TechCrunch Disrupt 2026’s new Real World AI Stage features Nvidia, robots, and extinct animals — SkimNews
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- TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 is adding a brand-new "Real World AI Stage" alongside its existing AI Stage, doubling AI programming for the October 13–15 event at San Francisco's Moscone West.
- Nvidia's Les Karpas, Head of Physical AI, will speak on what's blocking general-purpose robotic intelligence, with the article identifying the data gap — robots lack both the internet-scale data LLMs had and the millions of road-hours self-driving has — as the single biggest barrier.
- Shield AI CTO Nate Michael will address how to build autonomous systems where failure isn't an option, covering safety culture, validation testing, and regulatory navigation for defense, vehicles, and industrial systems.
- Colossal Biosciences CEO Ben Lamm will discuss de-extinction technology and AI's role in modern biology, with the article framing his billion-dollar business as one of tech's most controversial and asking whether it is a conservation breakthrough or a distraction.
- FieldAI's Dr. Ali Agha, Medra's Michelle Lee, and Eclipse Ventures' Aidan Madigan-Curtis will discuss edge AI deployment — building systems that work where the cloud can't reach, with latency, connectivity, and failure constraints.
- Bedrock Robotics co-founder Boris Sofman, Mbryonics' John Mackey, and Foxglove's Adrian Macneil will share lessons on crossing the prototype-to-production gap in space hardware, humanoid robotics, and autonomous systems.
- Other Disrupt 2026 stages announced include the AI Stage (security gaps in AI-era software), Smart Money Stage (stablecoins, instant payments), Smart Systems Stage (fusion and grid strain), Builders Stage (raising and scaling), and a Disrupt Stage featuring Replit, Amazon, and Tether.
Why it matters: Disrupt is splitting its AI programming into two stages because one stage couldn't cover both digital and physical AI anymore. The new Real World AI Stage adds sessions on robotics, autonomous systems, and edge AI where failure has physical-world stakes — giving the 10,000+ founders, VCs, and engineers attending October 13–15 a choice between pure software debates and embodied hardware questions.
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