The hottest topics in AI. Debated live.
OverdriveAI is back. Sharp thinkers go head to head on jobs, energy, education & more, and you hear both sides, live.
Limited seats. Last year filled up fast.
OverdriveAI 2025 at Nokia Bell Labs · Photos: João-Pierre Ruth
The debates. Pick your side.
These are the potential debate topics. Vote your side now, then come hear them argued live on November 10.
AI takes jobs vs. AI grows the economy
Automation is moving up the value chain into knowledge work. Does AI erase more jobs than it creates?
Is AI raising your energy bill?
Data centers are reshaping the grid, and New Jersey is in the middle of the buildout.
Does AI belong in the classroom?
A tutor for every student, or the end of learning how to think?
Is it time for universal basic income?
If AI keeps compounding productivity, someone has to decide where the gains go.
Can we handle deepfakes?
Synthetic media is getting cheap and convincing. What's the real defense?
Got a debate we missed?
Write it in. If it makes the stage, you'll know it was yours.
Opening your email app to send it our way. Thank you.
Final topics and speakers announced soon. Ticket holders hear every name first.
What to expect
New venue this year: the Newark Museum of Art, where tech and culture share a roof.
Live debates
Two experts, opposing sides of one question, and you hear both sides argued live.
Hot takes
Short presentations from speakers with a strong point of view. No hedging allowed.
Networking
Founders, operators, investors & researchers from across the Northeast, all in one room.
One day. All of Newark.
The debates anchor a full day across the city.
Morning · Equal Space
Community AI training
Hands-on and free, open to the whole community. No experience assumed.
Midday · Out in the city
Lunch in Newark
Everyone breaks midday and heads out into Newark’s restaurants.
Afternoon · Newark Museum of Art
The AI debates
The main event. Startups demo between rounds, and the afternoon rolls into a reception on the demo floor.
Evening · Newark Culture Club
Pitch Roast Live
In from New York for the night: four founders pitch, three comedians and two investors roast, one walks out the winner.
Last year packed the house at Nokia Bell Labs
Speakers joined us from OpenAI, IBM, CoreWeave, Verizon, Perplexity, Nokia Bell Labs, BetterFutureLabs, NJEDA and the NJ AI Hub. This year's lineup is coming together now.
See last year's agenda
- The Art in Artificial · creativity in a machine-assisted world · Silverside AI
- Frontier AI · networks and the physical world · Nokia Bell Labs
- Work Reimagined · enterprise intelligence at scale · Verizon
- Outlearn the Giants · building and positioning in the OpenAI era · OpenAI & BetterFutureLabs
- Not One Brain, a Team · how AI agent systems actually work · BetterFutureLabs
- $3 Billion in 14 Months · a legacy company's AI transformation · Collectors
- Why NJ Might Just Win the AI Race · CoreWeave, NJEDA & the NJ AI Hub
- When Knowledge Work Gets Automated · DLA Piper, IBM & Perplexity
Want to hear about more TechUnited:NJ events?
OverdriveAI is one of many. Members get first word on everything we run, from AI Demo Night to programs like Uplift.