TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 adds a second AI stage focused on robots, battlefields and de-extinction
The Real World AI Stage debuts at Disrupt 2026 this October, bringing together founders building autonomous systems for defence, space, and biology, including the company trying to bring back extinct animals.
Key points
- TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 runs October 13 to 15 at Moscone West in San Francisco.
- A brand-new Real World AI Stage joins the existing AI Stage, doubling the conference's AI-dedicated programming.
- Speakers include leaders from Shield AI (defence drones), Colossal Biosciences (de-extinction), FieldAI (edge computing), and Foxglove (robotics tooling).
- Early-bird tickets are $100 cheaper if purchased before 11:59 p.m. PT on August 7, 2025.
- Organisers expect more than 10,000 attendees across the three-day event.
TechCrunch Disrupt has run an AI Stage for several years. This year, organisers decided one stage was no longer enough.
The new Real World AI Stage focuses on AI that operates in physical spaces, not just on screens. Think military drones, factory floors, operating rooms and, yes, efforts to resurrect animals that no longer exist.
What will actually be on stage?
Four sessions are confirmed so far, each built around a practical problem that physical-world AI forces engineers and founders to confront.
Nate Michael, chief technology officer of Shield AI, a company that builds autonomous software for military aircraft, will open with a session on what "safe enough to deploy" actually means when a bug could crash a plane or compromise a mission. Shield AI's software, called Hivemind, lets aircraft fly without GPS or a human pilot in the loop.
Ben Lamm, chief executive of Colossal Biosciences, the biotech startup that has raised money to genetically reconstruct extinct species such as the woolly mammoth, joins for a fireside chat. He will discuss the AI tools modern biology now relies on and the genuine scientific argument about whether de-extinction helps conservation or distracts from protecting species that are still here.
A second panel brings together Dr. Ali Agha of FieldAI, Michelle Lee of Medra, and venture partner Aidan Madigan-Curtis to tackle "edge AI", meaning AI software that must run locally on a device rather than sending data to distant servers, because a battlefield or a remote industrial site has no reliable internet connection.
A third panel covers the gap between a working prototype and a product that ships at scale, with founders from MBRYONICS (space hardware), Bedrock Robotics (humanoid robots) and Foxglove (software for debugging robots).
| Session | Key speaker(s) | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Failure Is Not an Option | Nate Michael, Shield AI | Safe deployment of defence AI |
| Can We Engineer Nature's Comeback? | Ben Lamm, Colossal Biosciences | De-extinction and AI in biology |
| Operating at the Edge | Agha, Lee, Madigan-Curtis | AI without cloud connectivity |
| Prototype to Production | Mackey, Sofman, Macneil | Scaling deep-tech hardware |
Should ordinary people care about any of this?
Most of the technology discussed on this stage is still years from touching daily life directly. But the policy and safety questions it raises are not.
Autonomous weapons, AI-designed organisms and self-navigating robots in public spaces will all face regulatory decisions in the next few years. The debates starting on stages like this one tend to shape those rules before most people know the rules are being written.
If you work in manufacturing, logistics, healthcare or defence contracting, the prototype-to-production and edge AI sessions are particularly worth watching even if you only follow the published recordings afterwards.
What happens next?
More speakers are still to be announced. The $100 early-bird discount expires at midnight Pacific time on August 7. The event itself opens October 13.
Full session details are available directly on the Disrupt 2026 website.
Common questions
What is "edge AI" and why does it matter?
Edge AI means running artificial intelligence software on a local device, such as a drone or a factory machine, rather than sending information to a remote server. It matters because many real-world environments, from battlefields to deep-sea rigs, have no reliable internet connection.
Is Colossal Biosciences actually bringing back extinct animals?
Colossal Biosciences uses genetic-editing tools to reconstruct traits of extinct species inside closely related living animals. The company has announced projects around the woolly mammoth, the thylacine and the dodo. No extinct species has yet been fully revived; the science is ongoing and contested.
Do I need a technical background to follow these sessions?
No. The sessions are pitched at founders, investors and curious professionals rather than researchers. The practical business and safety questions are the focus, not the underlying maths.
