SXSW 2027

SXSW announces first 2027 speakers, including Timnit Gebru and Mac Barnett

Timnit Gebru, co-founder of Black in AI, will deliver a SXSW 2027 keynote.

Photo by Kimberly White/Getty Images for TechCrunch

Though it still feels far away, South by Southwest (SXSW) is already laying plans for 2027. Today, September 15, SXSW announced its first round of speakers for its annual conference, the panel and presentation-based complement to the more specific festivals that it's famous for. The speakers are all part of the Innovation Conference or the EDU Conference & Festival.

The Innovation Conference lasts from March 15-20, and the EDU (education) events last from March 13-16. Keynotes are generally bigger events where there's only one speaker giving a presentation; featured speakers are are scheduled throughout the day, usually at panels that can draw huge audiences or a relative handful of people. Both keynotes and featured sessions are open to anyone who has a badge, whether it's in innovation, music, film and TV, or the all-encompassing platinum badge.

Only two keynotes are included in the initial announcement, giving them an early, very focused spotlight. On the innovation side, computer scientist Timnit Gebru will give a presentation called Deep Unlearning: The Rise of AI and the Radicalization of a Tech Idealist. Gebru co-founded Black in AI and has been a vocal critic of how the early generative AI boom compromised the work and integrity of scientists of color.

"From Apple, to Stanford, to her high-profile departure from Google’s Ethical AI team over AI bias concerns, Timnit Gebru has been present at nearly every inflection point in technology’s recent history," says the keynote description. "In her keynote, Gebru will explore how poor decisions, destructive ideologies and outsized egos have damaged our environment, economies, and everyday lives, and how better decisions can still be made today."

The first education keynote also deals with technology, along with a broader question about how children's place in the world is changing. Children's book author Mac Barnett, who is known especially as a picture book advocate, will presumably appear with a moderator who hasn't been named yet, since the keynote is called A Conversation with Mac Barnett.

"As educators navigate rapid changes in technology, literacy, and how young people learn and engage with the world, Mac Barnett, New York Times-bestselling author and U.S. National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, will share why children deserve respect and art just for them."

Among the nine new featured innovation sessions are a talk on appreciating things, life as a female founder, selling companies in "the age of AI," and bullying. Featured speakers include Timm Chiusano, Amy Webb, Allison Ellsworth, Rahul Vohra, Joanna Lepore, Amy Cuddy, Jon Youshaei, Joost van Dreunen, and Mike Bechtel.

In education, the three newly announced sessions will cover bringing museums to life with humor (by Alison Luchs), teachers being on the front lines of cultural change (W. Kamau Bell), and how kindergarten teachers are prepared to bolster democracy (Arielle Fodor, a.k.a. Mrs. Frazzled).

Full descriptions for the featured sessions can be found at sxsw.com.

sxsw artificial intelligence education kids

income analysis

This is how much a single-income family needs to make in Texas in 2026

Photo by Jimmy Dean on Unsplash

The income needed for a single-income household to raise a child in Texas is lower than it was last year.

With childrearing costs in the Lone Star State adding up to tens of thousands of dollars per year, many two-parent Texas families are navigating a difficult decision: should both parents work or should one parent stay home to raise the child?

For Texas families that choose the latter, the working parent needs to make nearly $73,000 per year to support their child and the stay-at-home parent, a new income analysis has revealed.

The newly released SmartAsset report used MIT's Living Wage Calculator to estimate the annual living wages needed across all 50 states for a three-person household with two working adults and one child, and a family with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child. Costs included food, housing, childcare, healthcare, transportation, incremental income taxes, and "other necessities."

A Texas household with one working parent needs to make $72,925 to support their stay-at-home counterpart and their child, the study found. That's $1,809 less than what was needed in 2025.

Meanwhile, the combined income needed for a household with one child and both parents working full-time is $85,030.

Texas ranked No. 42 in SmartAsset's ranking of states with the highest minimum income needed to support a family with one working parent, one stay-at-home parent, and one child. That also situates Texas as the 9th most affordable state for single-income families. But there are risks associated with only having one breadwinner in the family.

"A single income family with small children potentially saves in child care costs over a household with two working parents," the report's author wrote. "The main disadvantages are the lost salary and retirement contributions, Social Security earnings history and employer health benefits."

There aren't any specific tax benefits to having a parent stay at home to raise their child full time, but SmartAsset says single-income families can claim a tax credit under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

"[S]ingle-income families may claim the Child Tax Credit — up to $2,200 per qualifying child for 2026 ($1,700 refundable) — on the same terms as any other family," the report said.

SmartAsset's latest report only looks at costs on a statewide basis, but the cost to raise a child will also vary greatly depending on the city you live in. Raising a child in Austin might pose a challenge for many families, where the cost for childcare alone adds up to $12,091 and overall costs can reach $25,000.

For households with two children, there might be additional strains on what a family might consider a "comfortable living." A March 2026 SmartAsset study determined an Austin family with two working parents need to make a combined income of $229,050 to have a financially stable life while raising two children.

The top 10 states with the lowest minimum income needed for single-income families are:

Arkansas ($68,869)
Mississippi ($70,054)
Kentucky ($70,179)
West Virginia ($70,283)
North Dakota ($71,219)
Oklahoma ($71,365)
Louisiana ($71,406)
Missouri ($72,862)
Texas ($72,925)
Tennessee ($72,946)

smartasset reports texas family income

SXSW 2027

SXSW announces first 2027 speakers, including Timnit Gebru and Mac Barnett

income analysis

This is how much a single-income family needs to make in Texas in 2026

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