The San Francisco Giants have spent the bulk of the last month trying to claw their way back into the Wild Card race. They have gotten big contributions from young players like Heliot Ramos and Tyler Fitzgerald this season, but most of their roster is made up of veterans. Although Ramos was no longer a prospect, Fitzgerald, Kyle Harrison and Marco Luciano all graduated this year, leaving the farm system in a rough place.

In the past, both Harrison and Luciano were considered top 30 prospects, but without them, things got worse. In fact, MLB Pipeline moved them back from 17 in this preseason to 23 in their new ranks.

Bryce Eldridge has become their number one prospect. The first baseman has an exciting amount of power, but his position will hold him back in the rankings. The 19-year-old is the number 54 prospect on the top 100 and made the Future’s Game. He has posted an .859 OPS this season, but is still a few years away.

As for their other top 100 prospects, one might not even be considered that anymore. He hasn’t officially graduated, but Hayden Birdsong has become a staple in the San Francisco rotation. Soon, he won’t be prospect eligible, meaning they will have a new number two.

James Tibbs III was their first round pick in 2024, and ranks 99 on the top 100. While he is expected to be a fast moving college bat, it will still take time. Dakota Jordan, another draft selection, has some elite tools but there is a lot of concern about his swing and miss.

Their top players graduating isn’t the only reason the system has fallen in the rankings, though. Carson Whisenhunt was a top 100 prospect, but has since fallen off that list. The lefty has a great changeup and a 12.6 K/9 in the minors, but has struggled with walks this season. He is currently on the IL.

There are a lot of dart throws for the Giants. Rayner Arias is an 18-year-old outfielder with exciting tools, but hasn’t had the time to develop. Former first round pick Reggie Crawford has a great fastball and plus slider, but looks like a reliever at this point.

Then, there are players such as Wade Meckler and Carson Seymour who have lost some of their prospect shine.

Over the past few seasons, the Giants have relied on short term, high priced contracts for veterans. Even though they have graduated multiple players this season, the system still leaves a lot to be desired.

Perhaps it’s all the Mediterranean dining around town but the last few summers have been filled with tinned fish and Aperol spritzes. So, naturally, San Franciscans are primed for dessert — do you want to get gelato? There are several fresh options for gelato around town right now, with a few new shops, windows, and even jaunty custom carts rolling in from Italy.

But what exactly is the difference between ice cream and gelato? A quick refresher: Technically, ice cream has more fat and more air, explains Roy Shvartzapel of From Roy. Ice cream is often made with cream and eggs, and it spins fast to incorporate air; Shvartzapel estimates ice cream at more than 50 percent overrun or added air, while his gelato maxes out at 20 to 25 percent. Gelato relies more on milk, so it’s lighter in fat — between 4 and 9 percent, many sources agree — and it spins slowly so it’s dense in texture and feels more intense in flavor. Pick up a pint at the market and it’s definitely more solid. Take a spoonful and, “You get all of the flavor on your tongue,” says Jennifer Felton, pastry chef at Cotogna. “You’re not working through the air. You don’t have a lot of fat. That flavor melts on your tongue immediately.”

No offense to anyone who loves soft serve, but it’s a treat to see talented pastry chefs crafting gelato programs from scratch, many inspired by their travels and memories of Milan, Bologna, and Sicily. So grab a mini spoon and let’s dig into it — the gelato is thick this summer in San Francisco.

Che Fico Mercato in Menlo Park threw open a Gelateria window at the beginning of the summer, which has already been a hit with the warm weather on the Peninsula. They’re also rolling out a new custom cart, so the gelato can hit the road and roam around the Bay Area, likely starting with a few farmers markets. It’s a super cute TeknéItalia model that just arrived from Italy, featuring snappy red paint with a pattern of purple figs and a scalloped awning. “The more people enjoying gelato, the better,” says co-owner Matt Brewer. “And what better way to bring gelato to the people?” They tapped a star pastry chef to develop their recipes — Shvartzapel, of panettone fame, has been consulting on the menu.

Shvartzapel says it was refreshing to take a break from crafting one of the most notoriously difficult breads in the world, and instead develop a few fresh gelato recipes for summer. He’s spent the most time in and around Milan, visiting his panettone mentor nearby in Brescia. “I definitely have gelato once a day when I’m there,” Shvartzapel says. He considers himself kind of a classicist when it comes to intense flavors. The team imports pistachio, hazelnut, and almonds from Italy, and folds in the same local and seasonal produce on display in the market. Shvartzapel still dreams about Silicilan pistachio gelato, which they’re now pairing with tart cherries. The cookies and cream flavor folds hazelnut brutti ma buoni cookies into a hazelnut base. And there’s a hazelnut brownie situation with salted caramel.

Cotogna, too, embracing frozen dessert by bringing back its gelato cart on summer Fridays in anticipation of its upcoming gelato shop, Gelateria di Cotogna, opening in early 2025 just a block away at 596 Pacific Avenue. Back in March, Cotogna’s fan-favorite gelato went viral thanks to a visit from Kim Kardashian, who enjoyed the vanilla and honeycomb. Originally, a gelato cart rolled around the dining room with a huge mound of fresh vanilla to be scooped tableside. During the pandemic they switched to selling pints out the door, and eventually built four custom wooden carts for private events. This summer, they’re parking one in front of the restaurant on Fridays to serve scoops and cones, along with selling veggies from their farm and wines from the cellar. They’ll soon upgrade to a TeknéItalia, which should arrive in mid-August.

Longtime pastry chef Felton has geeked out for years developing these recipes. “I love the science and possibilities of gelato,” Felton says. “You have one single product, but endless flavors and options.” In 2019, when she was trying to take a vacation, chef Michael Tusk convinced her to spend a week at the Carpigiani Gelato University near Bologna. She says gelato — such as the crema di gelato that includes egg yolk — runs a touch richer in that region. Felton relies on local and organic dairy, strawberries from Cotogna’s own farm, and pistachios from Sicily. She refuses to use any fruit purees or nut pastes, doing all of her own grinding. Don’t underestimate the original vanilla flecked with quality vanilla bean: “It’s not cheap to make,” she says. Everyone asks for the honeycomb, which folds in a crush of honeycomb candy, coated in a little coconut oil to keep it crunchy (although Felton’s personal favorite is espresso).

Hila Gelato is a new spot on Valencia Street owned by an actual Sicilian. Chef and owner Ilary Biondo took over this storefront from Xanath Ice Cream in 2023, and Hila Gelato just celebrated its one-year anniversary. Biondo owned a gelato shop in Palermo for 10 years, before moving to San Francisco last year. “You can find some gelato here in San Francisco,” says Biondo, as translated by her wife Cecilia Casarini. “But coming from my experience making artisanal gelato in Italy, I couldn’t find anything like that.” She’s been shocked to realize how many ice cream shops in the Bay Area rely on premade bases, syrups, and mix-ins. She just got back from visiting her mother in the countryside, where they like to make olive oil on the family farm. She grew up chasing after the gelato truck, which in Sicily apparently meant a Vespacar mini truck trundling around on three wheels.

Biondo’s style is emphatically fresh and light, and she would even say healthy, although that’s a whole other conversation between you and your dietitian. She makes many of her bases with only three ingredients — organic milk, local fruit, and scant sugar. Some of the bases aren’t even cooked, she simply purees and lets the flavors bloom. When people stroll into the shop, they’re greeted by a mechanical chorus: she had a custom gelato case made in Texas, which continuously spins small batches of each flavor while on display. The fans especially love the strawberry, pistachio, olive oil, gianduia (chocolate and hazelnut), and croccante amarena (cherry, chocolate chip, and biscuit crumbles). Oh, and you can get any flavor loaded into a cannoli.

San Francisco‘s chief deputy city attorney, Yvonne Meré, has filed a lawsuit against 16 websites that use AI to create deepfake pornography by undressing women and girls in photos without their consent.
This unprecedented legal action aims to shut down these popular sites that have surfaced as a harmful trend among teenage boys, employing nudification apps to manipulate images of their female classmates.
According to the New York Times, The 16 targeted sites were visited 200 million times in the first six months of this year. The entities behind these websites are located in California, New Mexico, the United Kingdom, and Estonia. When reached for comments, representatives of the websites either were unavailable or did not respond.
One site promotes its services by asking, “Have someone to undress?” Another states, “Imagine wasting time taking her out on dates,” advocating that users utilize the website “to get her nudes.” Some sites offer free initial images but later charge for more, accepting cryptocurrency or credit card payments.
The deepfake technology used by these sites relies on AI models trained with real pornography and imagery depicting child abuse to generate authentic-looking nude photos from clothed images.
City Attorney David Chiu, the office’s top lawyer, emphasized the minimal repercussions for those behind the images. He noted the challenge in identifying the specific websites responsible once the images begin circulating, which makes it hard for the victims to pursue legal action successfully.
“The article is flying around our office, and we were like, ‘What can we do about this?'” Chiu recalled in an interview. “No one has tried to hold these companies accountable.”
Sara Eisenberg, head of the legal unit focusing on major social problems, highlighted that the issue cannot be solved merely by educating teenagers on safe technology use. Any photo can be manipulated without the subject’s consent, rendering traditional safeguards ineffective.
“You can be as internet-savvy and social media-savvy as you want, and you can teach your kids all the ways to protect themselves online, but none of that can protect them from somebody using these sites to do really awful, harmful things,” Eisenberg said.
The lawsuit is seeking an injunction to shut down the websites and permanently restrain them from creating deepfake pornography in the future. It also demands civil penalties and attorneys’ fees.
The suit argues that these sites violate state and federal revenge pornography laws, child pornography laws, and California’s Unfair Competition Law, which prohibits unlawful and unfair business practices.
Meré took action after reading about the damaging effects of deepfake images in a New York Times article. She immediately contacted Eisenberg, and together, they sought support from Chiu to craft the lawsuit.
“The technology has been used to create deepfake nudes of everyone from Taylor Swift to ordinary middle-school girls with few apparent repercussions,” Chiu said. “The images are sometimes used to extort victims for money or humiliate and harass them.”
Experts warn that deepfake pornography poses severe risks to victims, impacting their mental health, reputations, college, and job prospects. The problem is exacerbated by the difficulty in tracing the origin of the images, making legal recourse challenging.
“This strategy could be viewed as a Whac-a-Mole approach since more sites could crop up,” Chiu acknowledged. However, the suit proposes to add more sites as they are discovered, aiming for broader enforcement as the issue evolves.
San Francisco, being a hub for the artificial intelligence industry with major companies like OpenAI and Anthropic based there, is a fitting venue for this legal challenge. Chiu acknowledged the positive contributions of the AI industry but pointed out that deepfake pornography represents a “dark side” that must be addressed.
“Keeping pace with the rapidly changing industry as a government lawyer is daunting,” Chiu said. “But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.”
The lawsuit marks a significant effort to combat the misuse of AI technology in creating harmful content and holding accountable those who perpetuate these destructive practices.