Silicon Shakeups & More: Allyson Klein's 2025 Predictions Scorecard
As part of our 2025 predictions report in January, TechArena Principal Allyson Klein predicted we’d see our first major gen AI scandal this year – and just as we’re checking in on those predictions mid-year, it seems Allyson’s crystal ball served up some winners.
We sat down with Allyson to discuss how her predictions have played out.
1. Looking back at your prediction about the world’s first major gen AI scandal, what examples have we seen so far in 2025? Were they at the scale you anticipated, or have we yet to see the truly brand-damaging incident you forecasted?
Allyson: I haven’t seen the breakout yet from the corporate world that I’ve predicted, but we are only halfway through the year. The most notable scandal that comes to mind is Elon Musk’s Grok platform spewing pro-Nazi propaganda, including love for Hitler. That was not on my dance card for this year, but likely should have been given the broader macro environment.
*Shortly after we posted this update on 2025 predictions, the year’s most notable gen AI scandal grew in scope. Linda Yaccarino announced on July 9 that she is stepping down from her role as CEO of X, just 24 hours after Grok began creating antisemitic comments praising Adolf Hitler.
2. You predicted significant silicon landscape disruption. How has the semiconductor consolidation actually played out? Are we seeing the cloud player acquisitions you expected, or has the shakeup taken a different form?
Allyson: We are seeing massive silicon disruption as companies chase AI accelerator total available market (TAM). We’ve seen AMD snatch up silicon startups (ADD) and Qualcomm building a data center business including the acquisition of Alphawave Semi. This will continue to advance with continued pressure on reliance on NVIDIA GPUs.
3. Supply chain and tariff impacts were a major concern in your predictions. Six months into the new administration, how have you seen companies responding to tariffs? Do we have a sense yet of their impact on data center component sourcing?
Allyson: I think we’ve all seen the massive market disruptions of tariff talk and continued evolution of the Trump administration’s non-closure on new tariff agreements, as promised. I believe the market is getting to a new normal where business includes tariff costs and windows for investment are set with variables to mitigate tariff uncertainty out of business norms. If this administration has taught us anything, it’s that this story still has some chapters to navigate ahead, and the computing industry and its complex international supply chains will be a central focus as the dust settles.
4. You saw agentic AI becoming a dominant conversation topic this year. How has enterprise adoption of AI agents compared to your expectations? Are we seeing the pilot programs you predicted, and what's been the biggest surprise in how companies are implementing these systems?
Allyson: I didn’t expect massive adoption of agentic computing in 2026, but I expected the zeitgeist to swing. Inside AI circles, agents are the topic du jour, and things like vibe coding have become common parlance. We are seeing adoption in pockets of industry including in financial services, healthcare diagnostics, and semiconductor design and expect to see a slow but steady uptick in adoption in the second half of the year. One question emerging is: how does underlying infrastructure change to support agentic memory, or are we facing a new challenge of agent amnesia?
5. Have you seen compelling, narrow use cases emerge for spatial computing in work collaboration, health care, or other fields as you predicted, or have there been any applications that caught you off guard?
Allyson: I was pleasantly surprised to see the introduction of spatially aware hearing glasses from Nuance audio, but frankly I’m still expecting to see major innovations in the wearables market from this space. We just completed an interview with Verizon, whose team is working heavily in this space and discussed the importance of small models running on device to truly bring full capabilities to bear to unleash this arena.
6. Are there any major technology developments or industry shifts that have emerged in 2025 that weren’t on your radar at all when you made these predictions?
Allyson: I think there are two notable announcements: #1 Microsoft’s quantum breakthrough where they successfully created a new state of matter involving Majorana fermions. Who saw that coming?
#2 I’d double down with DeepMind’s announcement of Alpha Genome that we covered on TechArena helping map the true meanings of DNA dark matter. I can’t wait to see what comes next with both innovations.
7. Looking back at your predictions, which one has played out most differently from what you anticipated?
Allyson: I think the slow progress of enterprise adoption has thwarted my enterprise prediction. Look at IT organizations being cautious!
As part of our 2025 predictions report in January, TechArena Principal Allyson Klein predicted we’d see our first major gen AI scandal this year – and just as we’re checking in on those predictions mid-year, it seems Allyson’s crystal ball served up some winners.
We sat down with Allyson to discuss how her predictions have played out.
1. Looking back at your prediction about the world’s first major gen AI scandal, what examples have we seen so far in 2025? Were they at the scale you anticipated, or have we yet to see the truly brand-damaging incident you forecasted?
Allyson: I haven’t seen the breakout yet from the corporate world that I’ve predicted, but we are only halfway through the year. The most notable scandal that comes to mind is Elon Musk’s Grok platform spewing pro-Nazi propaganda, including love for Hitler. That was not on my dance card for this year, but likely should have been given the broader macro environment.
*Shortly after we posted this update on 2025 predictions, the year’s most notable gen AI scandal grew in scope. Linda Yaccarino announced on July 9 that she is stepping down from her role as CEO of X, just 24 hours after Grok began creating antisemitic comments praising Adolf Hitler.
2. You predicted significant silicon landscape disruption. How has the semiconductor consolidation actually played out? Are we seeing the cloud player acquisitions you expected, or has the shakeup taken a different form?
Allyson: We are seeing massive silicon disruption as companies chase AI accelerator total available market (TAM). We’ve seen AMD snatch up silicon startups (ADD) and Qualcomm building a data center business including the acquisition of Alphawave Semi. This will continue to advance with continued pressure on reliance on NVIDIA GPUs.
3. Supply chain and tariff impacts were a major concern in your predictions. Six months into the new administration, how have you seen companies responding to tariffs? Do we have a sense yet of their impact on data center component sourcing?
Allyson: I think we’ve all seen the massive market disruptions of tariff talk and continued evolution of the Trump administration’s non-closure on new tariff agreements, as promised. I believe the market is getting to a new normal where business includes tariff costs and windows for investment are set with variables to mitigate tariff uncertainty out of business norms. If this administration has taught us anything, it’s that this story still has some chapters to navigate ahead, and the computing industry and its complex international supply chains will be a central focus as the dust settles.
4. You saw agentic AI becoming a dominant conversation topic this year. How has enterprise adoption of AI agents compared to your expectations? Are we seeing the pilot programs you predicted, and what's been the biggest surprise in how companies are implementing these systems?
Allyson: I didn’t expect massive adoption of agentic computing in 2026, but I expected the zeitgeist to swing. Inside AI circles, agents are the topic du jour, and things like vibe coding have become common parlance. We are seeing adoption in pockets of industry including in financial services, healthcare diagnostics, and semiconductor design and expect to see a slow but steady uptick in adoption in the second half of the year. One question emerging is: how does underlying infrastructure change to support agentic memory, or are we facing a new challenge of agent amnesia?
5. Have you seen compelling, narrow use cases emerge for spatial computing in work collaboration, health care, or other fields as you predicted, or have there been any applications that caught you off guard?
Allyson: I was pleasantly surprised to see the introduction of spatially aware hearing glasses from Nuance audio, but frankly I’m still expecting to see major innovations in the wearables market from this space. We just completed an interview with Verizon, whose team is working heavily in this space and discussed the importance of small models running on device to truly bring full capabilities to bear to unleash this arena.
6. Are there any major technology developments or industry shifts that have emerged in 2025 that weren’t on your radar at all when you made these predictions?
Allyson: I think there are two notable announcements: #1 Microsoft’s quantum breakthrough where they successfully created a new state of matter involving Majorana fermions. Who saw that coming?
#2 I’d double down with DeepMind’s announcement of Alpha Genome that we covered on TechArena helping map the true meanings of DNA dark matter. I can’t wait to see what comes next with both innovations.
7. Looking back at your predictions, which one has played out most differently from what you anticipated?
Allyson: I think the slow progress of enterprise adoption has thwarted my enterprise prediction. Look at IT organizations being cautious!
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