EmTech Future 2026: When AI Meets Everything

MIT Technology Review has put the full EmTech Future 2026 program on demand. Over three days, the event covered how AI is affecting industries, where quantum computing is heading, what new energy systems could enable, how robotics is evolving, and what happens when these fields converge.

The featured sessions point to the theme. Google Research head Yossi Matias spoke on AI beginning to reshape biology, infrastructure, manufacturing and science. Google Quantum AI founder Hartmut Neven looked at quantum alongside other frontiers. MIT's Evelyn Wang covered how energy, computing, infrastructure and climate tech are interlocking. Author Cory Doctorow took on how AI is changing the way we work and think.

This is a conference listing, not a news event, so we'll keep it short. But the organizing idea is worth a minute of airtime. Most AI coverage, ours included, is dominated by model launches and lab drama. The argument running through this program is that the larger story is AI as an ingredient: in biology, in the grid, in factories, in quantum research.

We agree with the direction. Some of the most useful AI we cover is the least flashy, applied inside a scientific or industrial process where the payoff is a faster experiment or a more efficient system. That's where the benefit of the doubt is easiest to extend.

The flip side is that convergence also compounds risk. AI tied into energy and infrastructure raises the stakes of failure, and AI's own appetite for power is part of the energy conversation. A lineup heavy on big-company research leaders also tilts toward the builder's view. Including a critic like Doctorow helps, and we'd watch for whether the skeptical sessions get the same attention as the optimistic ones.

One practical note: the program is sold as paid access, with a discount for subscribers. We haven't seen the sessions, so we're judging the framing, not the content.

EmTech is MIT Technology Review's long-running conference series on emerging technology. This edition's material is available on demand rather than as new reporting.