The city of San Francisco recently named a street after Art Agnos, one of its last noble leaders, and while addressing the crowd in his longtime neighborhood of Potrero Hill, the former mayor shared a clear vision for how to live as a responsible member of our community.

The 39th mayor of San Francisco called himself a “neighbor” who “fulfilled the Ancient Greek promise of the Athenians when they became citizens of their city. They said ‘I promise to leave my city better than I found it.’”

I’m craving more outspoken calls for civic responsibility, especially from our current elected leaders in response to an emergency in affordability escalated by the artificial intelligence companies headquartered here. I demand they be held accountable. One industry is exacerbating our city’s ongoing troubles with having a low housing supply against a heavy demand. 

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It’s time for Mayor Daniel Lurie to stand up to these companies, even though his political agenda is tech and business friendly. I recognize how his strategy has proved successful for improving downtown, as even the most ardent right-wing outlets are publishing favorable reports about San Francisco’s “resurrection.”

And that AI companies undoubtedly accelerated this economic turnaround. OpenAI has contributed $236 million in gross receipt taxes over the past several years, which is great for the city coffers, but the success has come with a damning cost. San Francisco has the fastest-growing rental rates in the country, pushing out local families and crushing affordable living throughout the Bay Area. It’s bad now, and it’s only going to get worse.

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie speaks to members of the press after officiating a wedding between Randy Garcia Martinez and Ted Huang at City Hall on June 26, 2026, in San Francisco.

The mayor of San Francisco needs to meet this moment and secure actual community investment beyond a trite catch phrase on social media. 

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In fairness, Lurie at least tried to bring one company to the table. Earlier this summer, the mayor urged OpenAI to develop new ways to improve the lives of regular residents through investments in education and housing. But the company balked. OpenAI CEO Sarah Friar wrote in a letter to Lurie after their meeting to explain that the company was already contributing to San Francisco through a “growing tax base” and some grants. 

OpenAI says it has invested in our community, but so far, that’s meant less than a million dollars in “SF civic contributions.” And worst of all, some of that is for things like AI training programs. This company is largely responsible for making it harder to live in San Francisco, and the best it can give us is that it pays its taxes on time and has donated some training programs so that older adults will use the company’s AI products? That’s not improving the city; it’s OpenAI trying to make more money.

It seems that some of the only tangible gifts the city has received from AI companies is the technology itself. Last year, Lurie’s nonprofit Tipping Point partnered with Anthropic to train other........

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