• Contact
  • Legal Pages
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Privacy Policy
    • California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)
    • DMCA
Saturday, June 14, 2025
San Francisco News
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Health & Medical
  • News
  • Sciences & Nature
  • Sport
  • Technology
No Result
View All Result
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Health & Medical
  • News
  • Sciences & Nature
  • Sport
  • Technology
No Result
View All Result
San Francisco News
No Result
View All Result
Home Technology

San Francisco courts AI, retailers in effort to revitalize city

May 17, 2025
in Technology
San Francisco courts AI, retailers in effort to revitalize city
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter


Now, he’s turned his attention to attracting tech companies and luring back retailers who drifted away from the Golden City, thanks in part to the COVID-19 pandemic and poor policies of the past. He wants to “get loud” about it and encourage investment in the city’s future.

“I’m a mayor that is picking up the phone and calling CEOs,” Lurie said during TechCrunch’s StrictlyVC event last month. “I’m calling entrepreneurs and saying, ‘How can we keep you here?’ or ‘How can we get you back?’”

Lurie, the billionaire heir to the Levi Strauss fortune and the founder of the anti-poverty nonprofit group Tipping Point Community, pledged to slash unnecessary regulations, take only a $1 salary, and promote good governance if elected. Even though he had never held elected office, the city, which had been going through some tough times under previous administrations, was ready to bet on him.

To be sure, while San Francisco is cleaner, it is hardly showroom-ready. Crime is still a problem, there are still homeless people lying on the streets, and tourists don’t have to go very far to see an addict with a needle stuck in their arm. Nonetheless, the city is slowly turning a corner with Lurie at the helm.

He recruited OpenAI’s Sam Altman to be on his transition team and reached out to tech friends, some with very deep pockets, to help. If the plan were to succeed, it would have to be a public-private partnership, Lurie said. 

Altman, along with San Francisco Giants CEO Larry Baer and leaders from DoorDash, Salesforce, Chime, UCSF Health, and Apple, among others, have organized themselves into a CEO council of sorts called Partnership for San Francisco. The powerhouse group of business leaders has the goal of “restoring [San Francisco’s] status as a global leader in innovation and economic opportunity.”

GOLDEN STATE RISING: CALIFORNIA CITIES PIVOT FROM PROGRESSIVE POLICIES AND SEE RESULTS

Among the first things Lurie’s administration did was announce PermitSF, a new effort to streamline San Francisco’s permitting process, which has been slow and laborious at best. PermitSF focuses on speeding up approvals for small businesses and improving permit tracking technology. Lurie also wants to implement a “shot clock” that would limit the time the city can review permits, with the goal of shortening the lengthy application process, which can sometimes drag on for years. 

Lurie has also suggested he’s willing to give tax breaks to companies in the city and said he’s already working with leading artificial intelligence companies to expand in San Francisco and hold their international conferences there. He’s convinced Databricks to keep its AI conference in the city through 2030 instead of moving to Las Vegas. 

Lurie has also introduced a new zoning proposal, the first in the city since 1970, allowing taller buildings to be erected. “We want our entrepreneurs starting businesses and then staying here,” Lurie said, adding that streamlining permits makes opening a restaurant, bar, or startup easier.

“Mayor Lurie’s push to center San Francisco as an AI hub should come as no surprise,” Jeff Le, managing principal at 100 Mile Strategies LLC and former deputy Cabinet secretary to former Gov. Jerry Brown (D), told the Washington Examiner. “His election and subsequent transition was supported by tech giants, and he came in with a mandate from voters to strengthen the city through economic revitalization and strong public safety measures. To do this, more revenue needs to come in, and the major AI companies can help with the math. To do this, his PermitSF effort to streamline permitting efforts and his Family Zoning Plan can bring in sorely needed tax dollars and activate more vibrant community building. This two-prong approach could spark deeper AI company investments in San Francisco.” 

Saks Fifth Avenue in Union Square, San Francisco. The store closed down on May 10, 2025. (AP)

It’s a much-needed turnaround for a city that has seen a string of legacy stores, including Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Old Navy, Nordstrom, and, as of May 10, Saks Fifth Avenue, leave the tourist-heavy Union Square.

“While the closing of Saks marks the end of an era, this was not an unforeseen development considering their recent changes to an appointment-only model, and Neiman Marcus acquisition,” Will Reisman, a spokesman for the Union Square Alliance, said. He added, “We expect the path to downtown revitalization to have its twists and turns — still, we are extremely optimistic about the future of Union Square.”

Part of that optimism comes from Altman’s World Network company, whose retail location opened earlier this month. 

Billboard for new Nintendo store in Union Square, San Francisco, May 8, 2025. (Barnini Chakraborty/Washington Examiner)

“Today we are launching flagship stores in five cities, including the one nearest and dearest to me, San Francisco, California,” said Trevor Traina of Tools for Humanity, talking about World Network. 

Another big retail win is Nintendo, which opened on May 15. It will be the Japanese video game giant’s second store in the United States, the other being in New York City. Nintendo will occupy an 11,000-square-foot storefront facing Union Square. Its last tenant was BCBG Max Azria, a women’s clothing brand which left in 2017. Nintendo’s opening weekend is expected to bring in so much traffic that the store requires customers to make reservations to get a glimpse inside. 

Ivan Bekichev, a high jewelry expert at luxury retailer Bvlgari in San Francisco. May 7, 2025. (Barnini Chakraborty/Washington Examiner)

One of the biggest supporters of the new store is Ivan Bekichev, a high jewelry expert at luxury retailer Bvlgari. He told the Washington Examiner that San Francisco’s crime and drug problem limited how the companies in the area did business. 

“We couldn’t really conduct business the way it was,” he said. “There was a lot of crime, there was a lot of activities that we could not explain.”

NEWSOM CALLS ON CALIFORNIA CITIES TO BAN HOMELESS ENCAMPMENTS

Bekichev, who is from Russia, said he would go to clients’ homes or fly them to other showrooms across the country, but that it wasn’t an option for smaller businesses that were losing customers and forced to close shop. He has seen San Francisco go through really tough times, but is optimistic that the AI turnaround, as well as efforts to bring more retailers into the fold, will help the city get back on its feet.

“It’s a shift towards positivity because some kind of change needed to be in downtown,” he said. “We needed to create a different narrative. San Francisco is such a beautiful city. It’s still a great destination, and for me, it was love at first sight, and it has become my second home.” 



Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source link

RelatedPosts

Meta Is Creating a New A.I. Lab to Pursue ‘Superintelligence’ - The New York Times
Technology

Canary Technologies raises $80M for hospitality AI – Hotel Dive

June 13, 2025
MEA on immigration crackdown by US govt – ThePrint – PTIFeed
Technology

OpenAI finds more Chinese groups using ChatGPT for malicious purposes – ThePrint – ReutersFeed

June 13, 2025
Canary Technologies Raises $80M to Solidify Its Position as the Hospitality AI Leader and Accelerate Global Reach
Technology

Canary Technologies Raises $80M to Solidify Its Position as the Hospitality AI Leader and Accelerate Global Reach

June 13, 2025
BBC seeks a senior tech reporter in San Francisco
Technology

BBC seeks a senior tech reporter in San Francisco

June 12, 2025
Micron Technology Boosts US Semiconductor Investment to $200 Billion With Trump Administration's Support, ET Telecom
Technology

Micron Technology Boosts US Semiconductor Investment to $200 Billion With Trump Administration’s Support, ET Telecom

June 12, 2025
WGU Technology Impactors Network Event Shows the Future of Education
Technology

WGU Technology Impactors Network Event Shows the Future of Education

June 12, 2025
Meta Is Creating a New A.I. Lab to Pursue ‘Superintelligence’ - The New York Times

Here’s what immigration data tells us — and doesn’t — about ICE arrests – San Francisco Chronicle

June 13, 2025
Meta Is Creating a New A.I. Lab to Pursue ‘Superintelligence’ - The New York Times

Coast Guard medevacs man 185 miles offshore San Francisco – United States Coast Guard News (.mil)

June 13, 2025
Meta Is Creating a New A.I. Lab to Pursue ‘Superintelligence’ - The New York Times

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Francisco Giants odds, tips and betting trends | June 14 – Sportsbook Wire

June 13, 2025
Meta Is Creating a New A.I. Lab to Pursue ‘Superintelligence’ - The New York Times

The 8 best Little Italy neighborhoods in the U.S. – National Geographic

June 13, 2025
Meta Is Creating a New A.I. Lab to Pursue ‘Superintelligence’ - The New York Times

San Francisco Giants Receive Encouraging News on Star’s Injury Timeline – Sports Illustrated

June 13, 2025
Meta Is Creating a New A.I. Lab to Pursue ‘Superintelligence’ - The New York Times

Canary Technologies raises $80M for hospitality AI – Hotel Dive

June 13, 2025
Meta Is Creating a New A.I. Lab to Pursue ‘Superintelligence’ - The New York Times

Seattle Seahawks insider makes the case for paying 2 critical 2022 NFL draft picks – Sports Illustrated

June 13, 2025
Meta Is Creating a New A.I. Lab to Pursue ‘Superintelligence’ - The New York Times

49ers Expected to Return to the Playoffs Despite Modest Offseason – Sports Illustrated

June 13, 2025

Categories

Archives

May 2025
MTWTFSS
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031 
« Apr   Jun »
  • Contact
  • Legal Pages
No Result
View All Result
  • Home

© 2024

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.
Go to mobile version