus.. Join me on Focus, be one of the first to experiment focus.xyz?password=KMG...

I will be in India, giving a talk at Zu-Grama in Kerala and then Delhi and Uttarkhand until Feb 20. Let me know if you'd like to meet.

Join me with Alex Zhavoronkov live to discuss how AI is revolutionizing drug discovery. Tuesday, Feb 4, at 12 PM ET www.youtube.com/watch?v=9twy...

That time when I had to explain the topology of fish slices to my daughter

What is scalability? We talk about scalability, and scaling laws. But what does scalability actually mean? Let’s explore the idea of scalability, with examples from maps, to buildings, and finally AI. youtu.be/jRLAGieCbVo

I will be in Marrakesh on Jan 28 - Feb 3. Let me know if you want to meet!

Is it possible to build a bridge in a single day with a million workers? Can a lemon produce a thousand liters of juice if squeezed for long enough? These "disanalogies" show how surprising AI's scalability laws are. youtu.be/9ZEn4HvOsGM

At CES 2025, Jensen Huang has illustrated how three scaling laws are driving AI’s exponential growth, ensuring it avoids plateaus and accelerates toward ever-shorter doubling rates. For me this is his most important message, not just the product announcements.

On Tuesday Jan 7 at 4PM CET I have a live conversation with Sensay CEO Dan Thomson discuss the technology behind lifelike companions, explore ethical questions around identity and consent, and how these tools forever change how we share knowledge and connect across generations.

Never trust the online platforms you use. Download your data. Now is a good time to do it. davidorban.com/2025/01/recl...

Happy Newtonmas! Today, we celebrate the birthday of Isaac Newton. He was a brilliant mind whose discoveries laid the groundwork for modern science and engineering. Here’s to a future driven by curiosity, critical thinking, and innovation.

Here are my '24 highlights: we welcomed my second grandchild, Cristopher, from my oldest son Jacopo; my middle son Cosimo moved from Montreal to Sydney joining ILM; and my daughter Jordy got married in Seoul to Jungho. Wishing you and your loved ones a joyful season and a fantastic year 2025 ahead!