This year's South by Southwest Conference and Festival (SXSW) launched over the weekend in Austin, Texas. An annual film and media festival in name, recently SXSW has become a broader cultural phenomenon, attracting artists, politicians, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders who share their bold ideas with thousands of attendees. SXSW 2019 is no different, as politics, policy, and tech headlined the first weekend.

CNN hosted three town halls at SXSW for Democratic presidential candidates Tulsi Gabbard, Pete Buttigieg, and John Delaney. Representative Gabbard of Hawaii discussed her platform of ending US imperial foreign policy and regime change wars, universal healthcare through Medicare for all, legalization of marijuana and ending the war on drugs, and fighting climate change with a Green New Deal. She also talked about her background as a Hindu practitioner who grew up in a conservative household. Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana, discussed his platform of a Medicare public option in healthcare markets, his background as a gay man and veteran serving in a conservative state, and the foreign policy mistakes of the Trump administration. He also answered concerns about his young age and experience, saying he has more executive government experience than President Trump and Vice President Pence. Former Representative Delaney of Maryland discussed his climate plan of a carbon tax and increasing investment in renewable energies and his foreign policy of toughening up on Russia and President Putin as accountability for election interference. He also talked about his working class upbringing and how the American dream has slowly faded away.

Tech also has been big at SXSW. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), a presidential hopeful, called for breaking up tech giants like Amazon (AMZN  ) and Facebook (FB  ) and a new tax on data collection - a move that surprised some, considering that tech firms overwhelmingly lean Democratic in their financial support. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, a young progressive firebrand, gave an interview where she said workers should not fear the economy's transition to automation and robots but embrace the future instead. She signaled support for Bill Gates' idea of a robot tax, a 90% tax on firms that automate processes. She said the government can invest in training younger workers for new jobs. And , entrepreneur and presidential candidate, gave a talk on the rapid automation of labor and how a universal basic income come help lift unemployed and underemployed folks out of poverty.

Even retailing giant Walmart (WMT  ) is trying to rebrand itself as a tech company at SXSW. Chief technology officer Jeremy King touted Walmart's machine learning team and suite of apps. As Walmart fiercely competes with Amazon for online customers, it is heavily investing in e-commerce and automated technologies. Because SXSW goes on until Sunday, March 17, the festival will likely feature more interesting discussions on policy, technology, and other important topics.

The author holds a small long position in WMT.