OMR Festival 2026: AI Takes Center Stage in Hamburg
The OMR festival continues to grow. This year’s edition ended on May 6 in Hamburg, attracting more than 70,000 visitors to the festival grounds, with around 85,000 people traveling to Hamburg as part of the event. More than 1,000 exhibitors and partners and more than 800 speakers participated, ranging from technology, politics, marketing, finance, and culture.
What made 2026 so popular? More than 20% of the attendees came from outside the DACH region – the largest international crowd in the festival’s 15-year history. The sound on the floor corresponds to the numbers: full halls, live music, brand activations from the likes of Porsche, Google, Meta, and Amazon, and discussions that sounded very important.
AI Is Not The Future Anymore – It’s Now
If there was one topic that ran through every field, every group, and every side discussion, it was AI. But not in the breathless, cyclical way of years past – where the previous year was an exploratory experiment, 2026 saw AI being seen as a major priority.
The most famous time of the festival came from Nick TurleyChatGPT Theme at OpenAI. He pointed to the arrival of agentic AI, explaining the transition from active to active assistants: “In the near future, AI will be our assistant who inspires. us – not the other way around.” He also revealed that Germany is today OpenAI’s largest market for ChatGPT in Europe and is among the top three worldwide in terms of paid subscribers and weekly users.
German Federal Minister for Digital Transformation Dr. Karsten Wildberger put it bluntly: “AI is our chance to get back into the industry.” He emphasized that building strategic partnerships while also creating domestic models is the only way forward, adding: “Germany has talent, we have talent. Now it’s about Germany.”
Data Governance: The Crypto Argument Moves Forward
One of the sharpest stories of the two days came from Rolf SchumannCo-CEO of Schwarz Digits, who created a case that would appeal to everyone in the Web3 space. “In China, the data belongs to the government. In America, the data belongs to the companies. In Europe, the data is still ours.” His main argument: AI models are the delivery system – the most important thing is who controls what they are taught. “Data is the new number,” he said. The parallels with blockchain’s foundation for data ownership are not clear.
Meredith WhittakerThe President of the Signal Foundation, added a warning, warning about the dangers of AI agents and careless handling of personal data, noting that people are very worried about the collateral damage of AI systems that help on the one hand and are more difficult on the other.
Politics Gets Digital
Finance Minister and Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil used the OMR section for some political activities of the festival. He also declared that Europe should strengthen itself and stop allowing its future to be decided in Washington, Beijing, or Moscow – and he said that he is not interested in the future of artificial intelligence developed by Peter Thiel and Elon Musk. In an encouraging note, he promised to boost capital investment, acknowledging that Germany has a real gap in the growth of capital investment. For fintech startups, it’s worth checking out.
Above the panels
The festival was also a cultural event – brand experiences from major players, a rooftop dinner, a breakfast for producers, and music on both evenings turned the whole city of Hamburg into a festival. Tom Brady and Heidi Klum brought the celebrity fire, Brady talking openly about the pressure of performance, leadership, and how the game has become a global phenomenon – and Wladimir Klitschko reminds the crowd not to forget Ukraine during the party.
Next: OMR27 Lasts Three Days
The OMR 2027 festival has already been confirmed and will expand to three days for the first time – from May 3-5, 2027 in Hamburg. Advance tickets are available at discounted prices.
Overall, OMR 2026 was a clear signal: the discussions that matter in technology, finance, and digital business are no longer happening in isolation. AI, governance, data, and laws are changing – and Hamburg, for two days in May, is where digital companies in Europe have decided to stop.
