Turkey, charity, then AI

Support AI LA this giving season. Let's get ready for holiday cheer.

November 21, 2025

Hey AI LA Community,

‘Tis the season to show thanks and give back to those who need it most. Our 5th annual Holiday Party and charity drive is returning on December 10th, and we need your help!

Ya’ll know we are a 501c3 non-profit, right? And Todd has built this community out of goodwill for the past 9 years? This organization is mostly volunteer-driven with support from a few of us part-timers who love being part of this community. That is why we give EXTRA CARE to our AI LA+ members who enable us to continue to provide low-cost, high-quality programming to you.

Join AI LA+ and Keep us Going

For $13 per month- as much as your Spotify subscription! - you unlock $400 in value to attend our events, get access to exclusive AI LA+ member mixers (like the holiday party below!) and our masterclasses. Plus, a portion of your support goes to our IDEAS program- a professional development and education program for LA community college students.

#LongLA
AI LA+ Holiday Party w/ NRW.Global Business

Wednesday, December 10th: 6:00 - 9:00 PM | Venice

We are teaming up with NRW again to celebrate our members, our staff, our volunteers and appreciate all that this community offers. Come enjoy some Glühwein + German treats. We’ll have rockin’ tunes and an open bar. Bring a non-perishable food item for the LA Food Bank to make it extra special!

Recap

AI LA x Chaperone Ventures
VC Panel & Mixer! on December 14

We hosted a South Korean delegation alongside Chaperone Ventures and 500 startups. The day included 1:1 mentorship with our community experts and then a VC panel discussing LA’s tech ecosystem. You know our SoCal hospitality wouldn’t be complete without some Mexican food and reports on the street say that our Korean friends tapped the agua fresca dry!

If you would like to partner with AI LA to host a venture day, please reach out to [email protected] 

Upcoming AI Innovation Events

NEW DATE!
AI LA Salon w/ Voker AI

Wednesday, December 3rd: 6:00 - 9:00 PM | Marina del Rey

Voker is the leading AI development platform for product engineering teams building intelligent software. Customers leverage Voker’s proprietary engine and collaborative platform to build, test and ship AI agents and features that are fully hosted on Voker’s SOTA infrastructure.

40% off coupon code:  THANKS!

Thursday, December 4th: 6:00 - 9:00 PM | Arts District

As foundation models evolve at breakneck speed, early-stage founders face new strategic dilemmas:

  • How do you build a defensible company when a market-moving model is always around the corner?

  • Which tools belong in your agentic stack and which ones will trap you?

  • When should you automate, and when should you stay human in the loop?

  • What does the Agentic Founder Kit look like in practice?

Expect actionable insights, candid founder stories, and a grounded look at how to build resilient companies in an accelerating AI ecosystem.

40% off coupon code:  THANKS!

Upcoming Workshops

AI LA x AMGI Studios Presents
Hack Day: llama.cpp

Saturday, November 22nd: 11:00 AM - 4:00 PM | Venice

We’re kicking off AI LA’s first-ever Hack Day — a developer-first event designed to go beyond surface-level demos and dive deep into the technical foundations of modern AI.

Join us for this developer-first workshop and hackathon focused on practical, hands-on demonstrations of emerging Local Large Language Models (LLMs). In particular, this event dives deep into llama.cpp - the open-source runtime behind developer tools like Ollama and LM Studio.

This day is built for builders: the engineers, tinkerers, and open-source enthusiasts who want to understand how things actually work under the hood.

Free Happy Hours and Meetups

Partner Event
Agents of Governance

Tuesday, December 16th: 5:30 - 8:00 PM | Marina Del Rey

Our friends at LAML are hosting a new meetup at Zefr, featuring Brian Ray, Head of Data & AI for Atos North America. This session explores the governance challenges emerging with Agentic AI—systems capable of planning, reasoning, and taking autonomous multi-step actions.

If you’re working in AI, engineering, or policy, this is a valuable opportunity to deepen your understanding of safety and accountability in the next era of AI systems.

AI Policy December Meetup

Wednesday, December 17th: 6:00 - 8:00 PM | MidCity

Join us for an AI Policy Mixer in the heart of Miracle Mile! 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 AI LA+ and save $400+ on events

Attend just 6 events per year and the membership pays for itself. Plus free workshops, mixers and exclusive content will be yours!

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!