A summer AI program combines the excitement of living on a university campus with the thrill of tackling real-world tech challenges, which is why AI summer programs in San Francisco for high school students are such a compelling option. They help you build practical academic experience beyond a typical high school classroom while developing skills in experimental design, identifying bias in data, and using tools such as SPSS or R for statistical analysis. Just as importantly, they offer a glimpse into everyday university life while showing that you are ready for more advanced academic work.

San Francisco provides a unique backdrop for high school students interested in exploring artificial intelligence through immersive summer programs. Studying AI in this global technology hub allows you to move beyond theoretical learning and engage with concepts such as machine learning models, data interpretation, computational thinking, and ethical decision-making in technology.

Why is San Francisco a great place for high school students to attend AI summer programs?

San Francisco is an amazing place to learn about artificial intelligence because it is the true center of the tech world. You will be close to world-class universities like Stanford and UC Berkeley, and the city is also packed with important research groups, like the Center for AI & Data Ethics (CAIDE) and the AI Law & Innovation Institute, where experts work on the biggest challenges in tech. 

Outside of the classroom, you are surrounded by giant companies like Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic. This means the people who actually build the AI you use every day are literally your neighbors. Because San Francisco is right next to Silicon Valley, the geography gives you a huge advantage. You can easily travel to endless tech meetups, start-up events, and hacker spaces in neighborhoods. 

This list brings together 15 selective and university-affiliated AI summer programs in San Francisco for high school students.

If you’re looking for more options, you can also have a look at online AI summer programs for high school students and AI research programs.

15 AI Summer Programs in San Francisco for High School Students

1. Wharton Global Youth – San Francisco, CA: AI Leadership

Location: Wharton San Francisco Campus, San Francisco, CA
Cost/Stipend: $8,959, plus a $100 non-refundable application fee; scholarship aid is available
Dates: July 5-17
Application Deadline: March 18th
Eligibility: High school students currently enrolled in grades 9-11; minimum 3.3 unweighted GPA; open to international students

Wharton’s AI Leadership program’s curriculum focuses on how artificial intelligence affects business and society. You learn from Wharton faculty and industry experts through lectures, hands-on projects, team-based problem solving, and site visits to AI companies. The program covers topics such as machine learning, natural language processing, generative AI, AI ethics, governance, and real-world business applications.

You also work toward a final project in which you apply AI tools to a real-world business challenge and present your solution. The daily structure includes academic classes during the week, small-group activities, guest speakers, and Bay Area company visits. Students who complete the program receive a Wharton Global Youth Certificate of Completion.

Why it stands out: It combines Wharton-led instruction, hands-on AI tool use, and site visits in San Francisco’s tech ecosystem, so you get both academic exposure and direct industry context in one short program.

2. Immerse’s San Francisco Software Development & AI Summer School

Location: UC Berkeley, San Francisco, CA
Cost/Stipend: Varies; summer school scholarship available through our bursary programme
Dates: 2 weeks during the summer
Application Deadline: Multiple cohorts with rolling admissions
Eligibility: Students worldwide aged 15-18; open to international students

The Artificial Intelligence programmes allow high school students to study AI through undergraduate-level teaching and applied learning in leading academic and technology environments. The programmes pair you with expert academics and industry-informed tutors from universities such as Oxford, Cambridge, and leading technology hubs in classes of 4–10 students. You’ll attend university-style lectures and 1:1 weekly sessions with your tutor, focusing on computational thinking, algorithms, and real-world applications of AI.

The programmes include practical experiences such as coding intelligent systems, analysing data-driven models, and exploring ethical challenges in artificial intelligence. You can build skills across programming, machine learning concepts, and problem-solving while gaining insight into how AI is studied at university and applied in industry. By the programme’s end, you will complete a personal project and receive written feedback and a certificate of completion. You can find more details about the application here.

Why it stands out: It gives you structured, project-based AI training with expert mentorship, helping you build real machine learning and ethical AI understanding early.

3. SFUSD CTE Industry Partner Internships (Information Technology Track)

Location: San Francisco, CA; students work at local tech companies and school district offices
Cost/Stipend: Paid, amount not specified
Dates: 6 weeks during the summer
Application Deadline: Usually, spring
Eligibility: Current 10th or 11th grade students at a San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) high school; not open to international students

The SFUSD CTE Information Technology internship places you directly into local tech companies where you explore artificial intelligence applied to real-world business problems. Depending on your industry mentor, the program covers core topics like machine learning basics, data analysis, automation tools, and IT networking.

During the six-week experience, you will assist with programming tasks, test algorithmic models, organize data sets, and attend a weekly learning seminar. Ultimately, you learn technical skills in data processing and coding, alongside vital workplace skills like professional communication and problem-solving.

Why it stands out: It bridges the gap between classroom theory and the real workforce by offering paid, hands-on tech experience alongside direct industry mentorship.

4. UCSF AI4ALL

Location: UCSF Mission Bay Campus, San Francisco, CA
Cost/Stipend: None
Dates: June 8th – August 14th
Application Deadline: March 25th
Eligibility: SFUSD high school juniors who are taking/have taken AP Statistics and/or AP Computer Science; not open to international students

The UCSF AI4ALL programme stands out among AI summer programs in San Francisco for high school students because it offers a comprehensive summer internship at the intersection of artificial intelligence and biomedical research. You will explore critical topics like machine learning, data science, statistical inference, and AI ethics within healthcare. Throughout the programme, you will attend lectures by university professors, analyse real-world clinical datasets, participate in small-group mentorship sessions, and deliver a final presentation on your findings.

The program specifically focuses on mentoring underrepresented San Francisco Unified School District students in non-wet lab computational research. By the end of the summer, you will learn essential skills such as evaluating machine learning algorithms, coding, data analysis, and scientific communication.

Why it stands out: It empowers you to apply cutting-edge technology directly to real-world medical challenges rather than just learning abstract coding concepts.

5. USF Pre-College Program: AI in Action – Turning Data Into Solutions

Location: University of San Francisco (USF) Campus, San Francisco, CA
Cost/Stipend: Residential: $5,795; Commuter: $3,495 + $95 application fee
Dates: July 5-18
Application Deadline: Typically, mid-June
Eligibility: Rising 9th-12th grade students (ages 14-18); open to international students

In the USF Pre-College Program: AI in Action, you will learn the basics of artificial intelligence and data science. The course covers important topics like data cleaning, creating visual charts, basic machine learning, and using AI ethically. During the program, you will work in teams to study real public data, visit tech workspaces in San Francisco, and compete in a fun data-solving challenge.

You will also give a final presentation to show off your findings. Through these steps, you will build strong skills in problem-solving, teamwork, and clearly communicating your ideas. This beginner-friendly camp lets you use professional tools like Google Cloud to help solve actual health and environmental issues.

Why it stands out: It focuses on using technology for social good, letting you build a project that proves you can turn raw numbers into helpful, real-world answers

6. USF Pre-College Program: Biochemistry of Aging

Location: University of San Francisco (USF) Campus, San Francisco, CA
Cost/Stipend: Residential: $5,795; Commuter: $3,495 + $95 application fee
Dates: July 5-18
Application Deadline: Rolling; first-come, first-served basis
Eligibility: Rising 9th-12th grade students (ages 14-18); open to international students

The USF Pre-College Biochemistry of Aging program immerses you in the intersection of biology and artificial intelligence by revealing how computational tools are revolutionizing our understanding of cellular aging. You will explore core topics including protein structure and function, age-related chemical modifications like oxidation and aggregation, and how these molecular changes contribute to tissue degeneration and disease.

For hands-on activities, you will visualize complex proteins, run in-silico experiments to model amino-acid mutations, and use cutting-edge AI software like AlphaFold to predict structural shifts. You will also collaborate on mini-research projects and visit Bay Area companies applying these exact AI technologies.

Why it stands out: It allows high school students to conduct authentic, interdisciplinary biomedical research using advanced AI without requiring any prior coding or computational experience.

7. City College of San Francisco (CCSF) – CNIT 430: Intro to AI

Location: CCSF Ocean Campus (Harry Britt Building), San Francisco, CA
Cost/Stipend: None
Dates: Typically, early June to late July
Application Deadline: Concurrent Enrollment Permission/Consent Form and transcripts to be submitted at least 1-2 weeks prior to their registration date
Eligibility: High school students who submit an online CCSF application and a signed Concurrent Enrollment consent form; open to international students

City College of San Francisco’s CNIT 430: Intro to AI gives you a practical foundation in artificial intelligence by combining core concepts with real-world technology frameworks. You will explore fundamental AI principles, ethical considerations, and how machine learning actively operates within modern tech infrastructures.

Throughout the course, you will engage in hands-on activities like deploying AI tools in cloud environments, applying AI concepts to cybersecurity defense scenarios, and critically evaluating the ethical impacts of algorithmic decision-making. By completing these labs, you develop skills in cloud-based AI deployment, threat analysis, and practical problem-solving.

Why it stands out: It steps away from purely mathematical AI theory and instead uniquely embeds artificial intelligence training directly into hands-on cybersecurity and cloud computing contexts.

8. Kode With Klossy – AI Summer Camp

Location: San Francisco, CA
Cost/Stipend: None
Dates: July 20-31
Application Deadline: March 31st
Eligibility: Young women and gender expansive teens ages 13-18; no prior coding experience required; open to international students

Kode With Klossy’s summer camp is one of the more accessible AI summer programs in San Francisco for high school students, offering a two-week coding-intensive experience for students from genders traditionally underrepresented in STEM. If you choose the AI track, you study the foundations of artificial intelligence and machine learning through topics such as algorithms, datasets, and natural language processing, and the curriculum includes training a chatbot using Python.

Because the camp is offered in San Francisco as one of the listed in-person locations, it provides direct exposure to a collaborative tech-learning environment while still keeping the structure accessible for high school students. The broader program also connects you with a peer community and alumni network.

Why it stands out: It offers a free AI-focused coding camp for high school students in San Francisco, with a curriculum that introduces both technical foundations and questions of bias in AI.

9. NASA OSTEM High School Internships

Location: NASA Ames Research Center (Mountain View, CA / SF Bay Area)
Cost/Stipend: Paid depending on internship and session length
Dates: Late May/Early June-August
Application Deadline: February 28
Eligibility: U.S. citizens aged 16+ who are full-time high school students with a minimum 3.0 GPA; not open to international students

NASA’s OSTEM internships give you the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in STEM fields such as robotics, aerospace engineering, satellite communication, and data analysis through structured project work. You work alongside NASA researchers, engineers, and mentors, contributing to real-world tasks that connect classroom theory with applied technological challenges. Internships are offered across multiple NASA centers in the United States, with some projects also available in remote formats depending on availability.

The program emphasises research exposure, technical skill development, and professional readiness within a government research environment. Through collaboration with peers who share similar academic interests, you gain insight into future study pathways in engineering, computer science, or applied AI disciplines.

Why it stands out: It is a highly selective, government-funded internship pathway that offers direct exposure to advanced research settings and emerging technologies.

10. UC Berkeley Engineering Summer Machine – Learning & AI Research Training (BeSMART)

Location: UC Berkeley College of Engineering, Berkeley, CA (14.4 miles from SF)
Cost/Stipend: $7,000; scholarships are available
Dates: July 27th – August 7th
Application Deadline: April 15th
Eligibility: High school students aged 15-17 by the program start date; open to international students

The UC Berkeley Engineering Summer Machine-learning & AI Research Training (BeSMART) is a two-week residential program that immerses you in the technical side of artificial intelligence. You will thoroughly cover essential topics like Python programming, data analytics, machine learning algorithms, and advanced Agentic AI systems.

During the program, you will attend morning lectures, tackle afternoon coding labs using real datasets, and build a final capstone project in a domain of your choice. What makes this program unique is its extremely small cohort of just 20 students and the opportunity to experience real college life by living in the dorms and visiting Silicon Valley companies.

Why it stands out: It goes beyond teaching you how to passively use chatbots, instead empowering you to look “under the hood” to actually understand and build the underlying algorithms yourself.

11. UC Berkeley – Pre-College Scholars: Practical Applications for Artificial Intelligence

Location: UC Berkeley Campus, Berkeley, CA (14.4 miles from SF)
Cost/Stipend: ~$2,000+ for the 2-unit course
Dates: May 26th – July 2nd
Application Deadline: March 9th
Eligibility: High school students who have completed 10th or 11th grade, are at least 16 years old by the program start, and have a minimum 3.0 weighted GPA; open to international students

In the UC Berkeley Pre-College Scholars ‘Practical Applications for Artificial Intelligence’ course, you explore how smart technology changes our daily world. This unique program lets you learn alongside real college students and earn actual university credit. You will study important topics like artificial neural networks, computer vision, natural language processing, healthcare, psychotherapy, transportation, web apps, and robotics.

To practice what you learn, you will listen to expert guest speakers, build hands-on course projects, explore new tech inventions, and solve actual problems. By the end, you will gain practical technical skills and a strong understanding of how AI works in the real world.

Why it stands out: It gives you the chance to skip typical high school summer camps and jump right into a real, credit-earning university class.

12. UC Berkeley – ROAR Academy

Location: UC Berkeley campus, Berkeley, CA (14.4 miles from SF)
Cost/Stipend: $2,200 + $50 application fee (California residents); out-of-state applicants need to contact the program for entry
Dates: July 6-17
Application Deadline: Rolling review after April 10th
Eligibility: Advanced high school students entering grades 10-12 in the fall who aim to major in AI, Robotics, and Data Science in college; international students may be considered

ROAR Academy is a two-week, in-person UC Berkeley program focused on Python programming, autonomous driving algorithms, machine learning, and large language models for high school students interested in STEM pathways. You work with UC Berkeley faculty, researchers, and scientists through lectures, coding exercises, and simulation-based learning.

The curriculum includes topics such as Python refreshers, NumPy, scientific visualization, gradient descent, deep neural networks, reinforcement learning, GPT, and autonomous driving simulation practice. If you are trying to explore AI, robotics, or data science as possible college majors, this gives you a more specialised and technical introduction than a general STEM summer course.

Why it stands out: It combines UC Berkeley instruction, autonomous racing simulation, and advanced AI topics like reinforcement learning and GPT in a short, highly focused program built specifically for high school students with prior Python experience.

13. Stanford AIMI Summer Research Internship (Virtual)

Location: Virtual
Cost/Stipend: $2,400 + $45 application fee; financial aid is available
Dates: Session A: June 15-26; Session B: July 6-17
Application Deadline: February 20th
Eligibility: High school students entering grades 9-12, who are at least 14 years old by the start of the program and live in the U.S.; not open to international students

This two-week program introduces you to how artificial intelligence is applied in healthcare, particularly in medical imaging and clinical decision-making. You attend lectures that cover core AI concepts such as machine learning, computer vision, and data-driven diagnostics within a medical context.

Working in small groups, you collaborate on research-style projects under the guidance of Stanford researchers and student mentors, simulating a real academic research environment. The curriculum also explores how AI can address challenges like health equity, bias in datasets, and improving patient outcomes. The program concludes with a final presentation, where you share your project findings with peers and mentors. 

Why it stands out: It offers a rare opportunity to explore the specific niche of medical AI under the guidance of leading Stanford researchers.

14. Brown University’s Pre-College Online – Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Location: Online
Cost/Stipend: $5,554; scholarships are available
Dates: June 22nd – July 17th
Application Deadline: May 8th
Eligibility: High school students completing grades 9-12 (ages 14-18); requires a basic foundation in Python or R and intermediate knowledge of statistics/probabilities; open to international students

In this course, you will explore core topics like predictive modeling, text analytics, and deep learning while mastering the end-to-end machine learning process. You’ll engage in hands-on activities such as building predictive models, visualizing complex datasets, and designing ethical data architectures to solve real-world problems.

Throughout the weeks, you sharpen your technical foundation in Python and learn to apply diagnostic analytics across sectors like healthcare and sports. By participating in simulations and brainstorming sessions, you strengthen your ability to identify algorithmic biases and formulate responsible AI solutions.

Why it stands out: It prioritizes an “industry-ready” approach, moving beyond pure theory to show you exactly how AI and data science are applied in professional fields ranging from sports to clinical medicine.

15. Columbia University – Pre-College Online Programs – Data Science and Machine Learning 1

Location: Online
Cost/Stipend: $4,018 + $80 nonrefundable application fee
Dates: Summer A: July 6-17; Summer B: July 20-31
Application Deadline: April 2nd
Eligibility: High school students (rising freshmen through seniors, grades 9-12) with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.3; open to international students

In this course, you will start by exploring the foundations of data science and machine learning to see how they influence your daily life. The program teaches you Python from scratch so you can master the algorithms used to handle massive datasets. You’ll spend your time cleaning real-world data, building machine learning models, and investigating various career paths in technology.

Along the way, you will learn to interpret data ethically and present your results with professional clarity. These sessions lead to a final project where you use your new skills to solve a practical, real-world challenge. Finally, you’ll earn a personalized faculty evaluation and an official Columbia University certificate of participation.

Why it stands out: It offers absolute beginners the rare opportunity to receive a personalized faculty evaluation and an official Ivy League credential for their portfolio.

From San Francisco AI to Future Careers

In San Francisco, AI summer programmes place you close to Berkeley, Stanford, and leading tech companies, turning abstract ideas into hands-on learning and sharper ambition.

That is why AI summer programs in San Francisco for high school students stand out, offering direct exposure to machine learning, biomedical research, data science, and ethical innovation.

As you explore chatbots, clinical datasets, autonomous systems, and real coding projects, you begin to see how AI connects with healthcare, law, engineering, and policy.

Not sure which path fits you best? Our Career Exploration blogs break down real routes into medicine, law, software engineering, and international relations with practical guidance.