Editor's Synopsis
Bercan Kılıç, founder of microagi, lays out a sweeping thesis on how general-purpose robotics will create material abundance by 2029 — but warns that the social and political consequences could derail this future entirely. The essay argues that prevailing economic models of displacement are insufficient because they assume displaced cognitive workers can transition to physical roles, when in reality physical AI will automate those roles simultaneously. Recent breakthroughs from Figure AI, Google DeepMind, Skild AI, and others suggest a "GPT moment" for robotics is imminent, with AI systems accelerating the research cycle itself.
The piece turns specifically to Europe's vulnerability: the continent owns neither the intelligence layer (dominated by the U.S.) nor the manufacturing base (dominated by China), yet its welfare states depend heavily on taxing labor. Kılıç outlines three futures for Europe — blocking deployments and falling behind, adopting foreign robotics without building domestic capacity (leading to dependency and social unrest), or fully embracing robotics while building a new economic settlement. The preferred third path involves Europe developing its own models and hardware, taxing automation returns domestically, and pursuing what the author calls "Interstellar": a principle that humanity's ambitions must always exceed its productive capacity, ensuring people remain necessary even when machines surpass them at nearly everything. The essay draws historical parallels to the French Revolution, the Luddites, and the Apollo program to argue that without a credible answer to how people retain status and purpose, societies will politically block the very technology that could improve all their lives.
