AI ‘hacker homes’ in Silicon Valley out of – Business News
Massive Silicon Valley mansions home to AI engineers, also referred to as “hacker houses,” have racked up dozens of complaints, from sexual harassment allegations to out-of-control events and rat issues, in line with a report.
At some of these modern-day tech frat homes, entrepreneurs pay up to $10,000 a month in rent for a room, on the lookout for close entry to industry leaders like Sergey Brin, networking alternatives – and wildly extreme events, in line with a New York Times investigation.
Sources informed the Times that events that includes psychedelic medication and sharing of sexual companions are common at these tech homes.
AGI House is one of essentially the most distinguished group tech homes in Silicon Valley. AGI House / X
An eight-bedroom, Mediterranean-style mansion referred to as “AGI House” – home to start-up founders and engineers at OpenAI and Anthropic – is one of essentially the most distinguished AI houses in Silicon Valley.
On its grounds, a car flew by the air during a celebration whereas horse-drawn carriages introduced company to an Eiffel Tower duplicate during one other “Midnight in Paris” occasion.
Google co-founder Brin has given talks on the home whereas singer-songwriter Grimes – who shares three kids with Elon Musk – has carried out there, in line with the report.
Other high industry names are concerned, like OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who has suggested the Residency, a community of hacker homes.
AGI House is related to a enterprise capital fund that’s backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and enterprise capitalist Marc Andreessen, in line with the home’s web site.
A consultant for Andreessen informed the Times that he’s not concerned with the tech home. Representatives for Altman, Brin and Schmidt didn’t instantly reply to The Post’s requests for remark.
But police reviews show there’s additionally a darkish facet to the tech houses.
Yehong Zhu (above) filed a police report accusing a tech home member of rape and assault. Yehong Zhu / Instagram
In December, a lady known as police and stated she had been trapped at AGI House by a male resident who repeatedly pressured her to have intercourse, telling her she was outdated and “would be alone forever,” in line with a police report obtained by the Times. The lady escaped unhurt by climbing over a gate.
Yehong Zhu, a 30-year-old lady and founder of AI startup Zette, lived in 4 tech homes and initially seen them as near-utopias. But in December 2021, she filed a police report accusing a former member of one other tech home known as Genesis of rape and assault, saying she’s “far from the only one this has happened to.”
Her case is underneath investigation.
At one home, the events grew so extreme that the owner finally claimed more than $200,000 for damages, together with a rodent infestation.
Jeremy Nixon (left) has established tech group houses in California, together with AGI House. Jeremy Nixon / X
At AGI House, created by former Google researcher Jeremy Nixon, native police have recorded 37 incidents since 2022, together with a minimum of 17 associated to complaints about wild events.
Less than two miles away, one other tech home run by Jimmy Chen – recognized online because the “Spice King of Zanzibar” – is home to equally lavish occasions, together with an occasion the place girls went into the pool dressed as mermaids and a jungle-themed celebration with a portray of a Mayan mural.
Between late 2021 and 2024, police have recorded more than 20 complaints about the home, largely about noise and parking points – but additionally one about a “possible kidnapping” and one other noting that Chen had been overwhelmed up at an occasion.
The home’s landlord wrote in a report that your entire home needed to be sprayed by professionals “as it was found to be infested with rodents.”
Chen stated he had paid a injury deposit and employed security guards to screen celebration attendees, including that the rats had been there when he moved in.
Meanwhile, at AGI House, police had been repeatedly known as for a welfare verify on a male resident, at one level sending an ambulance to the mansion.
