Alexandr Wang: The Young AI Visionary Who Predicts the Next "Bill Gates"

Alexandr Wang, the 28-year-old founder of Scale AI and the youngest self-made billionaire at age 24, is now leading an ambitious project at Meta AI. In his first 60 days there, he assembled a 100-person team that he described as smaller and more talented than those at other labs. His goal is clear: to achieve superintelligence. Wang, who became a billionaire thanks to AI, sees the present as a pivotal moment for young people. According to him, the next Bill Gates will be a 13-year-old boy or girl who is currently spending time vibe coding—using natural language to control AI tools instead of writing code traditionally.

A Generational Opportunity in AI

Wang is convinced that all the code he has ever written will be replaced by outputs from AI models within five years. In his own words, this has radicalized him in favor of vibe coding. What matters is not mastering a specific programming language, but experimenting with AI tools. “If you're 13, you should spend all your time vibe coding,” he said in a recent interview with TBPN. Generation Alpha children have an advantage: the time and freedom to immerse themselves in new technologies. Unlike in the past, when teenagers made money reselling sneakers or running Minecraft servers, they should now focus on AI. Wang compares this to the early days of the computer revolution, when Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg gained a huge advantage by experimenting with early computers. “That moment is happening right now, and those who spend the most time with it will have a head start in the future economy,” he adds.

Meta's Ambition: From Models to Superintelligence

At Meta, Wang leads a team divided into three pillars: research, products, and infrastructure. Research focuses on models that he believes will ultimately achieve superintelligence. Products ensure these models reach billions of users through Meta's platforms. Infrastructure, meanwhile, is building the largest data centers in the world. Wang appreciates that Meta has a unique business model that allows it to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in computing power. Among its hardware, he is particularly excited about the new smart glasses, which he sees as the ideal vehicle for superintelligence. “It will feel like an enhancement of your cognitive abilities—you'll gain 100 IQ points by having superintelligence right there with you,” Wang explains.

Vibe Coding as the New Reality

Vibe coding means describing an intention in natural language and letting AI create functional prototypes. This approach is spreading among Silicon Valley's leaders. Klarna's Sebastian Siemiatkowski said that he can now test ideas in 20 minutes instead of requiring weeks of engineering work. Google's Sundar Pichai revealed that AI generates more than 30% of the new code at his company and called it the biggest leap in software development in 25 years. For Wang, this is not merely a productivity trick, but a change in the role of the engineer. “The role of an engineer is now completely different from what it used to be,” he observes. That is why he urges young people to start building intuition as early as possible by playing with AI tools at the limits of their capabilities. This will open the door to major achievements in the AI world.

Source: fortune.com