VCs Predict Top Tech Trends of 2025

Next year, the biggest trends in tech will likely revolve around big-money deals, smaller AI, shoring up American defense, and loosening the American financial system.

The Big Picture: There’s a major vibe shift happening across Silicon Valley, Wall Street, and the Beltway as the incoming Trump administration plans to rewrite the rules of not just the previous presidency but of any administration before it.

The Breakdown: Insider spoke to venture capitalists from 35 top firms to get a sense of where tech is heading in 2025.

Here are some key topics:

• Deals, deals, deals: A more-lenient FTC and slowly dropping interest rates could lead to a resurgence in IPOs and M&A… but expect a lot of haves and have-nots when it comes to funding.
• AI goes small and powerful: While AI firms fight lawsuits in court for scraping the internet for their large language models, companies will partner with those firms to create their proprietary AI models… And they’ll likely be agentic.
• Bot butlers and chauffeurs: After a flurry of funding, expect humanoid robots to start entering the workforce at factories and fulfillment centers. Additionally, Waymo has expanded its robotaxi footprint, but Tesla is quickly joining the race.
• Money gets shady: The new administration is already proving to be a big fan of crypto, so expect a loosening of regulations, especially as Gary Gensler steps down from the SEC. Fintech and online gambling will probably get a big boost as well.
• Security is top of mind: Cyberattacks have severely ramped up against US companies, government agencies, and critical infrastructure, so there’s a lot of need in the space. Additionally, there’s a renewed interest in bringing tech solutions to defense.

The Future: The one thing nobody seems to be sure about is what will happen to TikTok. Whether ByteDance decides to sell it (on the premise that it can sell it) or if a ban does go into effect on January 19, it’ll be the biggest tech story of the year by far.