Free AI events in San Diego

You don't have to spend a dollar to plug into San Diego's AI scene. Every free AI event in the city, gathered in one place and verified daily: meetups, workshops, hackathons, and talks with no ticket price.

Meetups Workshops Hackathons Conferences Networking

Sep

Wed

Today

5:00 PM – 6:30 PM PDT

AI Happy Hour: Drinks and Intelligent Conversation

Botanicaby San Diego AI Meetup Group

Weekly after-work gathering in North Park for San Diegans building with AI or simply curious about it. No talks and no slides, just an open bar-side conversation among practitioners, founders and newcomers.

NetworkingFreeAll levelsDevelopersBusinessGeneral

Sep

Thu

Tomorrow

6:00 PM – 8:00 PM PDT

Nucleate San Diego Inside Series: State of AI x Biotech

Bioterraby Nucleate San Diego

Panel at Bioterra in Sorrento Valley on where AI is already producing measurable value in biotech R&D, covering foundation models for biology, AI-enabled discovery platforms, lab automation and the experimental validation problem.

MeetupFreeIntermediateResearchersBusiness

Sep

Sat

8:30 AM – 10:30 AM PDT

North County AI Coffee Chat

Pannikin Coffee & Teaby North County AI

Informal Saturday morning coffee meetup in Oceanside where North County builders, practitioners and learners compare AI projects, tooling and open questions. No agenda, no speakers, just conversation over coffee.

MeetupFreeAll levelsDevelopersGeneral

10:00 AM – 5:00 PM PDT

Agents, Everywhere: Bots, Channels, & More, Global Hackathon

by AI Tinkerers San Diego

AI Tinkerers San Diego’s day-long builder hackathon for creating working agent prototypes, with resources from OpenAI, CopilotKit and OpenRouter.

HackathonFreeIntermediateDevelopersResearchersStudents

10:30 AM – 12:00 PM PDT

The AGI Transition: How AI Affects Work and Life

San Diego County Library, Lakeside Branchby AI Safety Awareness Group San Diego

Free, beginner-friendly Lakeside workshop examining what artificial general intelligence means, how it differs from today’s tools, and the potential effects on work, relationships and everyday life.

WorkshopFreeBeginnerGeneral

Sep

Mon

6:00 PM – 8:00 PM PDT

Autonomous Vehicle (RC): Beginners and Builders

Coronado Brewing Company San Diego Tasting Roomby San Diego Robotics Club

Monthly DIYRoboCars build night in San Diego where attendees work on neural-network-driven autonomous RC vehicles, from small scale models up to full size, over food and drinks. Beginners welcome.

MeetupFreeAll levelsDevelopersGeneral

6:30 PM – 8:30 PM PDT

Prototyping in the AI Era

San Diego Made Factoryby SDXD (San Diego Experience Design)

Free San Diego panel on how AI is changing product-design prototyping, featuring designers and Magic Patterns leaders discussing tools, tradeoffs, evolving roles and practical workflow changes.

MeetupFreeAll levelsDevelopersBusinessGeneral

Sep

Wed

5:00 PM – 6:30 PM PDT

AI Happy Hour: Drinks and Intelligent Conversation

Botanicaby San Diego AI Meetup Group

NetworkingFreeAll levelsDevelopersBusinessGeneral

Sep

Mon

5:30 PM – 7:30 PM PDT

IEEE Consultants' Network: Use and Deployment of AI Specialists

Leucadia Pizza UTCby IEEE San Diego Section

IEEE San Diego's Consultants' Network hosts Matthew Zimmer for a practical discussion of how AI specialists create value, the skills non-specialists need to work effectively with them, and peer networking for regional technology consultants.

MeetupFreeAll levelsDevelopersBusinessGeneral

Sep

Tue

5:30 PM – 7:30 PM PDT

Open Source, On-Premises AI: A Practical Implementation Guide

Venture X San Diegoby San Diego Software Engineers

Practical San Diego session on running AI locally, covering open-source models, graphical and agentic tools, virtualization and self-hosted LLMs. The talk includes demonstrations of an on-premises workflow for engineers exploring more control over their AI stack.

MeetupFreeIntermediateDevelopers

Sep

Wed

4:30 PM – 8:30 PM PDT

San Diego AI Studio Sharathon

Brew Coffee Spotby San Diego AI Studio

An in-person La Mesa show-and-tell for people building with AI. Bring a project to share, trade notes on tools such as Claude Code or Codex, or simply meet local developers, founders and curious newcomers.

MeetupFreeAll levelsDevelopersBusinessGeneral

5:00 PM – 6:30 PM PDT

AI Happy Hour: Drinks and Intelligent Conversation

Botanicaby San Diego AI Meetup Group

NetworkingFreeAll levelsDevelopersBusinessGeneral

Sep

Thu

9:30 AM – 4:00 PM PDT

UC San Diego AI and Healthy Aging Symposium

UC San Diego Park & Marketby UC San Diego Stein Institute for Research on Aging

Free public UC San Diego symposium on how artificial intelligence may support healthier, more independent aging, with keynotes and expert panels on personalized care, daily life and safe technology use.

WorkshopFreeAll levelsResearchersGeneralBusiness

5:00 PM – 8:00 PM PDT

AI Meetup San Diego: GenAI, LLMs, and Agents

by Google Cloud San Diego Meetup

Local AI developer meetup in San Diego featuring technical talks, hands-on code labs and workshops on generative AI, large language models and agents, plus food, drinks and networking.

MeetupFreeAll levelsDevelopersResearchersStudents

5:00 PM – 7:00 PM PDT

Google Cloud San Diego Community Meetup

Google San Diego, Building 6420by Google Cloud San Diego Meetup

Evening community meetup at Google's San Diego campus covering AI, cloud infrastructure, big data and emerging technology, with talks and networking for local engineers and architects.

MeetupFreeIntermediateDevelopersResearchers

6:00 PM – 8:00 PM PDT

Where Does WordPress Fit Today? The Right Tool for the Right Job

Ansir Coworkingby San Diego WordPress Meetup

San Diego WordPress Meetup explores how AI-generated sites compare with WordPress for long-lived business work, covering maintainability, ownership, practical development tradeoffs and an open community discussion.

MeetupFreeAll levelsDevelopersBusinessGeneral

Sep

Fri

9:00 AM – 3:00 PM PDT

K-16 Regional AI Convening: Work Ready in the Age of AI

San Diego Mesa Collegeby Border Region Talent Pipeline K-16 Collaborative

Free regional convening at San Diego Mesa College for educators, administrators, employers and workforce partners on aligning learning pathways and entry-level talent preparation with an AI-enabled economy.

WorkshopFreeAll levelsStudentsResearchersBusinessGeneral

Sep

Mon

5:30 PM – 7:00 PM PDT

AI Industry Verticals and Functions

University of San Diego Knauss Center for Business Educationby University of San Diego

How AI is being applied across industries and business functions, with a focus on practical opportunities for ventures and organizations.

WorkshopFreeBeginnerBusinessStudentsGeneral

5:30 PM – 7:00 PM PDT

Building AI Ventures: From Innovation to Investment

University of San Diego Knauss Center for Business Educationby San Diego and Imperial SBDC Network

Ninety-minute evening session at the University of San Diego on AI startup opportunities, venture and investment strategy, and the privacy and intellectual property questions founders run into when building AI products.

WorkshopFreeBeginnerBusinessDevelopers

Sep

Wed

5:00 PM – 6:30 PM PDT

AI Happy Hour: Drinks and Intelligent Conversation

Botanicaby San Diego AI Meetup Group

Weekly after-work gathering in North Park for San Diegans building with AI or simply curious about it. There is no formal programme: attendees meet informally to compare ideas, projects and tools.

NetworkingFreeAll levelsDevelopersBusinessGeneral

Oct

Thu

6:00 PM – 8:00 PM PDT

Claude Code Users Group: October Monthly Meeting

University of San Diego Loma Hallby Claude Code Users Group

Monthly San Diego session at the University of San Diego working through agentic coding practice: Claude Code fundamentals, the Claude API, and building with the Model Context Protocol.

MeetupFreeIntermediateDevelopers

Oct

Fri

8:00 AM – 7:30 PM PDT

Applied AI Hackathon

Rancho Bernardo Innby Swans

One-day San Diego hackathon for builders tackling a real operational problem from a personal-injury law firm, with a $5,000 prize pool, technical and legal-industry judges, meals and a finalist pitch session.

HackathonFreeAll levelsDevelopersBusinessGeneral

Oct

Sat

8:30 AM – 10:30 AM PDT

North County AI Coffee Chat

Pannikin Coffee & Teaby North County AI

MeetupFreeAll levelsDevelopersGeneral

Oct

Mon

5:30 PM – 7:00 PM PDT

AI Startups and Investments

University of San Diego Knauss Center for Business Educationby University of San Diego

Workshop session on AI startup opportunities and investment considerations for San Diego founders, students and professionals.

WorkshopFreeBeginnerBusinessStudentsGeneral

6:00 PM – 8:00 PM PDT

Autonomous Vehicle (RC): Beginners and Builders

Coronado Brewing Company San Diego Tasting Roomby San Diego Robotics Club

Monthly DIYRoboCars build night in San Diego where attendees work on neural-network-driven autonomous RC vehicles, from small scale models up to full size, over food and drinks. Beginners welcome.

MeetupFreeAll levelsDevelopersGeneral

Oct

Thu

8:00 AM – 5:00 PM PDT

U.S.-Mexico AI Summit 2026

Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicineby U.S.-Mexico AI Summit

Cross-border summit in La Jolla on artificial intelligence governance, innovation and policy collaboration between U.S. and Mexican academic, public-interest and technology partners.

ConferenceFreeAll levelsResearchersBusinessDevelopersStudents

8:00 AM – 1:00 PM PDT

CNS Research Review 2026

UC San Diegoby UC San Diego Center for Networked Systems

Two-day UC San Diego research review for corporate members and invited guests, covering networked systems research including machine learning systems, generative AI, AI infrastructure and data-driven computing.

ConferenceFreeAdvancedResearchersDevelopersBusiness

Oct

Sat

8:30 AM – 10:30 AM PDT

North County AI Coffee Chat

Pannikin Coffee & Teaby North County AI

MeetupFreeAll levelsDevelopersGeneral

Oct

Mon

5:30 PM – 7:00 PM PDT

AI Privacy, IP, Legal, and Ethics

University of San Diego Knauss Center for Business Educationby University of San Diego

Workshop session on privacy, intellectual property, legal and ethical issues that shape responsible AI adoption.

WorkshopFreeBeginnerBusinessStudentsGeneral

Oct

Wed

8:00 AM – 8:00 PM PDT

Solix AI Hackathon

UC San Diego Atkinson Hall, Qualcomm Instituteby Solix Technologies, Inc.

Three-day enterprise AI hackathon at UC San Diego with tracks in data and AI, AI safety and security, pharma, finance, healthcare and social good.

HackathonFreeIntermediateDevelopersResearchersStudents

Nov

Mon

5:30 PM – 7:30 PM PST

AI Startup Pitch Day Finale

University of San Diego Knauss Center for Business Educationby University of San Diego

Final workshop session and pitch day for people developing AI-driven venture concepts, following the series on AI trends, startups and responsible adoption.

WorkshopFreeBeginnerBusinessStudentsGeneral

Nov

Wed

1:00 PM – 6:30 PM PST

Bridging Biomedical Breakthroughs Summit: AI in Biomedical Innovation

UC San Diegoby UC San Diego School of Biological Sciences

Fourth annual half-day UC San Diego summit on how AI is accelerating biomedical innovation across therapeutics, diagnostics and medical imaging, with a CEO fireside chat, a venture panel, faculty pitches and a networking reception.

ConferenceFreeAll levelsResearchersBusinessStudents

Nov

Thu

6:00 PM – 8:00 PM PST

Claude Code Users Group: November Monthly Meeting

University of San Diego Loma Hallby Claude Code Users Group

Monthly San Diego session at the University of San Diego working through agentic coding practice: Claude Code fundamentals, the Claude API, and building with the Model Context Protocol.

MeetupFreeIntermediateDevelopers

Nov

Sat

8:00 AM – 6:00 PM PST

Nextgen Healthcare Revolution 2026

Knobbe Martens San Diegoby Nextgen Healthcare Revolution

One-day conference in Carmel Valley for clinicians and health innovators, built on three pillars, the first being AI-enabled healthcare technology across diagnostics, treatment planning and patient outcomes.

ConferenceFreeAll levelsBusinessResearchersGeneral

Nov

Sat

8:30 AM – 10:30 AM PST

North County AI Coffee Chat

Pannikin Coffee & Teaby North County AI

MeetupFreeAll levelsDevelopersGeneral

Dec

Sat

8:30 AM – 10:30 AM PST

North County AI Coffee Chat

Pannikin Coffee & Teaby North County AI

An informal Saturday coffee meetup in Oceanside for North County people building with, working with or learning about AI. Bring a current project, a question or simply curiosity and meet local practitioners.

MeetupFreeAll levelsDevelopersGeneral