Ariel Ekblaw, PhD

With the unexpected pace of generative AI agents like ChatGPT, how will this technology help us become a space-faring race? In this engaging presentation, founder and general partner of deep tech venture capital fund Aurelia Foundry, Ariel Ekblaw, Ph.D., explains how the current state of conversational AI is not only reminiscent of popular science-fiction TV shows but has also arrived decades earlier than many predicted. With applications for designing and building space habitats, life support systems, and more, Ekblaw illustrates the compelling crossover between AI and space tech and shows audiences how AI can soon become a fully embedded enabler in all areas of our lives.

As AI demands surge and Earth-based infrastructure strains under the pressure of energy and cooling needs, space is rapidly emerging as the next frontier for data and computation. In this provocative and future-focused talk, Dr. Ariel Ekblaw explores how innovations in autonomous, modular space construction like her team’s TESSERAE: Self-Assembling Space Architecture System could enable scalable infrastructure for AI data centers in orbit. She delves into the potential of space-based solar power to provide abundant, clean energy to power Earth’s expanding computing needs, including AI, without the environmental tradeoffs.

But this is not just about hardware. Ekblaw raises critical questions around AI safety and governance, especially in the context of superintelligence and cross-sector planning. What does it mean to design AI infrastructure in a zero-gravity environment? Who governs orbital computation? And how do we build systems that are both powerful and safe before the future arrives?

Whether you're interested in tech, energy, or policy, this talk offers a compelling glimpse into how space isn’t just a destination—it’s a strategic investment in the future of Earth’s most powerful technologies.

In a time when artificial intelligence is reshaping everything from how we work to how we think, Ariel Ekblaw asks a deeper question: What remains uniquely human?

In this deeply reflective and inspiring talk, Ekblaw argues that our drive to explore, to venture into the unknown simply for the sake of understanding, is one of the last frontiers of human uniqueness. While AI may learn and optimize, it doesn’t wonder. It doesn’t dream. It doesn’t choose to chase beauty or knowledge without a clear outcome. But we do.

Drawing from her work pioneering self-assembling space habitats and building the future of orbital infrastructure, Ekblaw explores how space offers not only technological opportunity but also existential purpose. In the vastness of the cosmos, we confront our smallness as well as our brilliance. We build, we reach, we discover—not just to survive, but to understand.

In an era defined by machines, this talk is a powerful reminder that our most human act may be the desire to look up and ask what’s out there.

Founding Director of the MIT Space Exploration Initiative, Ariel Ekblaw, Ph.D., knows firsthand the value of being inspired to pursue a career in STEM. Her mother, one of the first female pilots in the U.S. Air Force, was a reservist instructor pilot who taught her male counterparts how to fly. In this presentation, Ekblaw explains why promoting STEM careers for women is at the heart of her work and how childhood programs can help parents guide their daughters toward new opportunities in tech. With an emphasis on increasing representation and teaching young women to feel empowered to stay in an organization once they’ve gotten in the door, Ekblaw discusses how the service model of leadership can help young women see STEM as a viable path to meaningful personal, professional and community change. Audiences will understand the importance of cultivating interest among youth in a way that motivates them to take up the banner of women in tech leadership for a new era.

Today’s deep tech and aerospace startups are poised to have paradigm-shifting impacts on the business and society of tomorrow. An expert presenter, futurist Ariel Ekblaw, Ph.D., will reveal how the innovations of new and upcoming deep tech companies can benefit society. From artificial intelligence systems that are fully responsive to human environments and ecosystems to in-space biotech that offers profound new drug discovery and disease treatment due to the unique conditions of research in microgravity, Ekblaw, who is also the founder and general partner of deep tech venture capital fund Aurelia Foundry, lifts the curtain on the wide-ranging use cases of emerging tech innovations. Business executives, investors, and government officials alike will gain insights into all areas of the exciting technology on the horizon, including ethical considerations, potential policy implications, and why we should be cautiously optimistic about the tech of tomorrow.

With climate change leading to worse air quality, more severe weather events, and higher temperatures, how can aerospace research be used to address these critical climate challenges here on Earth? In this fascinating presentation, Founding Director of the MIT Space Exploration Initiative, Ariel Ekblaw, Ph.D., shows how research on building habitats in space can be applied to Earth-based homes and offices as well. She explains how advanced AI systems are able to create a responsive habitat with lights, temperature control, and life support systems such as air filtration tuned to the human occupants, even creating sealed systems in areas with poor air quality. Audiences will understand how the most advanced space architecture research can empower businesses, governments, and individual citizens to take part in mitigating the pace of climate change on Earth.