San Francisco’s mayor-elect, Daniel Lurie, has tapped OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to help run his transition team, the campaign announced on Monday, a

Sam Altman will co-chair San Francisco mayor-elect Daniel Lurie’s transition team

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2024-11-18 20:00:10

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 relationships 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.