Last updated: June 06, 2026. Data refreshes every 2 hours.
TL;DR
- Most “AI events” guides list the same big conferences. But 80% of AI events are small meetups, demos, and dinners that never appear on any list.
- Luma has become the default for AI community events — but their discover page only shows ~20% of what’s there.
- We crawl 17 cities every 2 hours and surface 2008+ events including the hidden ones.
- The 30-person demo night will do more for your career than the 5,000-person keynote.
You Google “AI events near me” and get a list of $2,000 conferences happening in 6 months. NeurIPS. GTC. AAAI. The same 10 names on every listicle.
But the events that actually change your trajectory — the 30-person demo nights, the founder dinners, the weekly reading groups — those don’t show up on any list.
Here’s where they hide, and how to find them.
Why do most AI event guides only list conferences?
Because conferences have marketing budgets and SEO teams. Community meetups don’t.
Search “AI events 2026” and the top results are allconferencealert.com, splunk.com, bizzabo.com — all listing the same major conferences. Over 3,100 AI conferences are indexed for 2026 on allconferencealert alone.
But that’s the visible tip of the iceberg.
The real action — the events where you actually meet people, learn things, and build relationships — happens at the community level. Builder meetups in co-working spaces. Founder dinners at someone’s favorite restaurant. Weekly reading groups where the same 20 people show up every Tuesday.
These events live on Luma, Discord, and Twitter. They don’t have SEO teams. They don’t buy Google ads. And they don’t show up when you search “AI events near me.”
One Hacker News user summed it up: “I find events on Twitter after they already happened.”
That’s the problem we’re solving.
Where do AI community events actually live?
Luma has quietly become the default platform for AI meetups, demos, and founder events. If you’re in the AI world and you’re organizing something, you’re probably using Luma.
But Luma has its own discovery problem.
| Platform | Best for | AI coverage | The problem |
|---|---|---|---|
| Luma | Community meetups, demos, dinners | Highest | 80% of events hidden from discover page |
| Meetup.com | General tech meetups | Moderate | Expensive for organizers, declining |
| Eventbrite | Ticketed conferences | Low for community | Noisy — yoga and wine mixed with AI |
| Discord / Slack | Private communities | High but fragmented | Zero discovery — invite only |
| Twitter / X | Event announcements | Real-time but chaotic | You see it after it happened |
The AI Collective has 200K+ members on Luma. GenAI communities in every major city run on Luma. Founder dinners, demo nights, reading groups — all Luma.
But events are scattered across individual organizer calendars. There’s no single place to see everything.
What are hidden events — and why can’t you find 85% of them?
Hidden events are public events on Luma that exist in organizer calendars but don’t appear on the discover page. They’re not private. They’re not invite-only. Luma’s algorithm just doesn’t surface them.
We track this across every city we cover. The numbers are striking:
| City | Total Events | Featured | Hidden | % Hidden |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | 623 | 88 | 535 | 86% |
| NYC | 282 | 80 | 202 | 72% |
| Toronto | 193 | 42 | 151 | 78% |
| Seattle | 114 | 27 | 87 | 76% |
| Bengaluru | 119 | 31 | 88 | 74% |
| Singapore | 185 | 51 | 134 | 72% |
In San Francisco, only 88 out of 623 events make it to the featured page. The other 535 — the AI reading groups, the 20-person builder nights, the founder poker nights at Frontier Tower — you’d never find them by browsing Luma’s discover page.
Nobody else tracks this data. We crawl every organizer calendar, every 2 hours, across 17 cities.
How do I find AI events in my city right now?
Go to hiddenevents.online, pick your city, and filter by AI. You’ll see everything — not just the 20% that Luma features.
Here’s how:
- Visit hiddenevents.online — or go directly to your city: /nyc, /sf, /los-angeles, /seattle
- Select your city from the dropdown
- Filter by “AI” in the type dropdown — or search for specific topics like “LLM” or “machine learning”
- Filter by date — today, this weekend, next week
- Click any event → takes you straight to Luma to RSVP
We cover 17 cities: NYC, SF, LA, Seattle, Austin, Miami, Boston, Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Bengaluru, Singapore, Mumbai, Delhi, and more.
For developers: Install our MCP server — npx events-mcp — and search events directly from Claude, Cursor, or VS Code. Ask “what AI events are in SF this week?” without leaving your editor.
What kind of AI events should you actually attend?
That depends entirely on what you’re trying to do. The right event for exploring AI is completely different from the right event for finding a cofounder.
If you want to explore — “I want to see what’s being built”
Go to demo nights and showcases. Codex Community Hackathons in SF and NYC. AI Salon at Foresight Institute. Silicon Valley Demo Night.
Look for events where builders are showing working products, not slide decks. You’ll see 10 projects in 2 hours and figure out what excites you. Great for breadth.
If you want to go deeper — “I have a specific problem to solve”
Go to builder meetups with a technical focus. AI Tinkerers runs chapters in 40+ cities. GenAI Collective has active chapters in NYC, SF, and Toronto. Most cities have weekly reading groups.
Look for recurring meetups with a consistent technical audience. Same people showing up weekly = quality. You’ll learn more building something at a 48-hour hackathon than attending 6 months of panels.
If you want to connect — “I need to meet specific people”
Go to small intimate events. Founder dinners, walks, capped gatherings. NYC Founders Club. AI Bagels in NYC. Corgi Cafe dinners in SF. Park James Hotel events in Menlo Park.
Look for curated guest lists and attendance caps — 15 to 30 people, no stage, no presentations. Just conversations. The best signal: the organizer personally invites people, not just posts a public link.
The event most people skip but shouldn’t
The recurring weekly meetup. Same 20 people every Tuesday. No agenda. Just showing up.
This is where real relationships form — not at the 500-person keynote where you collect 30 business cards and follow up with zero.
Can I get notified when new AI events appear?
You don’t need to keep checking a website. There are four ways to get events pushed to you.
Eevy on WhatsApp (easiest)
Text “hi” to Eevy on WhatsApp and tell it what you’re looking for — “AI events in NYC this week” or “startup dinners in SF.”
Eevy uses the same Hidden Events data and replies with matching events. Set up daily or weekly notifications so events come to you automatically. No app to install — it’s just WhatsApp.
Weekly email digest
Subscribe at hiddenevents.online — every Monday you get a curated list of new events in your city. No spam, just events.
MCP server (for developers)
If you use Claude, Cursor, or VS Code: npx events-mcp gives you event search directly in your coding environment. Ask “what AI events are in SF this week?” and get results without switching context.
Browse directly
hiddenevents.online updates every 2 hours. Bookmark your city page — /nyc, /sf, /los-angeles — and check when you’re planning your week.