AI In 2025: A New Executive Order, Workplace Productivity Gains, and Accelerating Progress in the Classroom

AI 101

This week, the Biden Administration announced a new executive order aimed at strengthening the nation’s AI infrastructure and increasing data center development across the United States. This move highlights the pivotal role AI plays in shaping our economy, bolstering national security, and supporting sustainability objectives.

Key provisions of the Executive Order include:

• Accelerating large-scale AI infrastructure development at federal sites.
• Making federal land available for AI data centers and clean power facilities.
• Streamlining the permitting process for these projects.
• Facilitating the infrastructure's interconnection to the electric grid.

By making federal sites available for AI data centers and new clean power facilities, the Executive Order takes steps to maintain our global leadership in AI. I also believe the initiative aligns with California's ongoing efforts to accelerate its innovation ecosystem and invest in breakthrough AI technologies, particularly in the Bay Area. AI supportive infrastructure must be an important component of this discussion.

In Silicon Valley, we've witnessed firsthand AI's transformative potential across various industries.?

Our team at SVLG will closely monitor the impact of this Executive Order on our regional businesses and startups in the coming weeks and months. Additionally, SVLG and our partners remain committed to engaging with policymakers in Washington and Sacramento to ensure that California and the U.S. remain at the forefront of this technological revolution.

Read the full Executive Order here.

AI is changing the way we work

I recently read a great piece in Inc. Magazine from FinMkt CEO Luan Cox.

Cox writes about how we can blend the transformative skills of AI with our human intelligence, enhancing overall productivity while maintaining our unique adaptability.

She notes that AI is adept at completing repetitive tasks, like sorting and entering large amounts of data, but cannot replace the human touch — our “creativity and intuition.” As AI handles the monotonous, humans can turn toward strategy and creativity.

She writes, “In this tech-augmented future, business success depends not only on AI but also on people who can harness it. So, while AI continues to transform industries, a successful employee’s defining qualities will be more “human” than ever.”

Blending AI’s abilities with our own is an exciting challenge, and one I expect to see continue as we integrate the technology.

Take a look at the article here.

The Bay Area as a start-up hub

TechCrunch recently released numbers outlining trends in start-up funding and global venture investment in 2024. The numbers showcased the Bay Area’s status as the hub for AI and technological innovation.

Start-ups located in the Bay Area received $90 billion of VC investment in the past year, accounting for 57 percent of all US venture funding spent. Our region's dominance in the world of AI, TechCrunch wrote, was a major factor, as AI was the breakout star of 2024.

I expect this growth to push forward into 2025. As the Bay Area continues to thrive in tech, the private and public sectors must work in tandem to inform responsible policy development.?

I look forward to collaborating with our leaders in Sacramento this year to advance Bay Area priorities and our legislative goals.

AI IRL: Bay Area company uses AI to help students

A new web-based app, MathGPT.ai, is making its way into community college classrooms around the Bay Area. The app, developed by the Palo Alto-based GotIt! Education, aims to provide a ChatGPT alternative, helping students with problems without giving them a step-by-step answer.

The app also generates teaching materials, such as lesson plans and quizzes, to give instructors more time to focus on individual tutoring. It’s already been used in 30 schools nationwide and 12 in California, including De Anza and Pasadena City College.

You can read MathGPT.ai Chairman Peter Relan’s interview about the innovative app and some of the additional ways that AI can improve education in The Mercury News.?

Final Thoughts

I wanted to close with well wishes and support for our friends in southern California amid the devastating fires.

Here at SVLG, we stand with our family, friends, colleagues, and community members who have been affected.?

AI has been helping first responders detect problem areas and respond accordingly. Tech companies such as Los Angeles-based PriviNet have AI-powered software that can identify smoke from far away and determine whether it is a threat, communicating swiftly with the Fire Department.

In times like these, every contribution makes a difference. We encourage all those who are able to contribute to relief efforts:

American Red Cross: https://lnkd.in/ek6Km-h

California Fire Foundation: https://lnkd.in/eH7mXfg

I hope everyone stays safe and healthy in the coming weeks.

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