OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Joins San Francisco Mayor-Elect's Transition Team

San Francisco Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie taps OpenAI's Sam Altman and other business leaders for help with transition

Gabrielle Lurie | San Francisco Chronicle | Hearst Newspapers | Getty Images San Francisco's Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie has begun tapping tech heavyweights and business leaders to help with his goal of overhauling the city's image, including a transition team that includes OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and former Twitter CFO Ned Segal. Lurie, a centrist Democrat and Levi Strauss heir, ousted incumbent London Breed in a closely-watched race and will step into the role in 2025. San Francisco-based companies need to invest in the city and commit to their communities, Lurie told CNBC in an interview. He named both Visa and Salesforce as models for this "two-way street." "I've had great conversations with Sam Altman," Lurie said. "He wants to put down roots here in San Francisco. We want to lean into being the home of AI, which we are, and I will continue to invest in that." The city can't have all its eggs in one basket and needs to expand into other business sectors as well, Lurie said. "We will go recruit companies from all sectors to come back to San Francisco," Lurie said. "Whether it's healthcare, whether it's technology [or] whether it's arts and culture, we want to be the number-one spot for business again in this country." Lurie, who founded the homelessness nonprofit Tipping Point, has plans that include declaring a state of emergency over the fentanyl crisis on day one in office and a previously disclosed proposal to build 1,500 shelter beds within his first six months in office. A fully-staffed police department and 911 dispatch office will be necessary to help bring businesses and workers back to the city, Lurie said. "We need to make sure we get our behavioral health crisis under control, which means we need to build more mental health and drug treatment beds," Lurie said. "We have to get people off the streets. We have to do that compassionately, but we also have to send a message -- and we are -- to the country and to the world that San Francisco is no longer a place that you come to deal drugs or to do drugs or to sleep on our streets." Lurie added, "We didn't get into this overnight, and it won't be fixed overnight."

OpenAI's Altman Latest Tech Exec to Lend a Hand to New San Francisco Mayor

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has joined a growing list of former tech leaders taking roles in San Francisco's government following this month's election. San Francisco Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie named Altman, the head of the artificial-intelligence company behind ChatGPT, as one of seven co-chairs of his transition team, the campaign announced on Monday. The tech industry concentrated in Silicon Valley, south of San Francisco, has increasingly moved into the city itself, creating tensions in a place once synonymous with hippies and counterculture. At the same time, San Francisco's sluggish post-pandemic economic recovery and visible struggles with drugs and homelessness have fueled a shift towards centrist Democratic politics, driven by both disgruntled citizens and affluent tech executive donors. Some Silicon Valley investors have backed Republican President-elect Donald Trump.

Sam Altman will co-chair San Francisco mayor-elect Daniel Lurie's transition team | TechCrunch

San Francisco's mayor-elect, Daniel Lurie, has tapped OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to help run his transition team, the campaign announced on Monday, as part of the administration's effort to embrace the tech industry. Altman, alongside nine other San Francisco leaders, will provide guidance to Lurie's team on ways the city can innovate, and help the new mayor develop relationship with key partners. "I'm excited to help the city I love, and where OpenAI was started, as it begins its next chapter with Mayor-elect Lurie stepping into his new role," said Altman in a statement to TechCrunch. Lurie, an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, has never held elected office and ran against incumbent mayor London Breed as an outsider to the rough-and-tumble nature of San Francisco politics. He personally invested nearly $9 million to fund his campaign. When Lurie takes office on January 8th, he'll be tasked with addressing San Francisco's public safety crisis, an issue that has pushed many tech leaders away from the Bay Area. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, who has invested millions in the city, has not been shy to criticize the the city's failures around public safety. Elon Musk closed X's office in downtown San Francisco in August, citing similar concerns around drug use and crime. However, Musk's AI startup moved into OpenAI's old office in the city's Mission District shortly after. Nevertheless, these issues have caused many Silicon Valley leaders to exit the area for younger tech hubs such as Miami or Austin - often with loud condemnations of city officials on their way out the door. A key job for San Francisco's new mayor will be attracting young professionals to the city, and convincing current tech entrepreneurs to stay and build their companies here. Apparently, the new mayor wants Sam Altman to help lead that effort. Lurie previously called OpenAI's CEO "one of the most important figures on the planet," in a recent interview with The Information, and said he wants Altman and other tech leaders to play a role in reinvigorating downtown San Francisco. Another Silicon Valley native will join Altman on Lurie's transition team: Ned Segal, Twitter's former chief financial officer. Segal left Twitter, alongside former CEO Parag Agrawal, in 2022 following Elon Musk's takeover of the social media company. Today, Segal sits on the board of several venture-backed companies, including Beyond Meat and RingCentral, as well as Lurie's non-profit, Tipping Point. Tapping a tech executive to advise your administration just might be the next big thing in politics. On the national stage, president-elect Donald Trump recently announced Elon Musk will advise the White House as part of a new group meant to drive efficiency in the federal government. In both cases, Musk and Altman seem like they'll have an outsized role on the political stage, but won't need to divest from their financial interests. Beyond running the world's leading AI company, with multiple offices throughout San Francisco, Altman also ran the city's famous startup incubator, Y Combinator, from 2014 to 2019. Altman could help Lurie curry favor with startups and YC itself, especially since its current CEO, Garry Tan, has given San Francisco's new mayor a less-than-warm embrace. "If Lurie wins I will watch his admin like a hawk and he will be relentlessly held accountable by me and all my friends," said Y Combinator's Garry Tan in a tweet from October. Tan criticized Lurie for using his personal wealth to outspend his competitors. That said, a non-profit that Tan sits on the board of, Grow SF, endorsed Lurie in the mayoral race. Tan has also taken an increasingly large role in San Francisco's politics in the last few years, and he's seen as a leader to many of the young founders and engineers in the city. Lurie may use Altman to win over Tan and other tech entrepreneurs who have grown skeptical of San Francisco's leadership. Altman, on the other hand, may use the title to get a leg up in politics - a world OpenAI is slowly becoming more enveloped in as it matures. Other transition team co-chairs include: former Fire Chief of the San Francisco Fire Department, Joanne Hayes-White; the Mission Asset Fund's founding CEO, José A. Quiñonez; former Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs; Chief of the Vulnerable Victims Unit and Community Partnerships at the San Francisco District Attorney's Office, Nancy Tung; former San Francisco Police Department Commander, Paul Yep; former interim chief executive of San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Sara Fenske Bahat; lawyer Ann O'Leary, a partner at Jenner & Block; and former San Francisco Controller Ben Rosenfield.

San Francisco Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie names OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, former fire chief to transition team

San Francisco Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie announced members of his transition team, a group that he described as "shaking up the status quo" which include Open AI CEO Sam Altman and retired Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White. In a statement Monday, Lurie described the seven co-chairs as a "talented and diverse team" that would "lay the groundwork for the change San Franciscans demand." "Every one of these incredible leaders brings a track record of shaking up the status quo to deliver results. My transition co-chairs share my commitment to building an accountable, effective government to tackle the many challenges confronting our great city," Lurie said in a statement. Among the co-chairs of the team include Altman, the co-founder and CEO of the San Francisco-based artificial intelligence company perhaps best known for ChatGPT. Altman is also the chairman of energy firms Helion and Oklo and was previously president of startup accelerator Y Combinator. Also named as a co-chair is Joanne Hayes-White, who served as chief of the San Francisco Fire Department from 2004 to 2019 and was the first woman in the role. Hayes-White was also the longest serving fire chief in city history. Since retiring from SFFD, Hayes-White has served on the State Board of Pilot Commissioners, an advisor to the city's Department of Emergency Management during the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, she is serving as the Deputy State Director for outgoing Sen. Laphonza Butler. Another member of the transition team is former Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs. The youngest person elected mayor in the Central Valley community, Tubbs has been credited with launching an experimental Universal Basic Income program which gave $500 / month to residents in poverty. Other co-chairs include Jose Quinonez, CEO of the nonprofit Mission Asset Fund, Lurie campaign co-chair Ned Segal, prosecutor and San Francisco Democratic Party chair Nancy Tung and retired San Francisco Police Department commander Paul Yep. "This is a group of individuals that is committed to accountability, to service, and to change here in San Francisco. They represent a diverse set of viewpoints," Lurie said in a video posted on X (formerly Twitter). "I look forward to leaning on them in the days to come as we get ready to tackle some of our biggest challenges, including public safety. Making sure we tackle that behavioral health crisis we see every day on our streets. Making sure we get more housing built. Making sure that we streamline the bureaucracy so that once again City Hall is working for you." A newcomer to elected office, Lurie defeated incumbent Mayor London Breed and several other challengers in the election earlier this month. Lurie is the founder of the antipoverty nonprofit Tipping Point and is an heir to the Levi Strauss & Co. fortune. In an interview with CBS News Bay Area in September, Lurie appeared to revel in his outsider status. "You've got to be all in if you're going to do something as crazy as run for mayor of your hometown," he said. "I think people have always underestimated me. I think people think, 'Oh, everything just was handed to him,'" Lurie went on to say. "Listen, I've had a lot of opportunities. I will never deny that. I work hard at everything I do." Lurie, who will become the city's 46th mayor, is set to take office on Jan. 8, 2025.

OpenAI's Altman becomes latest tech exec involved in San Francisco govt

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has joined a growing list of former tech leaders taking roles in San Francisco's government following this month's U.S. presidential election. San Francisco Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie named Altman, the head of the artificial intelligence company behind ChatGPT, as one of seven co-chairs of his transition team, the campaign announced on Monday. The tech industry concentrated in Silicon Valley, south of San Francisco, has increasingly moved into the city itself, creating tensions in a place once synonymous with hippies and counterculture. At the same time, San Francisco's sluggish post-pandemic economic recovery and visible struggles with drugs and homelessness have fueled a shift toward centrist Democratic politics, driven by both disgruntled citizens and affluent tech executive donors.