SXSW 2025 unveils a profound technological convergence where innovation across space exploration, quantum computing, and AI isn’t just creating more powerful tools, but fundamentally expanding the canvas of human creativity and potential.
At SXSW’s final day, technology transcended science fiction as bionic limbs that feel, space imagery that connects us, and quantum computing that may unlock nature’s deepest secrets reminded us that our future isn’t just about what these tools can do—but how they’ll transform what it means to be human.
On Day 4 of SXSW 2025, I retreated to my hotel room to watch keynotes about AI workplace transformation and user-controlled social media, discovering how tomorrow’s technology needs human-centered thinking to truly succeed.
From the Webb telescope’s galaxy-shattering discoveries to Colossal’s de-extinction breakthroughs, Day 3 at SXSW 2025 revealed how humanity stands at the threshold of understanding our cosmic origins and biological future.
The robots are coming—for real this time—as Amy Webb unveils how “Living Intelligence” is finally teaching clumsy machines to navigate our messy human world, while Europe wonders if America’s race to market might be missing something important: the human touch.
SXSW 2025 kicks off with a focus on hard sciences, revealing how Small Language Models, quantum computing, and robotics are converging to reshape medicine, research, and everyday life—though some technologies show more immediate promise than others.
A compendium of what I’ve learned in my twenty-five years navigating SXSW Interactive, the greatest show on earth.
In 2009, the South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive coordinators decided to carve out a corner of the conference where those people interested in start-ups, emerging technology, and entrepreneurship could gather. At the time, this wasn’t necessarily a popular move. For years the conference focused on emerging technologies, media, and creative endeavors. The thought of turning […]
My friend Jessie made this, which debuted at SXSW Film this year: She also made Who Killed the Electric Car?: Revenge of the Electric Car: and “Death by Fire” for Frontline:
Every year, South by Southwest Interactive changes for me. When I first started coming in the mid-1990s, I wrote about music and stumbled upon technology. By 1998, I’d largely abandoned the music conference for what we now call Interactive. I was a journalist, then a moderator, then a panelist, and now I’m a mixture of […]
I’m just back from South by Southwest, a 10-day interactive, music, and film conference and festival in Austin, Texas. I’ll get into more detail later, but I’m giving several conference recaps to various constituencies. As I work through my round-up, I’ll be adding to my notes and blog here. A brief overview of South by […]
In the next few weeks, I’ll be giving presentations that recap what happened this year at South by Southwest. I’ve asked my friends (and the awesome folks at SXSW) to help me gather links and ideas. Here’s what we’ve assembled so far: SXSW 2011 Mind Map. What do you think? What did we miss? Once […]