# Bilawal Sidhu

> Bilawal Sidhu is a creative technologist, former senior product manager at Google (AR/VR & 3D Maps), host of The TED AI Show podcast, venture scout for Andreessen Horowitz, and angel investor. After shipping landmark products like Google Maps Immersive View and the ARCore Geospatial API to billions of users, he left Google to become a full-time creator, curator, and investor at the intersection of spatial intelligence, generative AI, and immersive media. His newsletter and YouTube reach over 1.6 million followers, and he made headlines in April 2026 when he built WorldView - a real-time OSINT geospatial platform - in three days.

- **Role:** Technology Curator & Host at TED; Venture Scout at Andreessen Horowitz
- **Organizations:** TED, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Metaversity, Spatial Intelligence
- **From:** India
- **Nationality:** Indian-American
- **Education:** Dual degree in Computer Science and Business Administration, University of Southern California (USC)
- **Known for:** Co-founder of Google Maps Immersive View, used by billions of people, Launched ARCore Geospatial API at Google I/O, enabling sub-meter visual localization across 100+ countries, 3x promoted in 5 years at Google - rare advancement pace

## Career timeline

- **2002** — Age ~11: Discovers VFX via a Discovery Kids episode about Independence Day (1996); teaches himself 3DS Max, Maya, and After Effects
- **2013** — Graduates USC with dual CS + Business degree; begins career at Deloitte Digital
- **2013-2017** — Consultant at Deloitte Digital, focusing on enterprise AR/VR with Google Glass and smart glasses
- **2017** — Joins Google as Product Manager for AR/VR and 3D Maps
- **2018-2019** — Leads Google Jump and VR180 immersive capture platforms; co-produces Elton John and Coachella VR experiences
- **2020** — Focuses on digital twins technology and Street View-based visual localization at sub-meter accuracy
- **2022** — Launches ARCore Geospatial API at Google I/O; begins co-founding Google Maps Immersive View
- **2022** — Promoted 3x in 5 years at Google - reaches Senior Product Manager level
- **2023** — Leaves Google; begins full-time creator/investor/advisor career
- **2023** — Delivers TED Talk 'The AI-powered tools supercharging your imagination' (August)
- **2023** — Becomes Technology Curator & Host of The TED AI Show podcast
- **2023-2024** — Becomes Venture Scout for Andreessen Horowitz (a16z); angel invests in Pika Labs, Hedra Labs, Convai, Backbone Gaming, and others
- **2024** — Newsletter 'Map the World' (spatialintelligence.ai) grows to 15K-35K subscribers
- **2026-04** — Builds WorldView - a real-time OSINT geospatial intelligence platform - in 3 days; goes viral on X

## Achievements

- Co-founder of Google Maps Immersive View, used by billions of people
- Launched ARCore Geospatial API at Google I/O, enabling sub-meter visual localization across 100+ countries
- 3x promoted in 5 years at Google - rare advancement pace
- Built 1.6M+ cross-platform creator audience with 500M+ views
- Single video reached 54 million views (Halloween zombie VR piece)
- Host of The TED AI Show - TED's flagship AI podcast
- Venture scout for Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)
- Angel investor in Pika Labs, Hedra Labs, Convai, Backbone Gaming, and more
- Delivered TED Talk in August 2023 on AI creative tools
- Built WorldView (real-time geospatial OSINT platform) in 3 days in April 2026
- Media coverage across Bloomberg, Forbes, BBC, CNBC, Fortune
- Represented by Global Speakers Bureau for keynote speaking

## Latest updates

- **2026-04** — Built and launched WorldView, a viral real-time OSINT geospatial platform built in 3 days, used to reconstruct Iran strike operations in 4D from public data
- **2025-12** — Continued hosting The TED AI Show with high-profile guests including former OpenAI board member Helen Toner on Sam Altman's firing
- **2025-06** — Newsletter 'Map the World by Bilawal Sidhu' maintains 40% open rate; growing subscriber base
- **2024-12** — Angel investment portfolio includes Pika Labs (leading AI video company), Hedra Labs, Convai, and others
- **2023-08** — Delivered TED Talk 'The AI-powered tools supercharging your imagination' at TED2023

## Links

- Website: https://bilawal.ai
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bilawalsidhu/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/bilawalsidhu
- GitHub: https://github.com/bilawalsidhu
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7bGK0A1weWfNaRfO0hGVdg
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bilawal.ai/
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@billyfx

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/bilawal-sidhu
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-04-27