The Future of Tech Unveiled in Palo Alto
If you’re searching for what’s next in AI, chips, and breakthrough science, Palo Alto was the place to be this week. At PlayGround Global, the final StrictlyVC event of 2025 brought together founders and researchers building technologies most people won’t understand until years from now. The event has become a go-to source for early signals about where innovation is headed — and why it matters. For anyone wondering which emerging technologies could reshape 2026 and beyond, this gathering offered some unusually candid clues. It also highlighted why the future of tech remains centered around a few high-conviction builders willing to tackle problems that look impossible on paper.
A Global Series That Keeps Spotting Trends Early
StrictlyVC isn’t your typical tech conference. Over the years, the series has moved around the world while maintaining the same intimate format: bring together people working on quietly transformative ideas. From a D.C. theater rented by Steve Case to a conversation with Greece’s prime minister in Athens, the community has consistently surfaced early insights before they hit mainstream coverage. Even last year, investors described it as one of the few events where founders speak with real transparency. The Palo Alto edition continued that tradition, offering an inside look at breakthroughs still flying under the radar.
The Event Where Predictions Tend to Come True
StrictlyVC has also earned a reputation for big statements that age surprisingly well. A famous example came in 2019, when Sam Altman told the audience that OpenAI’s business model was “build AGI, then ask it how to make money.” The room laughed, assuming it was a joke. History, of course, had other plans. That moment still defines the event’s ethos — founders speaking honestly about ambitions that sound bold today but become conventional wisdom tomorrow. This year’s lineup leaned into that same energy, with speakers tackling challenges that shape geopolitics, markets, and the global tech economy.
A Spotlight on the Semiconductor Crisis
One of the night’s most anticipated speakers was Nicholas Kelez, a particle accelerator physicist who spent two decades at the U.S. Department of Energy. Today, he’s focused on one of the world’s most urgent tech bottlenecks: semiconductor manufacturing. Virtually every advanced chip relies on $400 million extreme-ultraviolet lithography machines made by just one company in the Netherlands. To many, the fact that American scientists pioneered the technology before selling it abroad remains a decades-long frustration. Kelez’s mission is simple: rebuild the next generation of these machines in America — and do it using physics techniques most people only encounter in graduate school.
Why Particle Physics Might Solve a $400M Problem
Kelez’s approach brings particle accelerator science into chip manufacturing — a crossover that’s both highly technical and extremely consequential. By rethinking how lasers interact with materials at microscopic scales, his team hopes to reduce complexity, cut costs, and improve reliability. It’s the kind of moonshot that feels almost too ambitious until you hear the math behind it. And in an era when geopolitical tensions and supply-chain risks can halt entire industries, a homegrown alternative to foreign lithography machines isn’t just innovative; it’s strategically essential. That urgency has drawn a new wave of competitors into the race.
Competition Heats Up for the Next Generation of Chip Tools
While Kelez’s work stands out, he isn’t alone. The semiconductor manufacturing race now includes startups, government-backed labs, and deep-tech investors who see an enormous opportunity in ending a single-supplier dependency. Several teams are experimenting with alternative light sources, new plasma-generation methods, and AI-driven optical controls. Others are exploring ways to simplify the entire lithography process, making it cheaper and more resilient. What emerged at the event was a broader message: the next national technology advantage won’t come from software alone. It will come from mastering high-precision hardware no one else can produce at scale.
Why Events Like This Shape the Next Tech Wave
Beyond the stage, the conversations in Palo Alto reflected a growing shift in Silicon Valley. Investors are returning to foundational technologies — physics, materials, energy, and manufacturing — after years of software-only excitement. Founders, meanwhile, are more comfortable working on decade-long projects with global stakes. StrictlyVC captured that mood perfectly, offering early visibility into ideas that may define the next industrial cycle. The energy in the room made one thing clear: 2026 won’t just be about faster AI models. It will be about building the infrastructure that makes those models possible.
The Future Will Be Explained — If You Know Where to Listen
As the night wrapped up, attendees left with the sense that they had witnessed something rare: honest discussions about the future from people actively building it. The technologies showcased may take years to fully materialize, but their implications are already shaping policy, investment, and national strategy. And in true StrictlyVC fashion, many of the predictions shared will likely feel far less surprising a few years from now. In Palo Alto, the future wasn’t just imagined — it was quietly, confidently outlined by the people bringing it to life.
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