SAN FRANCISCO — Facing renewed threats of federal intervention from President Trump, Mayor Daniel Lurie used an appearance at an Amazon event Tuesday to make the case that San Francisco is “on the rise,” citing its AI-fueled revival as proof of a broader comeback.
Without naming Trump or explicitly citing the proposal to deploy the National Guard, Lurie pushed back on the national narrative of urban decline — pointing to falling crime rates, new investment, and the city’s central role in the AI boom.
He said San Francisco is “open for business” again, name-checking OpenAI and other prominent companies in the city as examples of the innovation fueling its recovery. Mayors of other cities, he said, would die to have one of the many AI companies based in San Francisco.
“Every single metric is heading in the right direction,” Lurie said, noting that violent crime is at its lowest level since the 1950s and car break-ins are at a 22-year low, among other stats.
He was speaking at the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank, as Amazon hosted journalists from around the country and the world on the eve of its annual Delivering the Future event, where the company shows its latest robotics and logistics innovations.
“I want you to tell everybody, wherever you come from, that San Francisco’s on the rise,” he said. “You tell them there’s a new mayor in town, that we’ve got this, and we do.”
Amazon and leaders of San Francisco-Marin Food Bank highlighted their partnership that uses the company’s delivery network to bring food to community members who can’t get to a pantry. The company said Tuesday it has delivered more than 60 million meals for free from food banks across the US and UK, committing to continue the program through 2028.
Executives noted that Amazon has focused in the Seattle region on affordable housing, in line with its approach of adapting to different needs in communities where it operates.
Lurie pointed to the company’s San Francisco food bank partnership as a model for other companies. “Amazon is showing that they are committed to San Francisco,” he said.
