OpenAI's Sam Altman becomes latest tech executive involved in San Francisco government
OpenAI's Sam Altman becomes latest tech executive involved in San Francisco government
The Facts
On Monday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman joined San Francisco Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie's transition team. The tech executive will work with nine other renowned leaders to drive Lurie's administration toward innovation that would revitalize the city.
Lurie, a Levi Strauss heir and philanthropist, will become San Francisco's next mayor on January 8, replacing London Breed, the first black female mayor who served since 2018. As mayor, Lurie will struggle with the city's post-pandemic economic recovery as well as evident drug and homelessness issues.
The Spin
San Francisco Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie is serious about shaking up the status quo. In order to achieve this, he has assembled a transition team consisting of prominent tech leaders and individuals with vast experience in managing the city. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, along with the other co-chairs, will build the basis for the change that San Franciscans demand. The team will work together to address the numerous difficulties that San Francisco faces.
Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie will be the first San Francisco mayor in more than a century to have no prior government experience, and he, like Donald Trump in 2016, is a political newcomer with very deep pockets, spending millions of his personal wealth. And, just as Trump has received backing from Silicon Valley tech millionaires, so has Lurie. The difference is that Lurie is a moderate Democrat.