DC AI Guide
Your guide to DC's AI policy community
Find the events, communities, and resources for getting involved in AI policy, governance, and civic technology in Washington, DC.
New to the space? Start here.
- 1Go to an event — AI Discussion Club walks are beginner-friendly and free.
- 2Join a community — Civic Tech DC connects builders and policy advocates.
- 3Follow a newsletter — Beltway Bits covers DC tech and AI events.
Learn About AI
Courses, newsletters, and blogs to build your understanding of artificial intelligence — from the basics to the cutting edge.
Mitigate Risks
Resources for understanding and reducing the potential harms of AI — from concentration of power to misuse and misalignment.
Maximize Benefits
Communities and programs applying AI for social good — in health, climate, civic life, and economic opportunity.
Career Guides
Overviews, FAQs, and roadmaps for breaking into AI policy — from entry-level to mid-career pivots.
Fellowships & Programs
Paid fellowships and cohort programs placing people in AI policy roles across government, think tanks, and industry.
Upcoming Events
In-person and virtual gatherings in DC where you can learn, connect, and get involved.
Your Evals Are Bad And You Should Feel Bad: Evaluation and the Model Development Lifecycle
A Data Community DC talk by Mary Gibbs (Senior Applied Scientist at Relativity) on where model evaluations go wrong — narrow benchmarks, misaligned scorers, and implicit claims about what scores mean — and practical advice for building better ones across the model development lifecycle.
Presented by Data Community DC
Defense Tech DC 015
Monthly social connecting defense tech founders, technologists, policymakers, and government stakeholders. May edition at Pastis DC in Union Market. No pitches, no asks — just community.
Presented by Defense Tech DC
DEFCOM 4
A community gathering for innovators, investors, officials, and community leaders working in the defense and dual-use technology space, hosted by Station Alpha.
Presented by Station Alpha
Project Night at Taoti
An evening of collaborative civic-tech problem-solving, hosted at Taoti. Bring a laptop or just show up to contribute to public-interest projects.
Presented by Civic Tech DC
How to Prepare Yourself for the Age of AI
A one-hour webinar for parents who want a clearer picture of what AI actually is, where it's useful, and how to start using it without getting lost in the hype. You'll leave with a working understanding of how tools like ChatGPT and Claude work, a short list of resources for staying current, and a simple learning project you can try with free tools.
Presented by Learning Journey AI
AI Discussion Walk: AI in Marketing — AR Filters are the New Billboard
An AI Discussion Club walking session exploring how AR filters and AI-generated marketing assets are reshaping advertising and creative workflows. Meets in the West End.
Presented by AI Discussion Club
Introduction to AI Coding Agents
A hands-on workshop from The Upskilling Labs on building and deploying a personal website using AI coding agents like Claude Code and Codex. No prior coding experience required. Bring a laptop, your resume, and a headshot.
Presented by The Upskilling Labs
No More Tickets: AI & IT Leaders Happy Hour
A happy hour at STATION DC bringing together IT leaders, AI builders, founders, policymakers, and government operators. Fixify shares a brief perspective on where IT is headed as AI reshapes the function, followed by curated networking.
Presented by Station DC
OpenAI Tech Workshop: Building with AI Agents
A two-hour morning tech immersion with OpenAI and STATION DC on OpenAI's latest capabilities — including Codex — and how to apply them in real-world workflows. Covers structuring AI agent systems, AI-assisted coding, and moving from prototypes to production with live demos.
Presented by Station DC
State Capacity Ecosystem Happy Hour & Trivia Night
An evening of drinks, munchies, and trivia for the broader state capacity ecosystem, hosted by the Recoding America Fund, the National Academy for Public Administration (NAPA), and GovNavigators. NAPA and GovNavigators run a trivia game testing government-management know-how. Geared toward catching up with colleagues and sparking new collaborations across the civic-tech and public-administration community.
Presented by Recoding America Fund
2026 Data Summit
A full-day convening from the Data Foundation bringing together researchers, policymakers, industry leaders, and data practitioners to explore public data as strategic infrastructure — with sessions on AI applications, public health, fraud prevention, and environmental risk management.
Presented by Data Foundation
Outdoor Discussion Walk: WALL-E and the Future of AI
A walking discussion using WALL-E as a lens for talking through the long-run trajectory of AI, autonomy, and human flourishing. Meets at Open Road Rosslyn.
Presented by AI Discussion Club
STATION DC AI Open Roundtable
A morning roundtable at STATION DC for people building, deploying, or shaping applied AI in startups or government. Discussion from 10–11 followed by networking; topics span production ML and infrastructure, public-sector applications, and AI governance.
Presented by Station DC
Side Projects and Networking: DSDC Meetup
An evening of data-science side-project lightning talks and networking at 2112 Pennsylvania Ave NW, featuring presenters from a 12-week DSDC mentorship cohort. Open to anyone deep into a side project, just getting started, or curious.
Presented by Data Community DC
Annual DC Privacy Forum
The Future of Privacy Forum's annual gathering convening business leaders, government officials, and academic and civil-society experts for panel discussions on AI, privacy, and digital governance. Topics include global data sovereignty, AI in workforce management, U.S. privacy regulation, and chatbot regulation for youth. In-person only.
Presented by Future of Privacy Forum
DCA - Startups & AI Walks - June Edition
Casual outdoor networking walk for the DC AI and startup community in Arlington. Meet at Gute Leute for a ~2-hour walking route with founders, AI researchers, and small business owners, followed by lunch at Himalayan Wild Yak.
Presented by Aggregate Intellect
Civic Builders: Pitch & Demo Night
An evening of short pitches and live demos from people building solutions for public problems — with a focus on the intersection of AI and civic tech — followed by open breakout conversations. Co-hosted by Civic Tech DC and Learning Journey AI at 2112 Pennsylvania Ave NW.
Presented by Civic Tech DC
DC AI Security Forum 2026
The 2nd annual DC AI Security Forum convenes ~200 people who set AI security policy, build the systems, and find the vulnerabilities — including security engineers, policymakers, and national security professionals. Panels and workshops led by expert leads cover hardware and software security, securing compute infrastructure, safeguarding model weights, AI-augmented cyber capabilities, and public-private threat intelligence sharing. At the Conrad Washington, DC. Invite-only; applications reviewed on a rolling basis.
Presented by AI Security Forum
The Future of Our Realities: The Future of Work and Truth
A full-day interdisciplinary conference at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Center exploring how AI is reshaping work, truth, trust, media, and shared reality. Features talks, panels, and workshops from researchers, technologists, economists, cognitive scientists, and policymakers, closing with a sunset reception.
Presented by Future Realities
Defense Tech DC 016
Monthly social connecting defense tech founders, technologists, policymakers, and government stakeholders. June edition at Butterworth's on Capitol Hill.
Presented by Defense Tech DC
Civic Tech DC Project Night at Prefect
An evening of collaborative civic-tech problem-solving, hosted at Prefect on Pennsylvania Avenue. Open to designers, engineers, data analysts, and anyone who wants to contribute to public-interest projects. Food provided; laptops recommended but optional.
Presented by Civic Tech DC
Defense Tech DC 017
Monthly social connecting defense tech founders, technologists, policymakers, and government stakeholders. July edition at Pubkey in Penn Quarter. No pitches, no asks — just community.
Presented by Defense Tech DC
Join the Community
Ongoing groups and channels where you can connect with others working on AI policy, governance, and civic tech in DC.
Public AI Slack
An open Slack community exploring how publicly-owned AI infrastructure can strengthen democracy and serve the public interest.
AI Discussion Club
Hosts outdoor discussion walks and meetups exploring AI's impact on work, society, and the future. DC-based and welcoming to newcomers.
Civic Tech DC
A community of technologists, designers, and policy advocates building technology for civic good in DC.
The Upskilling Labs
Open learning pods applying AI to health, climate, and civics — join anytime, no gatekeeping. Anchored in libraries and community spaces, serving underserved populations.
Claude Builder Club at UMD
An inclusive student community at the University of Maryland for exploring AI development, building projects, and learning about AI's benefits and risks. Open to all majors and skill levels.
Claude Builder Club at Georgetown
A Georgetown University student club for building with AI — workshops, hackathons, Anthropic-led panels, and hands-on projects. Open to students of all experience levels.