SXSW 2025: Key Highlights to Watch

TechCrunch is hitting the ground running at SXSW 2025, which kicked off on Friday in Austin. We're diving right into the heart of the AI-centric era, and guess what? AI's already stealing the show. A quick glance at the SXSW schedule shows AI taking center stage not just in Austin, but worldwide. What's cool this year is the focus on how AI's actually being used in the real world, not just what it might do in the future.

SXSW has a knack for mirroring what's hot in the tech world, from founders to investors. It often rides the wave of whatever's trending. Remember when autonomous vehicles, scooters, crypto, and even psychedelics were the talk of the town? Well, they've all had their moment here.

The tech part of the event started Friday and will keep going until March 13. Right off the bat, there are tracks that are right up TechCrunch's alley—like the creator economy, culture, startups, health and medtech, and energy. The AI track officially kicks off on Sunday, but it's already popping up. For example, Signal President Meredith Whittaker, speaking on Friday, pointed out the security and privacy risks of agentic AI. Meanwhile, a health expert warned about the dangers of relying too much on AI for companionship.

We'll also see deep tech like space and quantum computing making waves, along with climate and sustainability—don't miss Rivian's founder and CEO RJ Scaringe's keynote on March 11. And transportation's back in the spotlight, with autonomous vehicles actually hitting the roads this time. Just this week, Uber and Waymo launched their "Waymo on Uber" robotaxi service in Austin, open to any Uber account holder. You can bet TechCrunch will be hopping in those robotaxis and chatting with human Uber drivers to get their take on it all.

We'll be mingling with VCs, founders, and industry experts at SXSW to gauge how the tech scene's adapting to the Trump administration and to sniff out the next big thing. We're also keeping an eye on the keynotes and interviews with tech and business bigwigs, like Alan Baratz from D-Wave Quantum, Qualcomm's President and CEO Cristiano Amon, Colossal Biosciences founder Ben Lamm, and Arm CEO Rene Haas.

But hey, it's not all work and no play. We'll have some fun too!