In 2026, as DEI and woke were declared over, WIRED set out to investigate the state of gender in Silicon Valley. As tech titans embraced Trump and the right, as Mark Zuckerberg declared that “masculine energy” was needed and Elon Musk cut federal female workers most of all, the backlash was in full swing. In our effort to understand the state of women in tech, we found frustrated females, confusion over who are the new AI girlbosses, and a total lack of interest in talking about gender at all.
Below this article, ask us all your burning questions about women in tech, which our panel will answer at our upcoming subscriber-only livestream on September 24 at noon ET / 9am PT. To leave questions for the panel, head to the comment section below.
- Sandra Upson: a features editor at WIRED who brings to life some of our most ambitious, future-defining stories. Sandra will host the livestream.
- Lauren Goode: a senior correspondent at WIRED covering all things Silicon Valley, including artificial intelligence, semiconductors, venture capital, startups, workplace culture, and tech’s most interesting people and trends. She cowrites the Backchannel newsletter.
- Ej Dickson: a senior culture writer at WIRED, focusing on internet culture. Read her recent feature on a college student who fought back against the burnerverse, a loosely connected online community of sports fans who dox and humiliate young women.
The event will be streamed right here. For subscribers who are not able to join, a replay of the livestream will be available after the event. Not a subscriber yet? Subscribe now to get access to this livestream, plus full access to WIRED.
In the meantime, check out past livestreams on all the essential features in ChatGPT, advice for getting started with Claude, and more.
