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New York Post
2 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.'
Newsroom
3 days ago
- Business
- Newsroom
Drop the ball on innovation, Auckland, and it's everyone's loss
Comment: If Auckland were to tragically pass away tomorrow, the cause of death would likely be listed as transport dysfunction, unaffordable housing, and environmental stress – the city's most visible, immediate ailments. But if it were to fade 50 years from now, the cause would likely be deeper: a long-running failure to invest in innovation, human capital and other core assets. For the past two years, the State of the City international benchmarking report has consistently shown that innovation and skills development are among Auckland's lowest-performing areas – ranking even below transport and housing affordability in both international performance and perception rankings. These deficits don't show up on our rush-hour delays and real estate doldrums and so our news headlines are dominated by the day to day of potholes and property prices rather than how well we're building the capability and solutions to solve these challenges. That's why the announcement during last week's TechWeek by Mayor Wayne Brown of the new Auckland Innovation and Technology Alliance may prove to be one of the most important steps Auckland has taken toward actually solving its most persistent challenges. The alliance, an initiative supported by the Committee for Auckland, the Auckland Tech Council, and the Auckland Council Group, will bring together leaders from business, investment, research, and local and central government. Its mission is to provide strategic leadership, improve coordination, and drive deal making and investment to position Auckland as a globally competitive tech and innovation hub. Importantly, it can help generate the insight, capability and investment needed to solve our headline problems more effectively. It could also help Auckland better align its strengths with the national reforms underway in science and technology. Unless New Zealand begins to seriously address our persistent innovation and skills gaps, we will continue to undercut our capacity to tackle the main issues we fixate on. Auckland has a significant innovation base – including our startup ecosystem, well-regarded universities and advanced technology firms – but it is not being supported, developed, or funded to the level seen in other comparable cities. International city experience Internationally, mayoral leadership has been a defining feature of successful urban innovation efforts. In peer cities like Brisbane, Vancouver, Copenhagen and Helsinki, mayors or city leaders have led or supported innovation alliances that directly link technology development to real urban challenges. In Barcelona, Tel Aviv, Toronto and Boston, mayoral backing of innovation districts and alliances has unlocked national support, attracted private capital, and elevated the global competitiveness of their cities. Take Boston's Innovation District, originally launched by Mayor Tom Menino. By convening universities, startups, real estate developers and the state government, the city turned a neglected waterfront into one of the world's most vibrant innovation hubs. In Barcelona, the 22@ district, led by mayor Joan Clos, attracted more than 4500 companies and over 56,000 new jobs, catalysing a transformation from industrial decay to digital-era growth. The message is clear: cities have the convening power and proximity to act, and mayoral leadership can spark broader action. The benefits of these alliances are now well documented. Cities that align policy, research, entrepreneurship and investment through shared platforms deliver faster precinct development, more targeted capital deployment, better talent retention, and stronger appeal to international investors. They are also more responsive to global shifts in AI, sustainability, and advanced manufacturing. Of course, not all alliances succeed. Some fail due to vague mandates, bureaucratic overreach, or lack of follow-through. Others stall when political momentum fades. The key is focus. Smart alliances are lean, delivery-oriented, and co-governed by the people who actually drive innovation. These will be essential design principles as Auckland builds its new alliance. Another critical factor is central government engagement. In nearly every successful international example, central governments play a supporting role — through infrastructure investment, funding alignment, or enabling regulation. Australia's former City Deals framework helped cities like Brisbane and Townsville align local innovation goals with national priorities. In the UK, Innovate UK co-invests in regional innovation clusters, recognising that cities are where applied R&D meets real-world challenges. New Zealand underperformance By contrast, New Zealand has underperformed. Despite a growing global consensus – from the OECD, World Economic Forum, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and our own Sir Peter Gluckman – that cities must play a central role in driving innovation, we continue to centralise innovation policy and funding in Wellington, with limited regional differentiation. Auckland, despite being home to more than a third of the country's population and its largest concentration of tech companies, startups and universities, has had no formal role in shaping or steering national innovation strategy. This is a missed opportunity. Compared with our peer cities, Auckland's innovation potential is under-supported by national policy, under-developed in terms of coordination and investment, and under-valued in our national narrative. There is now an overwhelming body of international evidence that city-led innovation alliances improve national outcomes. They test solutions faster, adapt more nimbly, and build resilient, place-based innovation ecosystems. A more distributed, city-partnered model is not a threat to national strategy – it's an enabler. The Government should partner with the Auckland Innovation and Technology Alliance. That means engaging, co-investing, and aligning R&D tax, investment attraction, and science funding tools to better reflect city-based strengths. The Government's upcoming science reforms and its new Regional Deals policy – which aims to deliver long-term place-based economic growth – provide an opening to finally embed this approach. Auckland, alongside cities like Wellington and Christchurch and others, could be part of that new approach. The alliance could serve as a model. Aucklanders will continue to wake up worrying about traffic congestion, house prices, or the cost of living. But our innovation and knowledge gaps are quietly limiting our ability to fix those very problems. A better-supported, city-led innovation ecosystem won't just grow our economy. It will shape how Auckland moves, builds, and adapts, and ensure that if the city is ever eulogised, the cause of death won't be neglect. Mark Thomas is a director with the Committee for Auckland, which has been advising Mayor Wayne Brown on the Auckland Innovation and Technology Alliance.
Irish Post
22-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Post
Global technology firm leaders head for Dublin
GLOBAL technology firms will make their way to Dublin this week for an inaugural event celebrating the city's position as a tech hub. The first ever Dublin Tech Week launches tomorrow with a series of events due to take place over seven days in the Irish capital. 'Dublin is one of Europe's most important tech hubs and a leading smart city,' Ross Curley, Head of Economic Development at Dublin City Council and Dublin Regional Place Brand, said. 'Dublin City Council and the Dublin Brand are proud to support the City's first ever Tech Week showcasing our world-class talent, cutting-edge innovation, and collaborative spirit,' he added. 'Initiatives like this not only highlight our position as a leader in the tech industry but also inspire future innovation, and strengthen our city's reputation as a forward-thinking, welcoming and thriving destination for local and global business.' The event will bring the capital's top innovators together with global tech leaders, creatives, educators, and the wider community at over 30 events due to take place in the city from May 23 to 30. They wil cover a range of topics, from AI and cybersecurity to blockchain, smart cities and fintech. 'This is more than just a calendar of events,' the organisers state. 'Dublin Tech Week is a movement, one that underscores the city's position as a bold, collaborative, and forward-looking global tech hub.' Flagship conferences due to take palce at the event include the Dublin Tech Summit at the RDS, the Blockchain Ireland Summit at Trinity Business School and ETHDublin at Dogpatch Labs. There will also be the opportunity yo build your own smarty city at Smart Dublin's 'The Connective Detective' event. 'Both the tech and wider community can immerse themselves in topics ranging from the future of AI and immersive tech, to ethical hacking, Web3 governance, smart urban planning, and the power of inclusive innovation,' the organisers add. 'Dublin Tech Week is open to all, whether you're a startup founder, developer, policy thinker, educator, student, or simply curious about what the future holds, there's a place for you in this citywide conversation,' they confirm. See More: AI, Dublin Tech Week, Innovation, Ireland
Associated Press
20-05-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Axios HQ & Qwoted Partner to Transform Data-Driven Storytelling
NEW YORK, NY - May 19, 2025 ( NEWMEDIAWIRE ) - Qwoted, the network for newsmakers, connecting thousands of journalists with experts and brands, is excited to announce a new partnership with Axios HQ, the company known for its innovative Smart Brevity(R) communication methodology. As a kickoff to their ongoing collaboration, the two organizations will host a Tech Week 2025 event on June 5 in New York City. As part of Qwoted's Media Mixer series, the event will bring together leading voices in PR, business, and media to build relationships and connect with tech leaders and venture capitalists. Qwoted CEO Dan Simon noted the partnership's benefits: 'Our mission has always been to empower communication professionals and journalists with tools that make their work easier and more impactful. Our partnership with Axios HQ is an important step toward this goal by integrating their communication methodologies into our innovative tech. I can't think of a better time to launch this partnership than NYC Tech Week.' Axios HQ CMO Chris Willis added, 'At Axios HQ, we're committed to simplifying and elevating communication. That makes Qwoted a natural partner for us. This collaboration is a win-win for the entire ecosystem, and we're excited to introduce it during Tech Week.' The organizations' affiliation will continue throughout 2025, providing Qwoted users access to Axios HQ's Smart Brevity(R) tools during the pitching process. At the same time, Axios HQ will begin incorporating Qwoted's data into its editorial pipeline to inform its strategies and storytelling capabilities. Together, Qwoted and Axios HQ are setting a new standard for how PR professionals pitch and how companies create stories in a rapidly evolving industry. About Qwoted Qwoted uses innovative technology to connect PR professionals and journalists, making it easier to create better stories together. Trusted by hundreds of thousands of media and communications professionals, Qwoted offers valuable insights and tools to empower the PR and media community. Learn more at About Axios HQ Axios HQ helps organizations communicate more effectively - with software, training, and editorial consulting. Our team has merged a decade of Axios and Axios HQ's human expertise, proprietary data, and comms best practices with cutting-edge AI, all proven to help any leader strengthen internal comms, better achieve business goals, and amplify workforce connection. Nearly 1,000 organizations trust Axios HQ for their vital communications, from American Airlines and bp to the University of South Carolina and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Built for communicators by communicators - Axios HQ breaks through. For more information, or to schedule a demo, visit Media Contact Liz Sweeney Public Relations Manager Qwoted [email protected] View the original release on
