ai+expo | Past Events
A look back · AI+ Expo Over The Years

Three years of defining the future.

Since 2024, the AI+ Expo has grown into the premier gathering for the leaders governing and building America’s technology future. Revisit the moments, the people, and the breakthroughs that brought us to AI+Expo 2027.

From an inaugural showcase to a national stage.

2024
The inaugural expo

SCSP’s inaugural AI Expo for National Competitiveness gathered industry leaders, innovators, and emerging tech in the nation’s capital, a first for Washington, DC.

10K+
Attendees
400+
Speakers
2025
Scaling up

Thousands filled the D.C. convention center for the second expo, which featured dynamic conversations, a largershow floor, and a three-day hackathon.

15K+
Attendees
500+
Speakers
2026
The flagship year

Three days in Washington, D.C. uniting government, industry, and academia — with live drone racing, interactive robot arena, a national hackathon, and a packed agenda.

18K+
Attendees
600+
Speakers

The biggest AI+ Expo yet.

May 7–9, 2026 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center brought together the people defining America’s technology leadership.

18K+
Registered Attendees
600+
Speakers
200+
Exhibitors
3
Days in D.C.

A program built for every kind of attendee.

From mainstage keynotes to live competitions on the show floor, the 2026 expo packed three days with programming across the AI and emerging-tech landscape.

01

Featured speakers

Leaders from government, industry, and academia took the stage across multiple stages to chart the future of AI and national competitiveness.

600+ speakers
02

The full agenda

Three days of keynotes, panels, and deep-dive sessions spanning national security, AI workforce, autonomy, cyber, quantum, and more.

Multi-track programming
03

Saturday programming

The final day offered robot building, open drone racing, and family-friendly programming celebrating innovation.

Open to all
04

Explore the expo

A sprawling show floor mapped out 200+ exhibitors — from frontier labs to defense primes — demonstrating technology live.

200+ exhibitors
05

The Hackathon

SCSP’s National Security Technology Hackathon convened top AI engineers across three cities to build solutions for national competitiveness.

$70,000+ in prizes
06

Drone arena competition

Three days of human vs. human and human vs. AI drone racing on a fully enclosed course, right in the middle of the show floor.

Human vs. AI

The voices that shaped 2026.

More than 600 leaders from government, industry, and academia took the stage. A few of the names that joined us in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Eric Schmidt
Dr. Eric Schmidt
Chair, SCSP
Jared Isaacman
Jared Isaacman
Administrator, NASA
Sean Cairncross
Sean Cairncross
National Cyber Director, The White House
Admiral Pierre Vandier
Admiral Pierre Vandier
Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, NATO
H.R. McMaster
H.R. McMaster
Former National Security Advisor; Hoover Institution
Congressman Rob Wittman
Congressman Rob Wittman
U.S. Representative, Virginia’s 1st District
Kevin McCarthy
Kevin McCarthy
55th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
Paul S. Atkins
Paul S. Atkins
Chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission
Darío Gil
Darío Gil
Under Secretary for Science, U.S. Department of Energy
Anne Neuberger
Anne Neuberger
Senior Advisor, a16z; Former Deputy National Security Advisor
Chris Malachowsky
Chris Malachowsky
Co-Founder and Fellow, NVIDIA
Keith Krach
Keith Krach
Chairman, Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy
Nicholas Thompson
Nicholas Thompson
CEO, The Atlantic
Karen Dahut
Karen Dahut
CEO, Google Public Sector
Brandon Daniels
Brandon Daniels
CEO, Exiger
Anshu Roy
Anshu Roy
Founder and CEO, Rhombus Power
Rev Lebaredian
Rev Lebaredian
VP of Omniverse and Simulation Technology, NVIDIA
Kimberly Kagan
Kimberly Kagan
Founder and President, Institute for the Study of War
Olivia Trusty
Olivia Trusty
Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission
David Sanger
David Sanger
Author and Correspondent
Eric Xing
Eric Xing
President and University Professor, MBZUAI
Dr. José-Marie Griffiths
Dr. José-Marie Griffiths
President, Dakota State University
Miriam Vogel
Miriam Vogel
President & CEO, EqualAI
Mac Thornberry
Mac Thornberry
Board of Advisors, SCSP

And 600+ more across government, industry, and academia.

Three days, three stages of ideas.

May 7–9, 2026 · Walter E. Washington Convention Center. A glimpse at featured sessions across the show.

10:30 am
Keynote: FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty
South Stage
10:35 am
Fireside: The Case for American Optimism
Central Stage
11:00 am
Boston Dynamics: Spot, the AI-Powered Robot Dog
Demo Stage
11:05 am
Panel: Turbocharging America’s Industrial Comeback
Central Stage
1:00 pm
David Sanger on “New Cold Wars”
Bookstore
1:55 pm
Panel: The Next 250 Years — Technology, Strategy, and American Progress
Central Stage
11:05 am
Keynote: SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins
Central Stage
11:05 am
Keynote: The Next Wave of Drug Discovery
South Stage
12:00 pm
Fireside: The Future of Embodied AI
Central Stage
2:05 pm
Fireside: Powering the Next American Century
Central Stage
3:00 pm
Colossal Biosciences: De-Extinction, AI, and the Future of Conservation
Demo Stage
3:00 pm
Katrina Manson on “Project Maven”
Bookstore
10:30 am
Interview: Austen Alexander of Battle Bunker
South Stage
11:00 am
Inside the Genesis Mission with Under Secretary Darío Gil
South Stage
11:30 am
Rewriting Education with AI Humanoids
Demo Stage
12:05 pm
Keynote: Dr. Eric Xing, President, MBZUAI
South Stage
10:30 am
MIT: Building with AI — A Practical, Human-in-the-Loop Workshop
Workshop
12:00 pm
Coursera: Building AI Readiness from a Place of Confidence
Workshop
Spotlight · Hackathon

Where national security meets AI engineering.

Hosted across San Francisco, D.C., and Boston, top engineers from academia, the private sector, and government built prototype solutions — then demoed them on stage in Washington.

$70K+
In cash prizes
3
Host cities
4
Challenge tracks
  • Cloud Laboratories — AI agents that autonomously run and iterate experiments.
  • Electric Grid Optimization — grid-aware agents for stability under data-center demand.
  • Wargaming — AI-driven adjudication and adaptive adversaries.
  • GenAI.mil — automating military paperwork, logistics, and knowledge retrieval.
Spotlight · Drone Arena

Bigger. Faster. Better.

The Drone Arena returned reimagined with three full days of high-speed competition on a fully enclosed course right in the middle of the show floor.

3
Days of racing
2
Pilot classes
  • Real racing — competitive flights with live scoring on an enclosed course.
  • Human vs. AI — U.S. service members raced AI-powered drones with expert-led demos.
  • Open Saturday — civilian demos and open racing for the public on the final day.

See the expo in motion.

María Corina Machado on the Future of Democracy & Tech
James Kynge on China's Global Strategy: China at 100
American Strategy at 300 | H.R. McMaster & Graham Allison
ai+expo 2027

The next chapter is
coming in 2027.

Join 18,000+ decision-makers in Washington, D.C. for two days focused on days advancing AI and emerging technologies.

Click to access the login or register cheese