Nvidia Cancels Israel AI Summit Over Safety Concerns

Nvidia Ai Summit at EXPO Tel Aviv
(Image credit: EXPO Tel Aviv)

Nvidia was due to hold a two-day AI Summit in Israel in a week’s time, but the event has now been cancelled due to concerns for the safety and wellbeing of participants.

Your local / national current affairs media will probably offer more thorough coverage of the tragic situation in Israel, but at the time of writing the Israeli death toll from Hamas attacks has risen to 600, with 2,000+ injured, and 100+ hostages taken. Retaliatory Israeli airstrikes have killed 370 people, with 2,200 injured, according to figures from the Gaza health ministry.

Nvidia Ai Summit at EXPO Tel Aviv

(Image credit: Nvidia)

One of the hottest trends in computing today is AI, and businesses involved are riding the wave like some rode the crypto wave a few years ago. Nvidia’s AI Summit was scheduled for October 15-16, at EXPO Tel Aviv. Many AI hardware and software researchers and developers are located in Israel, and thousands more planned to visit to “unlock new skills, discover the latest in accelerated computing, and redefine what tomorrow will bring.”

The AI Summit was to begin with a keynote by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. In the conference FAQ Nvidia reminded interested parties that the AI Summit was an in-person, not online, event. After the opening keynote, there was a busy schedule of conference sessions and workshops that people could pick and choose from. Topics covered a broad range of AI applications like Generative AI, Healthcare, Large Language Models, Cybersecurity, Robotics, Omniverse, Autonomous vehicles, and more.

If you head on over to the main page for the Nvidia AI Summit today, you will be directed to a plain-looking message underlining Nvidia’s decision to cancel the event.

(Image credit: Nvidia)

Nvidia says it regrets the cancellation, but sees it as the only choice for the “safety and wellbeing of our participants.” There is no word about whether the AI Summit could go virtual / online, and it is certainly too early to talk about a possible rescheduling of the in-person event.

Mark Tyson
News Editor

Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.

  • brandonjclark
    I think Intel badly needs to decouple from Israel in general.

    There are just as good researchers here in the US and in Europe. The reason so many of Intels breakthroughs happen there is because that's where the development and research money goes.

    Bring it back to the US completely. Israel is just an unstable location!
    Reply
  • USAFRet
    brandonjclark said:
    I think Intel badly needs to decouple from Israel in general.

    There are just as good researchers here in the US and in Europe. The reason so many of Intels breakthroughs happen there is because that's where the development and research money goes.

    Bring it back to the US completely. Israel is just an unstable location!
    This article is about Nvidias summit, not Intel.
    Reply
  • umeng2002_2
    Gotta keep your R&D spread around the globe in order to keep labor costs down.

    People in America don't realize just how compact Europe and the Middle East are. You drive a few hours and visit a few countries.

    Having a hot bed of terrorists right on your boarder is always dangerous.
    Reply
  • Rakanyshu
    I wish tech companies looked at South America as possible investments, labor cost is low enough to compete with Asia/Middle East, is closer to the USA culturally inclined to be US allies, theres Panama's Channel for world wide distribution. Downside might be qualifications but fabs dont need super smart people just good enough.
    Reply
  • el_camello
    umeng2002_2 said:
    Gotta keep your R&D spread around the globe in order to keep labor costs down.

    People in America don't realize just how compact Europe and the Middle East are. You drive a few hours and visit a few countries.

    Having a hot bed of terrorists right on your boarder is always dangerous.
    That is a very simplistic view of the conflict, there is no smoke without fire. I believe it is in the benefit of everyone including the tech industry that every one drives for a long term peaceful solution.
    Reply
  • AndrewJacksonZA
    Rakanyshu said:
    I wish tech companies looked at South America
    Similarly, South Africa.
    Reply