Indian-American billionaire Vinod Khosla says advances in artificial intelligence are bringing the world closer to a future where machines perform most routine medical work, leaving human doctors to focus on empathy and complex judgement.
Khosla, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist, technology entrepreneur and co-founder of Sun Microsystems, revisited several of his long-held predictions in a detailed thread on X. He highlighted recent developments in AI as evidence that ideas once seen as speculative are moving toward mainstream adoption.
“For years I’ve shared predictions about how technology would reshape our world. We’re still early in that journey, but we’re getting closer every year,” he wrote, introducing a review of his past forecasts and the progress he believes supports them.
One of his most controversial claims dates back to 2012, when he predicted that machines would eventually take over about 80% of what doctors do. According to Khosla, AI systems will be able to manage diagnosis, monitoring and decision-making at scale, while physicians concentrate on tasks that require human connection and nuanced clinical judgement.
He has long argued that data-driven technologies will transform medicine faster than traditional biological research, saying that “data science & software will do more for medicine in the next decade than all biological sciences combined.”
Khosla also underlined his early bet on frontier AI research. He noted that his firm became the first venture capital investor in OpenAI, recalling his 2018 prediction that artificial intelligence would “inevitably” change the structure of society. He cited the rapid global adoption of ChatGPT as an example of how quickly AI tools can scale compared with earlier technologies.
Another key theme in his outlook is the expansion of who can write software. Khosla said that nearly two years ago he forecast a world with more than a billion people effectively programming in natural language, as AI systems translate everyday speech into working code.
His predictions also extend into energy and transportation. Khosla expects major advances in clean energy, including fusion power and superhot geothermal systems, and envisions hypersonic aircraft capable of flying between New York and London in about 90 minutes. He further anticipates that every child could eventually have access to a personalised AI tutor.
Summing up his approach to innovation, Khosla urged technologists and entrepreneurs to pursue ambitious ideas despite scepticism. “Ignore the experts and invent the future you want,” he wrote.