Announcing the Hacks/Hackers 2026 AI x Journalism Summit

The Hacks/Hackers AI x Journalism Summit is returning to Baltimore on May 13-14, 2026. Registration starts now and we hope you'll send us your pitches (use this submission form and see below for more details) for focused sessions and other programming at the summit led by experts who can go deep.

Our first Summit in May 2025 was a success, drawing more than 200 leaders from major newsrooms, local news outlets, tech companies and product teams for over two days of inspiration in Baltimore.

“AI is shifting week to week, faster than journalism has ever had to adapt,” said Paul Cheung, strategic advisor to Hacks/Hackers. “If we don’t learn at that pace, we won’t shape the future of news. We’ll be spectators to it. This summit exists to keep us in the race.”

Over two days in space provided by our gracious hosts, The Real News Network, summit participants explored AI’s societal impact and how to apply the new tools and practices to journalism. 

For 2026, we will keep the same intimate setting where people have a chance to meet everyone at the event and make deeper connections. We are slightly increasing maximum attendance to 300 participants.

“Our curated experience and engaging formats are about creating a space for people to engage more than a typical conference,” said Hacks/Hackers co-founder and principal Burt Herman. “We’re harnessing the energy generated by last year’s Summit to once again bring together the people leading AI adoption across journalism and technology.”

“AI gets better when journalists shape it, because their reporting instincts and community knowledge are exactly the domain expertise these tools need,” said The Real News Network’s Jonathan Keen. “Newsrooms are stretched thin, audiences are shifting fast, and doing great journalism isn’t enough if people can’t find it. AI can give journalists the leverage to adapt without burning out, and if we don’t engage with it, others will shape the future of information for us. The Real News Network is hosting this event because journalism can’t afford to hide from the future. We need to build it, together.”

Call for Pitches

For next year's AI x Journalism Summit, we’re calling for submissions for focused 75-minute sessions that teach, demonstrate or reveal something actionable about AI in journalism.

We'll have four tracks at the event:

• Adopt: Follow the exact steps newsrooms took to build their AI solutions from scratch.
• Play: Code, customize and deploy AI tools in hands-on working sessions.
• Preview: Discover breakthrough AI experiments that are transforming journalism.
• Govern: Unpack frameworks and discussions for testing, auditing and managing AI systems responsibly.

We will share more details about the event over the coming weeks and months. Please save the date, spread the word and pitch a session!