Latest news with #JulieSamuels
New York Post
3 days ago
- Business
- New York Post
Biggest NY Tech Week ever shows Gotham's AI and robotics poised to challenge Silicon Valley's dominance
The Big Apple is getting bigger when it comes to artificial intelligence and robotics. Those growing industries will be the center of attention at NY Tech Week 2025, running June 2–8. It's set to be the largest iteration of the conference yet, with more than 1,000 events — more than half of which deal with AI — spread across all five boroughs and a total of 60,000 RSVPs. 3 A sign advertises the 2024 iteration of NY Tech Week, presented by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). Last year, there were about 730 events across the city. This year, there's over 1,000. Courtesy of Andreessen Horowitz / Tech Week 'It's an enormous milestone,' Julie Samuels — president and CEO of Tech:NYC, a nonprofit network of companies and entrepreneurs that is hosting multiple events — told NYNext. 'It's amazing how diverse our tech ecosystem is and that so many people will be here exchanging ideas.' The week's standouts include 'Next Play,' led by IBM and centered on the intersection of sports and AI, on June 2; Tech:NYC's 'Decoded Futures Social Impact AI Showcase' on June 6; and panels and salons hosted by the likes of Anthropic, OpenAI, Mistral and Perplexity. For the first time ever, robotics will be the focus of over half a dozen events — a leap from zero last year. 3 Tech Week is a decentralized conference made up of meetups, panels, and demos, effectively turning New York City into an open platform for innovation. Courtesy of Andreessen Horowitz/ Tech Week On June 2, New York Robotics and the NY Tech Alliance will host 'Exploring Embodied and Physical AI' at Civic Hall in Union Square. The event will feature NYU researcher Anya Zorin and her project RUKA — a robotic hand developed with Professor Lerrel Pinto at the General-purpose Robotics and AI Lab — which can sense and respond to touch. 'AI's all the buzz, right, but not everyone realizes that robotics is such a huge part of the AI story,' said Randy Howie, co-founder and managing partner of New York Robotics. 'Robotics is AI in the physical world.' Elsewhere during the week, founders will pitch their startups in a literal moving elevator at Hudson Yards and swing racquets at a 'Pickleball and Tech Pals' tournament in Central Park. And the city's biggest players — including Amazon Web Services, JPMorgan Chase, and Google — will host panels and private mixers. Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) first launched Tech Week in Los Angeles in 2022. In 2023, it expanded to San Francisco and New York City. 3 Google is joining industry heavyweights including Amazon Web Services and JPMorgan Chase as hosts for events during NY Tech Week. Christopher Sadowski While Silicon Valley still paces the nation in terms of venture capital, NYC is increasingly carving out its own tech identity — particularly in the realm of hard tech, which includes robotics, advanced manufacturing and other engineering-heavy ventures that demand more than code. This story is part of NYNext, an indispensable insider insight into the innovations, moonshots and political chess moves that matter most to NYC's power players (and those who aspire to be). Tech now accounts for more than 10% of the city's GDP (up from 6% in 2013) and has driven 14% of all job growth in the past decade, according to Samuels. 'New York is uniquely positioned,' said Ryan Musto, senior associate at Alumni Ventures and host of the 'America Assembled: Robotics & Trade' event on June 4. 'You don't have to go far back to remember when New York was the manufacturing headquarters of North America. It's in our DNA.' For most Tech Week events, admission is free but attendance is capped. Send NYNext a tip: nynextlydia@
New York Post
3 days ago
- Business
- New York Post
Tech:NYC founder says city is in a ‘golden era' of innovation — and Covid is partly to thank
NY: Tech Week has become one of, if not, the most important event for startups and VCs in New York with investors like a16z and Union Square all hosting events next week. Ahead of the convention, I spoke with Julie Samuels, the President and CEO of Tech:NYC and a driving force behind Tech Week. She founded Tech:NYC — which aims to foster the growth of the industry through advocacy, events, and policy work — in 2016 when Gotham was still emerging as a potential hub. Advertisement 3 Julie Samuels has become a de facto liaison between the tech community in New York and government officials. Olga Ginzburg for NY Post 'We were still talking about which city, which region of the US would be number two behind the Valley, which sounds, I mean, which sounds crazy,' Samuels recalled. Today, New York City is a dominant tech center in its own right, with over 25,000 tech-enabled startups and major players like Google and Amazon. Samuels thinks the fact that New Yorkers have interests beyond AI and APIs is a huge advantage over Silicon Valley's insular tech culture. This story is part of NYNext, an indispensable insider insight into the innovations, moonshots and political chess moves that matter most to NYC's power players (and those who aspire to be). Advertisement The fact that New York City is home to industries like fashion, media, and finance not only attracts a more diverse kind of person but also encourages them to think about broader applications of technology. 'I think it's much healthier and much more dynamic than what's happening in the Valley — it's so much more integrated into other industries… it's much healthier for the economy' she explained. 'You're not just in this little bubble where you're only learning about AI and talking with other people in AI… and I think that's reflected in a lot of the companies in New York.' She notes that the pandemic freed up Silicon Valley talent to live wherever and many decided to relocate to NYC. 3 Samuels believes that tech giants are helping revitalize NYC real estate. Photo by Hollis Johnson / Amazon Advertisement 'That stronghold really broke during Covid,' she said. 'New York saw more new tech employees moving here.' That's created a rich environment. 'You uniquely have an industry of people who love New York. That's amazing,' she said. 'We're in this golden era of tech in New York where people are choosing to be here. And that's awesome.' It's also been a boon for NYC real estate. Advertisement 3 Amazon's newest NYC office is in the old Lord & Taylor building. Photo by Hollis Johnson / Amazon While the failed Amazon HQ2 project in Queens was 'terrible for New York,' Samuels noted that the company has since poured a fortune into their physical presence. 'Since that happened, Amazon bought the old Lord & Taylor Building on Fifth Avenue which… now is completely full.' Similarly, Google's renovation of St. John's Terminal on the West Side exemplifies how tech companies are breathing new life into historic spaces. 'We see other tech companies doing that too, by the way. It really speaks to how New York evolves as a city, that new industries come into these older spaces,' Samuels observes. 'So we have to figure out how to revive our infrastructure, how to revive our buildings. And tech is driving that. It's really, really important for the future of the city.'
