Tech Turmoil as Web Summit's Founder Faces Backlash from Industry Heavyweights

Mr. Cosgrave, a former startup founder, co-founded the Web Summit conference series back in 2009. Besides the impressive feat of hosting Europe's largest tech conference in Lisbon every November, they also organize annual events in Brazil, Canada, and Hong Kong. In 2021, this group brought in a whopping €31.8 million in revenue.

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Now, you'd think all is rosy, think again. Mr. Cosgrave's recent comments caused quite a stir in the tech world. Tech bigwigs, including some who have graced Web Summit events, are pulling out of the Lisbon event this November. David Marcus, the former chief exec of PayPal and ex-head of Meta's Messenger app, minced no words: "You chose to support terrorists. As such, I'll never attend/sponsor/speak at any of your events again." Ouch!

Adam Singolda, the head of an advertising company, Taboola, joined the protest, saying, "I'll never be part of your future initiatives, and we'll never work together again." It doesn't stop there. Ori Goshen, the CEO of AI company AI21Labs and a former cybersecurity expert, backed out of a keynote speech, deeming Mr. Cosgrave's comments "abhorrent."

Assaf Rappaport, the CEO of cybersecurity company Wiz, and others followed suit. All of this drama unfolded as some heavyweights like Meta's Sir Nick Clegg and Dario Amodei of AI lab Anthropic were scheduled to speak at Web Summit in Lisbon.

Amid the storm, Mr. Cosgrave tried to ease the situation, expressing sorrow for the tragic events in Israel and Gaza and condemning the attacks by Hamas. Web Summit also chimed in, emphasizing its mission to connect people and ideas globally but acknowledging the sorrow over tech community members no longer attending their event.

Now, that's one heck of a story, isn't it?