HumanX Shifts Gears: AI Conference Moves to San Francisco, Aiming for Closer Ties to Industry Giants

AI conference HumanX will relocate to San Francisco's Moscone Center for its second edition, April 7-9, 2026, following its inaugural run this week at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas. 

San Francisco Travel confirmed to Skift Meetings that this is a one-year contract with HumanX only for the 2026 edition. It did not confirm if HumanX received a financial incentive to move to the Californian city, but confirmed it has multiple incentives in place for groups to booking their business in San Francisco.

Organizers secured $6.125 million in seed funding to build the event. HumanX co-founder Jonathan Weiner is also the founder and 

CEO of healthcare conference brand HLTH, which attracts 10,000+ healthcare professionals to its flagship event. Weiner previously sold two large-scale conferences, Shoptalk to Hyve Group in 2019 and Money20/20 to Ascential in 2021, later acquired by Informa.

The move puts HumanX in the heart of the AI industry, a clear benefit when looking to attract major AI companies, as well as startups flocking to Silicon Valley. "By bringing the event to San Francisco, we're immersing attendees in the very ecosystem that's defining the next generation of AI breakthroughs," said Stefan Weitz, co-founder of HumanX, formerly with Microsoft. 

The additional space available at the Moscone Center South, compared to the Fontainebleau Las Vegas, is also mentioned by organizers as a reason for the move. 

Organizers said HumanX attracted 3,300 attendees at its Vegas debut, close to targets of 3,500, despite the dates overlapping with SXSW in Austin. The clash of dates meant that AI companies and investors had to pick between the two events. With the conference moving to April in 2026, this will no longer be an issue.

San Francisco on an Upward Trajectory

This is good news for San Francisco as the city’s convention business is rebuilding. "This is yet another strong signal that San Francisco's convention calendar is rebounding," said Anna Marie Presutti, San Francisco Travel Association President and CEO.

Officials said there are 32 confirmed events at Moscone Center projected to generate $600 million in direct spending in 2025. However, this is still well below pre-pandemic figures when 49 events accounted for 968,000 room nights and nearly $2 billion in tourism revenue in 2019.

Recent safety improvements have helped lure back major gatherings to the city, often cited by organizers as a major concern. Mayor Daniel Lurie recently announced that the 2025 Chinese New Year Parade weekend was the safest since 2017, with citywide crime on the parade weekend down 31% compared to the last year.

HumanX joins a growing list of conferences committing to San Francisco include Dreamforce, the city’s largest event, which will stay in the city until at least 2027. The JP Morgan Healthcare Conference will be back for 2026 after a successful edition in 2025, and Microsoft Ignite moved from Chicago in 2024 to make its San Francisco debut later this year.

Hubspot’s Inbound conference is taking place in San Francisco in 2025, but returning to its long-standing home of Boston for 2026, while Databricks has committed to keeping its annual Data + AI Summit in San Francisco through to 2030 as part of a large investment in the city.