Astro Teller, director of Google X Lab, will be a keynote speaker at SXSW Interactive. Credit: Topher Simon Photography
It's was a busy announcement day for SXSW Interactive, which on Tuesday put up its schedule and announced its fourth keynote speaker, Astro Teller of Google's experimental, secretive Google X Lab. Google X works on products that may at first glance seem peripheral to Google's core search and advertising businesses, but they tend to get a lot of attention. Google X has been responsible for the company's autonomous cars project as well as Google Glass and Project Loon.
Teller is also an author and entrepreneur in addition to serving as director of Google X since 2010. The keynote is expected to be live streamed for free on the SXSW.com/interactive website.
On the featured speaker side, Interactive announced three heavy hitters on Tuesday, including Rev. Jesse Jackson, comic powerhouse Julia Louis-Dreyfus for a session on her HBO series "Veep" and actress Jessica Alba, who'll talk about The Honest Company, which she founded.
Previous keynote speakers announced for the fest include entrepreneur and Saudi Arabian Princess Reema Bint Bandar Al-Saud, MoMA curator Paola Antonelli and SiriusXM inventor Martine Rothblatt.
Last week, the fest announced that Ausitn-based Girlstart's executive director Tamara Hudgins will be inducted into the SXSW Interactive Hall of Fame at the festival's Innovation Awards on March 17. The 2015 festival runs March 13-17.
The star of “Seinfeld” and her current HBO series “Veep” will be a featured speaker at SXSW Interactive. Credit: AP Photo/HBO, Paul Schiraldi
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