South Summit says 'AI is not a threat' and urges Europe to scrap '27 different borders'

Published on 03/06/2026 - 20:00 GMT+2

Artificial intelligence has become far more than an emerging technology. For the leaders of the start-up ecosystem gathered in Madrid this week, it represents an economic opportunity that could redefine Europe’s role in the global economy.

That was one of the key messages at the opening of South Summit 2026 (source in Spanish), one of Europe’s largest international gatherings on innovation and entrepreneurship, which from 3 to 5 June is bringing together more than 20,000 attendees, around 4,900 start-ups, over 2,000 investors and some 600 international speakers, according to the organisers.

Under the theme 'AI Convergence', the 15th edition of the event puts artificial intelligence at the heart of the debate on Europe’s economic and technological future. South Summit’s president and founder, María Benjumea, argued at the opening that "Artificial intelligence is not a threat but a tool for growth and improvement" and called on Europe to remove the barriers that hold back the growth of start-ups.

"A start-up born in Spain must be able to see Europe as its natural home, not as 27 separate borders", Benjumea said, warning that many companies still feel compelled to move to the United States in order to scale up their businesses.

The head of the event also stressed the pace at which this technology is advancing. She noted that in just three years artificial intelligence has gone from attracting 30% of global venture capital investment to 61%, a development she described as a "paradigm shift".

Spain underscores its commitment to digitalisation

Spain’s Minister for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service, Óscar López, used the opening of the gathering to defend Spain’s position in the digital economy.

"The OECD has just revised up the growth forecast for Spain from 2.1% to 2.2%. That is no coincidence: it is the result of a national commitment to digital and green transformation," he said. López also noted that Spain has allocated 1.5 billion euros to its national artificial intelligence strategy and said the country has some of the most advanced digital infrastructure in Europe, with more than 96% fibre-optic coverage and almost 94% 5G coverage.

The minister added that Spain is the first country in the European Union when it comes to overseeing and developing a "trustworthy and open" artificial intelligence, and stressed that one million SMEs and self-employed workers have received support to go digital.

AI: from tool to a growth engine for business

The organisers of the event say that artificial intelligence should no longer be understood as an isolated technology, but as a cross-cutting factor that is transforming entire industries.

Reflecting that focus, South Summit is launching the "AI Forum" this year, a new space developed with IE University that aims to help entrepreneurs and companies build AI-based prototypes and business models in just a few hours. "Artificial intelligence has radically shortened the distance between an idea and starting to build," Benjumea said. "It does not replace judgement or vision, but it does shorten timelines and turns an idea into something tangible."

Lee Newman, dean of IE Business School, agreed that AI is changing the rules of the game for start-ups by allowing small teams to operate with capabilities that were once reserved for much larger organisations. "The question is no longer whether it is possible, but how far they want to go", he said.

Global leaders in Madrid

Among the high-profile participants this year are former Italian prime minister Enrico Letta, Google X founder Sebastian Thrun and Female Invest co-founder Anna Hartvigsen. King Felipe VI is also expected to attend, along with Madrid mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida and regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso.

The opening day also featured an address by Kim Perell, an entrepreneur and investor from Silicon Valley who has been involved in more than a hundred start-ups. Perell advocated a pragmatic view of entrepreneurship and said that **"**being an entrepreneur is not about having one big idea, but about the discipline to execute and keep moving forward even when you do not have all the answers".