TechCrunch is on the ground at SXSW 2025, the annual technology, music, comedy and film conference launched in Austin on Friday in pursuit of this AI-centric era.
Yes, we're one sentence and the AI is already in the entrance. And why? A quick scan of the large SXSW schedule shows that the AI is at Austin's center stage. It is worth noting that this year there appears to be a focus on how AI is applied to the real world.
SXSW tends to reflect what the tech ecosystem of founders and supporters is working on. And it often coincides with the hype cycle. Self-driving cars, scooter geeks, crypto, psychedelics – they all had moments at SXSW.
The tech portion of the annual event begins on Friday and runs until March 13th. The meeting begins with several tracks that fall straight into TechCrunch's areas of interest, including creator economy, culture, startups, health and medtech, energy and more. The AI truck officially starts on Sunday, but it's already making cameos. For example, Meredith Whittaker, the Signal president, interviewed on stage on Friday, called agent AI a threat to security and privacy, and health experts warned that it is dangerous for people to rely too much on AI for dating.
Deep technology and quantum computing, like the universe, will also be marked at the show. Climate, Sustainability – Beware of Rivian's founder and CEO RJ Sculling's March 11 keynote speech.
The self-driving cars are back, but this time we're not just on the topic of panel conversation, but on the road. Earlier this week, Uber and Waymo launched their Robotaxi service in Austin. The so-called “Waymo on Uber” Robotaxi service can be used by anyone with an Uber account. And you believe that TechCrunch can call out those robots and talk to human Uber drivers about what they're thinking.
TechCrunch will talk with SXSW's VCS, founders and industry experts, to get an idea of how the world of Tech is adapting to the Trump administration, and of course find out what's next. He also pays attention to numerous keynotes and technology and business celebrities, particularly Alan Baratz of D-Wave Quantum, Cristiano Amon, president and CEO of Qualcomm, Ben Lamm, founder of Colossal Biosciences, and Rene Haas, CEO of ARM.
Don't worry, we're a little fun too.