SXSW 2026: The tech trends people are buzzing about

SXSW isn’t just about movies or music. The annual Austin festival has also become a hub for inventors and entrepreneurs who use technology in exciting new ways. So while my colleagues in the entertainment section score interviews with Dropout TV stars and hit the I Love Boosters red carpet, I went looking for the latest word in tech. Here's what I learned while attending panels on robots, playing next-gen VR games, interviewing AI experts — plus eating a dangerous amount of tacos to power me through it all. If it feels like they’re adding AI to everything, it’s because they’re adding AI to everything. It seemed like every other booth and event at SXSW was about some new way to integrate AI into ... whatever doesn't have it yet. It's a gold rush, still loves a bubble until it pops. SXSW offered panels about runaway AI, job loss, environmental crisis, cognitive decline, and everything else you need for your full-blown panic attack before heading to the IBM AI Sports Club for a consoling round of drinks with other apparently obsolete humans. But between the AI doomers and the AI goldrush crowd, a middle path is emerging: AI Apocaloptimism. The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist