TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 Opens AI Sessions and Sept. 18 Exhibit Deadline

For startups seeking space in the Expo Hall, Disrupt offers a 6-foot by 30-inch branded exhibit table for all three days, where teams can demonstrate products, meet prospective customers and turn conversations into leads. TechCrunch says the package includes lead generation through the Disrupt app, 10 team passes, branding across the website, event app and signage, access to the TechCrunch Disrupt press list, a company profile on the event website and mobile app, and Silver Tier sponsor designation with additional event recognition. Founders who are not ready for a table can still attend, TechCrunch says.

The event is scheduled to include more than 300 startups across industries in the Expo Hall, six industry stages, networking with AI-powered matchmaking and Startup Battlefield 200, according to TechCrunch.

On the Builders Stage, the session 'What Happens When OpenAI Ships Your Roadmap' will examine what happens when features that AI startups build become part of the platforms they depend on. TechCrunch says every major release from OpenAI, Anthropic or Google raises the same question for AI founders: what happens if a product they spent a year building suddenly becomes a platform feature? The discussion is framed around how founders compete when foundation model companies introduce new capabilities every few months. It asks whether AI companies can still own their products, and where defensibility remains.

The session will feature Michel Tricot, co-founder and CEO of Airbyte; Rob Toews, a partner at Radical Ventures; and Linda Tong, CEO of Webflow. TechCrunch says Tricot has grown Airbyte, an open-source data integration platform, to more than 7,000 customers, including 18% of the Fortune 500. Tong leads Webflow, a visual development platform, and has held roles at Google, Cisco and the NFL, according to TechCrunch. Toews evaluates AI startups at Radical Ventures. The panel brings a founder, an operator and an investor to discuss durable AI businesses and the competitive advantages that foundation models cannot easily replace, such as proprietary data, deeply embedded workflows, customer relationships, domain expertise and trust.

A second session, 'Can We Engineer Nature's Comeback?', will be a Real World AI Stage fireside chat with Ben Lamm, co-founder and CEO of Colossal Biosciences. TechCrunch says the conversation will explore the technologies behind de-extinction, the role of AI in modern biology and the debate over whether engineering nature is a conservation breakthrough or a distraction from protecting existing ecosystems. The session also raises questions about the role AI should play in biodiversity, climate resilience and emerging technologies, according to TechCrunch.

TechCrunch says Lamm has spent more than two decades building companies at the intersection of AI and emerging technologies. Before Colossal, he launched companies including Hypergiant, Conversable and Chaotic Moon, which were later acquired by Trive Capital, LivePerson and Accenture, respectively. Colossal applies AI and synthetic biology to de-extinction as a conservation tool, making it one of the most closely watched and debated companies in science and technology, TechCrunch says.

TechCrunch says passes for Disrupt can be purchased with savings of up to $200 before rates increase on Sept. 25.

Editor's Summary

TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 will take place Oct. 13–15 at Moscone West in San Francisco. Exhibit applications are due Sept. 18, while the program will include sessions on competing with foundation model platforms and using AI in de-extinction research. The event highlights how AI platform releases and advances in biology are influencing startup strategy, product defensibility and conservation debates.