Software giant Salesforce plans to invest $15 billion in San Francisco over the next five years to bolster the city's dominance in artificial intelligence.
“This $15 billion investment reflects our deep commitment to our hometown—advancing AI innovation, creating jobs, and helping companies and our communities thrive in this incredible new era,” Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said in a statement.
The funding is the latest example of how the artificial intelligence frenzy has brought attention to San Francisco, home to major tech companies such as Salesforce and ChatGPT maker OpenAI.
Benioff's remarks also come ahead of the company's Dreamforce conference in San Francisco, which runs through Thursday.
The conference is expected to bring about 50,000 people to the city, generate $130 million in revenue for San Francisco and create 35,000 local jobs, Salesforce said in a press release Monday.
Last week Benioff also said New York Times he believed Trump should send the National Guard to help reduce crime in San Francisco after the president said Democrats had “ruined” the city.
Salesforce's multibillion-dollar investment will create a new center on the company's San Francisco campus that will support workforce development and training.
On social network X, Benioff also wrote that investments will help “build a greater, safer city for everyone.”
Salesforce, a platform that helps businesses manage customer data and track sales, is also making other commitments to San Francisco as competition for AI dominance intensifies.
On Monday, the company also announced a $100 million investment in UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital and a $39 million investment to support education and artificial intelligence readiness, including in the San Francisco Unified School District and Oakland Unified School District.
Salesforce is also promoting the use of “artificial intelligence agents” that can actively perform work without constant human intervention. Some tasks that agents can perform include answering customer questions and creating marketing materials.
Advances in artificial intelligence are also adding to concerns about whether technology will be able to automate certain activities, including customer service and software development, amid job cuts.
In September Benioff said his company has been able to reduce the number of people performing support functions from 9,000 to 5,000 as artificial intelligence agents help automate certain tasks. Previously, he also said that AI does 30% to 50% of the company's work.
In July, the Brookings Institution named the San Francisco and San Jose metropolitan areas “superstars” when it comes to AI readiness. The report notes, however, that more AI-ready metropolitan areas should be wary of AI replacing jobs as technology changes the way people work.
A think tank in Washington, D.C., examined data such as venture capital funding, AI Job Announcements and the number of computer science degree holders in certain fields.
