Linux Foundation expands open source AI events program

The Linux Foundation has unveiled its 2026 global events program, putting open source AI, agentic systems and scalable AI infrastructure front and center. The nonprofit plans dozens of conferences and community gatherings worldwide, spanning everything from core infrastructure to production-ready AI frameworks.

For eeNews Europe readers tracking how open source is shaping real-world AI deployment, the expanded program offers a clear view of where ecosystems, standards and developer communities are heading next. The strong European focus also highlights where collaboration opportunities are emerging across the region.

AI takes center stage

A key theme for 2026 is the rapid transition of AI from experimentation into deployment. To support that shift, the Linux Foundation is rolling out several new and expanded AI-focused events. These include MCP Dev Summit in both North America and Europe, Agentics Day: MCP + Agents Europe, Cloud Native AI + Kubeflow Day Europe, and PyTorch Conference Europe in Paris.

The Linux Foundation will also integrate AI_Dev Summit into the global Open Source Summit series, signaling that AI is no longer a side topic but a core part of the open source stack. The focus is firmly on open standards and community-driven development to make AI systems scalable, interoperable and production-ready.

“With AI moving from experimentation to real-world deployment, open collaboration has never been more critical,” said Jim Zemlin, Executive Director of the Linux Foundation. “This year’s Linux Foundation events bring developers, maintainers, and organizations together to share lessons learned and help build the future of open source, for AI and beyond.”

Global reach with a strong European footprint

Beyond AI, the 2026 lineup reflects growing regional momentum. Europe will host major events such as KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe in Amsterdam, OpenSearchCon Europe in Prague, and PyTorch Conference Europe in Paris, alongside co-located events covering cloud native computing, security and observability.

The Linux Foundation is also expanding across Asia and North America, with events in India, China and the US. Together, the program underscores how open source communities are aligning globally to tackle the next phase of AI and infrastructure innovation.