SF Mayor reels in $60 million from Google, OpenAI, others for downtown

San Francisco’s Downtown Development Corporation, launched in April by Mayor Daniel Lurie, said on Tuesday that it’s received over $60 million in early commitments from donors including Google and OpenAI to help revive the city’s center.

“I think people view this as a generational moment,” Shola Olatoye, CEO of the SFDDC, told CNBC in an interview. “San Francisco has captured the world’s, and the country’s, imagination as a global hub of innovation and industry. The folks who want to build businesses, raise their families here, and visit, recognize the important work that is underway and want to see it continue.”

In October, Lurie said the group, a nonprofit public benefit corporation, had raised $50 million for its efforts, up from $40 million at the time of its debut. When campaigning for mayor last year, Lurie touted his ability to fundraise, drawing on his past experience at the anti-poverty nonprofit Tipping Point Community, laying the groundwork for public-private partnerships to help revitalize San Francisco.

In addition to Google and OpenAI, SFDDC has raised money from backers including Visa, Thoma Bravo, Ripple, Salesforce, Amazon, Emerson Collective, Sixth Street and Gap. The funds will help support Lurie’s Heart of the City initiative, which prioritizes street safety and cleanliness, small business support and more.

Olatoye said some of the funding will also be deployed to fill vacant spaces in key retail spots such as along Powell and Stockton streets.

“We’re going to provide direct grants to these businesses to provide business support, marketing support and legal support,” Olatoye said. “And then actual below market capital from some of our lending partners to go in and actually fix up these spaces and get those businesses in there, get people spending money and generating economic activity for the city of San Francisco.”

Money will also be dedicated to a new Embarcadero Park, inspired by New York City’s Bryant Park. Lurie has often cited Michael Bloomberg’s efforts as mayor of New York as inspiration for his work, and the DDC is drawing on models used in New York as well as Detroit.

While a number of metrics show that San Francisco has bounced back dramatically from its pandemic lull, the city has a lot of work to do to prepare for an active 2026. Super Bowl LX is coming to the area in February, along with the Pro Bowl Games. In the summer, people will pack into the Bay Area for some of the FIFA World Cup.

“When downtown thrives, our residents, families and small business owners all benefit,” Lurie said in a statement. “By strengthening public safety, cutting red tape and leaning into our arts and culture, we are bringing people back to our streets.”

The first-term mayor notched a significant political win in October as President Donald Trump reversed his decision to deploy the National Guard in downtown San Francisco, saying Lurie was making “substantial progress” on crime in the city. Trump also said he was swayed by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. 

The city has been boosted over the last year by a surge in investment and activity related to artificial intelligence. CBRE data on venture funding show 2025 is expected to surpass the record reached in 2021, thanks in large part to AI investments in San Francisco and Silicon Valley.

In addition, crime rates are down 30% from 2024, with event bookings and tourism on the rise, and residential and commercial real estate heating up.

“There’s no doubt that there is a lot of attention on us and we are super focused on outcomes and using data to ensure we can hold ourselves accountable,” Olatoye said.

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