Workshops, talks, and gatherings to get you out into Washington.
Defense-tech founders, federal decision makers, and investors will converge for an informal gathering featuring the Squadra Ventures team alongside portfolio companies like Shift5, Overwatch Imaging, and Primordial Labs—all innovators in cyber threat detection, autonomous sensors, and human-machine teaming. Expect substantive conversations and networking among mission-focused leaders shaping the future of defense technology.
Explore eventEveryday professionals will showcase AI projects they built for civics and elections at The Upskilling Labs' Summit, demonstrating how real people are reshaping critical industries alongside emerging technology rather than being disrupted by it. The community-driven event features live project demos, panel discussions, and networking with hundreds of participants building practical AI solutions across diverse backgrounds.
Explore eventA hands-on workshop will explore Claude Code setup, practical use cases, and ways to navigate complex codebases and streamline repetitive development tasks. It will suit developers of all skill levels interested in AI-assisted programming, with time for collaborative problem-solving and questions.
Explore eventIndustry leaders—founders, investors, operators, and policymakers—will dig into the critical infrastructure powering AI, from data centers and chips to power grids and cooling systems, debating the industrial challenges that'll make or break how fast the AI economy actually scales.
Explore eventDatabricks DevConnect will take place, with event details and registration available on the event website. Registration will be required for admission; Meetup RSVPs will be disabled.
Explore eventThe event will explore the AI industry’s trillion-dollar race to automate human work and discuss ways to shape or resist that shift.
Explore eventOn October 14, Intellicat CEO and CWRU Research Associate Professor Valentin Rodionov will present evidence that leading AI models build on unreliable science, and explain how Intellicat’s TRACES benchmark and credibility-scoring Runtime aim to address the problem. A chemist whose research contributed to work underlying the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Rodionov has also investigated scientific misconduct and developed an open benchmark testing AI’s ability to recognize flawed research.
Explore eventBlueDot Impact will host an October 14 happy hour bringing alumni together with professionals working in AI safety and policy across government, think tanks, research, and civil society. Attendees will connect with the BlueDot team and colleagues across the field; registration will require approval.
Explore eventRegulators, investigators, and industry leaders will examine how to counter autonomous market abuse, deepfakes, synthetic identities, and on-chain manipulation with real-time, AI-native compliance. Sessions will explore machine-speed enforcement and the 2030 threat landscape, including quantum computing’s challenge to today’s cryptography.
Explore eventThe Fed AI Leaders Summit, co-hosted by OneSixOne Ventures and Innodata, will bring government and Department of War AI leaders together with executives and researchers for speaker sessions, networking, and a fireside chat with Moksh Jawa, CTO of the U.S. Department of Commerce. More speakers will be announced soon.
Explore eventThe Global Payments Group and Malaysia’s Embassy will host a DC Fintech Week discussion on Asia-Pacific payment systems, cross-border interoperability and AI’s impact on compliance, fraud and user experience. Malaysian Ambassador to the U.S. H.E. Tan Sri Muhammad Shahrul Ikram Yaakob will give welcome remarks, followed by a moderated panel and audience Q&A.
Explore eventThe DC Founders’ Salon will bring a curated group of defense, dual-use, cyber, and AI founders, prioritizing those with $2M+ raised, and select investors together for candid discussion on AI’s leverage, early traction, and strategic capital. Hosted by three-time founder and two-time author Vernon T. Foster II, the capped, non-commercial gathering will focus on practical peer exchange.
Explore eventDevelopers will share practical ways to use Claude Code in daily workflows, from building and debugging to shipping, with a brief best-practices walkthrough and hands-on peer problem-solving around real codebases. The meetup will suit anyone exploring AI agents, with participants encouraged to bring current projects and experience to the discussion.
Explore eventUSC Marshall’s VanEck Digital Assets Initiative will host Regulatory PETshop II during DC Fintech Week 2026, bringing regulators and builders together to examine privacy-enhancing technologies, agentic commerce, AI security, and programmable compliance. The workshop will also explore governance and accountability, with support from The Fintech Foundation, NEAR, SVRN, and Openreserve.
Explore eventMentorship-circle members will explore Claude Code hands-on, testing its project-structure, debugging, and code-generation capabilities on real projects while sharing practical approaches to AI-assisted development. The collaborative workshop will suit developers from curious beginners to those already experimenting with AI tools.
Explore eventSmall Conversations, Big Ideas will bring national security veterans, AI policy and safety leaders, and curious colleagues together to discuss how today’s policy choices can steer AI toward broad progress while protecting democratic institutions and stability. The first session will take place October 17, 2026.
Explore eventDr. Bartosz Naskręcki, a number theorist and co-creator of FrontierMath, will unpack how human researchers and AI agents are optimizing a key circuit in Shor’s algorithm, including techniques behind an 86.1% reduction in its qubit–Toffoli benchmark. Moderated by Quantum AI Foundation CEO Dr. Paweł Góra, the talk will explore how open, machine-verified experimentation can drive reproducible progress in hard technical problems.
Explore eventPEF DC will hear from senior State Department leaders about Pax Silica and securing AI and semiconductor supply chains, intelligence briefings, and emerging global threats. Speakers will include Under Secretary Jacob Helberg and experienced officials from INR and the Bureau of Emerging Threats, with a tentative discussion on government work in supply chains and energy.
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