Forging a new direction for collaborative innovation
AI Futures Lab is a space — physical, digital, and computational — designed to spark collaboration, drive innovation, and shape the future. Through events and collaborations forged at AI Futures Lab, we create opportunities for UC Investments to build direct relationships with UC faculty and researchers as they tackle big questions with data science and artificial intelligence.
The work is poised to inform UC Investments’s thinking, surface new investment opportunities, and help shape the innovation ecosystem close to home for the benefit of all global citizens. This is a pioneering model for university investment offices — one that actively engages with faculty, research, and innovation across the UC ecosystem.
Guided by the vision for BIDS as a space for open scholarship, open source software, and interdisciplinary collaboration on AI in science and society, the AI Futures Lab initiative intentionally designs opportunities where the community can come together and drive meaningful change, including our regular convenings for the Berkeley OSPO and Cultural Analytics initiatives.
Programs
AIxD
A series of 2-day in-person, collaborative workshops, bringing together experts from across domains to discuss cutting-edge research developments that drive innovation in AI. With up to $12,000 in funding, each event aims to publish a whitepaper with findings from the workshop.
Berkeley AI Futures Salon
A series of events that convene leaders across the UC system, government, and industry to foster candid discussions on the future of AI and its impact across key sectors. Each salon features a conversation between an eminent leader in AI and a facilitator who can guide the discussion for a diverse, interdisciplinary audience.
Developer Summits and Hackathons
Community groups that develop open source tools and resources invite current and new members to shape the future and drive innovation at AI Futures Lab. The space is ideal for in-person collaboration with its prime downtown Berkeley location, extensive co-working space, and event support provided by the Berkeley Institute for Data Science. Since its opening in 2025, topics have included the Agentic AI for Science Developer Summit, Spatial Data Science Summit, JupyterHub and Binder, Jupyter security, connected scientific data products, GeoJupyter hackathon, and AI & health. For a full list of events, visit the BIDS events page.
AI Futures Hub
A crucial digital component of AI Futures Lab is a Jupyter-powered cloud workspace, connecting government, industry, and nonprofit organizations. The AI Futures Lab JupyterHub democratizes creating and accessing customized interactive computing environments by providing secure, scalable, and user-friendly platforms that enable individuals, teams, and organizations to explore data, develop code, and advance knowledge without barriers.
Partners and Supporting Organizations
In partnership with UC Investments, the University of California’s investment arm, the Berkeley Institute for Data Science (BIDS) formed the lab to bring together top researchers across scientific disciplines to tackle big questions with data science and artificial intelligence.
Join Us
Become part of the community by attending one of our events!
To stay in touch, please join the AI Futures Lab mailing list by visiting the Google Group page or emailing bids-aifutureslab+subscribe@lists.berkeley.edu.
To hear about all BIDS events and news, follow us on Bluesky & LinkedIn and subscribe to the BIDS newsletter.
News and Events
- Events: Series include AIxDs, Berkeley AI Futures Salons, Cultural Analytics, and OSPO meetups • Get details about 2026-27 events!
- News: Announcing the AI Futures Lab: A visionary partnership between BIDS and UC Investments • May 13, 2026
