EmTech Future 2026 Explores How AI Meets Everything

AI Touching Every Field

EmTech Future 2026, hosted by MIT Technology Review, brought together researchers and thinkers to explore one of the most important questions in tech today: what happens when artificial intelligence intersects with other fields?

The conference ran for three days and covered topics ranging from quantum computing and energy systems to robotics and the evolving relationship between humans and AI.

Google Researchers Lead the Conversation

Yossi Matias, Vice President and Head of Google Research, kicked things off by exploring how AI is beginning to reshape biology, infrastructure, manufacturing, and science. His key message was that AI's greatest impact may come not from what it can do alone, but from how it connects with other areas of research and industry ¹.

Hartmut Neven, founder and lead at Google Quantum AI, made a similar point about quantum computing. He argued that quantum technology's real significance may lie not only in what it can do on its own, but in how it interacts with the systems around it ¹.

Converging Technologies

Evelyn Wang, VP for energy and climate at MIT, explored how energy, computing, infrastructure, and climate technologies are increasingly connected. She examined what these converging systems could mean for the future of industry and society ¹.

The theme of convergence ran throughout the event. Rather than each technology developing in isolation, speakers emphasized that the most exciting breakthroughs will come from how these different fields interact with one another.

Rethinking Our Relationship with AI

Cory Doctorow, a bestselling author and award-winning writer, pushed the conversation in a different direction. He explored how AI is changing the way we work and think, challenging attendees to reconsider their assumptions about the technology ¹.

What the Full Program Offers

The complete EmTech Future 2026 program is now available on demand for subscribers, giving access to all sessions and conversations from the event. MIT Technology Review subscribers can access the full program at a discounted rate ¹.

The conference also featured deep dives into ongoing debates about AI capabilities, including discussions on whether large language models truly reason and whether artificial general intelligence (AGI) is as close as some hype suggests ¹.

Key facts

• EmTech Future 2026 was a three-day conference by MIT Technology Review
• Speakers emphasized AI's greatest impact comes from convergence with other fields
• Google researchers Yossi Matias and Hartmut Neven both spoke at the event
• The full program is available on demand for subscribers

Sources

1. EmTech Future 2026: When AI Meets Everything — technologyreview.com