LessOnline 2026

The people who come here are really fucking cool. And interesting. And weird. Ambitious. Risk tolerant. Caring and thoughtful. Welcoming and warm. Passionate. Fun! Funny. The attendance, like Less Wrong readership and authorship, is of impeccable quality. Frontier AI lab employees mingle with hedge fund founders, startup founders, and cinematographers during dinner; college students talks with software engineers and non-profit employees and teachers late into the cool Berkeley night wrapped in blankets from the blanket fort. Everyone has their own interests that they share passionately with others while reciprocrating the energy back when listening. Curiosity connects us all through the atmosphere, questions asked, and behaviors practiced. The community feels alive at all times of the day. Some conversations are on business, picking the brains of people they normally wouldn't have this much unfettered access to normally. Others revolve around esoteric or niche topics, chosen for those reasons and the fact that they can't be had elsewhere with the same depth or excitement. AI discussions are no further than five feet away at all times, the perennial topic that cannot be escaped (nor should it be!). LessOnline 2025 had AGI pills being offered, but some were apprehensive in taking them; LessOnline 2026 AGI-pilled many if they weren't already, both by force through conversations and osmosis of ideas and general sentiments. The straight lines holding since the 2025 edition also helped a bit. Excitedness towards the future of AI was outweighed by the apprehension towards fast development and the risks it brings, leaving me with a sense of foreboding stronger than any other event in my AI timelines and related experiences.You can find people gathered around in an effort to experience novel qualia: holographic chocolate, the thermal grill illusion, feeling like their arms are sinking through the floor. Some attendees walk around in bird jackets, kindly explaining they repres