SF’s Next Mayor Wants the City to Lean Into AI — and Stay Out of Regulating It

Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie is making a play for San Francisco to be the center of the artificial intelligence boom — and wants to leave regulation of the burgeoning industry to higher government.

Lurie, a Levi Strauss heir who tapped OpenAI founder Sam Altman to serve on his transition team, promised voters he’d do more to bring back technology companies and workers that abandoned the city during the pandemic, with a special focus on AI. San Francisco’s economy has had a slower post-pandemic recovery than several other major metro areas, according to data from the controller’s office.

“We are the home of AI, and we should lean into it. We should absolutely make sure guardrails are in place, but I don’t think that’s the job of the mayor of San Francisco,” Lurie told KQED’s Political Breakdown. “We need help nationally and internationally for that.”

Lurie’s inclusion of Altman on his transition team announced this week has raised some eyebrows, as the San Francisco Standard first reported that OpenAI is actively lobbying City Hall for tax breaks. Mayor London Breed had previously rejected such efforts.

In the interview with KQED’s Political Breakdown, Lurie said he has “never” spoken with Altman about tax breaks.

The transition team, including former Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs and former City Controller Ben Rosenfield, will advise Lurie as he plans for his first 100 days after taking office in January. However, the selections are largely meant to symbolize priority areas rather than actual policy plans or permanent staff picks, political consultant Jim Ross said.

“Mayoral transitions are largely symbolic. The real question or the real issue is who is he going to bring in as his staff and who is he going to hire as chief of staff and budget and policy team,” Ross said. “The tech community in San Francisco has been looking for tax breaks for 15 years. It’s not new or unusual.”

Lurie, a political newcomer with no prior elected government experience, ran his campaign against what he often described as corrupt “City Hall insiders.” He blamed the elected officials running against him, all with years of experience in City Hall, for not solving the city’s biggest challenges, such as homelessness, public safety and corruption in local government.

He also vowed to bring a heightened focus on accountability and made big promises like opening up 1,500 emergency shelter beds within his first six months in office and 2,500 interim housing units in two years.

With the election behind him and his first day ahead, Lurie said he plans to meet with business leaders like Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and the heads of Gap and Levi’s.

He also intends to speak with former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whom he said he looks up to. Bloomberg had endorsed Breed and donated nearly $1.5 million to her reelection campaign. The director of Lurie’s transition team, Sara Fenske Bahat, helped steer 9/11 recovery projects in New York City and worked with Bloomberg.

“I am going to infuse as much knowledge from [Bloomberg] and his team as possible,” Lurie said, adding that he hopes to attend the Bloomberg-Harvard City Leadership Initiative, a program for mayors and city leaders around the country.

Lurie said he’s already spoken to Vice President Kamala Harris, who called to congratulate and pass on wisdom after his win.

“I had some incredible advice from the vice president who called and said, ‘Optimism is key to service,’” he said. “I believe implicitly in the promise of San Francisco. People need to hear that from their mayor. And the people around the country need to hear that San Francisco should not be counted out.”