San Francisco has struggled to build enough units, but it can invest in a variety of solutions to spur affordable housing production in the coming years. Several will be on the ballot this November.
Category: Economy & Business
Posted inCity Hall, Community, Economy & Business, Elections, Government & Politics, Health, Homelessness, Housing, Immigration, Neighborhoods, Public Safety, Social Justice, Social Services, Transportation
San Franciscans Speak Out on the Top Issues Facing Their Neighborhoods
In this street interview series taken during the “No Kings” protest in March, people across the city spoke candidly about what matters most where they live, and what they want local leaders to pay attention to.
Posted inCity Hall, Economy & Business, Elections
San Francisco’s ‘Overpaid CEO Tax’ Heads to Voters
As California heads toward a fight over a proposed state tax on billionaires, San Francisco has become an early battleground, with voters weighing whether to increase taxes on corporations with wide gaps between executive and worker pay.
Posted inCity Hall, Economy & Business, Elections
Proposition C Would Cut Taxes and City Revenue
San Francisco’s June ballot has become a referendum on how the city taxes its largest employers, with labor unions arguing that higher taxes on corporations are needed to address a $936 million budget deficit over two years and prevent cuts to public services, and business leaders warning that increased costs could accelerate companies’ exit from the city.
Posted inArtificial Intelligence, California, Economy & Business, Government & Politics, Technology
Following California’s Lead, New York Says AI Companies Need Not Warn Regulators of Safety Risks
Seventeen minutes into his final State of the State address on Jan. 8, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared California’s newly enacted artificial intelligence safety law “a template for the nation.” He boasted that New York “adopted our approach” in regulating the Silicon Valley companies that are releasing increasingly powerful chatbots.
Posted inArtificial Intelligence, Economy & Business, Technology
California’s New AI Safety Law Created the Illusion of Whistleblower Protections
California’s first-in-the-nation AI safety law includes whistleblower protections, but late concessions narrowed them sharply, limiting coverage to select safety staff and requiring serious harm or extreme risk before employees are protected, leaving many potential insiders vulnerable to retaliation.
Posted inCommunity, Economy & Business, Immigration, Neighborhoods
Young People Once Avoided Chinatown. Now They’re Coming Back
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, local leaders were looking for ways to keep local culture alive as older entrepreneurs retired without successors to carry on their legacies. They supported new galleries and festivals to fill the gap left by the loss of tourism, while trying to protect the neighborhood’s status as a home for low-income immigrant families and seniors. As new arrivals, each with their own motivations, look for their place in the neighborhood, they must engage with an already established and diverse community.
Posted inArtificial Intelligence, California, Economy & Business, Government & Politics, Technology
California Pushes AI Regulation as Experts Reveal Looming Dangers
Bay Area technology companies are racing to build powerful artificial intelligence systems they admit could pose “catastrophic risks” to society. But a new report by academic experts commissioned by Gov. Gavin Newsom finds they are resisting transparency and oversight in dangerous ways. The big AI companies prefer that society trust them to innovate responsibly, and […]
Posted inArtificial Intelligence, Economy & Business, Labor, News, Technology, Transportation
Drivers Protest Uber’s ‘Black Box’ Fare System
Uber’s use of secretive fare pricing algorithms driven by artificial intelligence lowers drivers’ wages, causes them confusion and uncertainty, and could undermine public safety — all while boosting company profits to record levels.
That’s the conclusion of a new report surveying more than 2,500 Uber drivers and the message sounded by dozens who protested July 1 outside the company’s San Francisco headquarters.
Drivers say the company’s opaque fare-pricing algorithms have been hurting their income and wellbeing. The protesters’ signs echoed conclusions from the report by PowerSwitch Action and Gig Workers Rising, grassroots organizations representing workers and labor interests.
Posted inBay Area, Data Privacy, Economy & Business, Law & Justice
Patelco Credit Union Settles Class Action Cyberhack Suit for $7.25M
Nearly a year after a ransomware attack paralyzed Patelco Credit Union, a class action against the nonprofit financial cooperative has been settled for $7.25 million. More than 1 million accounts were affected by the breach.
Settlement terms include creating a $7.25 million fund to be shared by victims affected by the ransomware attack and system shutdown of Patelco that lasted for more than two weeks last summer.