Ep 20 - On FHE, Zama, and New Internet Standard

Before we begin…Sid and I are sorting out our schedules for Token2049 in Singapore. I’ll also be on a panel at Breakpoint. We’re excited to connect with researchers and founders working on the cutting edge. If you’re around, respond to this email and drop us a line. We’d love to meet up in person. JoelHello! In this episode of the DCO Podcast, Rand Hindi, CEO and co-founder of Zama, presents a thought-provoking discussion on the transformative power of Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) and its potential to revolutionise the future of privacy, blockchain, and the internet itself.Rand’s first company was Snips, an AI company for voice processing. Sonos, a listed audio equipment company, acquired it. He advised the French government on AI policy and co-authored a paper analysing AI's impact. His prediction from 2017 that AI would replace 10% of jobs, leave 50% unchanged, and augment 40% of jobs by increasing productivity seems accurate in today’s AI-dominated landscape.A major focus of the episode is the groundbreaking potential of FHE, a technology that allows computations on encrypted data without exposing it. By encrypting transaction details end-to-end, FHE eliminates the opportunity for front-running and other manipulative behaviours, thus paving the way for truly private and secure financial systems.Rand explains how Zama has addressed the major challenges traditionally associated with FHE: speed, usability, and scale. Zama’s technological advances have made FHE 100 times faster and integrated it into existing developer tools, making it accessible to developers without needing a deep understanding of cryptography. A key breakthrough discussed in this episode is Zama’s work in reducing the size of FHE-encrypted data. What used to expand data sizes by 20,000x has now been compressed to just 50x. With more improvements coming, this can be brought down to 10x, making it viable for use on Ethereum and other blockchain platforms. Tune in for the latest on privacy, a fully encrypted internet and a breakdown of FHE.Recovering from fever,Saurabh DeshpandeRelated Reading:- Ep 30- The Encrypted Supercomputer with Yannik from Arcium- Trusted Enclaves- The End of 'Just Trust Us'- Ep 27- Infrastructure, Empathy, and Grit This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.decentralised.co