For Women In AI, What The Grace Hopper Celebration Cancellation Means

AnitaB.org has cancelled the 2026 Grace Hopper Celebration, which was scheduled for October 27–30 in Anaheim, California planned to supplement AI Training. The decision comes just weeks before the event and leaves attendees, speakers and corporate partners seeking answers about refunds, hotel bookings and possible virtual programming.

Cathy Hackl, set to MC the event, told me, “I’m in shock. The notice just came in.”

The conference is widely known as the world’s largest gathering of women in tech, a description AnitaB.org uses for GHC.

The cancellation raises an immediate question: What happens to the recruiting, mentoring and professional connections people expected to find there?

A Gathering Built Around Training And Access, And Now AI

AnitaB.org says more than 700 companies, from Fortune 500 employers to startups, participate in GHC each year. The 2026 program had been promoted as a place to build technical skills, develop AI fluency, meet employers and connect with peers and leaders.

That focus matters in an industry where women remain underrepresented in computing. Women made up 27.5% of U.S. workers in computer and mathematical occupations in 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. They represented 47.1% of all employed people. Women also held 25.1% of computer and information systems manager jobs while women control 85% of purchases.

The gap extends into AI.

Stanford’s 2026 AI Index found that women remain underrepresented among AI researchers and developers across countries, with no country reaching gender parity. The report also found no meaningful progress in the gender balance of AI talent since 2010.