(Credit: Microsoft)
Microsoft’s next annual developer conference is confirmed, and it’s moving back from its usual May timeframe to June for the first time since 2013.
The dates for Build 2026 are confirmed as June 2 and 3, with the event being held in San Francisco, California. The physical event will be held at Fort Mason Center, which marks Microsoft's first developer conference in the city since 2016. Microsoft held Build in Washington between 2017 and 2019, online during the COVID-19 pandemic, and in Seattle for the last few years.
This year's Build is aimed at “AI developers, technical leaders, and enterprise developers,” according to Microsoft’s website. It plans to host online versions of the conference for those who can’t attend or don’t want to pay the $1,099 entry fee.
Expect to hear new announcements from the event, even if you’re not a developer. Microsoft's teaser says to watch Satya Nadella’s opening keynote to “see what we are building.” You’ll need to register for an online account to watch the keynote, or you can follow along with coverage from PCMag.
Microsoft says its real-life event will feature hands on sessions focused on “real code, real systems, and real workflows with the teams building and scaling AI.” It also promises “no fluff” during this year’s event.
Microsoft told The Verge it is aiming to make its event smaller and more intimate than previous Build conferences. “There are great conferences that are enormous, and part of it is just the sprawl and scale of it, and there are great conferences that are tiny that are really a personalized experience," said Kyle Daigle, chief operating officer at GitHub.
“I think we’re trying to fit in the middle of it where meeting with people that attend is just as much a part of the actual conference content, announcements, and using the tech.”