Web Summit 2026 Day 1: AgiBot Robots and China Take Centre Stage

Web Summit 2026 opened in Lisbon on Monday evening, 9 November, with nine humanoid robots from Chinese company AgiBot dancing on Centre Stage and a speech from founder and CEO Paddy Cosgrave that put China at the heart of the tech industry’s future. The four-day conference, which runs until 12 November, then moved into its first full day on Tuesday with sessions on AI agents, European tech sovereignty and fusion energy.

What happened on Web Summit 2026 opening night?

The opening ceremony at the MEO Arena began with a two-minute routine by nine AgiBot humanoid robots, The Irish Times reported. Euronews identified them as AgiBot A3 robots. The Irish Times noted that AgiBot’s machines had swept the athletics events at the first World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing three months earlier.

Cosgrave then spoke to an audience of up to 12,000 people, according to Euronews. He said this was the most international Lisbon edition so far, with every European country represented. Much of his speech was about China. “The superstars of the future are not coming from California; they’re coming from China,” he told the crowd, as reported by Euronews.

He also told attendees that more than 50 leading figures from China’s top AI labs were at the event, and he thanked partners such as Apple, Meta and Google while pointing out that almost all of them started in California. The Irish Times summed up his message as a future of technology that is “increasingly Chinese.” Casey Lau hosted the evening.

For background on the numbers behind the event, including EY’s estimate of its value to Portugal, see our Web Summit 2026 opening preview.

What did Manus AI show at Web Summit?

Tao Zhang, co-founder and chief product officer of AI agent company Manus, took the stage after Cosgrave. According to Euronews, he argued that companies need people who can work alongside AI rather than simply more staff. He also showed a 30-second AI-generated video that Manus made with its 2.0 video technology from a 13-word prompt.

Manus builds autonomous AI agents that take a plain-language goal, plan the steps and carry them out. Tech Times reported that the company, founded in China and since moved to Singapore, passed $100 million in annual recurring revenue by December 2025, and that a proposed Meta acquisition was blocked by China’s National Development and Reform Commission in April 2026.

Who else spoke on day one?

ECO’s programme guide listed an AI debate moderated by CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal with Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince, Lovable CEO Anton Osika and Richard Socher of Recursive and You.com. Euronews reported that Prince was asked about the news that Nvidia’s board is investigating CEO Jensen Huang, and said it remained to be seen how Huang would come out of it. We covered that story in detail: Nvidia’s board inquiry into Jensen Huang.

Portugal’s deputy minister for State Reform, Gonçalo Matias, also joined Cosgrave and Lisbon mayor Carlos Moedas for the opening session, according to ECO.

What is on the Web Summit agenda for 10 to 12 November?

Tuesday, 10 November. Web Summit’s official schedule shows Centre Stage opening with a “Breakout startups” session, followed by “When AI builds itself,” with Socher in conversation with Wired senior writer Kate Knibbs. The European Commission said Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen would hold a fireside chat on Centre Stage from 11:05 to 11:25 titled “Has Europe’s tech moment arrived?”, covering AI, cloud, chips, digital infrastructure and platform regulation. The Commission’s DG CONNECT also scheduled a masterclass on data spaces for small businesses under the EU Data Act. Tech Times reported a fusion energy session with speakers from Thea Energy, Commonwealth Fusion Systems and Zap Energy.

Wednesday, 11 November. The Commission has listed masterclasses on support for AI builders in Europe, EU funding for technology sovereignty projects and free industry access to EuroHPC supercomputers and AI Factories. ECO reported that Cosgrave will hold a press conference at 11:00, and that Portugal’s Finance Minister Joaquim Miranda Sarmento will discuss the country’s economy on Stage 11.

Thursday, 12 November. The closing day hosts the semi-finals and final of PITCH, Web Summit’s startup competition. Tech Times reported that 105 startups take part in the group rounds, each with a three-minute pitch and three minutes of questions, and that more than 2,000 investors registered for pre-booked meetings.

Key numbers from Web Summit 2026

• Attendees: close to 70,000 expected (Euronews), from about 160 countries (ECO)
• Speakers: about 900
• Startups: more than 2,000
• Edition: the 11th Lisbon edition, held at the MEO Arena and FIL in Parque das Nações

What happens next?

After Lisbon wraps up on 12 November, the European startup calendar moves straight to Slush in Helsinki on 18 and 19 November (see our Slush 2026 preview), followed by Microsoft Ignite and AWS re:Invent. Dates for all of these are on the PFM Today tech events calendar.