Evan Buhler has moved three months ago to San Francisco’s Hayes Valley to build an AI company that would combine the vibrant technology with his experience as a startup lawyer. At the time, he did not realize that he had moved to the heart of a movement.
Nicknamed “Cerebral Valley” by tech enthusiasts and builders, Hayes Valley is bustling with happy hours, networking events, and hackathons focused on one thing: artificial intelligence. Some attribute the spotlight to a turnout hacker houses in the area others think san francisco just needed some good press but perhaps most importantly for avid entrepreneurs in the midst of a recession it has the attention of leading investors.
“It almost feels like fate. I think it’s going to be the economic and spiritual center of San Francisco,” Buhler said of his new site. “I saw a competitor raise $5 million from OpenAI; the frothy environment is inspiring to many entrepreneurs” who otherwise would not have made the leap, he described.
Buhler, who wanted to spread the word about his new startup, was one of 200 founders, investors, engineers and entrepreneurs at the one-day Cerebral Valley Summit hosted by technology journalist Eric Newcomer and AI gaming startup Volley. Emerging startups and legendary entrepreneurs, bubbling with excitement, discussed the opportunities of the present moment on stage and at the literal water cooler.
