The Next Frontier of AI: EMOTION

The Next Frontier of AI: Emotion

The Next Frontier of AI: Emotion explores one of the biggest unanswered questions in AI:

What happens when AI understands not only what we say, but why and how we feel?

As foundation models become increasingly accessible, the next generation of consumer AI will be differentiated by its ability to understand human emotion, cognition, attention, and context—not just language alone.

This curated gathering brings together perspectives from computer science, psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy, alongside founders and investors building and investing in the space. Together, we’ll explore what breakthroughs are still missing and how emotionally intelligent AI could reshape the next decade of AI products.

PANELISTS

The Scientists: understanding how humans feel

• Dr. Robert W. Levenson (Panel I): UC Berkeley; Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences; Past President, Association for Psychological Science. An emotion scientist and APS William James Fellow Award recipient whose pioneering research spans emotional physiology, regulation, relationships, and aging.

• Dr. Juliana Schroeder (Panel II): Social Psychologist, UC Berkeley; Fellow, Association for Psychological Science; Co-founder, Psychology of Technology Institute. A researcher studying mind perception, social connection, and how cues such as voice shape judgments of humans and AI.

• Dr. Mariko Hashimoto, MD (Panel II): Physician-Scientist; Former Research Fellow, Harvard Medical School / Boston Children's Hospital; Stanford GSB. A physician and neuroscientist whose work spans the neural circuits of stress and resilience, clinical development, and translating scientific evidence into products.

• Yutong Zhang (Panel II): Stanford CS PhD, HCI AI Researcher; First and Co-corresponding Author of AI Companionship Research in Nature Human Behaviour. A researcher studying how AI companions shape relationships and psychological wellbeing.

The Builders: creating AI that connects with us

• Rissa Cao (Panel I): Co-founder & CEO, Fish Audio. An AI founder building expressive voice technology, with a perspective on how emotion and vocal delivery shape human–AI interaction.

• Quinn Favret (Panel I): Co-founder & COO, Tavus. A founder building real-time video AI and expressive interfaces that can see, hear, and interact with people, backed by CRV, Sequoia Capital, and Y Combinator.

• Kheli Atluru (Panel II): Special Projects Lead, Inflection AI; Founding Member, AI Safety, Wellness & Trust Team. A product and strategy leader driving EQ benchmarking and developing wellbeing and safety features for emotionally sensitive interactions.

CONVERSATIONS

Panel I: Beyond Words: Faces, Voices, and the Science of Feeling

Why do we have emotions at all, and can a machine ever truly understand one? One of the world's leading emotion scientists sits down with two founders building AI that sees our faces and speaks with expressive, humanlike voices. Together they'll explore what our faces and voices reveal about how we feel, and what happens when AI gets so good at expressing emotion that we can no longer tell it apart from a real person. And in the end: what makes us meaningfully human?

Panel II: Beyond Chats: Connection, Trust, and Human Agency in the Era of Human-AI Interaction

Millions of people already turn to AI for advice, comfort, and companionship. What happens when we do? A neuroscientist, a social psychologist, an AI companionship researcher, and an industry leader in AI safety and wellbeing take on the questions that matter most: Can AI strengthen our human relationships, or quietly replace them? What happens to our agency when we let AI decide for us? And when we bring our hardest moments to an AI, does it deserve our trust?

Agenda

October 8, 2026 · All times Pacific

• 6:30–7:00 PM | Arrival & Check-in
  Immersive art, product experience, and refreshments.

• 7:00–7:10 PM | Founder’s Welcome
  Why emotion is the next AI frontier.

• 7:10–8:00 PM | Panel Conversations
  The science of emotion and the future of human–AI interaction.

• 8:00–8:10 PM | Live Demo
  fine by EmotionX.

• 8:10–9:00 PM | Curated Networking
  Connect with founders, investors, researchers, and creatives.

Who Should Join

Join an intimate gathering of AI founders, researchers, investors, product leaders, designers, and builders to explore where this frontier is heading.

This is an intimate, invite-only evening, and demand has far exceeded our space, with a long waitlist of people hoping to join. Entry is reserved for confirmed guests only. If your plans change, we kindly ask that you release your spot at least 24 hours in advance so someone from the waitlist can take your place.

The evening features moderated panel conversations followed by curated networking and is part of #SFTechWeek, a week of events hosted by VCs and startups that connects the Silicon Valley tech ecosystem.

About EmotionX

EmotionX is building a human-centered AI ecosystem that brings software and hardware together. Our mission is to advance AI for humanity.

Learn more at www.emotionx.ai.