Technology publication TechCrunch announced a strategic media partnership with the SusHi Tech Tokyo 2026 conference, which will take place from April 27 to 29 at the Tokyo Big Sight exhibition center. The event moves away from the traditional vague formulations of industry exhibitions and focuses on four strictly defined technological directions, each supported by live demonstrations and specialized sessions. As part of the collaboration, the Startup Battlefield team will select one outstanding semi-finalist from among the participants of the SusHi Tech Challenge. This startup will gain the right to present at the prestigious TechCrunch Disrupt Startup Battlefield 200 platform, opening up unique opportunities for global market entry and attracting the attention of leading investors.
The first key direction of the conference is dedicated to the transition of artificial intelligence from the stage of inflated expectations to real infrastructure. Specialized sessions will feature Howard Wright from NVIDIA Corporation, Rob Chu from AWS, and Eric Benhamou from Benhamou Global Ventures, who will discuss scalable technology implementation and associated operational risks. In parallel, the AI Film Festival Japan, exploring the impact of neural networks on modern culture, will take place at the Tokyo Innovation Base in Yurakucho. The topic of entertainment will also be widely represented: executives from leading animation studios Production I.G, MAPPA, and CoMix Wave Films will discuss the prospects of transforming Tokyo into a Hollywood animation hub.
The robotics track will demonstrate the advent of the era of physical artificial intelligence, where devices are not hidden behind glass showcases but move freely and interact with visitors in the exhibition space. Representatives from automotive brands Nissan and Isuzu, as well as Kasar Younis from Applied Intuition, will analyze the impact of software-defined vehicles on the future of global mobility. The closely related topic of urban sustainability will combine issues of cybersecurity and climate technologies. Eva Chen from Trend Micro and Noboru Nakatani from NEC will address information security issues, while venture investors from Breakthrough Energy and Cleantech Group will discuss global capital allocation.
An important addition to the main startup program will be a meeting of leaders from fifty-five cities across five continents, organized by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. This summit is part of the G-NETS initiative, which since 2022 has served as a multinational platform for addressing common urban problems and improving citizen well-being. This year, the main discussion theme is "A New Urban Future Based on Climate Change and Disaster Resilience." The organizers ensured maximum transparency of the event: a broad audience will be able to follow the discussions of city leaders via live broadcast on YouTube in real time, as well as view recordings after the summit concludes.
For specialists who cannot personally visit Tokyo at the end of April, the organizers have developed an innovative remote participation format that goes beyond standard video broadcasts. Special staff on-site will move around the exhibition with portable devices, broadcasting the faces of remote participants in real time. This will allow remote attendees to communicate directly with exhibitors and other guests face-to-face, creating a maximum immersion effect. If this interactive format cannot be used, ticket holders will traditionally be able to connect to online session broadcasts.
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