“We will no longer have a presence at Web Summit” said a Google spokesperson.

Mr Cosgrave released an apology on the company’s website earlier this week for comments he posted on social media site X about the Israel-Hamas war after some immediate backlash from some in the industry.

On X, formerly known as Twitter, Mr Cosgrave said he was "shocked at the rhetoric and actions of so many Western leaders & governments, with the exception in particular of Ireland’s government, who for once are doing the right thing".

Mr Cosgrave then wrote "to anyone who was hurt by my words, I apologise deeply."

"What is needed at this time is compassion, and I did not convey that,” said the event organiser.

Mr Cosgrave referenced Web Summit’s “long history of partnership with Israel and its tech firms” in his apology and said he is “deeply regretful that those friends were hurt by any of what I said.” 

However, this was not enough to convince some of the biggest players in the tech industry to keep their links to the conference.

Intel, Siemens and Stripe are among others that have confirmed they will not be going to the event next month as well as Gillian Anderson, known for her role as detective Dana Scully in the X Files, who has decided not to attend the Lisbon-based event as a speaker.

Garry Tan of popular start-up accelerator Y Combinator and Sequoia Capital’s Ravi Gupta were among the first to pull out of the event.

“I refuse to appear at Web Summit and am cancelling my appearance,” Mr Tan posted on X. “I condemn Hamas and pray for peace for the Israeli and Palestinian people.” 

After Mr Cosgrave posted the apology, he wrote “bye for now. Need some time off this platform”, on his X profile.

Web Summit still expects a high attendance to the conference next month despite the declining number of headliners. 

A spokesperson said they are "looking forward to welcoming 70,000 attendees from around the world with full programming this November."

Meanwhile, the public relations company Drury, which is running the national start-up campaign called ‘Runway to Web Summit’ stressed the point that it is not involved with any other aspect of Web Summit.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Drury is not involved in any other activity with Web Summit,” a spokesperson said.

This is not the first time Mr Cosgrave has received backlash for comments he has made on social media. During the pandemic, Mr Cosgrave was among those who had spread misinformation about the deaths of healthcare workers on the site formerly known as Twitter.

He subsequently apologised to the INMO and HSE after tweeting that four nurses died from the virus.