In a sign of the times, the Hillsborough mansion recently changed its name from Neogenesis to AGI House. AGI is short for "artificial general intelligence," a phrase popularized by OpenAI to describe the idea of AI that is smarter than a human. OpenAI argues that tools like ChatGPT, which can instantly answer questions or generate text like software code and college essays, or the text-to-image generator DALL-E, can respond to a user's natural language prompt, as steppingstones toward superhuman AI. The term "AGI" has become a watchword for proponents who share the belief that this technological wave of AI will transform the internet.

The techies are at it again--only this time, they're not looking for kombucha on tap or Patagonia vests, but all-inclusive "hacker houses" in Hayes Valley. Artificial intelligence workers are now forming co-living and coworking communities, where like-minded founders and developers can eat, sleep and breathe their work. These communities are often operated out of historic Victorians near Alamo Square, just a stone's throw from Souvla and a Cotopaxi outlet. The hacker house craze has grown quickly in recent months, so much so that some in the industry are now calling the neighborhood around them "Cerebral Valley." With catchy community names like Genesis House (or its Hillsborough iteration, Neogenesis House) and an ethos that promises to optimize work via play, these communities might sound like just another Silicon Valley fad.