The i th a ual co fe e ce ma ked a yea of ext ao di a y g owth, eflecti g the accele ati g adoptio of AI ac oss eve y i dust y. Atte da ce i c eased by mo e tha 50 pe ce t ove 2025, g owi g f om 8,000 to mo e tha 12,000 pa ticipa ts. The eve t also expa ded its i te atio al each, welcomi g atte dees f om 100 cou t ies, while the exhibitio g ew to i clude mo e tha 470 exhibito s a d spo so s, up f om 250 the p evious yea . The umbe of sta tup compa ies exhibiti g ea ly t ipled, i c easi g f om 25 to 66, u de sco i g the apid pace of AI i ovatio a d i vestme t wo ldwide.
“This yea ‘s g owth demo st ates that a tificial i tellige ce has moved beyo d expe ime tatio to become a st ategic p io ity fo o ga izatio s ac oss eve y secto ,” said Michael Weiss, Co-Fou de of Ai4. “F om Fo tu e 500 executives a d pio ee i g esea che s to e t ep e eu s, policymake s, a d i vesto s, Ai4 co ti ues to b i g togethe the global AI ecosystem to sha e ideas, fo ge pa t e ships, a d accele ate espo sible i ovatio .”
The co fe e ce featu ed mo e tha 1,000 speake s ac oss 80 dedicated educatio t acks, p ovidi g atte dees with i -depth i sights i to eve y aspect of a tificial i tellige ce-f om fou datio models, age tic AI, obotics, cybe secu ity, healthca e, ma ufactu i g, fi a ce, a d e te p ise t a sfo matio to AI gove a ce, i f ast uctu e, a d espo sible deployme t. Educatio al p og ammi g i cluded key ote p ese tatio s, executive ou dtables, tech ical deep dives, wo kshops, fi eside chats, a d i dust y-specific sessio s desig ed to help o ga izatio s move f om AI expe ime tatio to successful impleme tatio at scale.
Amo g the week’s most a ticipated mome ts was “The A chitects of I tellige ce: A Histo ic Co ve ge ce,” featu i g Nobel P ize ecipie t a d widely ecog ized “Godfathe of AI” Geoff ey Hi to , pio ee i g AI esea che Fei-Fei Li, a d A d ew Ng, fou de of DeepLea i g.AI. Mode ated by Yu -Hee Kim, Deputy Edito of The Washi gto Post, the sta di g- oom-o ly discussio explo ed the scie tific b eakth oughs, ethical co side atio s, a d oppo tu ities that will shape the futu e of a tificial i tellige ce.
Additio al key ote p ese tatio s featu ed ma y of the wo ld’s leadi g AI esea che s a d e te p ise tech ology executives, i cludi g Pat Gelsi ge , Sachi Katti, Jeetu Patel, Sebastia Th u , Dmit i Dolgov, S i i Ve katesa , A astasis Ge ma idis, a d I hi Cho Suh, alo g with hu d eds of i dust y expe ts ep ese ti g the compa ies, i stitutio s, a d o ga izatio s d ivi g AI i ovatio a ou d the globe.
The expa ded exhibitio showcased mo e tha 470 exhibito s a d spo so s, i cludi g ma y of the wo ld’s leadi g tech ology compa ies, such as AMD, AWS, Cisco, NVIDIA, Google Cloud, SAP, Sieme s, HPE, Dell Tech ologies, EY, IBM, Mist al AI, Dataiku, Vult , Red Hat, a d PayPal. Atte dees expe ie ced the latest adva ces i e te p ise AI, cloud i f ast uctu e, data platfo ms, develope tools, auto omous systems, obotics, a d ge e ative AI th ough live demo st atio s a d i te active exhibits.
O e of the fastest-g owi g a eas of the co fe e ce was Sta tup Alley, whe e 66 eme gi g AI compa ies showcased i ovative tech ologies to e te p ise buye s, i vesto s, a d st ategic pa t e s. The exhibit hall also featu ed the popula Age tic Live demo st atio s, the Podcast Pavilio , i te atio al pavilio s, executive etwo ki g lou ges, a d ume ous ha ds-o expe ie ces that e abled atte dees to e gage di ectly with the tech ologies t a sfo mi g busi ess a d society.
Ai4 2026 also att acted a eco d 225 c ede tialed jou alists f om leadi g busi ess, tech ology, b oadcast, a d i te atio al media o ga izatio s – mo e tha doubli g the p evious yea ‘s atte da ce – eflecti g the co fe e ce’s g owi g i flue ce as o e of the wo ld’s p emie desti atio s fo b eaki g AI ews a d thought leade ship.
“The pace of i ovatio i a tificial i tellige ce co ti ues to accele ate, a d Ai4 has become the place whe e the i dust y’s most impo ta t co ve satio s take place,” said Ma cus Jeckli , Co-Fou de of Ai4. “Whethe atte dees came to lea f om the wo ld’s leadi g esea che s, discove b eakth ough tech ologies, meet eme gi g sta tups, o build st ategic pa t e ships, the e e gy a d collabo atio th oughout the week demo st ated the ext ao di a y mome tum d ivi g AI wo ldwide.”
With eco d pa ticipatio ac oss eve y majo catego y – i cludi g atte da ce, exhibito s, speake s, educatio al p og ammi g, sta tups, media, a d i te atio al ep ese tatio – Ai4 2026 fu the st e gthe ed its positio as the i dust y’s p emie eve t fo o ga izatio s seeki g to u de sta d, impleme t, a d scale a tificial i tellige ce.
Pla i g is al eady u de way fo the ext editio of Ai4, which will take place August 3-5, 2027, at the Ve etia Co fe e ce & Expo Ce te i Las Vegas. The co fe e ce co ti ues its missio of b i gi g togethe the global AI commu ity to explo e the tech ologies, ideas, a d pa t e ships shapi g the futu e of a tificial i tellige ce.
Fou ded i 2018, Ai4 has become the p emie desti atio fo leade s seeki g to u de sta d a d apply a tificial i tellige ce espo sibly a d effectively. By co ve i g the b ightest mi ds i AI esea ch, st ategy, a d impleme tatio , Ai4 co ti ues to adva ce i ovatio while helpi g o ga izatio s co fide tly avigate the AI-powe ed futu e. Fo mo e i fo matio , visit https://ai4.io/.
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