Intel and Siemens said they are pulling out of Web Summit, the biggest technology conference in Europe, following remarks by the event’s leader that criticized Western support for Israel after the Hamas attacks.
The US chipmaker confirmed on Thursday that it was “withdrawing from Web Summit.” A representative for the Santa Clara, California-based company, which has longstanding operations in Israel, declined to comment further.
Siemens, the German engineering and manufacturing company, is listed as one of the top sponsors of the summit scheduled for next month in Lisbon. But after having “reviewed the situation,” the company will no longer be a partner or attend the event this year, a representative said.
Y Combinator’s Garry Tan, Sequoia Capital’s Ravi Gupta and other prominent venture capitalists also have canceled plans to attend the event. Several tech executives based in Israel have dropped out as well.
Paddy Cosgrave, who runs the event, issued an apology earlier this week. “I understand that what I said, the timing of what I said, and the way it has been presented has caused profound hurt to many,” he said on the Web Summit site. “To anyone who was hurt by my words, I apologize deeply.”
He initially posted about the conflict last week and reiterated the sentiment in subsequent posts.