San Francisco, CA
Robots take the wheel as San Francisco opens streets to driverless taxis
The future of urban transportation is here, and it’s taking the form of sleek, autonomous vehicles traveling through city streets. Across the United States, self-driving car companies are racing to revolutionize how we move, promising safer roads, reduced traffic and a new era of mobility. But it’s in San Francisco that this future is suddenly now a reality for thousands.
Waymo, the Google-owned autonomous vehicle pioneer, is available to everyone in the city by the bay. Imagine cruising through the iconic streets of San Francisco without worrying about parking, navigating steep hills or designating a driver after a night out.
That’s the promise Waymo is offering. But what does this sudden availability of autonomous rides mean for daily commutes, weekend plans and the very fabric of urban life in one of America’s most dynamic cities?
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Waymo autonomous vehicle (Waymo)
No more waiting in line: Waymo opens its doors to everyone
Remember when you needed an exclusive invite to ride in a Waymo? Well, those days are now in the rearview mirror. Now, anyone in San Francisco can hail a driverless Waymo ride. Just download the app, and you’re good to go. But here’s the thing. Nearly 300,000 people — that’s more than a quarter of San Francisco’s population — had already signed up on Waymo’s waiting list. Talk about pent-up demand. It seems like everyone wanted to try out the self-driving robotaxi service.
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Waymo app and autonomous vehicle (Waymo)
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More than just a ride: The impact on San Francisco
Waymo isn’t just changing how people get around. It’s potentially reshaping the city’s social and economic landscape. Did you know that about 30% of Waymo rides in San Francisco are to local businesses? That’s a potential boost for the local economy right there.
And get this. Over half of Waymo riders surveyed said they’ve used the service for medical appointments. Plus, 36% use it to connect to other forms of transit like BART or Muni. It’s not just a taxi service; it’s becoming an integral part of the city’s transportation ecosystem.
Oh, and for the eco-conscious among us, here’s a fun fact. Waymo’s fleet is all-electric and uses 100% renewable energy from the city’s CleanPowerSF program. It claims to have helped curb carbon emissions by an estimated 570,000 kilograms since August 2023.
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Waymo autonomous vehicle at EV charging station (Waymo)
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Not just a San Francisco thing
Waymo isn’t just cruising the famously steep hills of San Francisco. It’s also got wheels on the ground in the sunny streets of Los Angeles and the desert landscapes of Phoenix. And guess what? Austin, Texas, you’re next on the list. Looks like the robotaxi revolution is spreading faster than you can say “autonomous vehicle.”
Waymo autonomous vehicle on the streets of San Francisco (Waymo)
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Safety first: Waymo’s bold claims
Now, I know what you’re thinking. “Is it safe?” Well, Waymo sure thinks so. It boasts about its “unparalleled” safety record, claiming it’s even safer than human drivers. With over 20 million miles logged since 2009, it’s got some serious road cred.
But it’s not just talk. Waymo cites statistics suggesting its driverless cars are safer than human-operated vehicles. It claims to have been involved in 17 fewer crashes with injuries and 12 fewer police-reportable crashes compared to human drivers over 3.8-plus million rider-only miles in San Francisco.
Waymo autonomous vehicle (Waymo)
But hold on, It’s not all smooth driving
Before you get too excited and toss your driver’s license in the shredder, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened an investigation into Waymo. It’s looking into 22 incidents involving the self-driving tech. We’re talking about collisions with objects, parked cars and some traffic control hiccups. Yikes.
The NHTSA’s probe covers 444 of Waymo’s vehicles. That’s a lot of robots under the microscope. It’s a reminder that even as we race toward a driverless future, there are still some speed bumps to overcome.
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Waymo app and autonomous vehicle (Waymo)
The big picture: Robotaxis taking over?
It’s not just Waymo in the spotlight. Other companies like Zoox, owned by Amazon, are also under the NHTSA’s microscope. Even big names like Ford and Tesla are feeling the heat as autonomous technology becomes more widespread. Meanwhile, GM’s Cruise is planning a comeback after suspending its service due to safety concerns.
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Waymo autonomous vehicle (Waymo)
Kurt’s key takeaways
On one hand, the idea of hopping into a car without a driver could mean safer roads, less traffic and more accessibility for those who can’t drive. But, on the other hand, are we ready to trust our lives to algorithms and sensors? The NHTSA investigation shows there are still kinks to work out. And let’s not forget the potential impact on jobs in the transportation sector. It’s not just about cool tech; it’s about how it affects real people’s livelihoods. One thing’s for sure. The future of getting from point A to point B is changing rapidly. Whether you’re excited or skeptical, it looks like robotaxis are here to stay.
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San Francisco, CA
Two more Presidio Heights homes reach $10M range as luxury supply dwindles
Presidio Heights is proving to be a center of gravity as luxury housing supply in San Francisco vanishes and the city’s well-to-do scramble to claim their slice of the artificial intelligence industry’s nerve center.
On the same day last week, the city recorded two home sales in the wealthy neighborhood for $9.2 million and $10 million.
The first reflected the fortunes being created by the AI industry. Venture capitalist Kenneth Wallace and his wife, Moriah Lewis, sold their five-bed, 4,755-square-foot home at 3875 Clay Street for $9.2 million. Josh McAdam of Sotheby’s International Realty represented the seller. The property last sold for $6.8 million in 2021.
The buyer initially kept their name hidden behind a Delaware-incorporated LLC named after the property’s address. However, according to public loan documents, the LLC is managed by Daniel Berrios and Kimberly Tan, a couple in their early 30s who graduated from Stanford into the San Francisco tech sector. Berrios works on special projects at OpenAI, and Tan is an investing partner with blue chip venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. Wells Fargo Bank provided a $5.4 million loan for the purchase.
Ten blocks east, sellers Herbert and Shwu-Ling Wei sold their six-bed, 5,000 square-foot home at 2881 Jackson Street for $10 million. Kyle Vineyard, a CPA with Realize Tax Advisors, is the trustee of the buyer, RKLA Trust. It is unclear whether Vineyard’s involvement is purely professional or if he’s connected to the trust.
The home last sold in 2014 for $6.8 million.
Presidio Heights, the neighborhood that runs along Presidio Park at San Francisco’s north end, has experienced a hot streak during the first half of 2026. Earlier this month, two mansions in the area sold for a combined $32 million, marking the fourth and fifth sales this year to eclipse $10 million. There were seven sales above that benchmark in Presidio Heights in all of 2025, according to Zillow data.
San Francisco, where the median home sale fetches $2.2 million, is dealing with its own version of champagne problems: a mansion shortage. The AI boom has attracted a wave of high-paid employees, apparently leaving the city with more millionaires than mansions. Steep capital gains taxes have made some mansion owners hesitant to let go of their property. Others are holding out for the expected spike in luxury home demand following Anthropic and OpenAI’s initial public offerings of stock, which are expected to come later this year.
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San Francisco, CA
No tolerance for hate or crime at SF Pride this weekend, officials say
Staying safe at San Francisco’s Pride festivities
The SFPD has announced that officers from all districts, stations and specialized agencies will be positioned along the route for the Pride Parade to ensure the event is safe for attendees. The annual parade will be held this Sunday and is expected to attract hundreds of thousands of people from around the world.
San Francisco – San Francisco city and police officials said Wednesday that they want people to enjoy Pride festivities this weekend — including the popular parade on Sunday — and that they will be on the lookout for criminal activity.
“All of the leaders up here know how important this weekend is, and we are ready,” Mayor Daniel Lurie said while flanked by a host of officials at a news conference at San Francisco police headquarters.
Lurie said his message is simple: “Look out for one another. Report anything concerning and know that every first responder, city worker and volunteer has one goal: to help everyone celebrate safely.”
Hundreds of thousands expected at SF Pride Parade
What we know:
The annual Pride festivities and parade on Sunday are expected to draw hundreds of thousands of people from around the world to San Francisco. Police say they’re working with state and federal partners to monitor any potential threats while making sure people enjoy themselves.
“You’ll see many of our officers – including me – wearing Pride patches,” said Police Chief Derrick Lew, gesturing to a multicolored patch on his shoulder. “As always, we’re excited to showcase San Francisco, and our longstanding status as a safe haven for members of the LGBTQ+ community.”
No tolerance for hate, DA says
What they’re saying:
District Attorney Brooke Jenkins says she and other city leaders will have no tolerance for hate.
Just last week, she charged a man with a hate crime for allegedly spray-painting a homophobic message outside a Castro District flower shop and punching a witness.
“There will be accountability if anything like that happens here, and so as much as we want to be joyous, we also have to take this occasion very seriously,” Jenkins said.
Suzanne Ford, executive director of SF Pride agreed, saying, “I think we all have the responsibility of demonstrating that we can work together to make sure that the LGBTQ community is centered for this weekend.”
Sheriff Paul Miyamoto said those who don’t behave will go straight to jail.
“The one mode of transportation we want to make sure all of you avoid this weekend is the party buses that the sheriff’s department will have out there,” Miyamoto said.
City officials are urging everyone to celebrate responsibly, don’t drink and drive or accept drinks from strangers and to report any suspicious activity.
Henry Lee is a KTVU crime reporter. E-mail Henry at Henry.Lee@fox.com and follow him on X @henrykleeKTVU and www.facebook.com/henrykleefan
The Source: KTVU reporting, San Francisco police and sheriff, district attorney’s office
San Francisco, CA
First of its kind queer museum in San Francisco Chinatown amplifies Chinese LGBTQ artists
On one side of the world, Xiangqi Chen can be punished for her LGBTQ+ activism. But on the other, the activist and artist is lauded as a trailblazer — the architect behind the first of its kind Chinese queer art museum.
The irony that she left her home in China and found a public platform for her LGBTQ+ artistic expression in San Francisco’s Chinatown — the country’s oldest — is not lost on her.
“Here in San Francisco Chinatown, I still continued my journey and met so many like-minded community members and friends,” Chen told The Associated Press through an interpreter. “It kind of actually encouraged me and gave me lots of strength to do what I know is my mission, my calling.”
The OUT Museum opened with a rainbow-ribbon cutting at the end of May — between Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month and Pride Month. Situated across from the Chinese Historical Society of America Museum, the bilingual museum is giving recognition to a demographic that has long felt invisible. It seems like an ideal fit in the progressive city at a time when some cities, states and the federal government are restricting or banning certain LGBTQ+ rights.
To start, the museum is only open on Saturdays and is one room with fewer than a dozen artworks by artists from China and the Chinese diaspora. But there is hope to expand the museum’s exhibits and days of operation.
Museum allows Chinese artists to fully tell their stories
While still living in China, Chen launched a Kickstarter for a proposed museum six years ago — more than 2,000 donated on the platform. But she knew it likely wouldn’t be built there. In 2022, she came to the U.S. on a J-1 visa as a visiting scholar at Georgetown University. By 2024, Chen gained attention in San Francisco for her role in an exhibition at the Asian Art Museum. That led to a residency with the Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco.
The organization was “proud to be the incubating space for the OUT Museum prototype,” executive director Jenny Leung said in an email.
The level of support that followed amazed Chen.
“I got so many chances to connect with the local Asian American queer community and even the Chinatown community in general,” she said.
Interest soon followed from longtime collaborators and younger artists who reached out via Instagram. They are represented in the inaugural exhibition, which includes photography, zines and an interactive installation where visitors use thread to trace their self-discovery journey with gender and sexuality.
For Hong Kong-born artist Dixon Ngai, this museum offers an outlet to tell his story as mainstream media typically overlook the Chinese LGBTQ+ community. He contributed a hand-painted, Chinese porcelain wine pot inspired by the Cantonese opera “Di Nü Hua,” or “The Flower Princess.”
Ngai said the OUT Museum, unlike other exhibitions, is very specific to the experience of the Chinese queer community, allowing “more people to see our voice.”
Museum affirms evolving attitudes toward LGBTQ+ presence
Since the museum’s opening, Chen has been “one hundred percent moved” by unexpected feedback from one particular demographic: Chinese immigrants, both queer and straight, who have lived in California for decades.
A 60-year-old transgender man who visited shared how he immigrated to the U.S. in the 1970s for crucial gender-affirming care. There was also a mother looking to connect with her gay adult son.
“She later emailed me saying that she’s so grateful for all the events the art museum has organized,” Chen said. “Her son came out to her, and she’s very proud of her son and she wants to express gratitude.”
These reactions are proof the museum is elevating the visibility of Chinese, Chinese American and Asian American LGBTQ+ people, said author and activist Helen Zia, a museum advisory board member. It also shows how attitudes have shifted, she said, as it would have been difficult to mount even 20 years ago.
“There were Asian churches who would have demonstrations week after week with thousands of people just condemning same-sex couples,” Zia said, recalling the response from the Chinese community in 2008 when she handed out pro-gay marriage flyers in Oakland’s Chinatown. “We got people yelling at us, spitting.”
Later that year, Zia and her wife were among many couples who wed after the California Supreme Court rejected a same-sex marriage ban. Even today, she says the museum’s presence sends a needed message.
“See our humanity,” Zia said. “Here’s the beautiful art that we create and imagine and contribute to the world.”
LGBTQ+ life in mainland China
versus the US
Being homosexual in China means living under the radar and discriminatory policies. In 2001, the Chinese Psychiatric Association stopped listing homosexuality as a mental disorder. But LGBTQ+ couples still cannot marry or adopt. They are also limited in their right to publicly advocate. When Chen lived in Shanghai, she ran a grassroots center for lesbians. One of the reasons she left was because during the pandemic the government started cracking down on spaces for LGBTQ+ activism.
She likely could not even put on an art show, let alone a museum.
“From 2013 to 2015, that kind of art exhibition by queer artists (could) exist, but only if you don’t explicitly show or tell the audience that your work or yourself identify as queer or LGBTQ,” Chen said. “But not nowadays.”
That Shanghai center is how Zia met Chen a decade ago. Zia was doing research for a book and toured the center.
“She’s been just incredibly brave in China, creating a center that attracted a lot of state attention,” Zia said.
A key difference Chen has noticed among American-born Chinese LGBTQ+ people versus those in China is they are more educated about gender and sexual identity and have more access to support.
Under the second Trump administration, LGBTQ+ rights are increasingly under threat. President Donald Trump’s administration has targeted gender-affirming care and sought to ban transgender people in the military. Some anti-Pride lawmakers recently proposed “Nuclear Family Month.”
San Francisco also recently dealt with shifting LGBTQ+ attitudes after Giants baseball players wrote Bible verses on Pride Night hats.
Nevertheless, the Chinese artists say the social landscape here is a breath of fresh air.
“Here in San Francisco, in California, we enjoy the air of freedom, there is equal human rights, there is security,” Ngai said. “So, we are very proud to be ourselves.”
This Sunday, Chen will proudly walk in her first San Francisco Pride Parade. She will plug the museum while dressed fittingly as a woman warrior from a Cantonese opera.
“I think completing this opening will be a start for me. It’s not the end,” Chen said. “We still have a long way to go.”
___
Tang reported from Phoenix.
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