AI Open-Air is the world’s first open-air artificial intelligence festival, transforming the Mojave Desert and Trona Pinnacles into a unique futuristic space that unites art, technology, music, innovation, and nature. The festival concept was created by journalist Vitaly Ataev Troshin, who has worked in California for many years, exploring local areas and their cultural heritage, drawing attention to communities in need of inspiration and support, and challenging stereotypes about depressed and desert regions.
His initiative creates an international platform for creative experiments, educational projects, cultural exchange, and the demonstration of how artificial intelligence can be integrated into everyday life to benefit people, society, and the environment.
Trona Pinnacles is a unique geological landmark featuring over 500 tufa spires and has long been an iconic filming location thanks to its otherworldly landscape.
This area has been featured in landmark films and series, including Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (William Shatner), Planet of the Apes (2001, Tim Burton), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3(James Gunn), Dinosaur (2000, Ralph Zwart), Lost in Space (1998, Stephen Hopkins), Oblivion (2013, Joseph Kosinski), The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997, Steven Spielberg), the series Battlestar Galactica (2004–2009, Michael Taylor / Ron Moore), Time Trap (2017, Mark Dennis & Ben Feldman), and Holes (2003, Andréas Muschietti). Music video shoots by Rihanna and Lady Gaga for “Stupid Love” and “Sledgehammer,”
as well as a live concert by Toro y Moi in 2020, demonstrate how the site creates a unique atmosphere for music and visual arts.
These historical and cultural elements become part of AI Open-Air, creating a link between the past, present, and future.
The festival showcases artist works created with AI, fully generative projects, interactive installations, light shows, music, drones, electric and flying vehicles, robots, and innovative technologies from California, the U.S., and around the world.
The festival’s primary mission is to revitalize the local community and develop the desert regions of the Golden State, support the economic and cultural potential of Searles Valley, attract investment, and improve the region’s infrastructure. It allows local residents and visitors to participate in creating art, educational workshops, masterclasses, and volunteer initiatives, gaining practical experience and resources to implement their ideas.
AI Open Air demonstrates how artificial intelligence can integrate with nature and culture: technologies do not replace creativity but expand the capabilities of artists, engineers, and researchers. The festival showcases solutions that help preserve the environment, create safe and peaceful spaces, improve daily life, and support sustainable regional development. Half of the festival’s revenue is dedicated to supporting the local community, educational projects, and infrastructure development, ensuring long-term benefits and a sustainable future for Searles Valley and the surrounding desert areas of the Golden State.
The festival is planned for two days in October 2026 and can host up to ten thousand attendees. Trona Pinnacles is ideal for a large-scale event: the expansive open space accommodates stages, drones, interactive pavilions, workshops, camping areas, and relaxation zones. Its relative distance from Los Angeles limits visitor flow, creating a calm and secluded atmosphere, while guests can stay on-site in trailers or campsites, enjoying both nature and interactive technologies. A pre-event information campaign ensures the site is maintained in a clean and pristine condition.
Trona Pinnacles and Searles Lake, with their unique minerals, become a living palette for the festival: white salt crystals, gray clay areas, pink and red hues, bright yellow and orange shades, rare black spots, and a slight green tint from algae are used in stage design, performer costumes, and light shows. AI-driven lighting, synchronized with music, drones, generative sculptures, and other inventions, makes the festival vivid and spectacular without harming the environment.
The festival program includes multiple zones: the main stage with AI-generated music, lighting, and drones; an interactive art zone with AR/VR and generative sculptures; a Flying & Mobility Art Zone featuring electric futuristic vehicles and flying drones; a global pavilion for international artists and technologists with neurointerfaces, 3D printing, and robots; a Mineral & Nature Lounge for relaxation among natural colors and materials; and a Community Zone to involve local residents in creating art objects, educational projects, and volunteer initiatives.
The daytime program is filled with interactive AI objects, generative graphics, robots, and drones, while in the evening the desert transforms: the pinnacles and salt flats become screens for light projections, AI animations, and drone shows, creating a unified, futuristic, immersive environment.
AI Open-Air unites the past, present, and future: the cultural heritage of Trona Pinnacles and iconic films become part of the immersive space, new artistic and technological projects showcase innovation, and AI and startups provide opportunities for safe and creative human-technology interaction. Each artwork, every innovative project, and each light and drone performance harmoniously blends with the natural landscape of Trona Pinnacles.
AI Open-Air allows people to experience firsthand the benefits of artificial intelligence, witness innovations that improve life, promote peace and ecology, and enjoy nature, culture, and a unique atmosphere, creating a global-scale event where art, technology, light, music, nature, drones, innovation, creativity, and social mission converge in harmony and inspiration.