Cerebral Valley is a term to refer to the concentration of artificial intelligence (AI)-focused communities, startups, and "hacker houses" that emerged in the Hayes Valley neighborhood of San Francisco during the AI boom of the early 2020s.

According to the Washington Post, investor Amber Yang of Bloomberg Beta popularized the term "Cerebral Valley" in January 2023 to refer to the concentration of AI-focused communities and "hacker houses" in the Hayes Valley neighborhood of San Francisco.^[1]

Group hacker houses focused on artificial intelligence grew in popularity in the early 2020s due to layoffs in Big Tech, a return to in-person events after the COVID-19 pandemic, and lower barriers to entry to AI innovation. The Washington Post credited the rise in events and houses around AI as being part of the revival of the San Francisco tech scene. On app Partiful, event listings increasingly advertised their locations as "Cerebral Valley".^[1][2] By June 2023, the New York Times described Cerebral Valley as the center of the AI scene. Gary Tan of accelerator Y Combinator stated in April 2023 that Hayes Valley had become Cerebral Valley that year.^[3]

Many of the hacker houses in Cerebral Valley are based out of historic Victorian homes near Alamo Square. According to the San Francisco Standard, the hacker houses and associated "grind culture" are a return to the roots of Silicon Valley that led to the growth of companies like Facebook in the early 2000s.^[2]

Notable hacker houses in Cerebral Valley include AGI House^[1] and Genesis House, which was founded in March 2021.^[2]