Details

The Bay Area has long been the tech capital of the world from which the most influential tech companies have played a major role in shaping everyday lives of people across the world. Artificial intelligence is the latest of these revolutionary technologies being driven by the entrepreneurs of the Bay Area. Understanding these technologies and the intentions of their developers as well as contributing to their development is a national imperative for Europe and the US alike. Therefore, the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung will bring a delegation of digital policy professionals to Silicon Valley to experience, inquire, and assess the developments of artificial intelligence in California

The delegation will look to gain insights into the technologies themselves but also the start-up culture, business climate, and educational ecosystem that feed the innovation happening in Silicon Valley. Meeting directly with entrepreneurs to hear what regulatory hurdles they face in both the US and Germany, will help our delegation better understand the motivations of foreign entrepreneurs to select one location over another. Meeting with professors who can explain the innovation ecosystem of universities and established companies, will showcase the special relationship that education plays. Lastly, gaining an understanding of the venture capital landscape will help our delegation understand the vast funding capacity of the private capital markets in the US and how this fuels a startup culture that accepts and even celebrates failure. With insights into the whole Silicon Valley ecosystem, our participants can better understand the AI race taking place, how Germany and Europe stack up, and what they can do to incentivize increased competitiveness.

​​​​​​​