A wave of withdrawals has hit the prestigious Web Summit based in Lisbon, Portugal after its CEO, Paddy Cosgrave, made contentious comments about Israel’s military actions, sparking a significant backlash from the tech and AI community.
VentureBeat reports that the Web Summit in Lisbon, celebrated for its assembly of global tech luminaries and groundbreaking startups, has found itself in the midst of a storm following remarks by its CEO, Paddy Cosgrave. The CEO’s comments, which labeled Israel’s military responses to Hamas’ attacks as “war crimes,” have led to a series of high-profile withdrawals from the event.
I’m shocked at the rhetoric and actions of so many Western leaders & governments, with the exception in particular of Ireland’s government, who for once are doing the right thing. War crimes are war crimes even when committed by allies, and should be called out for what they are.
— Paddy Cosgrave (@paddycosgrave) October 13, 2023
“I understand that what I said, the timing of what I said, and the way it has been presented has caused profound hurt to many. To anyone who was hurt by my words, I apologise deeply,” Cosgrave later expressed in an apology posted on the Web Summit website. Despite the apology, the impact of his words continues to reverberate through the tech industry, causing several influential figures to cancel their participation in the summit.
In a show of protest and solidarity against the comments made by Cosgrave, various tech and AI leaders have opted to withdraw from the event. Notable personalities such as Garry Tan, president and CEO of Y Combinator, and Ori Goshen, co-founder of AI21 Labs, have publicly canceled their appearances.
I refuse to appear at Web Summit and am canceling my appearance.
I condemn Hamas and pray for peace for the Israeli and Palestinian people. https://t.co/0m2DiDsRJI pic.twitter.com/dkyCuwuJfi
— Garry Tan 陈嘉兴 — e/acc (@garrytan) October 16, 2023
The Israeli ambassador to Portugal also announced that Israel would not be participating in the summit, marking a significant diplomatic response to the controversy.
Today, I wrote to the Mayor of Lisbon informing him that #Israel will not participate in the @WebSummit conference due to the outrageous statements made by the conference CEO, Paddy Cosgrave.
Even during these difficult times, he is unable to set aside his extreme political…— Dor Shapira🇱🇵🇹 (@ShapiraDor) October 16, 2023
Read more at VentureBeat here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.