With Christmas just a few days away, many companies are winding down operations, already preparing for the start of 2025.
This year has been full of groundbreaking developments, with key technology advances and changes in the regulatory landscape that stand to impact the sector significantly. Investors and consumers alike are focused on the changes that 2025 will bring as companies gear up to continue taking steps toward cornering booming new tech markets.
Before the new year kicks off, though, we should look back at the past year and recall the tech events that shaped 2024. Some of Silicon Valley’s biggest names achieved significant milestones, and others announced advancements that are likely to set them up for growth in the years ahead.
But what were the most important tech stories of 2024? Here are five announcements that are likely to continue shaping the industry in 2025.
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February 2024 – Apple rolls out the first vision-pro headset.
After first announcing plans for its new mixed reality headset in 2023, Apple (AAPL) unveiled its highly anticipated new device in February 2024. This marked its entry into the fast-growing augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) markets, two fast-growing tech facets. “After two weeks with it, I[] find it to be as intuitive, if not more so, than the iPhone, iPad, or Mac,” a reviewer for TheStreet reported.
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The Apple Vision Pro is often associated with entertainment, allowing users to fully immerse themselves in gaming through the VR platform. However, its spatial computing technology helps it function as a key productivity tool, as it allows anyone to multitask by interacting with multiple apps at the same time.
March 2024 – Nvidia unveils the NVIDIA Blackwell platform
Nvidia (NVDA) has enjoyed a year of significant growth, partially driven by a key announcement made early in 2024. On March 18, the artificial intelligence (AI) leader unveiled its new Blackwell platform.
While commonly associated with Nvidia’s popular AI chips, Blackwell is much more. TheStreet’s Martin Baccardax described it as a ”series of new chips and software products that look likely to tighten its grip on the $1 trillion market for AI technologies.”
Demand for Blackwell’s chips would help Nvidia briefly become the world’s most valuable company in June 2024, pushing its market cap past $3 trillion.
July 2024 – Donald Trump praises crypto at Bitcoin 2024 conference
2024 has also been an excellent year for crypto markets, with Bitcoin prices reaching new highs. The rally began when Donald Trump, once a vocal critic of Bitcoin, appeared at the Bitcoin 2024 conference, praising Bitcoin and highlighting its importance.
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Trump discussed plans for crypto, including establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve. Since his November presidential victory, crypto prices have continued rising steadily, and his presidency is now seen as a highly bullish indicator for crypto markets.
October 2024 – Tesla unveils Cybercab, its first fully autonomous robotaxi
In October 2024, Tesla (TSLA) fans received a long-awaited update as the company debuted a prototype of the Cybercab, a sleek vehicle with no steering wheel that it hopes will represent the future of autonomous driving.
After years of hearing Elon Musk promise that Tesla would have self-driving vehicles, fans finally got a preview of the company’s progress, although it came years after Musk originally specified a date in 2019.
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Tesla plans to put driverless robotaxis on the road in 2025, but they will have teleoperators, at least at first. That said, the debut of this robotaxi shows that Tesla is making progress in delivering on its self-driving car promises, especially after one of its leading competitors, General Motors’ (GM) Cruise, has ceased operations.
November 2024 – Trump announces that Elon Musk will lead the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)
After the Cybercab unveiling, Musk focused much of his attention on campaigning for Trump. The president-elect then appointed him to co-head the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Musk will run this agency alongside fellow Republican businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and will focus on reducing bureaucratic spending to save the U.S. government.
Meanwhile, Trump has named another big tech entrepreneur, David Sacks, as his head of AI and crypto policy. Both developments could significantly boost tech stocks in 2025, as the trimming of government agencies is likely to mean less regulatory oversight, something that both Musk and Sacks have advocated for.
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