EPIC SF Physical AI Demo Night @Finding next Move
Physical AI · World Models · Embodied AI · Robotics
What happens when AI has to understand a changing environment—and act in it?
EPIC SF Physical AI Demo Night brings together researchers, founders, and investors exploring that question through world models, embodied intelligence, and robotics.
Join EPIC Connector in San Francisco during TechCrunch Disrupt week for an evening of live demos, research talks, and direct conversations with the people building AI for the physical world. Explore what teams can demonstrate today, how they're handling constantly changing environments, and the partnerships that could help them take the next step.
The Night
🎤 Show & Tell: Two kinds of stage time, back to back. Tight, focused, no filler.
Live Demos: Hand-picked Physical AI startups show real hardware, real models, and real deployments.
Research Spotlights: Researchers present new work, recent papers, and results from the lab.
🤝 Connections: After the talks, the room opens up for free-form conversation.
Agenda
2:00–2:30 PM · Check-in & Welcome
2:30–3:00 PM · Opening Remarks: AI in the Physical World
3:00–4:00 PM · Show & Tell: Live Demos + Research Spotlights
4:00–5:00 PM · Connections
Who We're Looking For
Live Demos: Startups building in Physical AI
World Models and simulation, including synthetic data and sim-to-real
Embodied AI and robot foundation models, including robot learning and VLA models
Robotics, including humanoids, manipulation, mobile robots, and autonomous systems
Enabling hardware and infrastructure, including sensors, actuators, compute, and data collection and teleoperation
Research Spotlights: Researchers with new work in the same areas
Recent papers, open-source releases, benchmarks, and lab results
Work at any stage, from published research to early results that point to what's next
How to Join
Demo Pitch Pass
By application or invitation. For startups building in Physical AI, World Models, Embodied AI, and Robotics who want to demo on stage. Limited spots, selected by EPIC Connector.
Researcher Spotlight Pass
By application or invitation. For researchers and engineers presenting new work in Physical AI, World Models, Embodied AI, and Robotics, from recent papers and open-source releases to benchmarks and lab results. Limited spots, selected by EPIC Connector.
VC Pass
By application or invitation. For investors who want early access to what's being built in Physical AI right now.
Standard Pass
Not presenting, but want to be in the room? Apply to attend. This pass is for people working in or closely connected to Physical AI Attendance is curated by EPIC Connector, so please share a bit about your background and what you're working on, and we'll make the connections count.
EPIC Connector exists to close the gap between great founders and the people who can change their trajectory. This is one night of that mission, in the city where it matters most.
EpicConnector event is independently organized and operated solely by EPIC Connector. TechCrunch Media, LLC is not responsible for the event's content, programming, speakers, venue, attendee conduct, or any incidents, injuries, or claims arising from the event. EPIC Connector agrees to indemnify and hold harmless TechCrunch Media, LLC from any liability related to the event.