Vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) taxis will take to the skies starting next year. Major corporations are set to launch full-fledged commercial services one after another beginning next year. It appears that the era of urban air mobility (UAV) will greet its inaugural year, allowing people to escape congested roads and quickly travel to their desired locations in the sky.
International journals such as Nature, the British science and technology magazine New Scientist, and the American economic magazine Forbes have highlighted vertical take-off and landing aircraft, genetically edited disease-free pork, and humanoid robots working in advanced factories as science and technology expected to change the world next year. The advancements in obesity treatments and quantum computing that heated up the science and technology sector this year are also projected to continue.
◇Humanoid robots to be fully deployed in factories starting next year
Joby Aviation, based in the United States, will begin operating vertical take-off and landing aircraft in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the end of next year, making it the first in the world. VTOL aircraft can take off and land vertically like a helicopter while flying horizontally like a plane in the air. They are gaining attention as a technology for achieving urban air mobility (UAV) since they can operate without a long runway.
Joby Aviation will introduce a taxi service using electric motor vertical take-off and landing aircraft. This pilot project is expected to become a new concept of transportation, allowing people to escape from crowded roads. In 2026, the company plans to launch taxi services in New York and Los Angeles, following the UAE.
There are more corporations preparing vertical take-off and landing taxis. Archer Aviation from the United States is also expected to start full-fledged passenger transport operations next year. The Chinese corporation EHang is currently demonstrating vertical take-off and landing aircraft and has announced plans to begin commercialization in Southeast Asia next year.
The humanoid market led by Tesla in the United States is also anticipated to open up significantly next year. Tesla is expected to start full-scale production of the humanoid Optimus next year and could begin actual deployments. Amazon has plans to deploy humanoids from Agility Robotics in logistics warehouses.
The American humanoid corporation Figure has begun demonstrating humanoids at a BMW automotive factory in the United States this year and plans to significantly increase the scale of deployment next year. Another humanoid corporation, Apptronik, is developing a humanoid named Apollo to be used at a Mercedes-Benz automotive plant starting next year. Both companies are receiving investments from Microsoft and Google, maintaining cooperative relationships while attracting industry attention.
◇Breakthroughs in obesity treatments and gene editing
Innovative technologies in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries are also expected to shine. A representative example is the CRISPR gene-editing tool. It is not a physical pair of scissors but an enzyme complex that cuts desired genes. Gene editing aims to prevent diseases and enhance desired functions.
The British biotechnology corporation Genus developed a pig breed with strong resistance to Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) using CRISPR gene editing. PRRS can cause reproductive disorders in pigs due to infection with the PRRS virus. Genus stated on the 23rd that "PRRS is causing a significant loss, with a 7% decrease in global pork production due to the disease," and expressed hope that the PRRS-resistant pigs would receive approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) within next year.
CRISPR gene editing is expected to provide personalized treatments for genetic disorders such as muscular dystrophy, cystic fibrosis, and sickle cell anemia. Personalized treatments will reduce side effects and generate new cancer therapies with improved efficacy.
This year, the leading players in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries included the obesity treatments from Denmark's Novo Nordisk, Wegovy, and the U.S. Eli Lilly's Zepbound, part of the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) class. Eli Lilly plans to evaluate the safety of its oral GLP-1 obesity treatment, Opeglyphron, after completing clinical trials next year. Wegovy and Zepbound are noted for their excellent efficacy but are criticized for the inconvenience of requiring periodic injections.
Merck (MSD) of the United States acquired global rights to a candidate oral obesity treatment from China's Hansoh Pharmaceutical, while Pfizer, Switzerland's Roche, and many other global pharmaceutical companies are developing oral obesity treatments. Domestic pharmaceutical companies are also researching ways to extend dosages or develop oral obesity treatments. Additionally, challenges to repurpose GLP-1 analogs for treating not only obesity but also Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease are expected to yield results next year.
◇A year for global quantum technology
The quantum technology industry is looking forward to next year. The United Nations (UN) has designated next year as the "Year of Quantum Technology." While traditional computers use binary systems made up of 0s and 1s, quantum computers use qubits (quantum bits) that are superposed states of 0 and 1, enabling them to process multiple computations simultaneously.
On Dec. 9, Google shocked the world by announcing its quantum computer chip, Willow. Willow solved a calculation that would take a supercomputer 10 quintillion (10^24) years in just 5 minutes. It also achieved significant improvements in addressing quantum errors, which were previously considered the biggest drawback of quantum computers. Quantum errors refer to operational errors that occur when the state of a qubit changes due to very slight environmental changes. Google's strong competitor, IBM, is also developing its own quantum error correction technology.
As platforms that allow the use of quantum computers through cloud (virtual server) methods have emerged, research and development (R&D) and industrial applications using quantum computers are expected to accelerate. With easier access to quantum computers, there is growing interest in them in finance, materials, and pharmaceutical industries.
Technologies connecting the brain and computers could see groundbreaking advancements next year. Neuralink, founded by Tesla's Elon Musk, has achieved consecutive successful experiments implanting chips into patients' brains this year. The chips decode brain signals into computer commands, realizing the so-called brain-computer interface (BCI) technology. Next year, China is expected to emerge as a competitor to the United States in the field of BCI.
China's NEO is a wireless BCI that places eight electrodes over the sensory motor cortex of the brain, designed to help paralyzed patients regain hand movement. NEO has already enabled a participant with a spinal cord injury to eat, drink, and grasp objects. The NEO research team plans to expand to larger-scale clinical trials in 2025.
Reference material
Forbes(2024), https://www.forbes.com/sites/abdoriani/2024/12/22/6-emerging-technologies-to-build-a-startup-around-in-2025/
Nature(2024), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-03943-9
NewScientist(2024), https://www.newscientist.com/article-topic/2025-news-preview/