Tech

Charlie Taylor in Lisbon: Web Summit returns with no Paddy Cosgrave and less buzz

More than 70,000 people are due to attend the conference but it lacks the energy of past years, our technology and innovation editor writes

Meredith Whittaker, chair of Signal, on stage at Web Summit in Lisbon

The first full day of Web Summit got under way on Tuesday with discussions on AI, venture capital investing and the future of news, among the key topics.

Web Summit said on Tuesday that 70,236 attendees from 153 countries at the company’s flagship event in Lisbon this week with 2,609 start-ups taking part, the highest number ever.

While many leading sponsors have withdrawn from this year’s tech conference including Google, Intel, Siemens and Amazon, the ...