Insights from AI Ascent 2025 - Inference by Sequoia Capital
Leading AI builders and researchers gathered for Sequoia’s AI Ascent 2025 in a space that housed OpenAI's first office. The event offered a glimpse into a future that's arriving faster than most anticipated. From passionate defenses of open source to Sam Altman's reflections on OpenAI's journey, the summit revealed a technology ecosystem at an inflection point: moving from novelty to necessity, from assistants to agents, and from isolated tools to an interconnected AI economy. Pat Grady, partner at Sequoia, set the stage with a compelling framework for understanding the AI revolution. "Why does it matter? Why now? It may be inevitable, but is it imminent? And then finally, what now? What do we do?" The "why now" question received particular attention. More so than previous technological transitions, AI's adoption is happening at unprecedented speed. Pat explained this acceleration through the physics of distribution: "You just need three things. People have to know about your thing. Th
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