Next month, MIT Technology Review will reveal the 2025 list of 10 Breakthrough Technologies. Each year, our newsroom scans various fields to identify technologies that are experiencing a true breakthrough. This annual feature highlights the innovations that we believe will have the most significant impact right now.
We define "breakthrough" in several ways: it could be a scientific breakthrough that enables a new technology, a company receiving regulatory approval for a crucial medical treatment, a consumer device reaching widespread adoption, or an industrial technology successfully completing a critical pilot phase. The 2025 edition, launching in January, will showcase the latest developments in areas like automation, medicine, and the physical sciences, all of which we expect will significantly shape our future.
In the meantime, here are three technologies that we considered for the 2025 list but ultimately decided not to include. While these didn’t make the cut this year, they are still worth watching, and we certainly will be keeping an eye on them.
Virtual Power Plants
Virtual power plants are energy systems that integrate various technologies to generate and store power. These systems enable utility companies to connect renewable sources like solar panels and wind turbines with grid batteries and electric vehicles, optimizing power flow across the grid.
In the future, during peak electricity demand, software linked to smart meters could automatically decide to power a home by drawing electricity from a fully charged EV in a neighbor's garage, reducing strain on the grid. The software could also calculate how to compensate the EV owner for this energy exchange.
Currently, around 500 virtual power plants in the U.S. provide up to 60 gigawatts of capacity—about the same total capacity that the U.S. grid is expected to add this year. Similar systems are operating in countries like China, Japan, Croatia, and Taiwan. However, many more virtual power plants will need to be set up before they can make a significant impact on the grid as a whole.
Useful AI Agents
AI agents are quickly becoming a hot topic. These AI-powered assistants are expected to handle tasks like scheduling meetings, booking trips, and performing various online duties on our behalf. They use generative models to learn how to navigate websites and desktop software, manage passwords and credit card information, and potentially interact with other agents.
There is significant development in this area—Salesforce recently launched a platform allowing companies to create their own customer service agents, while Anthropic’s Claude model is advancing in its ability to use a mouse and keyboard to navigate a computer like a human.
Despite these advancements, many challenges remain in getting AI agents to fully understand specific requests and reliably complete tasks. While AI agents are on the horizon, it may still take some time before they reach a level of usefulness that meets our expectations.
eVTOLs (electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft)
eVTOLs are essentially electric helicopters designed for transporting passengers. These aircraft are primarily intended to be piloted for commuter services, like ferrying people from suburbs or airports to downtown areas. In the future, these air taxis may even become fully autonomous.
There has been significant progress in the development of eVTOLs. Earlier this year, the manufacturer EHang became the first in China to receive certification for mass-producing eVTOLs and has started taking orders. Both South Korea and the UAE have introduced policies to allow these vehicles to operate, while in the US, Archer secured FAA certification to begin commercial flights. In October, the FAA also approved new rules for pilot training and eVTOL operations, the first time in decades that such regulations have been set for a new type of aircraft.
The momentum around eVTOLs has grown, with major aviation companies like Boeing and Airbus investing in startups or funding internal R&D projects. However, despite all these advancements, no company has yet launched commercial eVTOL operations, so the industry remains one to watch closely.
