The mayor of SF Lurie to the CEO of Technology: “How can we recover it?”

The first step to recover these people, he said, is to address an unbridled crisis of drugs and homeless people who have expelled many business leaders in the city. Lurie has spent much of her first 100 days in the position walking through the most problematic neighborhoods of the city. This week, He rolled a long data program in which San Francisco delivered free pipes, aluminum foil and straws that were used to ingest drugs, such as fentanyl.

Lurie's “common sense policies”, as he called them during his 2024 mayor campaign, are being largely defended by technology leaders. When Ryan Peterson, the Flexport CEO, left the stage of Strictlyvc while the mayor of San Francisco walked, shouted Lurie:

“Thank you for cleaning the city a bit.”

Beyond the public security initiative, Lurie emphasized the need to facilitate “construction” in San Francisco, referring to the construction of houses and the creation of companies.

The city recently presented a new initiative, SF permitwhich would reduce the amount of bureaucracy that new companies must travel to operate in San Francisco.

On Thursday, the mayor also presented a New Zoning Proposal That would allow higher buildings, and therefore, more homes, in neighborhoods that have traditionally only allowed lower single -family homes. If you pass, it could be the first rezoning of San Francisco since 1970.

“We want our businessmen to start business and then stay here,” Lurie said. “That means rationalizing permits, which facilitates the start of a restaurant, a bar or a startup.”

“What we need more is for people to join and be (…) practices. We lost it here in San Francisco,” Lurie said. “I think that the business community that has remained here, that did not leave, understand our values, and we will attract companies in the coming years.”

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-building-an-ai-hub”>Building an ai center

As part of that effort, Lurie said she wants to be “competitive in the Tax Front”, suggesting that he is willing to give tax exemptions to the city's companies. The mayor of San Francisco said that he has already worked with the main companies of the city to build more offices and celebrate more conferences in the city.

For example, Lurie said she convinced Databricks to hold her ai conference in San Francisco until 2030, instead of moving to Las Vegas as the company originally planned. Last month, the mayor also attended the ribbon cutting for a new Operai office.

While these ai companies can obtain tax cuts, the mayor wants them to invest in San Francisco in other ways. Specifically, he wants the Operai CEO, Sam Altman, to “rude” about his investments in the arts and cultures scenes of San Francisco, who says that the company has already been doing silently.

But Lurie not only wants the dollars of the technological industry, but also seeks her ideas. The city recently announced the Association for San Francisco, a Consortium of Business Leaders, including the owner of Atlantic and the Widow of Steve Jobs Laurene Powell Jobs, the famous Apple designer Jony Ive and Altman, to help companies a clear channel to talk to the City Council.

Robotaxis in SF

But some San Franciscans are concerned that the technology industry is expelling other communities. That tension recently exploded when Waymo tried to obtain permission to map the ofs airport, allowing its robotaxis to take corridors to and from the airport.

Waymo successfully obtained a mapping permission from SFO, but came with a strict stem to ensure that Waymo did not move commercial goods to and from the airport. Thanks to the International Teamsters Brotherhood, delivery drivers have great power at the San Francisco City Council.

Lurie said she worked with the unions to make Waymo's permission, but clarified that “Waymo is not going anywhere.”

The mayor said he is convinced that autonomous vehicles are “where the future is going” and that he has spoken with other companies about having a greater presence in the city. Lurie also did not rule out the construction of the city's infrastructure to accommodate more autonomous vehicles.

Although much of the innovation of the technology industry has historically happened in Silicon Valley, about 40 miles south of the city, the ai ​​boom seems firmly focused on San Francisco. Lurie says she has given the city some impulse to really bring innovation to the city.

“When we have finished, everyone will say: 'I have to be in San Francisco. Otherwise, I'm missing.' That's where we are going,” said Lurie.