Hey AI LA Community,

AI LA is getting a bit of a facelift this month. Have you seen our new website? Met our new Executive Director? Seen the new policy series we launched? We are also hiring for a new Program Coordinator to help with event and program delivery… all while soaking in the afterglow of a successful Earth Summit last week.

We are excited to announce that Heather Sit has officially stepped into the role of Executive Director for the AI LA Community. Heather joins us at a pivotal moment, bringing a unique blend of strategic foresight and people-first leadership.

Known for strategic scaling and transformation, Heather’s background spans technology, entertainment, nonprofit, and public sectors. Her experiences in product development, public policy, and executive coaching will be center stage, building the bridges needed to connect our community’s boldest ideas with real-world execution.

Please join us in welcoming Heather as she leads the charge into our new era.

AI LA is LA's most active AI community—100+ events per year, 30,000+ members, and a mission to make AI education and opportunity accessible to everyone. We're in an exciting period of growth, with a bold new vision for what an AI nonprofit can be in Los Angeles and beyond. The Program Coordinator keeps it all moving: maintaining the event calendar, coordinating production logistics, supporting our ambassador network, and driving the marketing that gets people in the room. You'll work directly with the Head of Programs, owning execution so leadership can focus on strategy.

AI LA was excited to partner with the John Weston Group on the development and design of our new website! Built on Webflow, we are now integrated directly into the AI LA Luma events calendar for a seamless presentation of all our offerings. Our information architecture was designed so that no matter who you are and what you need- you can find it… whether you are an AI expert wanting to mentor one of our IDEAS students, or a company wanting to access our 30k large community, or an AI-curious wanting to be enabled by our educational programming…

John Weston Group is an agency based in Wrocław, Poland, working with companies like AI LA and partners such as Crusoe. The project is led by Rafał Piotr Solski (CEO, John Weston Group) and Alexandra Dobras (General Manager & Partner).

Want to establish yourself as a thought-leader in the space? Act as a connector between AI LA and your community, campus, company, or network. Champions and Ambassadors receive a free AI LA+ Advocate Membership and join the team as an affiliate, with deeper access to our network and programs.

We are looking for Ambassadors in all areas of LA and across all industries. Step into this entrepreneurial and creative role and let AI LA can be the backbone to your vision.

​Each quarter, AI LA will convene technologists, builders, and policy-curious professionals for a timely, grounded discussion on AI legislation—what’s passed, what’s coming, and what it actually means in practice. With a primary focus on California and clear line-of-sight to federal positioning, this forum is designed to move beyond headlines and political theater to unpack real consequences: how new laws shape product development, reporting obligations, corporate behavior, and public infrastructure initiatives like CalCompute.

Separate the myths from the realities of what works (and doesn’t) with AI and creators and where trends are going.

Featuring Cort Fritz from Scripto, USC School of Cinematic Arts, Gwen Miller at Theorist Media and Todd Beaupre from YouTube.

Composer, Emmy Award Winner and Venture Capitalist, Lucas Cantor Santiago, will discuss the ideas featured in his new book, Unfinished: The Role of the Artist in the age of AI. Come enjoy a discussion about the meaning and purpose of art and technology.

For those interested in buying Lucas’s book, you may find it on Amazon and elsewhere.

Over the past year, tools like Claude Code have become incredibly popular for AI-assisted software development. These systems allow people to work with AI directly inside their projects—reading files, editing code, running commands, and helping build applications step by step.​​

This workshop introduces participants to this new wave of AI coding agents and shows how they can be used to build real applications faster. Led by Tejas Rajurkar, the session will walk through practical setup, demonstrate a live build using Codex, and give participants time to experiment with the tools themselves.

AI LA community! Join artists, creators, developers, and technologists for FREE at RenderCon 2026 - a two-day conference exploring the future of media, technology, and art happening on April 16th and 17th, at Nya Studios in Hollywood, California.

Speakers like Richard Kerris, VP GM of Media & Entertainment at NVIDIA, and Refik Anadol, world-renowned artist and creator of the first AI Museum, will discuss trends in real-world workflows, control, consistency, and scalability for modern content, film, and media creation.

AI LA is excited to welcome Render Network Foundation as a corporate member to promote this event. Use AILARC2026 coupon at checkout for a complimentary pass. URL in comment.

Calling all aerospace professionals, space dreamers, and anyone fascinated by flight! Join us at Rock & Brews in El Segundo for a relaxed evening of lively conversation about everything that soars—within Earth’s atmosphere and far beyond.

​Whether you’re designing the next aircraft or captivated by deep-space exploration, this meetup is for you.

Join us for an AI Policy Mixer at a new location in Chinatown at the Highland Park Brewery! This event brings together professionals and enthusiasts from AI, policy, and technology to exchange ideas and explore emerging trends. Whether you’re a policymaker, technologist, researcher, or simply curious about the future of AI, all are welcome to join the conversation.

​Join us for a casual evening AI meetup in the heart of Pasadena! This friendly get-together is the perfect opportunity for GenAI enthusiasts, hobbyists, experts, and newcomers alike to connect, share insights, and learn from each other in an informal setting.

Come hang with other designers as we partner with Figma & Friends at Santa Monica Brew works!

AI LA's 7th Annual Earth Summit kicked off LA Climate Week with a packed day of candid, high-caliber conversation at the intersection of AI and climate. California State Climatologist Dr. Michael Anderson set the tone with a frank look at the state's water challenges, followed by lightning talks from entrepreneurs and storytellers making the case that innovation and sustainability can coexist. Two panels explored AI's dual role in the climate crisis—both as a powerful tool for solutions like crop yield optimization, wildfire response, digital twins, and disaster relief, and as a significant environmental burden (a 1GW data center can draw as much power as 1 million homes). A standout moment came from Mark Warshaw of Bureau of Magic, who challenged the room to humanize climate data through storytelling and compelling characters rather than graphs alone. Moderated by Shanti Rao, the event brought together a remarkable cross-section of scientists, founders, and advocates—and left attendees with plenty of new connections and a lot to think about.

I had a friend recently share Mutahar’s YouTube episode on Mythos, saying how “crazy” he thought this new AI model will be. “Ugh,” I thought… “YouTube.” But I sucked it up because it’s important to know these voices. While I can appreciate a good F*bomb flow and rant on tech security, most of the episode left me feeling emotionally drained and not that much smarter. Into the podcast-sphere I went and I found this episode on 80,000 Hours. In the first 3 minutes I had more context around the report and could form my own opinions on why Anthropic decided to not release the model publicly. I appreciate the citations, data and balanced perspective so I can build my own critical mechanism. Enjoy!

Not a member yet? Join our community to unlock this offer and gain access to a full year of events, networking, and opportunities.

These incredible events are made possible thanks to our AI LA+ members, whose support has fueled our growth. Want to help shape the future of AI LA while enjoying exclusive perks? Consider joining AI LA+ and growing with us!