As part of the 2025 Horizons Silicon Valley Forum, Kydd Boyle, Vice-President of Strategic Partnerships embarked on a journey to Silicon Valley, the epicenter of global innovation. This trip provided an unparalleled opportunity to engage with visionary founders, investors, and industry leaders, offering first-hand insights into the future of AI, robotics, and venture capital.
With conversations spanning over 30 industry titans, including Mira Murati (former CTO of OpenAI, now founder of Thinking Machines Lab), Biz Stone (co-founder of Twitter & Medium), Steve Jurvetson (early investor in SpaceX and Tesla), and Daniel Lurie, the newly elected Mayor of San Francisco, one theme was clear: Silicon Valley is at an inflection point, ready to redefine the future once again.
San Francisco is posited for a resurgence. Under Mayor Lurie’s leadership, the city is rolling out aggressive policies to revitalise business, attract talent, and reinvigorate its streets. “San Francisco is now open for business,” he declared, echoing the renewed sense of optimism and ambition radiating across the valley. A Trump administration could further accelerate regulatory approvals in AI and life sciences, making it a golden era for disruptive innovation.
“San Francisco is now open for business.”
In this article, Kydd shares key takeaways from the conversations with industry leaders, highlighting the latest trends for Silicon Valley and providing a glimpse into what’s next.
Sven Strohband (Khosla Ventures) and Mira Murati (Thinking Machines)
Mira Murati explained that AI is on an extremely positive-sum trajectory, with companies racing to deploy increasingly sophisticated models. Her new business Thinking Machines will will focus on multi-modal models (integrating text, speech, and vision) and ensuring wider public access and transparency. AI is advancing rapidly, and according to Sven Strohband, Managing Director at Khosla Ventures, the focus is shifting from pre-training to improving AI’s reasoning capabilities. Pre-training is largely a solved problem. The next challenge is reasoning—getting AI to truly problem-solve on its own.
“Pre-training is largely a solved problem. The next challenge is reasoning—getting AI to truly problem-solve on its own.”
Strohband also highlighted the impact of AI on company structures. As capabilities improve, companies can operate with significantly smaller teams. He predicts that in the near future, some billion-dollar companies may operate with as few as 10 employees, leveraging AI to manage tasks previously handled by large teams.
Lachy Groom (Physical Intelligence)
Silicon Valley is doubling down on robotics—and it’s no longer just theoretical. One standout company in this space is Physical Intelligence, a research-driven startup backed by Jeff Bezos and OpenAI.
In a remarkable show of investor confidence, the company secured $75M in seed funding, followed by a $400M Series A just eight months later. Their breakthrough lies in teaching robots dexterity skills, such as folding t-shirts, through cross-embodiment learning.
Lachy Groom, Founder at Physical Intelligence,highlighted that the pace of automation of blue-collar work is accelerating, with AI-driven robots poised to disrupt industries like manufacturing and elderly care. These advancements signal a future where manual, repetitive tasks will increasingly be handled by highly capable robotic systems, creating both opportunities and challenges for the workforce.
“The automation of blue-collar work is accelerating. AI-driven robots are poised to transform industries such as manufacturing and elderly care.”
Tom Blomfield (Y Combinator) and Iliya Fushman (Kleiner Perkins)
A new wave of VC funding is creating more ambitious founders. Companies are raising larger rounds aiming to fundamentally change how we live and work, which will in turn create multi-billion dollar outcomes for investors.
The venture capital landscape is evolving rapidly, with AI dominating the investment agenda. Conversations with Tom Blomfield, Monzo Founder and Y Combinator Group Partner, revealed that YC’s latest batch is 80% AI-focused, with the fund itself massively oversubscribed. Iliya Fushman from Kleiner Perkins now operates with a larger flagship fund size, emphasising their focus on seeking outsized “fund returners.”
The consensus? AI is in a hype cycle, but some of these companies will define the next decade and generate outsized returns for those with exclusive access and the ability to pick the winners.
“AI is in a hype cycle, but some of these companies will define the next decade. The key is having access to the right deals and the ability to pick the winners.”
Silicon Valley remains a global leader in technology and investment, but the trends emerging today suggest a new era of innovation and business efficiency. From AI-driven reasoning to robotics advancements and a transformed venture capital landscape, these insights provide a roadmap for what’s next.
For businesses and investors, the message is clear: change is happening fast, and those who adapt will thrive.
If you have any questions about the themes discussed in this article, or would like to find out more about Horizons next upcoming forum to Seoul, South Korea, please do not hesitate to get in contact with us: info@bedrockgroup.ch
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