The International AI Summit takes place on Wednesday 14 October 2026 at the Royal Dublin Society (RDS) in Ballsbridge, Dublin. It is a flagship event of Ireland's Presidency of the Council of the EU and opens European AI Innovation Month, a series of events that ends in Brussels on 17 November. Delegate attendance is by invitation only, and the organisers have not announced public tickets.
Key facts
- Date: Wednesday 14 October 2026.
- Venue: RDS, Merrion Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.
- Organiser: Ireland's Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment. The wider European AI Innovation Month is led by the European Commission in partnership with the Irish presidency.
- Theme: "Harnessing AI to Revolutionise Europe's Competitiveness".
- Attendance: about 1,500 delegates expected, according to the Irish government.
- Access: by invitation only, per the official summit website.
Who is speaking
The summit is convened by the Irish government, represented by Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Enterprise Minister Peter Burke and Niamh Smyth, Minister of State for Trade Promotion, AI and Digital Transformation. Three members of the European Commission are listed: Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen, Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection Michael McGrath, and Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation Ekaterina Zaharieva.
As of 5 October, the official site lists more than 40 speakers. Industry names include:
- Sir Demis Hassabis, co-founder and chair of Google DeepMind;
- Brad Smith, vice chair and president of Microsoft;
- Sarah Friar, chief financial officer of OpenAI;
- Joel Kaplan, chief global affairs officer of Meta;
- Audrey Herblin-Stoop, senior vice-president of global affairs at Mistral;
- Guillaume Princen, head of international for start-ups and digital natives at Anthropic;
- Jarek Kutylowski, founder and CEO of DeepL;
- Robert Gentz, co-founder and co-CEO of Zalando;
- Philipp Herzig, chief technology officer of SAP;
- Eileen O'Mara, vice chair of Stripe;
- Deepu Talla, vice-president of robotics and edge AI at NVIDIA;
- Eddie Wilson, chief executive of Ryanair.
Former European Commissioner Mairéad McGuinness and the Financial Times innovation editor John Thornhill are among the moderators. Irish Research Minister James Lawless is also on the programme.
What is on the agenda
The programme is built around three themes:
- Applied AI and sectoral value creation: AI use in healthcare, life sciences, financial services, manufacturing, agriculture and public services.
- Infrastructure: building Europe's AI capacity through computing power, chips, quantum technologies, connectivity and sustainable energy.
- The AI opportunity ahead: agentic AI, quantum-enabled systems and changes to work.
Talent, collaboration and trustworthy AI governance run across all three. An Innovation Spotlight exhibition will show AI products from start-ups, scale-ups, SMEs and multinationals from Ireland, Europe and the US.
Why it matters for EU AI policy
The summit comes ten weeks after the AI Act became generally applicable on 2 August 2026, and less than three months after the AI Omnibus moved the high-risk deadlines to December 2027 and August 2028. It puts the Commission members responsible for tech sovereignty, consumer protection and research on the same stage as executives from Google DeepMind, OpenAI, Meta, Microsoft, Mistral and Anthropic. Our AI Act timeline sets out which obligations already apply, and our AI Act section follows enforcement.
European AI Innovation Month: the other key dates
The Commission's programme runs from 14 October to 17 November 2026 and includes three flagship summits plus partner events across Europe:
- 15 October: the AI in Science Summit (AIS26), coordinated by University College Dublin and Research Ireland, on AI in scientific discovery. Registration has closed.
- 14 October to 17 November: partner events listed on the Commission's map, plus stakeholder events on the Apply AI Alliance calendar.
- 17 November: the Apply AI Summit at The EGG in Brussels and online, marking one year of the Apply AI Strategy. The deadline for onsite registration is 9 October; a virtual platform for up to 2,500 participants will livestream some sessions.
How to follow the summit
As of 5 October, neither the summit website nor the Irish presidency's event page lists public tickets or a livestream link for 14 October. The Commission says a Virtual Conference Platform will link the month's flagship summits, and it confirms livestreaming of some sessions only for the Apply AI Summit in Brussels. Updates on speakers and sessions are published on the official summit site and on the Irish presidency's event page.
For research-side announcements during the month, see our Research section.
Frequently asked questions
Can I buy tickets for the International AI Summit 2026?
No public tickets have been announced. The official summit website states that delegate attendance is by invitation only.
Where is the International AI Summit 2026 held?
At the Royal Dublin Society (RDS) on Merrion Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, on Wednesday 14 October 2026.
Will the International AI Summit be livestreamed?
As of 5 October 2026, the organisers had not published a livestream link for the Dublin summit. The Commission has confirmed livestreaming of some sessions only for the Apply AI Summit on 17 November.
What is European AI Innovation Month?
It is a programme of events run by the European Commission with the Irish EU presidency from 14 October to 17 November 2026, built around three flagship summits in Dublin and Brussels plus partner events across Europe.
