Hardware is the Battlefield of the Future
Because the world won’t be transformed by code alone.
“The factory is the product.”
— Elon Musk
Software has been eating the world for two decades. But if we zoom out—if we look at the challenges that define whether humanity thrives or collapses—we realize something: hardware will save us. Software can move minds, but hardware moves matter. And that’s what civilization needs now.
The clock is ticking on climate. On clean energy. On biological resilience. On the infrastructure of civilization itself. We’ve optimized everything for digital speed—but the real world is breaking. If existential innovation is about building a future worth surviving, then next-gen hardware isn’t optional—it’s foundational. We no longer live in a world where clever apps can reshape entire industries. We are now in an era that demands machines that touch the physical world—infrastructure that rewires how we live, move, heal, and evolve.
Software can’t plug a melting ice sheet. The illusion of digital supremacy is seductive. We can’t simulate our way out of ecological collapse. In 2023, the world saw 28 separate billion-dollar weather disasters in the U.S. alone—the highest ever recorded by NOAA. Globally, we’re losing 10 million hectares of forest annually, and extreme heat is expected to displace up to 1.2 billion people by 2050. In health, antibiotic resistance is projected to kill 10 million people annually by 2050, according to the WHO.
Meanwhile, the tools we celebrate most are software abstractions: LLMs, chatbots, and photo filters. But a chatbot won’t desalinate oceans. A prompt won’t rebuild cities. A filter won’t terraform Mars. Hardware is the interface between human ambition and physical reality. If we’re serious about existential innovation, we must also be serious about the physical systems that move the world forward.
The hardware revolution is already here. Builders are building. The new wave of hardware companies isn’t retro—they’re civilization-scale moonshots. Let’s talk about a few examples:
Helion Energy closed a $2.2B deal with Microsoft to deliver fusion energy by 2028. Their prototype, Polaris, is expected to generate electricity using inertial confinement and magnetized target fusion. If successful, this unlocks unlimited, clean, dispatchable power without radioactive waste.
Colossal Biosciences raised $225M+ to de-extinct the woolly mammoth and build a toolkit for the genetic preservation of endangered species. Their real innovation is next-gen CRISPR-based biomanufacturing platforms that could one day repair ecosystems and resist pandemics.
Synchron is building FDA-approved brain-computer interfaces that thread through blood vessels, enabling patients to type with their minds. Recently integrated with NVIDIA’s generative AI to enable thought-to-text communication, opening the door to real-time human-AI symbiosis.
Varda Space launched the first orbital biomanufacturing lab in 2023 to create drugs and materials in microgravity. In-space fabrication of exotic compounds, like monoclonal antibodies or fiber optics, could redefine biotech supply chains.
Hadrian is automating precision machining and metalworking for aerospace, energy, and defense, allowing modern civilization to rebuild its physical supply chain faster and cheaper than ever before.
These companies are all examples of businesses aiming to solve survivability problems.
I wrote about Existential Innovation before. Still, it’s worth reclarifying the concept: existential innovation is the breakthroughs that protect, evolve, or radically expand human life in response to compounding risks. And every pillar of it demands hardware:
Climate Resilience
Fusion reactors like Helion and Commonwealth Fusion Systems might be our only path to 24/7 carbon-free baseload energy. Carbon capture systems like Charm Industrial use mobile pyrolysis units to convert biomass into bio-oil and inject it underground. Climeworks and Heirloom are building direct air capture hubs in Texas and Louisiana, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Longevity & Biosecurity
New organ preservation devices are extending transplant windows from hours to days. At-home diagnostic devices like Everlywell are decentralizing disease detection. Companies like Eko also use AI-powered stethoscopes that provide real-time cardiac analysis through hardware-software integration.
Space Civilization
SpaceX’s Starship is now the largest flying object ever built, with plans for full reusability by 2026. Companies like Astrolab are building lunar rovers and off-world mobility systems that can autonomously deploy base infrastructure. Life support systems and radiation shielding developed for Mars will have spillover benefits for climate adaptation on Earth.
Human-Machine Symbiosis
The convergence of BCIs, haptic feedback systems, neural implants, and AI opens the door to real-time co-intelligence. This is about staying relevant in an AGI world where cognition becomes decentralized, fluid, and amplified. Hardware isn't legacy tech. It's the operating system for human survival.
We’ve been conditioned to believe hardware is expensive, slow, and capital-inefficient. And historically, that’s been true. However, the landscape has changed: AI-assisted CAD tools like Autodesk cut design cycles by 90%. Modular robotics and 3D printers have brought iteration cycles down from months to days. Sovereign wealth funds, the CHIPS Act, and Defense Innovation Units are pouring capital into hard science infrastructure.
The cost to prototype a new advanced hardware product is lower today than ever. What’s holding us back is not the hardware but imagination.
If you’re a builder, stop waiting for permission. Start building for the physical world.
Don’t chase app metrics. Chase civilizational impact.
Don’t optimize for valuations. Optimize for resilience and infrastructure.
Don’t build to exit. Build to endure.
As a founder, ask yourself: Does your startup leave humanity better equipped to survive the next 100 years? If the answer is no—go back to the drawing board.
If you’re an investor, know that the best investment outcomes in the next 10-20 years won’t be made in consumer apps or media marketplaces but in modular bioreactors, vertical farming infrastructure, lunar construction robots, subsea data centers, and quantum photonic chips, to name a few.
Timelines will be longer. But so will the impact—and the upside.
As legendary investor Richard Kramlich once said: “The best investments are the ones people laugh at before they see the results.”
Existential risk is real. But so is existential opportunity.
We have a once-in-a-generation window to rebuild the physical foundations of civilization:
Cities that are regenerative, not extractive.
Bodies that are resilient, not fragile.
Societies that are decentralized, not brittle.
Interfaces that enhance our cognition, not compete with it.
Machines that help us flourish, not just produce.
The future will arrive through machinery, factories, and physical systems that encode our vision of what’s possible.
This is how we will build the future and why Elon Musk’s quote isn’t just catchy—it’s prophetic: “The factory is the product.” Because the factory is the flywheel, it’s the multiplier. It’s the quiet cathedral where futures are forged.
The wave of existential innovation won’t happen on our screens. It’ll happen in launchpads, fusion chambers, robotic arms, wet labs, and assembly lines. It won’t be frictionless—but it will be worth it.
Hardware is not a footnote. It’s the foundation.
Let’s build it.
Thanks for reading,
Yon
👋 Hello! My mission with Beyond with Yon is to ignite awareness, inspire dialogue, and drive innovation to tackle humanity's greatest existential challenges. Join me on the journey to unf**ck the future and transform our world.
Connect with me on Linkedin and X.
AI assistants were used to help research and edit this essay.