Mel B, Tim Berners-Lee, Chelsea Clinton, OpenAI Exec Join SXSW London Speaker Lineup

SXSW London has added a fresh wave of high-profile speakers to its June 2026 conference, spanning entertainment, technology, mental health, and policy — headlined by internet inventor Tim Berners-Lee, Chelsea Clinton, and OpenAI's George Osborne.

New Speakers Announced

The latest additions, announced on May 8, include:

Mel B — Former Spice Girl and "America's Got Talent" judge
Jacob Collier — Grammy-winning musician
Padma Lakshmi — TV host and author
Natalie Dormer — Actor ("Game of Thrones")
Ant and Dec — Iconic UK TV presenting duo
Chelsea Clinton — Vice chair of the Clinton Foundation
Tim Berners-Lee — Inventor of the World Wide Web, CTO and co-founder of Inrupt
George Osborne — Former UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, now Managing Director and Head of OpenAI for Countries
Hasan Piker — Political commentator and broadcaster
Esther Perel — Psychotherapist and author
Max Junestrand — CEO and co-founder of Legora (AI company)
Julia Goldin and Federico Begher — Chief Product & Marketing Officer and Global Head of Product at LEGO

The lineup reflects a deliberate convergence of entertainment, technology, policy, and science — a hallmark of SXSW's cross-disciplinary programming philosophy.

Youth Mental Health Hub

SXSW London also announced the inaugural Youth Mental Health Hub, a week-long program convened by the Child Mind Institute in partnership with Wellcome. The hub brings together leaders from clinical care, science, technology, policy, and media to "accelerate a more coordinated response" to the youth mental health crisis.

Contributors include Miranda Wolpert and Catherine Sebastian (Wellcome), Margaret Laws (Hopelab), Mark Jordans (War Child / King's College London), Marcia Brophy (UNICEF), Julia Gillard (chair of Wellcome, former Prime Minister of Australia), Chelsea Clinton, and several UK-based mental health voices.

Katarina Sherling, head of conference at SXSW London, framed the initiative:

"SXSW London is about platforming different perspectives, converging in one unique space. Initiatives like the Youth Mental Health Hub are a great example of how this thinking translates into real-world impact, bringing together voices from different sectors to tackle challenges that no single industry can solve alone, to drive meaningful change. This is what makes SXSW London such a powerful agent for change."

AI and Tech Presence

The speaker additions continue SXSW London's strong AI and technology thread. Having Tim Berners-Lee — the inventor of the web and now CTO of Inrupt (a company building on his Solid protocol for data sovereignty) — alongside George Osborne of OpenAI and Max Junestrand of Legora signals that AI governance, data sovereignty, and applied AI will be central themes at the June conference.

Festival Details

SXSW London 2026 runs June 1–6 in Shoreditch, East London, with programming spanning music, screen, conference, and visual arts tracks.

Key Details

Source

Variety

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