???????????? This week in Bay Area business: AI land grabs, rate cuts and Dreamforce
San Francisco Business Times
The San Francisco region's source for local business news & events. Part of the American City Business Journals network.
Dreamforce dominated Bay Area headlines this week. Salesforce ’s annual shindig saw tech billionaires talking shop as visitor crowds returned to pre-pandemic levels. AI monopolized discussions yet again with executives from all the major industry players represented - with one very notable absence.
Elsewhere, there were some huge real estate moves and some worrying biotech news.
And overshadowing it all was a much anticipated Fed rate cut. Will the FOMC bipping interest rates translate to a boost for local real estate markets??
All this and more in another week in Bay Area business.
Where was the world's biggest AI company at the 'world's largest AI event'? by William Hicks
Dreamforce is the world's premier AI soiree, according to organizers Salesforce. Last year OpenAI where everywhere at the event and CEO Sam Altman appeared on stage, yet this year . . . they were largely absent and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff even went so far as to criticize their models. Ouch! So what happened? Read the story .
Governor Gavin Newsom signed three AI bills by Sara B.
Dreamforce attendees got to see democracy in action as Gavin Newsom whipped out a bunch of papers during an onstage chat with Marc Benioff and signed three AI-related bills into law. The bills will regulate deepfakes and election-related content. Read more .
Elsewhere at Dreamforce:
OpenAI signs another monster lease in San Francisco by Sarah Klearman
It might not have been at Dreamforce but OpenAI remains a driving force in San Francisco real estate. The firm has signed another huge lease and is doubling down on one corner of the city. Read more .
Why a developer just snapped up 40 acres of East Bay land by Hannah Kanik
A huge advanced manufacturing and distribution facility is coming to Livermore. Overton Moore Properties is slated to start construction on a 760,250-square-foot, two-building facility later this month, and has preleased 60% of the property to Lam Research . Read the full story .
The week in real estate
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23andMe directors resign: 'We differ on the strategic direction' by Ron Leuty
Co-founder and CEO Anne Wojcicki's attempt to buy out existing shareholders and take 23andMe private saw multiple directors of the company resign. The resignations leave Wojcicki, at least temporarily, as the only board member of 23andMe Holding Co., the South San Francisco-based company that 17 years ago revolutionized consumer genetic testing with its "spit kit." Read the full story .
Cancer-focused biotech Notable Labs lays off 65% of workforce by Ron Leuty
A Peninsula drug developer launched to try to save the life of the father of one of its founders is trying to stay alive itself. Notable Labs Ltd. is exploring "strategic alternatives focused on maximizing shareholder value" as it pauses the start of a clinical trial and cuts 65% of its workforce. Read more .
Emergency funding: S.F. hotel leaders approve big fee hike by Alex Barreira
Local tourism boosters worry San Francisco's group meetings game is falling seriously behind schedule. Read more .
ICYMI here's what else you need to know
Executive profile: a mountain lion encounter saw this exec leave tech for conservation by William Hicks
Zara McDonald was inspired to found Felidae Conservation Fund after working in tech and now drives conservation projects in the Bay Area and beyond. "I realized how small I was in that ecosystem. It made me rethink how I conduct myself in nature and what I tell others," Zara M.
Moonshots and Doom Loops ?????????
This weekly Bay Area business? round-up is written by Simon Campbell , special projects editor at the San Francisco Business Times .
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