Rethinking AI Ethics: The Startup Edge

February 26, 2026 – 5:00 PM – AI Startup Center

The debate around AI ethics is currently shaped by top-down regulatory efforts — well-intentioned, yet often slow, innovation-averse, and disconnected from the realities of entrepreneurial practice. Meanwhile, Big Tech continues to fall short of societal expectations, reinforcing the perception that ethical responsibility in AI is either an afterthought or an obstacle to progress. – But what if there were another path?

In his book Zukunftsethik der Künstlichen Intelligenz, Christian Hugo Hoffmann, Director of the AI Startup Center, proposes a fresh approach: AI ethics as business ethics, driven not by regulatory pressure nor corporate PR strategies, but by morally superior startups. At the heart of his work is a concept of responsibility that is both philosophically sound and appealing to practitioners.

Building on this perspective, the AI Startup Center (AISC), together with the Ethics Community of the Digital Society Initiative (DSI) of the University of Zurich, will host an event that will serve not only as a book vernissage but as a platform to connect industry, startups and academia.

Agenda:

• 4:50 PM: Doors Open
• 5:00 PM: Welcome
• 5:05 PM: Why Do AI Startups Morally Outshine Big Tech? A Look Behind the Scenes of Future Ethics of AI – A Note from Director Christian Hugo Hoffmann
• 5:20 PM: Keynote by Eleonora Viganò
• 5:40 PM: Panel discussion with Eleonora Viganò (United Nations), Christian Hugo Hoffmann (Director of the AI Startup Center), Emanuele Martinelli (University of Zurich) and Jona Boeddinghaus (Daiki). Moderation: Pascal Vetter (AI Startup Center)
• 6:30 PM: Apéro

Further information and registration Here

Purchase the book Here