OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has joined a growing list of former tech leaders taking roles in San Francisco’s government following this month’s U.S. presidential election.
San Francisco Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie named Altman, the head of the artificial intelligence company behind ChatGPT, as one of seven co-chairs of his transition team, the campaign announced on Monday.
The tech industry concentrated in Silicon Valley, south of San Francisco, has increasingly moved into the city itself, creating tensions in a place once synonymous with hippies and counterculture. At the same time, San Francisco’s sluggish post-pandemic economic recovery and visible struggles with drugs and homelessness have fueled a shift toward centrist Democratic politics, driven by both disgruntled citizens and affluent tech executive donors.