The physical world can be modeled as an atoms-based computer where manufacturing is CPU, real estate is storage, and logistics is the network — all computer science frameworks apply identically.
Kalanick describes his framework for digitizing the physical world, treating manufacturing as the CPU that manipulates atoms, real estate as storage, and logistics as the network, claiming all computer science principles apply identically. ✦ AI generated
Travis Kalanick · a16z Podcast · 2026-07-22 · original ↗
starts at this moment · 35:44
CPU manipulates bits, storage stores bits, network moves bits from point A to point B. Okay. Well, CPU manipulates bits. What manipulates atoms? That's manufacturing. Storage stores bits. What stores atoms? That's real estate. Network moves bits from point A to point B. What moves atoms? That's transport, logistics. … Everything you learn in your computer science curriculum … it plays in the atoms world. Same frameworks, all the data structures, all the algorithms, it works exactly the same.
verbatim transcript · starts at 35:44
35:44Uber, which is CPU manipulates bits, storage stores bits, network moves bits from point A to point B. Okay. Well, CPU manipulates bits. What manipulates atoms? That's manufacturing. Storage stores bits. What stores atoms? That's real estate. Network moves bits from point A to point B. What moves atoms? Well, that's transport, logistics, and those now are your three core computing resources in an atomsbased computer. And you know what? Everything you learn in
36:14your computer science curriculum, everything you learn in engineering, it plays in the atoms world. Same frameworks, all the data structures, all the algorithms, it works exactly the same. And I >> routing algorithms. >> Oh, totally, totally. In fact, we use we use TCP. We use TCP saw to basically manage how much demand to send to certain kitchens based on capacity and reliability as an example. >> But like we look at when I go and I I'm
36:48messing around like when I'm pitching this to a tech person who wants to understand that 10,000 foot facility I call a 10,000 foot semiconductor >> and it's a 30 core processor 30 kitchens. They're computing atoms, not bits. The corridors where the food moves, that's a network bus. The processing center is like an L1 cache or something similar. The >> He's taking this analogy very far. >> The cold cold storage where you have ice
37:15cream and juice. Okay, that's precomputed items that sit on the edge. Those are your Okami servers. [snorts] >> The courier who comes and picks up the food and goes on the road and brings the the meal to you, he that's a TCP packet. This [ __ ] goes forever. >> [laughter] >> It's excellent. >> Okay. So, the vision started at Uber. >> So, the point is is that Adamsbased
37:38computation is a thing and honestly it's always been a thing. And the idea that oh, okay, Uber was network for the physical world, digitized transportation. And by the way, almost done. Why almost done? Because it's almost fully software. >> Yeah. Right? Whimos are cruising. It's almost fully software. But what about what about uh CPU for the physical world and storage for the physical world? Basically digitized manufacturing and