Solaris
Solaris was the name of a group housing community in Lower Haight, and a workspace in North Mission ("SolarisAI"). Both were organized by the same party.
Group housing community
The Solaris community was most active during SF's Layoff Rennaissance; at the time, it was known for hosting weekly dinner parties, pitch competitions, and hackathons.
It was composed of four main houses (along with a handful of satellite units), clustered around Haight & Steiner:
- Sol
- Helios
- Ra
- Luminance
Sol's dining area, where weekly Sunday dinners took place throughout 2023
As of early 2025, the four houses largely remain inhabited by the original residents and their friends, though their cultural prominence as a formal community has dwindled alongside their event schedule.
Workspace
The SolarisAI workspace was formerly located on the third and fourth floors of the commerical property at 1680 Mission St.
Tongue-in-cheek wall art referencing a famous Nat Friedman tweet
SolarisAI was active through all of 2024, and during this period became known for its steady clip of high quality events geared toward AI startups and engineers. These events, combined with the space's talent density, made it the de facto home of SF's AI scene during the space's active period.
SolarisAI closed at the end of 2024, but the space at 1680 Mission St. continues to be used for co-working by its new tenant, Mox.
SolarisAI was preceded by Newton, located at 1929 Market St. Its community quickly outgrew the space, leading to the migration a few blocks away to the larger SolarisAI office space.