How to Find Local Tech & AI Events

Local events are underrated. Less competition for attention, easier to have real conversations, and the people you meet in-person remember you far longer than a LinkedIn connection.

The 7 Sites to Check Every Week

1. Luma — lu.ma ★ BEST FOR AI EVENTS

The go-to platform for AI, startup, and tech community events in 2026. Most of the best grassroots AI events are on Luma — not Eventbrite or Meetup.

How to use it:

Go to: luma.com → search your city
Browse: luma.com/ai (global AI events feed)
City-specific feeds:
- San Francisco AI events: luma.com/ai-sf
- NYC: search "AI New York" on luma.com
- Your city: luma.com → location filter
Join: "The AI Collective" calendar (200K+ members, 100+ global chapters): luma.com/genai-collective
Follow organizers in your city — Luma notifies you of their new events automatically

Pro tip: When you RSVP on Luma, you can see who else is attending. Message interesting people BEFORE the event — it removes the cold-intro awkwardness.

2. Meetup.com — meetup.com ★ BEST FOR RECURRING GROUPS

The oldest and largest platform for recurring local tech groups. Groups meet monthly or bi-weekly — great for building consistent community.

Best AI/ML groups to search for in your city:

"Machine Learning [your city]"
"AI Developers [your city]"
"Data Science [your city]"
"Python [your city]"
"Deep Learning [your city]"

Notable groups (global chapters):

Group	Focus	URL
AI Developers Group	AI/ML/GenAI talks + workshops	meetup.com/topics/machine-learning
Data Science meetups	Data + ML community	meetup.com/topics/data-science
Google Developer Groups	Google AI tools	meetup.com/pro/gdg
PyData	Python + data science	search "PyData" on meetup.com

Pro tip: Volunteer to give a 5-min lightning talk at your local Meetup. Instant credibility boost and people remember you.

3. Eventbrite — eventbrite.com

Strong for one-off workshops, hackathons, and corporate-sponsored events.

How to search:

eventbrite.com/d/[your-country]--[your-city]/hackathon/
eventbrite.com/d/online/hackathon/ (online filter)
eventbrite.com/d/[city]/ai-machine-learning/
Search: "AI hackathon [your city] 2026"

What's there in 2026:

DevNetwork AI+ML Hackathon (May 11, South SF + online)
AI Supply Chain Hackathon (Jun 24–26, Plug and Play)
Global Security Tour 2026 — Microsoft Keynote + Hackathon
Local AI workshops posted by bootcamps, accelerators, universities

4. AI Tinkerers — aitinkerers.org ★ BUILDERS ONLY

The best local AI community for people who actually build. No vendor pitches. No slides. Running code only.

Scale: 214 cities, 95,000+ members worldwide Format: 3-hour meetups — lightning demos (5 min each) + networking break. Every demo must show WORKING code. URL: aitinkerers.org/all_cities

Available chapters include: NYC, SF, Boston, Seattle, Toronto, Montreal, São Paulo, London, Paris, Brussels, Hamburg, Berlin, Singapore, Tokyo, and 200+ more

How to join: Go to your city's page → subscribe → attend No city near you? Apply to start one: aitinkerers.org/organize-a-city

Why it's special: This is where people building real AI products show what they're making. The networking leads directly to job offers, co-founder relationships, and collaboration.

5. Google Developer Groups (GDG) — gdg.community.dev

Free, Google-sponsored local developer communities in 180+ countries. Very active in 2026 with "Build with AI" workshop series.

How to find your chapter:

Go to: gdg.community.dev → search your city
Find events: gdg.community.dev/events
Also listed on Meetup.com (search "Google Developer Group")

What GDGs offer:

Free monthly meetups with tech talks
"Build with AI" workshops (hands-on Google AI tools)
DevFest annual conference (hundreds of cities)
Google Solution Challenge info sessions + team formation help
Direct connection to Google Developer Experts (GDEs) — senior engineers who volunteer

Pro tip: GDEs are well-connected Google engineers. Getting to know one = warm intro to Google teams.

6. Partiful — partiful.com

Emerging platform (especially popular in tech hubs like SF, NYC) for smaller, curated community events. More informal than Luma — house parties, founder dinners, study groups.

Use case: Find small "AI house" events, founder dinners, intimate study groups that don't get listed on bigger platforms.

7. Facebook Groups + LinkedIn Events

Still active for local tech groups, especially outside the US/Europe.

Search Facebook: "Machine Learning [your city]", "AI developers [your city]"
LinkedIn Events: Go to Events tab → search your city + "AI" or "hackathon"
LinkedIn Groups: Join "Machine Learning Engineers", "Data Scientists", "AI Builders"

City-Specific Resources

Finding Your City's AI Scene

Search these on Google:

"[your city] AI meetup" site:lu.ma
"[your city] machine learning" site:meetup.com
"[your city] hackathon 2026" site:eventbrite.com
"[your city] tech events" 2026

Major City Hub Resources

City	Best Resource
San Francisco / Bay Area	luma.com/ai-sf, aitinkerers.org/sf, gdg.community.dev
New York	nyc.aitinkerers.org, AI Week NY (pulse.nyc/ai-week)
London	luma.com + search "London AI", GDG London
Toronto	toronto.aitinkerers.org, meetup.com
São Paulo	saopaulo.aitinkerers.org
Berlin	aitinkerers.org/berlin, Eventbrite Berlin
Singapore	luma.com + search "Singapore AI"
Anywhere	GDG chapter finder: gdg.community.dev

How to Stay on Top of Local Events

Weekly habit (takes 10 minutes):

Open luma.com → filter your city → check what's this week
Open meetup.com → "Your Groups" → check upcoming events
Check aitinkerers.org/[your-city] for next meetup
Follow 3–5 local event organizers on Luma — their new events auto-notify you

Tools:

Luma iOS/Android app — best mobile experience for discovering local events
Google Calendar → subscribe to Luma calendar links for your communities
Set Google Alert: "[your city] AI hackathon 2026"