GPT: Gödel, Penrose and Turing | James Tagg | Austin DTW 2026

James Tagg ↗

Founder & President · Valis Corporation

James Tagg is a serial entrepreneur and award-winning author. He was one of the original inventors of the touchscreen, founded Truphone (the world's first global mobile operator), made the first mobile phone call over the Internet, and developed the eSIM. He holds over 200 patents. James studied Physics and Computer Science at Manchester University, Design at Lancaster University, and Engineering at Cambridge. He co-founded the Penrose Institute with Roger Penrose. His venture Valis Corporation is developing a quantum biocomputer connecting 1,024 brain organoids (~500 million neurons). Author of "Are the Androids Dreaming Yet?"

Speaking events

3

DTW editions

3

Published talks

2

Valis Corporation ↗

Valis Corporation develops hybrid biological quantum computers by coupling arrays of 1,024 brain organoids, each containing around one million neurons, using quantum-entangled photons and patented technology to connect them to silicon-based neural networks. The Large Brain Model project produces approximately 500 million neurons and outputs 11 terabits of data per second for applications including complex reasoning, human behavior modeling such as stock trading, non-linguistic reasoning like visual design, financial market modeling, mathematical theorem proving, brain mapping, energy-efficient AI, and research on cognitive diseases including epilepsy and Alzheimer's. The company performed experiments on IBM's Eagle 127-qubit quantum processor with superconducting transmon qubits, demonstrating wavefunction collapse consistent with Orchestrated Objective Reduction theory by incorporating gravitational effects through mass displacement. James Tagg serves as Founder and President, with Will Reid as Co-Founder. The laboratory focuses on quantum communications, sensing, and computation. Headquarters are located in Encinitas, California, with partnerships such as the Muotri Lab at the University of California San Diego.

Events

3

Talks presented

2

Registrations reached

1,094

M31 Capital ↗

M31 Capital's investment thesis revolves around recognizing historical patterns of technological unlocks that drive civilizational progress and power shifts, viewing breakthroughs like blockchain, AI, and psychedelics as phase transitions that reshape societies by revealing deeper truths about reality. Drawing from the "Great Founder Theory," the firm emphasizes backing exceptional "Live Players"—visionary individuals with obsessive focus who pioneer paradigm shifts, such as Satoshi Nakamoto with Bitcoin—through a systematized "machine" that augments human judgment to detect these opportunities at an accelerating pace. Focused on infrastructure emerging from these unlocks, particularly in blockchain and crypto (e.g., DeFi and compute races), M31 prioritizes asymmetric returns by positioning capital ahead of consensus, avoiding market predictions and instead leveraging historical waves of emergence, dismissal, adoption, suppression, and triumph to invest in transformative technologies that compress innovation timelines exponentially. This approach has yielded over 1,000% five-year returns in blockchain, underscoring their unique blend of pattern recognition and operator-driven strategies in high-velocity sectors.

Events

3

Talks hosted

8

Registrations reached

574