TechCrunch Disrupt 2026’s Real World AI Stage features robots, automated factories, and extinct animals — SkimNews
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- TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 is expanding its single AI stage into two, debuting a "Real World AI Stage" focused on the intersection of digital and physical AI, running October 13–15 at San Francisco's Moscone West.
- Shield AI CTO Nate Michael will lead a session on building AI systems where failure isn't an option, covering autonomous vehicles, defense tech, safety culture, validation, and regulatory hurdles.
- Colossal Biosciences CEO Ben Lamm will discuss turning de-extinction into a billion-dollar business, covering AI's role in modern biology and the debate over whether engineering nature is a conservation breakthrough or a distraction.
- FieldAI, Medra, and Eclipse Ventures leaders (Dr. Ali Agha, Michelle Lee, Aidan Madigan-Curtis) will explore edge AI deployment across defense, space, and industrial contexts where latency matters and connectivity is limited.
- MBRYONICS, Bedrock Robotics, and Foxglove founders (John Mackey, Boris Sofman, Adrian Macneil) will share prototype-to-production lessons in space hardware, humanoid robotics, and autonomous systems.
- The conference expects 10,000+ startup, tech, and VC leaders, with an extra $100 ticket discount available before 11:59 p.m. PT on August 7.
Why it matters: TechCrunch is dedicating an entire new stage to the "digital-physical AI intersection" — autonomous defense systems, de-extinction, edge computing, and humanoid robotics — reflecting how rapidly AI has moved beyond software into hardware that operates in homes, battlefields, and public spaces, reshaping its flagship event for 10,000+ attendees.
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