Saturday marks 28 years since The Tech Museum of Innovation opened its permanent home in downtown San Jose. It was inaugurated on Oct. 31, 1998, in a 132,000-square-foot building designed by Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta. The museum has since changed its name and its exhibits, but it is still one of the main family attractions in Silicon Valley.

From 'The Garage' to The Tech

The museum started small. In 1990 it opened a 20,000-square-foot temporary exhibit called "The Garage," a nod to the HP Garage in Palo Alto where Hewlett-Packard began. Eight years later the permanent building opened, along with its IMAX Dome Theater, which shows both educational films and mainstream movies. In May 2019 the organization renamed itself The Tech Interactive. Katrina Stevens became president and CEO in November 2020, succeeding Tim Ritchie.

What's new inside

The museum's newest area is the AI Sandbox gallery, a space for exploring how artificial intelligence works. Its centerpiece, Dream Garden, opened in 2025 as an immersive exhibit that uses AI to respond to visitors' movement and creativity. The museum's visit page also lists the BioTinkering Lab and The Tech Studio. It notes that the IMAX Dome, which it calls the Bay Area's only one, runs weekly LASERS! shows set to music.

Tickets and planning

  • Prices: $38 for adults and $28 for children 3 to 17, students and seniors 65 and older. Both tickets include admission and one educational IMAX film. Members get in free.
  • Hours: The museum runs on a seasonal calendar, and it says dates and hours vary, so check the daily schedule before you go.
  • Food: The Tech Cafe opens daily at 10 a.m. and serves breakfast and lunch. There's also a grab-and-go counter.
  • Where: 201 S. Market St., San Jose.

Beyond the galleries

The Tech also runs The Tech Challenge, an international engineering design competition for students in grades 4 through 12. Teams use the engineering design process to solve real-world problems, such as building a structure that can withstand an earthquake. This year's theme, according to the museum, asks students to step into the shoes of game designers. The museum's older Tech Awards, which honored technology used to improve lives, has grown into a year-round program called The Tech for Global Good.