Reddit Founder Alexis Ohanian: BRIDGE Summit 2025 Reflects The UAE’s Leadership In Balancing Human And Virtual Connection

BRIDGE Summit 2025 – the world’s largest debut media event – welcomed Alexis Ohanian, Founder & General Partner at Seven Seven Six, to share insights on the current state of web technologies. During a discussion titled ‘Re-turning the Web’, moderated by Nikhil Kumar, Executive Editor at TIME, he foreshadowed that in a post-AI world, activities requiring human connection, such as sports and live theatre, will thrive. Ohanian affirmed that the convening power of BRIDGE Summit—with its gathering of decision-makers and leading global experiences—stands as evidence of the UAE’s leadership, and Abu Dhabi in particular, in developing initiatives that help reinforce the balance between the virtual world and human connection.

“Conservatively, I’d say 20% of all content we see on social media is fake in some form or another, and it actually reports as high as half and that number is only going to go up, so someone is going to have to crack what the next wave of social media looks like that verifies humanity,” said Ohanian, crediting bots on social media and the proliferation of AI tools, such as Chat GPT, with the falsification of our digital world.

Consequently, coming together for live events will soon outpace scrolling as audiences crave authenticity, he opined.

He said: “Live events are going to be one of the best parts to come out of this AI wave and it's one of the things that I hope for…The only way humans really got things done was by communicating and working together and bonding and all the other great things that came out of it. So the optimist in me wants to return to that.”

As skepticism over deep fakes and a lack of trust pushes audiences offline with the resurgence of live events, Ohanian is betting on women’s sports to capture attention. After resigning from Reddit, he invested in a women’s football club.

Speaking about the endeavor, he said: “I had two little girls watching me so I wanted to do my best work in my career and one of the first things I ended up doing was in sports, but specifically women’s sports. And so I started a team in Los Angeles as the founding controlling owner called, Angel City FC. At the time, most people said I’d lose my money because no one cares about women’s sports. Thankfully, we proved them all wrong and it’s one of the most valuable teams in women’s soccer in the United States.”

Ohanian, who credits Abu Dhabi with pioneering progress, also gave the capital a nod for its prowess in hosting world-class sporting events such as Formula One.

He said: “And I also just a shout out to Abu Dhabi. Every time I come back here, I'm hit with such optimism and energy, and it's so heartening. And I just give credit to all my friends who are here for the progress. It's really awesome, and it's just great to see so many people convening from all over the world, not just for the F1 but also for building and solving real problems. And I want to be around people who want to build. I’m just happy to be here.”

Alexis Ohanian on ‘Re-turning’ the Web forms part of a 300+ session program that reflects BRIDGE Summit’s scale and ambition. The debut edition of BRIDGE Summit takes place from 8–10 December 2025 at ADNEC in Abu Dhabi. Expected to welcome more than 60,000 participants from 132 countries and over 430 speakers, the Summit provides a structured environment for leaders, innovators, and institutions to examine shared challenges, exchange perspectives, and explore practical collaboration across media, content, entertainment, technology, finance, culture, and the wider creative economy.

For more information and to register, visit https://www.bridgesummit.com/en/.