Silicon Hills News

We worked until it didn’t- the old sign from its shuttered SXSW location in Austin

Anyone in the Wimberley area wants to cool off at the Blue Hole tonight - Silicon Hills News is hosting a swim party from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Silicon Hills News Summer Solstice Swim Party 2024 Want to cool off this summer? Join us for a swim and gathering at one of Texas' best swimming holes

Get your SXSW Panel Picker proposal ready!

Got a Great Idea for a Panel, Fireside Chat or Workshop? Pitch to SXSW During the Panel Picker Process At SXSW headquarters in downtown Austin, Hugh Forrest, Co-president and Chief of Programming at SXSW, provided insights Thursday morning on how to put together a proposal for the SXSW Panel Picker. Every year, SXSW gets more than 4,500 submissions from people eager to speak or present at SXSW. It on...

Zoholics at the Austin Convention Center

Austin female founders face an uphill battle to grow their businesses

Austin's Female Founders Receive Only 1% of Venture Capital: Task Force Calls for Urgent Action to Support Women Entrepreneurs In Austin, female founders get only one percent of all venture capital allocated annually. The lack of funds to fuel female-founded ventures is a major problem in Austin, holding back the creation of new jobs and the further development of new and existing businesses. And it’s not just VC dollars;...

AI-Fueled Misinformation Threatens U.S. Democracy in 2024 Elections Political campaigns increasingly rely on technology but have small teams, creating cybersecurity vulnerabilities that cybercriminals can exploit. Will Hurd, a former Republican congressman from San Antonio, said election misinformation is a real threat to American Democracy. Hurd, a former 2024 pres...

SXSW London!

SXSW to Launch in London Austin’s iconic music, film, and tech festival, South by Southwest, is going across the pond to launch SXSW London in June 2025. It’s SXSW’s first European conference. But SXSW did launch SXSW in Sydney, Australia, last year. “We couldn’t be more excited to bring the SXSW experience to Lon...

Another week, another Silicon Hills News newsletter. Did you know Meta's median wage for employees is $379,000? Holy Moley! Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be journalists. They'll always be poor.

What's Happening in Silicon Hills? As a technology professional in Central Texas, you are invited to this important security and technology event at InnoTech Austin, the region's largest IT and security conference and expo. Below are details for complimentary and discounted conference passes. This conference also includes Contact H...

Silicon Hills News held an excellent lunch and learn event on generative AI last Wednesday at the Umlauf Gardens in downtown Austin. You can read all about it here if you couldn't be there.

Tools and Tips for Using Generative AI in the Workplace Silicon Hills News hosted an event on Wednesday in the Crenshaw Room of the Umlauf Garden in downtown Austin to discuss tools and tips for using generative AI in the workplace. It also included some of the potential pitfalls of using the technology. The speakers included Tabrez Syed, founder of Boxc...

Fabulous lunch and learn event on Generative AI - benefits and drawbacks at Unlauf Gardens in downtown Austin. Featuring presentations by Tabrez Sayed, Kathryn Lewis and Madhu Basu. Part of the BigIdeas event series. Story to come on SiliconHillsNews website

Google Austin along with Defending Digital Campaigns put on a half day summit at Google’s downtown office on protecting elections from misinformation - see the stories at Silicon Hills’ website

Cyber criminals are threatening our elections and ultimately the U.S. Democracy, former Congressman WIll Hurd says.

AI-Fueled Misinformation Threatens U.S. Democracy in 2024 Elections Political campaigns increasingly rely on technology but have small teams, creating cybersecurity vulnerabilities that cybercriminals can exploit. Will Hurd, a former Republican congressman from San Antonio, said election misinformation is a real threat to American Democracy. Hurd, a former 2024 pres...

Manu Rehani featured on the Ideas to Invoices Podcast

Revolutionizing Emotional Wellness: Innovator Manu Rehani Unveils Issa's Groundbreaking Emotion-Aware AI Manu Rehani is the founder of Issa, an emotional AI startup. Rehani is an innovator in applied behavioral and cognitive linguistics. He is an inventor, mentor, and board advisor for several startups. After successfully exiting two tech ventures, he’s currently focused on developing a new class of ...

This is Silicon Hills News latest newsletter. (It also means my latest newsletter—I report and write the stories, do the podcast, create the newsletter, put on the events, and raise all the sponsorship and advertising dollars to make it all possible.) So if you're not a subscriber yet, please subscribe! It's free.

Austin's Tech Pulse: Silicon Hills 🚀 Join us for an AI lunch and learn about the Benefits and Drawbacks of ChatGPT and other large language models in the Crenshaw Room at the Umlauf Gardens on April 24th from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. There are only a few tickets left. 

Show Her the Money! Film on lack of VC funding for female founders shown in Austin

Raising Stakes: 'Show Her the Money' Shines a Spotlight on the Funding Gap for Female Founders Female founders need more money to finance their ventures – that’s the key takeaway from the documentary “Show Her the Money.” Over 100 people turned out Thursday night at Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar in Austin to watch the film, highlighting female founders, their quest for Venture Capit...

Janice Omadeke's Book: Mentorship Unlocked is now available

Inclusive Mentorship: Janice Omadeke's Book Maps Path to Success After New York-based The Cru acquired the Mentor Method in September of 2022, Joseph Kopser suggested that Janice Omadeke write a book about mentorship. Omadeke founded the Mentor Method in 2015 in Washington, D.C. The business created mentorship software to engage, retain and develop talented and d...

The latest episode of Ideas to Invoices features Aaron Thweatt of Respark Coaching

Respark Coaching's Aaron Thweatt Discusses Managing Conversations Effectively on Ideas to Invoices Aaron Thweatt, a former employee of AECOM, Activision Blizzard, SpaceX, and DoorDash, founded Respark Coaching to empower individuals to manage conversations effectively. In the latest episode of Ideas to Invoices, Thweatt discusses his belief that managing conversations is the most powerful skill s...

Futurist Amy Webb at SXSW 2024 Discusses Major Tech Trends Affecting Us

30 Takeaways from Futurist Amy Webb's Talk at SXSW 2024 At SXSW, Amy Webb’s talk emphasized the significance of identifying and responding to fundamental technological trends, especially those related to AI, the interconnectedness of devices, and biotech.

Colossal Makes a Key Hire

Colossal Hires Ancient DNA Expert Beth Shapiro as Chief Science Officer Colossal Biosciences announced Tuesday that it has hired a key executive, Ancient DNA Expert Beth Shapiro, as its Chief Science Officer. Shapiro’s joining Colossal full-time will help the company meet its de-extinction and species preservation goals. Shapiro, an internationally renowned evolutiona...

Austin-made robots to help make Mercedes-Benz cars

Austin-Made Apollo Robot to Assist Mercedes-Benz Manufacturing Apollo, a humanoid robot designed and made in Austin, will soon assist in Mercedes-Benz’s manufacturing line. Apptronik, which makes Apollo, signed a deal with Mercedes-Benz to provide its Apollo humanoid robots in logistics to bring parts to the production line for workers to assemble, according ...

A few more SXSW snapshots

Michael Dell at SXSW

More snapshots

SXSW - wrote 8 significant stories in 7 days and still 5 more to go. Here's the latest -

Michael Dell Reflects on His Entrepreneurial Odyssey at SXSW, Expresses Confidence in AI and Dell's Next 40 Years Michael Dell sold stamps at auctions to make extra money as a kid. At 16, he started driving his parents’ old station wagon to the Harris County courthouse to collect data on marriage licenses to target newlyweds and sell newspaper subscriptions. He then hired some of his high school buddies to ch...

Creative industries Expo at

Uber has big plans for Austin

Uber Says Austin is One of its Top Cities and Plans to Have All Drivers Using Electric Vehicles by 2040 Ridesharing companies have had a difficult time historically in Austin. 2015, Uber and Lyft didn’t operate during South by Southwest because of regulatory hurdles. Ridesharing companies shut down operations the following year after Austin voters passed a proposition requiring driver background che...