Web Summit history: which moments got people talking, from Hawking to Cosgrave?

Web Summit history: which moments got people talking, from Hawking to Cosgrave?

Web Summit's most talked-about moments mix big ideas with big names: Stephen Hawking's 2017 warning about AI, Sophia the robot, Edward Snowden beaming in from afar in 2019, and a parade of celebrities and athletes on Centre Stage. Its biggest story, though, came in 2023, when co-founder Paddy Cosgrave's social media posts triggered a wave of withdrawals and his resignation, followed by his return as CEO in 2024. Here's how those moments unfolded and why they still shape the event.

How did a small Dublin meetup earn the nickname "Davos for geeks"?

Web Summit started in Dublin in 2009, founded by Paddy Cosgrave, David Kelly and Daire Hickey. Nobody agrees on exactly how many people came to the first one, with estimates ranging from about 150 to around 400, but it was small enough to include a pub crawl.

It grew fast. A few milestones:

• 2011: the event moved to the Royal Dublin Society (RDS), with YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and WordPress creator Matt Mullenweg among the speakers.
• 2014: Wi-Fi problems at the RDS turned into a public embarrassment, and Cosgrave apologised to attendees. An early reminder that a tech conference gets judged on its connectivity.
• 2015: after public disagreements with the Irish government over hotels, transport and infrastructure, Cosgrave announced the move away from Dublin.
• 2016: the first Lisbon edition drew more than 53,000 people, with Portugal's prime minister, António Costa, on stage at the opening.

Somewhere along the way, the media dubbed it "Davos for geeks". The Wikipedia entry on Web Summit and The Irish Times' look back at the early years both cover that rise in more detail.

What did Stephen Hawking say at Web Summit in 2017?

At Opening Night in 2017, physicist Stephen Hawking addressed a packed arena by video. His message: AI could be either the best or the worst thing ever to happen to humanity, and its development needs to be guided by ethics and regulation.

The speech travelled around the world. Fortune's report captured the tension in its headline, saying Hawking wasn't sure whether AI would end poverty or kill us all. Looking back, it's striking how early Web Summit put the AI debate on its main stage, years before generative AI reached most people's phones.

Why did Sophia the robot draw so much attention?

The same 2017 edition featured Sophia, the humanoid robot from Hanson Robotics. Sophia had just been granted Saudi citizenship, which guaranteed headlines before she said a word.

For social teams, Sophia is a familiar kind of story: a striking visual, a strange news hook and a debate about where technology is going, all in one. Nearly a decade later, humanoid robots are still a Web Summit draw, with AgiBot's A3 and Galbot's G1 both listed on the 2026 speakers page.

What happened when Edward Snowden joined in 2019?

The 2019 line-up is the one that best explains the "Davos for geeks" label. Whistleblower Edward Snowden joined remotely to talk about surveillance and data collection. Former UK prime minister Tony Blair spoke about technology and political power. The rest of the bill included:

• European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager
• Microsoft president Brad Smith
• Huawei's Guo Ping
• football legends Eric Cantona and Ronaldinho

That mix of politics, privacy and sport is what The Drum described as Web Summit emerging as neutral ground for discussion. It also drew a huge press corps: more than 2,000 journalists from around 1,000 outlets covered that year's event.

Why do celebrities and athletes keep turning up?

Web Summit has always booked well outside the tech bubble. Over the years its Lisbon and Dublin stages have hosted Bono, Pharrell Williams, Maria Sharapova, Eric Cantona, Ronaldinho and Luís Figo. Across all of its events worldwide, the organiser also counts Serena Williams, Ryan Reynolds, Margaret Atwood and Queen Rania of Jordan among past speakers.

Two recent openings show how the guest list has shifted:

• 2024: Pharrell Williams, pop star and entrepreneur, took part in the opening ceremony.
• 2025: Opening Night featured Lovable co-founder Anton Osika, tennis champion Maria Sharapova and creator Khaby Lame.

A creator sharing an opening with a tennis champion and an AI founder is a neat sign of where attention sits now. For creator-programme teams, it's also a reminder that Web Summit is happy to put a creator on its biggest night.

What was the 2023 controversy, and how did Cosgrave come back?

In October 2023, Cosgrave's comments on social media about the Israel-Hamas war set off a wave of withdrawals. Google, Meta, Amazon and Intel were among the companies that pulled out. Cosgrave apologised and resigned as CEO on 21 October 2023, saying his comments had become a distraction.

What followed happened quickly:

1. Katherine Maher, former CEO of the Wikimedia Foundation, took over and led the 2023 edition.
2. Maher left in early 2024 to become CEO of NPR.
3. In April 2024, Cosgrave returned as chief executive, six months after resigning.
4. By the 2024 edition, Meta and IBM were back as sponsors.

Social and community teams will recognise the shape of this story. A leader's posts became the event's biggest headline, major sponsors walked away, and the recovery took months. It's one of the clearest examples in tech-conference history of how much a single account can move.

Where does that leave Web Summit in 2026?

The event bounced back. The 2025 edition, its tenth in Lisbon, welcomed 71,386 attendees from 157 countries and a record 1,857 investors, according to Web Summit. The 2026 edition runs from 9 to 12 November at the MEO Arena and FIL, with 17 content tracks including a dedicated AI Summit.

MarkGrid, which publishes this site, is exhibiting on the final day. For a fuller timeline of the event, see the full guide on MarkGrid, and for tickets and travel, the Web Summit 2026 attendee guide.