Liz Carolan is a fellow at Tech Policy Press.The International AI Summit exhibitors floor in Dublin, Ireland on October 14, 2026. Liz Carolan/Tech Policy PressTo get into today’s International AI Summit in Dublin, delegates had to pass a picket of striking public sector workers, a cluster of protesters, and two layers of security and identity checks. Once inside, however, a companionable air of professionalism reigned as Irish and European Union officials mingled with tech executives and a select handful of journalists over compostable paper coffee cups, amid a showcase featuring robots, Meta smart glasses, quantum computing racks and corporate-branded tote bags.The conference was organized by the Irish government. A flagship event of its Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Ireland billed it as a showcase of innovation and the possibilities of "harnessing AI to revolutionize Europe’s competitiveness.” The government used the event to launch a number of initiatives including a new startup incubator, a cabinet subcommittee and the “Dublin Declaration,” a new document described as a “shared vision for advancing trusted, safe and sovereign AI across Europe.”In her opening address, European Commission Executive Vice President Henna Virkkunen read out her vision for Europe becoming the “AI continent” and highlighted the EU’s investments in infrastructure projects such as “AI factories.” She ended by referencing the work of Irish Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney, whose…

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