Lanyard-clad attendees with branded tote bags and "Some Girls" eroticizedpink-shirted volunteers flowed through London’s Brick Lane on Monday, marking the launch of the inaugural SXSW London festival.
Taking place over multiple stages and venues in Shoreditch and Hoxton, SXSW London has officially kicked off its first full day of panels, keynotes, demonstrations, movie premieres, and music gigs. It's the first European version of SXSW, branching out from its original event in Austin, Texas.
And luckily, Londoners are no strangers to a queue, with SXSW’s penchant for long lines outside Austin venues replicated in the UK capital.
SEE ALSO: The 5 best things we saw at SXSW's Film and TV FestivalPlaying to the strengths of fellow conferences, the biggest topics of SXSW London are the impact of AI on essentially anything you could think of, the creator economy and online communities, and self-driving tech — I spied a Wayve autonomous vehicle carefully navigating the pedestrian-filled Brick Lane (with a human driver behind the wheel, just in case).
SXSW London kicked off on Monday. Credit: Shannon Connellan / Mashable London mayor Sadiq Khan officially launched the festival with a speech Monday morning, championing London as "a global centre for AI investment and innovation," emphasising a focus on ethical and accessible AI development, and playing to the audience with a ChatGPT anecdote.
"Given the major theme of this festival is tech and AI, this morning, I did consult ChatGPT about the significance of SXSW coming to our city," Khan said. "They said, and I quote, 'This is a moment of creative synergy, London's spirit meets Austin's swagger.' It then added, 'It's like Big Ben started wearing cowboy boots and launched a podcast.'"
Sir Demis Hassabis, co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind, took to the main stage to lead the conversation around AI, and former UK prime minister Tony Blair and current secretary of state Peter Kyle unpacked how government can either ignore or optimize AI (the UK government is launching a new app in collaboration with Anthropic).
Meanwhile, comedian Katherine Ryan and Nuchido's Dr. Nichola Conlon appeared on a panel about biohacking and their new podcast What's My Age Again?and Twitch CEO Dan Clancy unpacked why authentic online community building takes time. Plus, Deepak Chopra guided the SXSW audience through a meditation after providing the formula for consciousness, and long lines of attendees stretched outside venue Rich Mix as TikTok star Munya Chawawa drew crowds for his talk “TikTok to Tolstoy” which unpacked longer-form content on social media.
Upcoming panelists and speakers include Dr. Jane Goodall DBE, Wyclef Jean, Regina King, Letitia Wright, Tiwa Savage, Keily Blair, Tina Brown, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Sophie Turner, Stewart Copeland, Mati Staniszewski, Ben Lamm and more. The SXSW London film program, to be held at the Barbican, will feature the world premieres of the Eminem-produced documentary Stans, Olivia Cappuccini's intimate documentaryLove & Rage: Munroe Bergdorf, and Tom Kingsley's comedy Deep Cover, as well as the UK premiere of The Life of Chuck. Plus, the music program is being headlined by Mabel, Tems, NAO, Alice Glass, Lila Ike, Sasha Keable, Idris Elba, and more.
SXSW London runs from June 2 to 6 across venues in London. Mashable is on the ground reporting, so we’ll have more where this came from.
Topics SXSW
Apple, Tesla, Spotify: The tech announcements that never happened in 2024
'Pokémon' makes a fantastic console debut with 'Sword' and 'Shield'
Jerk alligator steals a huge fish off a little boy's line
Move over Emily Dickinson, Grindr has a poet in residence
Elon Musk told Donald Trump what to do about the Paris Climate Agreement
Here's how Ryan Gosling reacted to that wild Best Picture twist
Outsmart polar vortices with 15% off The North Face at The House
Adorable quokka is either in attack mode, or it really, really wants a hug
Best MacBook deal: Get $200 off 2024 Apple MacBook Air
Two arrested in SIM swapping for cryptocurrency scheme
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds Mini
Disney+ will fix 'The Simpsons' aspect ratio woes in early 2020
A private equity firm now runs .org, the domain for nonprofits
Chrissy Teigen and John Legend continued to be irritatingly cute at the Oscars
Clean energy projects soared in 2016 as solar and wind got cheaper
Photos show Venice underwater after highest tide in 50 years
Chrissy Teigen was definitely asleep during the Oscars
Why you should watch 'Sister Act 2' on Disney+
Getting Started with Gmail Keyboard Shortcuts
Elon Musk mistakenly thinks Neuralink brain chip could 'cure' autism
Jason Heyward's World Series speech proves the biggest contributions can't be quantifiedYour slacktivism isn't as useless as everyone thinksVirtual reality headset HTC Vive announces first Australian storesApple TV gets single signEngland is burning a massive effigy of Donald Trump holding Hillary Clinton's headI went to the World Series and still can't believe what I sawI went to the World Series and still can't believe what I sawI went to the World Series and still can't believe what I sawDonald Trump Jr.'s visit to Michigan State met with student protestBob the Cat is chill AF during his audience with the Duchess of CambridgeWhen a presidential election costs you the person you love the mostElection night is coming to the big screen, and blue is crushing redDonald Trump is the best thing to happen to global warming (seriously)Anne Hathaway sings 'Happy Birthday' to an adorably emotional fan11 things to do while you're anxiously awaiting Nov. 8Dave Chappelle to host postLebron James comforts Cleveland Indians and fans after World Series lossThe chunky Samsung Gear S3 smartwatch costs more than an Apple WatchCool Cub: Kris Bryant was suave as could be while making the final out of World Series Game 7The Mannequin Challenge will actually make you miss planking Facebook AI researchers taught bots to understand human expressions The Joker movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio? Never gonna happen. You'll never be as cool as this reporter catching a foul ball on air China bans ICOs for being full of fraud and pyramid schemes Hot tubs at a college football game is the most New Jersey thing you'll ever see This electric air taxi is one step closer to making your commute suck a whole lot less Fabio Fognini suspended from U.S. Open after sexist outburst Who knew 'Despacito' played on 2 calculators could sound this good? Verizon will now trade you your personal data for ... concert tickets Laurene Powell Jobs' ad slams Trump on DACA with the words of Ronald Reagan Taylor Swift drops new song 'Ready For It': Listen now Lego—yes, even Lego—is laying people off and going digital The secret, illicit underside of Google Drive Badass 'Star Wars' toys reveal new info about Supreme Leader Snoke Apple Music Festival cancelled after 10 YouTube speeds up live streaming for creators with 'ultra This might be the worst UPS package placement ever This is how you can Shazam on Snapchat Fall movie preview 2017: Oscar contenders to watch The reviews for 'mother!' are in and WTF?!
1.7041s , 10195.8125 kb
Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【"Some Girls" eroticized】,Unobstructed Information Network