Intel, Siemens Pull Out of Web Summit After Israel Remarks
“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,” Cosgrave said on the Web Summit site.
Intel Corp. and Siemens AG are pulling out of Web Summit, the biggest technology conference in Europe, following remarks by the event’s leader that criticized Western support for Israel after the Hamas attacks.
The US chipmaker confirmed on Thursday that it was “withdrawing from Web Summit.” A representative for the Santa Clara, California-based company, which has longstanding operations in Israel, declined to comment further.
Siemens, the German engineering and manufacturing company, is listed as one of the top sponsors of the summit scheduled for next month in Lisbon. But after having “reviewed the situation,” the company will no longer be a partner or attend the event this year, a representative said.
Y Combinator’s Garry Tan, Sequoia Capital’s Ravi Gupta and other prominent venture capitalists also have cancelled plans to attend the event. Several tech executives based in Israel have dropped out as well.
“I refuse to appear at Web Summit and am canceling my appearance,” Garry Tan posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “I condemn Hamas and pray for peace for the Israeli and Palestinian people.”
Paddy Cosgrave, who runs the event, issued an apology earlier this week.
“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,” he said on the Web Summit site. “To anyone who was hurt by my words, I apologize deeply.”
He initially posted about the conflict last week and reiterated the sentiment in subsequent posts.
Nine investors cancelled and 35 new investors registered in just one day, while ticket sales on October 16th were the highest of any Monday this year, Cosgrave said on Tuesday on X.
Intel and Siemens pulling out of the event was previously reported by Business Post.
Political controversy has dogged Web Summit in the past. Last year the conference withdrew an invitation to panelists from the Grayzone after backlash over the website’s perceived anti-Ukrainian bias. Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska was the keynote speaker at that event.
Several prominent Silicon Valley leaders are slated to speak at the Lisbon event, including Meta Platforms Inc. policy chief Nick Clegg and Vishal Sharma, a vice president at Amazon.com Inc. Representatives from Meta and Amazon didn't immediately return requests for comment.
Bloomberg
