硅谷银行-前沿技术的未来-看看影响物理世界的技术（英）

THE FUTURE OF FRONTIER TECHNOLOGY 20252FUTURE OF FRONTIER TECHNOLOGY 2025Paradigm-shifting technologies such as quantum computing, hypersonic weaponry and humanoid robots are no longer the stuff of Saturday morning cartoons. They exist as proofs of concept or prototypes achieving real-world milestones. The potential addressable market for technologies such as companion robots, AI-accelerated chips or space manufacturing is almost unfathomable, and more investors are recognizing that these once far-flung technologies are closer than they appear.”If you blinked while opening this report, you probably missed a tariff update. Changes to US trade policy have been fast and furious in the first months of the Trump administration, with proposed duties on foreign imports poised to be the highest in nearly a century. Meanwhile, companies are scrambling to adjust and manage the implications. In the innovation economy, no sector is more exposed to supply chain disruptions than those on the frontier of technology, applying digital capabilities to the physical world. From robotics and rockets, to compute infrastructure and autonomous drones, this cohort relies on complex global supply chains that can’t be easily unspooled. Tariffs present founders with a choice — either eat the cost or pass it along — a losing proposition either way. Given these conditions, you might expect investors to flee from hardware companies. In fact, the opposite is happening. Frontier tech companies are booming. US venture capital (VC) investment in frontier technology is up 47% year over year, and VCs have never been more enthusiastic about leveraging frontier tech for fundraising. In 2024, more than one in three dollars raised VC managers went to a fund focused on hardware investment, the highest share in a decade. While tariffs and economic uncertainty are creating headwinds, there are three promising tailwinds propelling frontier tech forward. First, compute for AI capabilities: The age of agentic AI is driving demand for new, purpose-built chip architecture and data processing systems. Second, defense tech: Governments are embracing VC-backed technology in an era of geopolitical tension and rising global conflict, and founders are increasingly answering the call. Third, industrial automation: As robot prices fall and labor costs grow, factory automation is only accelerating. In the US, this trend is further fueled by onshoring trends as critical supply chains are decoupled from offshore suppliers.In our Future of Frontier Technology report, we leverage our sector expertise and proprietary data to dig into these themes. Not only are all frontier tech sectors showing signs of growth, our analysis shows that many sci-fi-like technologies are moving closer to reality. Paradigm-shifting technologies such as quantum computing, hypersonic weaponry and humanoid robotics are no longer the stuff of Saturday morning cartoons. They exist as proofs of concept or prototypes achieving real-wo