Bittensor Commons Unveils Exploit Summit: A Decentralized AI Conference Challenging Corporate Dominance
Bittensor Commons is hosting Exploit Summit, a two-day conference that brings together builders working on open, incentive-driven artificial intelligence. The event takes place in Montreal on September 28-29, 2026, and features over 100 independent teams building on the Bittensor network.
The summit aims to provide an alternative to corporate AI development, which has become concentrated among a few well-capitalized companies. Instead of relying on large corporations, Exploit Summit focuses on open competition between independent participants, demonstrating how AI can be coordinated through decentralized networks.
Confirmed speakers include Jacob Steeves, founder of Bittensor and now CEO of Affine; Micaela Bazo, CEO and co-founder of Metanova Labs; and other notable experts in the field. The event will feature live demonstrations, workshops, head-to-head competition, and public debate.
Etienne Leroy, Director of Opentensor Foundation, emphasized that the question is no longer whether machines can be made intelligent but rather who gets to build the systems that produce that intelligence and on what terms. The connection between Montreal's academic AI institutions and Bittensor's community is historical and thematic rather than institutional.
Exploit Summit is produced by Bittensor Commons, a non-profit initiative dedicated to promoting the visibility, understanding, and adoption of Bittensor. Tickets are available at https://luma.com/exploitsummit26.