The International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML) is an international academic conference in machine learning held annually since 1980. It is the oldest and, along with NeurIPS and ICLR, one of the three primary conferences of highest impact and reputation in machine learning and artificial intelligence research. It is organized by the International Machine Learning Society (IMLS). Precise dates vary year to year, but paper submissions are generally due at the end of January, and the conference is generally held the following July.
History ICML began as the International Workshop on Machine Learning, first held at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh in July 1980 and organized by Jaime Carbonell, Ryszard S. Michalski, and Tom M. Mitchell. In 1993 it transitioned to a full conference series under the current name, building on nearly a decade of workshops. Since the 2010s its proceedings have been published open-access in the Proceedings of Machine Learning Research (PMLR), which grew out of JMLR’s Workshop & Conference Proceedings and was renamed PMLR in 2015.
ICML has published many important research papers that form the foundation of modern Artificial Intelligence. Some notable works include Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's K-means clustering via PCA (ICML 2004); Google's Batch Normalization; Google Brain's EfficientNet (ICML 2019); OpenAI's CLIP (ICML 2021) and the UC Berkeley's Soft Actor-Critic (ICML 2018).
The number of submitted (and accepted) papers has sharply increased within 10 years; from 1037 (270) in 2015 to 12107 (3260) in 2025. Meanwhile, the acceptance rate continues to average between 21 % (2020) and 30 % (2024). 2026 marked a new record with 24,371 submitted papers, more than doubling the previous year. Accepted submissions are presented on-site as posters; furthermore, particularly outstanding contributions are presented orally or are designated by a committee as "spotlight papers." In 2026, 2.2% of submitted contributions were designated as "spotlight" and 0.7% additionally as "oral". In addition, the best contribution is honored annually by a jury with an "Outstanding Paper Award" (formally "Best Paper Award").
Profile ICML’s scope spans the full breadth of machine learning, with particular emphasis on theoretical analysis, algorithmic innovation, and statistical learning. Compared to the other two big machine learning conferences NeurIPS and ICLR, ICML traditionally features more content on statistical learning theory, reinforcement learning and robotics, and optimization theory. Its annual proceedings are published in the open-access Proceedings of Machine Learning Research (PMLR).
ICML attracts sponsors seeking access to ML research and talent. Technology companies such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, Apple are among sponsors, regularly publishing their research and recruiting researchers at the conference. Financial firms, such as Citadel Securities, Jane Street Capital and D.E. Shaw, also often have a presence at ICML.
Locations Year Location Country Submissions Accepted Acceptance rate 2026 Seoul 23,918 6352 26.6% 2025 Vancouver 12,107 3260 26.93% 2024 Vienna 9653 2944 30.50% 2023 Honolulu 6538 1828 27.96% 2022 Baltimore 5630 1233 21.90% 2021 Vienna (virtual) 5513 1183 21.46% 2020 Vienna (virtual) 4990 1084 21.72% 2019 Los Angeles 3424 773 22.58% 2018 Stockholm 2473 621 25.11% 2017 Sydney 1676 434 25.89% 2016 New York City — 322 — 2015 Lille 1037 270 26.04% 2014 Beijing — 310 — 2013 Atlanta — 283 — 2012 Edinburgh — — — 2011 Bellevue — — — 2010 Haifa — — — 2009 Montréal — — — 2008 Helsinki — — — 2007 Corvallis — — — 2006 Pittsburgh — — — 2005 Bonn — — — 2004 Banff — — — 2003 Washington, D.C. — — — 2002 Sydney — — — 2001 Williamstown — — — 2000 Stanford — — — 1999 Bled — — — 1998 Madison — — — 1997 Nashville — — — 1996 Bari — — — 1995 Tahoe City — — — 1994 New Brunswick — — — 1993 Amherst — — — 1992 Aberdeen — — — 1991 Evanston — — — 1990 Austin — — — 1989 Ithaca — — — 1988 Ann Arbor — — — 1987 Irvine — — — 1985 Skytop — — — 1983 Monticello — — — 1980 Pittsburgh — — —
See also ICLR Journal of Machine Learning Research Machine Learning (journal) NeurIPS
References
External links icml.cc ICML website machinelearning.org Website of the International Machine Learning Society