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San Francisco ’s mayor - elect , Daniel Lurie , has tapped OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to help run his transition squad , the campaign announce on Monday , as part of the establishment ’s cause to squeeze the tech industry . Altman , alongside nine other San Francisco leaders , will allow for counsel to Lurie ’s team on manner the city can innovate , and help the Modern mayor develop relationship with key spouse .
“ I ’m unrestrained to help the city I love , and where OpenAI was set about , as it commence its next chapter with Mayor - chosen Lurie stepping into his new part , ” said Altman in a financial statement to TechCrunch .
Lurie , an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune , has never support elect place and fly the coop against incumbent Mayor London Breed as an outsider to the rough - and - tumble nature of San Francisco politics . He personally investednearly $ 9 millionto fund his campaign .
When Lurie take on situation on January 8 , he ’ll be tasked with speak San Francisco ’s public safety gadget crisis , an return that has pushed many tech leadership forth from the Bay Area . Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff , who has invested millions in the city , hasnot been timid to criticize the city ’s failuresaround public refuge . Elon Musk closed X ’s office in business district San Francisco in August , citing similar concerns around drug utilization and crime . However , Musk ’s AI startup moved into OpenAI ’s old office in the city ’s Mission Districtshortly thereafter .
Nevertheless , these issues have cause many Silicon Valley leaders to exit the arena for new technical school hub such as Miami or Austin — often with loud condemnations of metropolis official on their way out the door . A key job for San Francisco ’s new mayor will be attracting unseasoned professionals to the city , and convincing current technical school enterpriser to stay and build their company here .
Apparently , the young city manager wants Sam Altman to facilitate lead that elbow grease . Lurie antecedently called OpenAI ’s chief executive officer “ one of the most authoritative figures on the major planet , ” in a late consultation withThe Information , and state he wants Altman and other technical school leaders to bet a role in reinvigorating business district San Francisco .
Another Silicon Valley aboriginal will join Altman on Lurie ’s passage 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 table of several speculation - back companies , include Beyond Meat and RingCentral , as well as Lurie ’s nonprofit , Tipping Point .
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Tapping a tech executive to advise your presidency just might be the next big matter in politics . On the national microscope stage , President - elect Donald Trump recently announcedElon Musk will advise the White Houseas part of a new group mean to drive efficiency in the federal government . In both case , Musk and Altman seem like they ’ll have an outsize part on the political degree , but wo n’t need to disinvest from their financial interests .
Beyond flow the world ’s leading AI company , with multiple offices throughout San Francisco , Altman also ran the metropolis ’s famous inauguration incubator , Y Combinator , from 2014 to 2019 . Altman could avail Lurie curry favor with startup and YC itself , especially since its current chief executive officer , Garry Tan , has given San Francisco ’s new mayor a less - than - warm embracement .
“ If Lurie wins I will watch his admin like a mortarboard and he will be relentlessly held accountable by me and all my friends , ” said Y Combinator ’s Garry Tan in atweetfrom October .
Tancriticized Luriefor using his personal wealth to outspend his competitors .
That said , a not-for-profit that Tan sits on the plug-in of , Grow SF , indorse Lurie in the mayoral slipstream . Tan has also take an increasingly large function in San Francisco ’s political relation in the last few twelvemonth , and he ’s seen as a leader to many of the young laminitis and engineers in the metropolis .
Lurie may use Altman to come through over Tan and other technical school entrepreneur who have grown unbelieving of San Francisco ’s leading . Altman , on the other bridge player , may utilize the form of address to get a leg up in politics — a world OpenAI is slowly becoming more enclose in as it matures .
Other transition squad co - chairs include : former fire chief of the San Francisco Fire Department , Joanne Hayes - White ; the Mission Asset Fund ’s ground CEO , José A. Quiñonez ; former Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs ; tribal chief of the Vulnerable Victims Unit and Community Partnerships at the San Francisco District Attorney ’s Office , Nancy Tung ; and former San Francisco Police Department commander , Paul Yep . Advisors to the conversion team include 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 Ben Rosenfield , former San Francisco controller .
