Tens of thousands of Dreamforce attendees flooded downtown San Francisco on Tuesday as AI mania manifested throughout Moscone Center.
The city’s biggest annual conference was back, drawing nearly 50,000 tech workers, partners and clients of Salesforce. Crosswalks were packed, a line for the Starbucks Metreon stretched a full block and lanyards were ubiquitous around necks, with streams of people marching toward Moscone for the event’s opening ceremony.
The conference is a major economic boost, with $130 million in projected local spending, up from an estimated $93 million last year.
Initially founded in 2003 as a product showcase for Salesforce, the conference has become saturated with artificial intelligence as the sector has seized the company’s hometown. Major tech speakers include OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei.
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff kicked off the event with a keynote address that included a video tribute to the late Jane Goodall, a previous conference speaker, and clients such as Williams Sonoma and Dutch jewelry maker Pandora touting Salesforce’s products.
There was no mention of the firestorm Benioff ignited last week by announcing his support for sending National Guard troops to enforce laws in San Francisco, despite federal law prohibiting such roles. But security was abundant, with metal detectors and X-ray machines at all conference entrances — Benioff said the conference hired 200 off-duty law enforcement professionals to augment safety.
The typical lavish multi-building national park-themed spread, a feature of past Dreamforces, was back with Salesforce booths and workshop areas including faux forests and rock formations. A fake waterfall flowed on Howard Street, as real drizzle sprinkled the fake grass walkway. A merchandise booth sold dolls of Salesforce’s cartoon mascots. However, the event has cut back on free attendee swag like water bottles and backpacks, in the name of sustainability.
Dreamforce fills up the entirety of the over 2-million-square-foot Moscone Center complex, and several surrounding spaces like SFMOMA are booked for private events.
Nick Moberg, director of information technology at Japanese spirits maker Suntory, was attending the conference for the first time from Chicago.
“This morning has been overwhelming,” he said, with the crowd size dwarfing conferences he’s attended in Las Vegas and Orlando. His team is staying at the Ritz-Carlton, and he said that San Francisco’s streets such as Stockton have been a bit dirty, though comparable to parts of Chicago.
A mix of celebrities and politicians are also speaking, including former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, actor Matthew McConaughey and Japanese rock star Yoshiki — who is also billed as an AI startup founder. Metallica, a frequent Dreamforce attendee and Salesforce client, is performing a benefit concert on Wednesday at Chase Center.
Big conferences are a critical economic engine for San Francisco, filling restaurants, hotels and event venues, as business travelers typically spend more than domestic leisure visitors. San Francisco has had one of the slowest tourism recoveries in the country, in part because remote work diminished corporate travel. But San Francisco Travel, the tourism bureau that manages Moscone Center, said 2025 has been a boom year in conference bookings, with 34 events including Dreamforce responsible for 657,000 hotel room nights, up 64% compared to last year.