Microsoft’s annual Build developer conference began on June 2, 2026, in San Francisco, with CEO Satya Nadella opening the event with a keynote at 12:30PM ET / 9:30AM PT. The conference runs through June 3rd.
While in-person tickets are sold out, Microsoft is making the event accessible online at no cost. Viewers can watch the opening keynote directly on Microsoft’s YouTube channel, or register for free to access the full virtual conference, which includes a session scheduler to help attendees plan which streams to follow.
AI is expected to dominate the proceedings. The keynote description states that Nadella and Microsoft leaders will discuss “how Microsoft is creating new opportunity for developers across our platforms in this era of AI,” and a review of the featured speakers and virtual sessions confirms a heavy focus on AI-related topics, including sessions aimed at building AI skills.
Hardware may also make an appearance at the event. Microsoft recently announced a new Surface Laptop Ultra, set to launch this fall and powered by Nvidia’s RTX Spark superchip, which could receive additional attention during the conference. The session catalog currently contains no references to Xbox or gaming.
Build 2026 falls between two other major tech developer events — Google I/O, which recently concluded, and Apple’s WWDC, which is upcoming — placing Microsoft’s conference at the center of a busy stretch of industry announcements this season.
Source: The Verge