The Coming Wave
Technology, Power, and the Twenty-first Century's Greatest Dilemma
Mustafa Suleyman · 2023 · Technology
12 min · 11 chaptersNarrated in your voice
What it's about
Mustafa Suleyman argues that artificial intelligence and synthetic biology are converging into a single technological wave that is cheaper, more general-purpose, and more widely accessible than any technology before it. He contends that this combination of power and diffusion creates a 'containment problem': humanity's traditional tools for controlling dangerous technology, chiefly the nation-state, are no longer adequate. The book matters because it comes from a builder of the technology, not an outside critic, arguing urgently for restraint.
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Who it's for
- Policymakers and regulators trying to understand why existing tech governance tools are failing - Technologists and founders who want a framework for thinking about the risks of what they are building - General readers alarmed by AI headlines who want a structured argument rather than hype or doom
What’s inside
- 1One Wave, Two Technologies1 min
Suleyman argues that AI and synthetic biology should be treated as a single interconnected wave rather than separate revolutions, because both are becoming dramatically cheaper and more general-purpose at the same historical moment.
- 2Asymmetry, Hyper-evolution, Omni-use, Autonomy1 min
The chapter argues that four specific features of this wave, not raw destructive power alone, are what make it structurally resistant to the containment methods that worked on past dangerous technologies.
- 3The Containment Problem1 min
Suleyman's central claim is that a widening gap between how fast this technology diffuses and how fast institutions can govern it constitutes a new and specific crisis he calls the containment problem, distinct from ordinary technology regulation.
- 4The False Comfort of Nuclear History1 min
Suleyman argues that the widely cited success of nuclear non-proliferation offers false reassurance, because that success depended on a physical chokepoint, uranium and plutonium production, that AI and synthetic biology simply do not have.
- 5The Nation-State Under Strain1 min
Suleyman argues that the nation-state, the primary institution that has historically contained dangerous technology, is now structurally too slow, too bounded by borders, and too dependent on private companies to perform that role for AI and synthetic biology.
- 6The Narrow Path1 min
Suleyman argues society is currently on track toward one of two failure states, either authoritarian overreach that uses this technology for total control or a catastrophic loss of control that destabilizes states and societies, and that avoiding both is far harder than choosing between them.
- 7Ten Levers for Containment1 min
Suleyman proposes that containment is still possible through a coordinated set of measures spanning technical safety, corporate self-restraint, new international coalitions, and public accountability, though this claim rests heavily on voluntary cooperation among actors who have strong incentives to defect.
- 8The Builder's Responsibility1 min
Suleyman argues that the people and companies actually building this technology carry a personal, non-transferable duty to slow down and build in restraint voluntarily, rather than waiting for external regulation to force their hand.
About Mustafa Suleyman
Mustafa Suleyman co-founded DeepMind in 2010, where he led applied AI and policy work before its 2014 acquisition by Google. He later founded Inflection AI and in 2024 became CEO of Microsoft AI. He studied philosophy at Oxford and has spent over a decade at the center of frontier AI development, giving him direct insider knowledge of the systems he warns about.
