SF Mayor Lurie to tech CEOs: ‘How can we get you back?’

The mayor of San Francisco Daniel Lori wants to return his city to the days of its glory. He is convinced that technology leaders – who are often liked by themselves – can help him.
“I am a mayor picking up the phone and calls the executives,” Lori said during the Strictlyvc event at Techcrunch Thursday evening. “I call the owners of projects and say,” How can we keep you here? “Or” How can we return you? “
He said that the first step for these people to decline again is to address the deadly drug crisis and homelessness that prompted many business leaders to get out of the city. Lori spent a lot of the first 100 days in the office walking in the city’s most turbulent neighborhoods. This week, a long -term program declined in which San Francisco delivered free tubes, chips and straw that were used to take medications, such as fentanel.
The “common instinct policies”, as it was called during his 2024 municipal campaign, is greatly motivated by technology leaders. While Ryan Peterson, CEO of Flexport, came out of the theater at Striclyvc while the mayor of San Francisco walked, shouting to Lauri:
“Thanks for cleaning the city a little.”
In addition to the Public Safety Initiative, Lori stressed the need to facilitate “construction” in San Francisco – in reference to home construction and companies’ construction.
The city recently revealed a new initiative, which allows SF, which would reduce the amount of red strip that startups must operate in San Francisco.
On Thursday, the mayor also made a new division proposal that allows the longest buildings – and therefore, more housing – in neighborhoods that only traditionally allowed low family homes. If it is approved, this may be the first reinforcement of the tongue of Francisco since 1970.
“We want entrepreneurs to start business and then stay here,” Lori said. “This means simplifying the permit, which facilitates the start of a restaurant or bar or starting.”
“What we need more than people meet and collect […] practical. Lori said: “We have lost some kind of that here in San Francisco, and I think the business community that remained here, did not leave, understand our values, and we will attract companies in the coming years,” Lori said.
Building the axis of artificial intelligence
As part of this effort, Lori said he wanted to get a “competitive on the tax front”, indicating that he is ready to provide tax exemptions to the city in the city. The mayor of San Francisco said that he has already worked with the leading artificial intelligence companies in the city to build more offices and keep more conferences in the city.
For example, Lori said he convinced Databrics to hold the AI conference in San Francisco until 2030, rather than moving to Las Vegas as it had originally planned. Last month, the mayor also attended the cutting of the tape of the new Openai office.
Although artificial intelligence companies may get tax cuts, the mayor wants them to invest in San Francisco in other ways. Specifically, the CEO of Openai Sam Altman wants to “get a loud voice about” their investments in the scenes of the arts and culture in San Francisco, which says the company was already quietly.
But Lori not only wants the dollars of the technology industry, but also their ideas. The city recently announced the partnership of San Francisco – a federation of business leaders, including the owner of the Atlantic Ocean, the widow of Steve Jobs Lauren Powell, the famous Apple designer Jony Ive, and Altman – to help grant companies a clear channel to talk with the city hall.
Robotxi in SF
But some San Franciscan is concerned that the technology industry is pushing other societies. This tension recently erupted when Waymo tried to obtain a permit to draw SFO airport, allowing it to be robots to take cysts to and from the airport.
Waymo successfully obtained a SFO maps, but he came with a strict bus to ensure that Waymo commercial goods from and from the airport were not transported. Thanks to the international Muslim Brotherhood, the delivery drivers carry a great power in the San Francisco City Hall.
Lori said he is dealing with deals with trade unions to obtain a SFO statement from Waymo, but he explained that “Waymo does not go anywhere.”
The mayor said that he is convinced that independent vehicles are “where the future runs”, and that he spoke with other companies about the largest presence in the city. Lori did not rule out building the city’s infrastructure to accommodate more autonomous vehicles.
While many of the technology industry innovation has occurred historically in Silicon Valley, about 40 miles south of the city, the artificial intelligence boom appears to be firmly concentrated in San Francisco. Lori says this gave the city some momentum to restore innovation to the city.
“When we finish, everyone will be like,” I have to be in San Francisco. Otherwise, I am missing. “This is where we go,” Lori said.
2025-04-05 15:00:00