Zero Knowledge

This week, Anna and Nico catch up with Srinath Setty, researcher at Microsoft. They look back at his research since his work on Nova, spanning lattice-based folding, zero-knowledge identity proofs, and lookups and memory checking, much of which traces back to his 2019 work, Spartan. The bulk of the conversation is on Magnetar, his newly released zkVM. Built only on standard hash functions, it aims to be among the most secure general-purpose zkVMs, and it also turned out to be dramatically faster than many existing systems. Srinath explains how it’s put together, where the speed comes from, and what’s still left to build. Related links: Magnetar: High-speed post-quantum RV64 zkVM from standard hashesProof-based general-purpose computing with Magnetar(Microsoft Research blog)BinarySpartan: Spartan over binary fieldsSpartan: Efficient and general-purpose zkSNARKs without trusted setupNeo and SuperNeo: Post-quantum folding with pay-per-bit costs over small fieldsLatticeFold: A Lattice-based Folding Scheme and its Applications to Succinct Proof SystemsVega: Low-Latency Zero-Knowledge Proofs over Existing CredentialsUnlocking the lookup singularity with LassoJolt: SNARKs for Virtual Machines via LookupsTwist and Shout: Faster memory checking arguments via one-hot addressing and incrementsLigerito: A Small and Concretely Fast Polynomial Commitment SchemeArc: Accumulation for Reed-Solomon CodesWARP: Linear-Time Accumulation SchemesFlock: Fast Proving for Batch Boolean ComputationsZK Podcast: Nova and Beyond with Srinath SettyZK Podcast: Lattices, Folding, & Symphony with Binyi ChenZK Podcast: Episode 404 with Benedikt BünzZK Podcast: Episode 410 with Ron Rothblum     New from the Zero Knowledge Podcast and Succinct: the 2026 ZK Industry Report, a snapshot of ZK’s tech, research and real-world adoption. Free at zeroknowledge.fm/zk-industry-report-2026       **If you like what we do:** * Consider becoming a zkMesh+ Subscriber * Subscribe to our podcast newsletter * Follow us on Twitter @zeroknowledgefm * Join us on Telegram * Catch us on YouTube Read transcript

This week, Anna is joined by Nico and Kobi to speak with Mathias Hall-Andersen and Giorgio Dell'Immagine from zkSecurity about zkGolf, a competition challenging humans and AI agents to build the most efficient, formally verified ZK circuits. They look back at ZK Hack puzzles and CTFs, exploring how AI is changing the nature of technical competitions. They then dive into Clean, zkSecurity's framework for writing and formally verifying circuits in Lean, and how an experiment using AI to optimize a SHA-256 circuit inspired zkGolf. They discuss how the zkGolf competition works, the breakthroughs and exploits participants have uncovered, how it compares to other AI-driven optimisation challenges, and what AI-assisted circuit development could mean for the future of ZK engineering and security audits.   Related Links   zkGolf Website Clean GitHub Repo Clean WebsiteLean Programming WebsiteZK HackYukon Website ZK Podcast: Auto Research on Yukon with Soubhik DebZK Podcast: Alex Ozdemir on where Theorem Provers and ZK meet ECDSA.fail  SNARK.fast Flock ChallengeThe Proximity Prize     Sovright builds the critical infrastructure that preserves your right to choose. Discover more at sovright.com.     **If you like what we do:** * Find all our links here! @ZeroKnowledge | Linktree * Subscribe to our podcast newsletter * Follow us on Twitter @zeroknowledgefm * Join us on Telegram * Catch us on YouTube   **Support the show:** * Patreon * ETH - Donation address * BTC - Donation address Read transcript

This week, Anna and Guillermo chat with Josh Yang, CEO and co-founder of Brightlight Photonics, about the lasers that power quantum computers. Josh explains how lasers are used in neutral atom and other atom-based quantum systems to cool and move atoms, manipulate qubit states and read out results. They explore why these systems require so many different lasers and how today’s bulky, expensive optical setups can become a bottleneck as quantum computers scale. They also cover Brightlight’s work miniaturising the Ti:sapphire laser, a longstanding workhorse of quantum optics. Josh explains how integrated waveguides and semiconductor manufacturing techniques make this possible, the challenges of packaging and powering these tiny lasers, and how a more compact, versatile laser platform could better support quantum computing. This one is a departure from the usual topics covered on the show, but we hope you find it as fascinating as we did.   Related Links Brightlight PhotonicsJosh Yang Google Scholar ProfileEpisode 357: Quantum Engineering with Jelena VučkovićStanford Report: Chip-scale titanium-sapphire laser puts powerful technology in reach Titanium:Sapphire-on-insulator for broadband tunable lasers and high-power amplifiers on chipTitanium:sapphire-on-insulator integrated lasers and amplifiersMulti-dimensional data transmission using inverse-designed silicon photonics and microcombsBrightlight Photonics Images shared by Josh YangEpisode 400: Quantum Advances, Hybrid Signatures and SNARKs to the Rescue with Dan BonehEpisode 402: The Quantum Question Panel – Live from zkSummit14     **If you like what we do:** * Find all our links here! @ZeroKnowledge | Linktree * Subscribe to our podcast newsletter * Follow us on Twitter @zeroknowledgefm * Join us on Telegram * Catch us on YouTube   **Support the show:** * Patreon * ETH - Donation address * BTC - Donation address Read transcript

This week, Anna, Tarun and Nico are joined by JP Aumasson, co-designer of BLAKE3, author of Serious Cryptography and cryptography engineer at Cloudflare. They revisit the quantum threat to cryptography, looking at recent advances in quantum attacks on RSA and elliptic-curve cryptography, and discuss why JP remains cautious about predictions of an imminent “Q-day.” They then explore how AI is changing cryptanalysis, from recent RSA factoring records to the growing divide between symmetric and asymmetric cryptography. The conversation then turns to Poseidon and recent attacks that have challenged confidence in ZK-friendly hash functions, as well as China’s new NGCC competition, where AI is already being used to find weaknesses in candidate designs. JP shares his experiments using AI for cryptanalysis, why it could accelerate both the building and breaking of cryptographic systems, and a introduces a project exploring AI-driven attacks on hash functions.   Related Links   Too Much Crypto by Jean-Philippe AumassonSecuring Elliptic Curve Cryptocurrencies against Quantum Vulnerabilities: Resource Estimates and Mitigations Flock: Fast Proving for Batch Boolean ComputationsFlock ChallengePOSEIDON: A New Hash Function for Zero-Knowledge Proof Systems (Updated Version) Ngcc.devChinese NGCC Algorithms: The First Week of AI CryptanalysisJP Aumasson PapersYukon.orgZK Podcast Episode: The Quantum Question Panel – Live from zkSummit14!ZK Podcast Episode: Quantum Advances, Hybrid Signatures and SNARKs to the Rescue with Dan Boneh     Sovright builds the critical infrastructure that preserves your right to choose. Discover more at sovright.com.     **If you like what we do:** * Find all our links here! @ZeroKnowledge | Linktree * Subscribe to our podcast newsletter * Follow us on Twitter @zeroknowledgefm * Join us on Telegram * Catch us on YouTube   **Support the show:** * Patreon * ETH - Donation address * BTC - Donation address Read transcript

This week, Anna is joined by Soubhik Deb, Head of Research at EigenLabs, to explore Yukon, a platform for collaborative AI-powered research. Soubhik traces the project’s origins to ECDSA.fail, a competition launched in response to Google’s work on more resource-efficient quantum circuits for breaking secp256k1. They discuss how researchers and their AI agents build on one another’s submissions, turning traditional research into a multiplayer process that can iterate at machine speed. The conversation then explores Yukon’s expansion into ZK proving, inference optimisation, coding theory and mathematics through challenges like SNARK.fast, better.codes, mlx.fast and lighter.fast. Soubhik explains the importance of well-defined problems and verifiers for AI-driven research, and shares Yukon’s vision for an “AI-native scientific institution” where humans and agents collaborate to accelerate discovery.   Related Links Yukon.orgECDSA.fail Flock ChallengeThe Proximity Prize (better.codes)Mlx.fastDarkbloomLighter Prover ChallengeECDSA.Fail: Open Autoresearch for Optimizing Elliptic-Curve Point Addition in Shor’s AlgorithmOptimized Point Addition Circuits for Elliptic Curve Discrete LogarithmsSecuring Elliptic Curve Cryptocurrencies against Quantum Vulnerabilities: Resource Estimates and Mitigations ZK Podcast Episode: The Quantum Question Panel – Live from zkSummit14!ZK Podcast Episode: Quantum Advances, Hybrid Signatures and SNARKs to the Rescue with Dan Boneh     Sovright builds the critical infrastructure that preserves your right to choose. Discover more at sovright.com.     **If you like what we do:** * Find all our links here! @ZeroKnowledge | Linktree * Subscribe to our podcast newsletter * Follow us on Twitter @zeroknowledgefm * Join us on Telegram * Catch us on YouTube   **Support the show:** * Patreon * ETH - Donation address * BTC - Donation address   Read transcript