Folks, it’s time to hit the dusty trail and leave Austin and SXSW 2025 behind. The official conference ended Thursday evening and the music festival, which lasts another two nights, took over. We marked the end of the conference with some tacos and Billboard’s The Stage at SXSW with headliner Koe Wetzel.
Tech had a lighter footprint at the conference this year, particularly in the exhibition hall. But we still found lots of founders, some investors, interesting onstage interviews, and Bluesky Jay Graber’s cheeky wardrobe choice that called for “A world without Caesars.”
Not to mention lots of robotaxis.
On the transportation beat, Rivian, Uber, and Waymo made the biggest splash. But AI was the real star, at least in terms of stage time. AI popped up in every conversation — on stage and off — from sports and entertainment to enterprise, social media, and urban development. The messaging fell squarely in the cautious optimism camp with a few folks like Signal President Meredith Whittaker and author Kasley Killam issuing sterner warnings of the risks from AI.
See y’all next year.
