The glamour of Web Summit 2025’s opening night on November 10 continues to echo through Lisbon’s bustling tech corridors as the event enters its second day, drawing a record 71,386 innovators from 157 countries to the Altice Arena. Billed as the “Davos for geeks,” the four-day gathering blended celebrity star power, urgent geopolitical discourse and bold visions for technology’s future, headlined by speeches from tennis legend Maria Sharapova, summit founder Paddy Cosgrave, Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas and Portuguese Minister Gonçalo Matias.
The evening’s Centre Stage pulsed with energy as speakers took turns rallying the crowd, framing the summit as a pivotal moment for global tech’s future. Kicking off the formal addresses, Minister Gonçalo Matias—standing in for Prime Minister Luís Montenegro—set an audacious tone for Portugal’s role in the AI revolution. “Portugal has all the conditions to become a world leader in Artificial Intelligence,” Matias declared, emphasizing the nation’s edge in cost competitiveness, societal impact, and global ambition. He urged attendees to embrace technology’s disruptive potential, quoting, “The digital journey of Portugal depends on our collective capacity to do what technology itself does best: learn, adapt, and collaborate. Matias unveiled plans for a forthcoming National AI Agenda to fuse tech, economy, and sovereignty, including training over two million citizens in digital skills by 2030, launching the homegrown AI model “Amália,” and channeling €16 billion into data centers and AI “gigafactories.” Painting Lisbon as a “transcontinental city” anchored by submarine cables and a vibrant ecosystem, he challenged the arena: “Innovate, experiment, dream.” The announcement spotlighted 178 Portuguese startups in AI, health, and education, backed by initiatives like Startup Portugal, drawing nods from giants such as Google and Microsoft.
Flanking Matias on stage were Cosgrave and Moedas, whose remarks amplified the minister’s vision while injecting a dose of international realism. Mayor Carlos Moedas, fresh from touting Lisbon’s innovation credentials, proclaimed the city’s intent to crown itself “Europe’s capital of innovation.” He revealed that Lisbon is poised to host its 17th unicorn startup, a milestone announced amid the summit’s opening fanfare, and stressed the “secret ingredients” fueling this surge: culture, art, and social justice woven into tech’s fabric. “How do you keep innovation at the top? Invest in social welfare,” Moedas posited, linking equitable policies to creative breakthroughs and positioning the Portuguese capital as a holistic hub where “digital innovation meets human heart.
Web Summit CEO Paddy Cosgrave followed with a sobering wake-up call, warning that “Europe and North America are losing the [tech] race. Drawing parallels to the “Davos for geeks,” he spotlighted China’s dominance in robotics and open-source AI models that outpace even OpenAI, while praising Brazil’s free, open Pix payment system as a blueprint for equitable global tech. “This year, more than any before, the multipolar nature of the tech industry is clear,” Cosgrave asserted, calling for Western leaders to adapt or risk irrelevance in a shifting landscape. His words, delivered with characteristic candor, elicited murmurs of agreement from the diverse audience, underscoring the summit’s theme of resilient, inclusive progress.
No stranger to high-stakes performance, Maria Sharapova brought a personal lens to the proceedings during a subsequent panel, exploring AI’s transformative grip on sports. The five-time Grand Slam champion, who captivated the crowd earlier with her poised entrance, reflected on how artificial intelligence is revolutionizing tennis—from instant analytics that dissect plays in seconds to predictive tools enhancing training. “I think the acceptance of AI [in tennis] is really important,” Sharapova shared, advocating for its ethical integration to amplify human potential rather than replace it. Her insights, laced with anecdotes from her storied career, drew cheers and sparked sidebar chats among attendees, bridging elite athletics with everyday tech applications.
The speeches capped a night laced with spectacle: TikTok star Khaby Lame’s hilarious silent skits lampooning AI mishaps stole the show, while an Olympics-inspired parade of flag-bearing tech founders from around the world added festive flair. Co-host Casey Lau kept the momentum high, transitioning seamlessly between gravitas and levity.
The Web Summit 2025 in Lisbon began with a lively opening night, where flags of more than 100 countries, including Bangladesh, were raised for the first time symbolizing global unity in tech. One hundred entrepreneurs, one from each country-from Algeria to Zimbabwe-joined on stage. Their collective presence marked the official launch of the four-day event. Organizers hailed it as a powerful nod to innovation’s borderless future.
As day two unfolds with over 1,000 sessions—from Brad Smith’s AI infrastructure deep dives to panels on journalism under siege—the opening night’s messages linger like a clarion call. With the Night Summit spilling into Lisbon’s neighborhoods for after-hours networking, one venture capitalist summed it up on X: “From Matias’s AI blueprint to Cosgrave’s reality check, this isn’t just a summit—it’s a strategy session for the next decade.”
Web Summit runs through November 13.