International Conference on Machine Learning
AbbreviationICML
DisciplineMachine learning, artificial intelligence, feature learning
Publication details
History1980–present
FrequencyAnnual
yes (on openreview.net)
Websitehttps://icml.cc/
Proceedings of Machine Learning Research
LanguageEnglish
Edited byTegan Emerson, Hoel Kervadec, Neil Lawrence
Publication details
History2017–present
Yes
Standard abbreviations
ISO 4PMLR
Indexing
ISSN2640-3498
Links

The International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML) is an international academic conference in machine learning held annually since 1980.[1] 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.[2] 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.[1][3]

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).[4] 2026 marked a new record with 24,371 submitted papers, more than doubling the previous year.[5] 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".[6][7] 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[8] Accepted Acceptance rate
2026 Seoul[9] South Korea 23,918[6] 6352 26.6%
2025 Vancouver Canada 12,107 3260 26.93%
2024 Vienna Austria 9653 2944 30.50%
2023 Honolulu United States 6538 1828 27.96%
2022 Baltimore United States 5630 1233 21.90%
2021 Vienna (virtual) Austria 5513 1183 21.46%
2020 Vienna (virtual) Austria 4990 1084 21.72%
2019 Los Angeles United States 3424 773 22.58%
2018 Stockholm Sweden 2473 621 25.11%
2017 Sydney Australia 1676 434 25.89%
2016 New York City United States — 322 —
2015 Lille France 1037 270 26.04%
2014 Beijing China — 310 —
2013 Atlanta United States — 283 —
2012 Edinburgh United Kingdom — — —
2011 Bellevue United States — — —
2010 Haifa Israel — — —
2009 Montréal Canada — — —
2008 Helsinki Finland — — —
2007 Corvallis United States — — —
2006 Pittsburgh United States — — —
2005 Bonn Germany — — —
2004 Banff Canada — — —
2003 Washington, D.C. United States — — —
2002 Sydney Australia — — —
2001 Williamstown United States — — —
2000 Stanford United States — — —
1999 Bled Slovenia — — —
1998 Madison United States — — —
1997 Nashville United States — — —
1996 Bari Italy — — —
1995 Tahoe City United States — — —
1994 New Brunswick United States — — —
1993 Amherst United States — — —
1992 Aberdeen United Kingdom — — —
1991 Evanston United States — — —
1990 Austin United States — — —
1989 Ithaca United States — — —
1988 Ann Arbor United States — — —
1987 Irvine United States — — —
1985 Skytop United States — — —
1983 Monticello United States — — —
1980 Pittsburgh United States — — —

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Past ICMLs Online Proceedings". University of Trier. Aktuálně.cz. 1 June 1980. Archived from the original on 2008-12-12. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  2. ^ "Artificial Intelligence - Google Scholar Metrics". 2020-10-07. Archived from the original on 2020-10-07. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
  3. ^ "ICML 2008, Helsinki, Finland". University of Trier. 1 June 1980. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  4. ^ "ICML Statistics - Paper Copilot". 2023-04-02. Retrieved 2026-01-31.
  5. ^ ICML [@icmlconf] (2026-01-29). "how many submissions made it over the finish line? Answer: 24371!" (Tweet). Retrieved 2026-01-31 – via X (formerly Twitter).
  6. ^ a b ICML [@icmlconf] (2026-04-30). "Decision notifications are being released on OpenReview" (Tweet). Retrieved 2026-05-06 – via X (formerly Twitter).
  7. ^ ICML [@icmlconf] (2026-05-25). "We have sent out notifications for the 168 oral presentations at #ICML2026" (Tweet). Retrieved 2026-05-26 – via X (formerly Twitter).
  8. ^ "ICML Statistics". Paper Copilot. 2023-04-02. Retrieved 2026-05-06.
  9. ^ "Conferences Future Meetings". icml.cc. Retrieved 2025-07-26.