MIT Tech Review Lists 8 Worst Technologies of 2025 and Elon Musk Appears Twice
Right so MIT Technology Review has published their annual “worst technologies” list and its absolutely brutal. In the best possible way.
The prestigious journal typically focuses on breakthrough innovations but theyve made a tradition of also highlighting the years biggest tech failures. This years list reads like a whos who of overpromised and underdelivered. And yes Elon Musk managed to land on it twice. Because of course he did.
The full list:
1. Cybertruck – The angular monstrosity that was supposed to revolutionize pickup trucks has been plagued by recalls, rust issues, and the fundamental problem that nobody actually wants a truck that looks like it escaped from a PS1 video game. Sales have been dismal compared to projections.
2. Sycophantic AI – This ones actually quite interesting. MIT specifically called out the trend of AI assistants being designed to agree with users rather than provide accurate information. The term “sycophantic” meaning excessively flattering. Theyve basically trained chatbots to tell us what we want to hear.
3. Humanoid Robots – Every tech company seems to be building humanoid robots now and MIT argues none of them have demonstrated why humanoid form is actually better than specialized robots. Its expensive cosplay basically.
4. Trumps Memecoin – The $TRUMP cryptocurrency that launched in January made the list for obvious reasons. A sitting presidents memecoin. In 2025. We live in truly unprecedented times.
5. AI Slop – The flood of AI-generated content polluting search results social media and everywhere else. MIT argues the signal-to-noise ratio of the entire internet has degraded significantly this year.
6. Rabbit R1 – Remember when everyone thought dedicated AI devices were going to replace smartphones? The Rabbit R1 was supposed to be the future. It wasnt.
7. Metaverse Workplace Tools – Companies are still trying to make virtual reality meetings happen. Nobody wants them. Nobody has ever wanted them.
8. Predictive Policing AI – Systems that claim to predict where crimes will happen have been shown repeatedly to just amplify existing biases. MIT finally gave them the proper dragging they deserve.
What strikes me about this list is how much of it reflects technology companies building things nobody asked for while ignoring actual problems that need solving. We dont need trucks that look like low-polygon renders. We dont need AI that flatters us. We dont need Zuckerberg making us wear goggles to attend meetings.
But here we are. Another year of tech failing upward.
