Summer of AI

July 23, 2025

San Francisco is enjoying an AI boom — a veritable “Summer of AI” — its latest tech Gold Rush. After years of struggling like many cities with a “Doom Loop” due to Covid-19 lockdowns, remote work, empty downtown offices, and slowing international visitors, the City is finally waking up.

SF really needs the new jobs since downtown generates 75% of all revenues and its 2025-2026 budget deficit is projected to be $780 million, leading to 1,000 layoffs, compared to LA’s $1 billion deficit and San Diego’s $140 billion deficit.

SF lives and grows through booms and busts, stretching back to the 1973 OPEC Oil Shock, 1980 slowdown, 1987 Asian market crash, 2000 and 2008 Wall Street crashes, and 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. Each time, media pundits said “It’s over for SF,” but the City rebounded with a new “Next New Thing” tech boom: the 1980s PCs, 1990s Internet dot.com, 2000s social media, 2015 blockchain and VR, and now AI, cryptos, climate tech and health tech.

To explore these changes, I’m writing my “SF Japantown Tales” to explore how these tech innovations impact Japantown and other cultural districts. I’m soon releasing “Noh Games” about a Cal PhD coder who uses Noh masks for her online AI dating app. It’s been fun since masks can be used for dating, festivals, protests, and interior decorations. Check it out and let me know what you think about my series! http://www.dreamscapeglobal.com/publications