"Self-driving cars merged onto Bay Area freeways, artificial intelligence reshaped classrooms and offices, and political battles over housing, immigration and public safety spilled into daily life in 2025. Rather than a single defining moment, a series of technological, political and cultural shifts quietly altered how the region lives, works and governs itself. Those changes drove major Bay Area stories with far-reaching consequences for the region's economy, residents and culture and in some cases, the world."
"In October, Nvidia, a Santa Clara-based company founded around a Denny's table in East San Jose in 1993, became the first company in history to reach a market value of $5 trillion. CEO and co-founder Jensen Huang, who immigrated to the U.S. as a child from Taiwan and worked as a dishwasher and busboy before earning electrical engineering degrees from Oregon State and Stanford, saw his net worth soar to an estimated $152 billion, making him the world's eighth-richest person, according to Forbes."
"AI was everywhere in 2025 and the Bay Area was its epicenter. The technology increasingly shaped how people worked, learned, traveled and entertained themselves. Students routinely used ChatGPT and other AI tools to help with homework or draft entire papers. Self-driving cars navigated city streets and freeways. AI helped detect cancer, improved weather forecasting, powered video games, and shaped what people watched on Netflix or bought on Amazon."
Self-driving cars merged onto Bay Area freeways, artificial intelligence reshaped classrooms and offices, and political fights over housing, immigration and public safety affected daily life in 2025. A series of technological, political and cultural shifts altered how the region lives, works and governs itself. Nvidia reached a $5 trillion market value and its CEO Jensen Huang became one of the world's richest people. AI became pervasive: students used ChatGPT, autonomous vehicles navigated streets, and AI aided cancer detection, weather forecasting, gaming and content recommendations. The AI boom boosted hiring, housing demand and data center construction but also generated widespread unease.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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