Computing on Light, Beyond Silicon | Jeremy Lasman of Quantum Star

What we talked about.

In this episode of the Sunny Ray show, host Sunny Ray talks with Jeremy Lassman of Quantum Star about computing on light instead of electrons. Lassman explains that his team has spent roughly seven or eight years in quantum computing research, starting with software and patents before developing a photonic hardware approach. He argues that heat is the core bottleneck of modern computing and AI, and that converting signals from light to electrons for processing is a major source of it. Quantum Star is raising funds to build a unit that computes logic in light and uses photonic memory. The conversation also covers Lassman's earlier time at SpaceX, his turn toward self-discovery and meditation, and his interest in conscious evolution. From there the discussion drifts into the double slit experiment, science and spirituality, imagination, entanglement, and whether anything lies beyond the speed of light. Lassman frames human evolution and quantum computing as two paths up the same mountain, and says imagination and passion are where humans remain special as AI advances.

Jeremy Lassman says heat is the real bottleneck of AI, and Quantum Star wants to compute in light instead of electrons.

The questions, and the answers.

What are you building at Quantum Star, and what problem are you solving?

We have spent close to seven or eight years in quantum computing research, starting with software, patents and algorithms. We then developed our own photonic hardware. We are challenging the substrate we think bottlenecks computing and AI today, which is heat. We are raising funds to build a unit that computes logic in light without converting to electrons.

Why is the industry trying to build data centers in space, and is that the right approach?

Terrestrial data centers take a long time because of permits and local politics, so people are talking about nuclear power and orbital servers. To me that is a blunt force, just build more approach. It does not address the core bottleneck, which is converting processing into electrons. That conversion is where the heat and energy use really come from.

Why did computing go to electrons in the first place instead of staying in light?

I am not an expert, but my big picture view is that we needed bits that could flip between one and zero. Electrical charge, positive and negative, allowed that bit flipping, and it grew into smaller and smaller processing units. So electrons were the substrate that let us do binary calculations.

Fiber optics already use light, so what is different about your approach?

Telecom already transmits data as light through fiber optic cable. The inefficiency comes at the last step, when light reaches servers and has to be converted to electrons to be processed. We want to stay in the light domain. Our innovations are photonic memory and doing logic in light instead of converting it.

What were you working on before Quantum Star, and what problem kept following you?

I worked at SpaceX in IT and marketing, wearing multiple hats at what was then a startup. After leaving, I gave myself time for self-discovery, reading on science, human performance, philosophy and spirituality. I am obsessed with the mechanics of how things work, and that led me to conscious evolution and the link between quantum mechanics and the human brain.

How do you connect quantum computing and human evolution?

I say we are evolving up the same mountain from opposite sides. Computing is moving beyond the limits of silicon and binary into superposition, and humans can move beyond the limits of our old programming in the same way. To me, imagination is our technology for interfacing with consciousness.

If AI takes over more work, where do humans fit?

As AI gets better, I think our imagination, passion and beingness are where humanity is special and well suited. A lot of the grunt work will come off our plate, and the road may be bumpy. If we keep up, we get to play, experiment, create and innovate.