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In recent months, a quiet shift has taken shape across Silicon Valley. Some of the most powerful voices in technology are floating a vision for the future that excludes the very device that has defined the digital era for more than a decade: the smartphone.

For Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman, and Bill Gates, the next wave of innovation doesn’t involve a sleeker phone — it replaces it altogether.

We didn't break up. We uncoupled. Ask Gwyneth

Each of them is backing different technologies that promise to render smartphones obsolete. From brain implants to digital tattoos, and augmented reality glasses, their ambitions suggest a world where humans interact with devices not through touchscreens, but directly through thought, vision, or even skin.

It is a radical break from the present — one not everyone is ready to embrace.

Neural links and digital tattoos

Elon Musk, the founder of Neuralink Corporations, is advancing the concept of brain-computer interfaces, which allow users to communicate with machines using only their thoughts.

According to the company, two human subjects have already received implants. The aim is to remove the need for physical interaction with devices entirely — no tapping, no swiping, not even speaking. Instead, thought would drive action.

• Why apps won't matter in the future (TechAltar)

Bill Gates is championing a different kind of interface. He is backing Chaotic Moon, a Texas-based company developing electronic tattoos. These devices, worn directly on the skin, are designed to collect and transmit data through nanosensors.

Their applications range from health tracking to communication and geolocation. The tattoos effectively transform the body into a digital platform, without the need for handheld devices. [The body of the user will be turned into an antenna and device to the detriment of the body's subtle fields no doubt.] More

• Daily Galaxy UK, May 30, 2025; Sheldon S., Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly