San Francisco's new political era & OpenAI’s shift to “O” models

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🕶️ Amazon is developing smart glasses to boost delivery efficiency and a new Echo Frames version for 2026, per Reuters.

📈 Tesla stock rebounds as Musk gains Wall Street's favor, while Bitcoin and MicroStrategy surge on pro-crypto optimism under Trump.

👟 StockX’s co-founder Greg Schwartz will take over as CEO in January, with outgoing CEO Scott Cutler staying on as an advisor.

💸 Indonesian VC firm Intudo raised $125M across two funds to back Indonesian startups and expand into natural resources, targeting sectors like consumer products, deep tech, and renewable energy.

📉 Mozilla Foundation has laid off 30% of its staff and dropped its advocacy and global programs divisions to streamline focus on a unified mission, citing the need for agility amid rapid tech industry changes.

📈 Wall Street year-end bonuses are set to rise sharply, with investment banking seeing up to 35% increases, while retail and commercial banking face slight declines due to weaker loan demand.

San Francisco’s tech-backed power shift: The new wave of moderates

A wave of moderate politics has taken over San Francisco, fueled by tech money and years of growing frustration with the city’s crises. Tech leaders, fed-up voters, and upstart political groups are redefining the city’s political DNA, promising to focus on making it functional for residents and businesses alike.

The spark that ignited change: It started with a grassroots recall of three school board members in 2021, led by tech workers Autumn Looijen and Siva Raj, who were frustrated by prolonged school closures and out-of-touch board priorities. Their effort caught fire, pulling in support from high-profile tech figures and igniting momentum for more moderate politics in the city.

The big shift: Since then, the moderate movement has gained traction. San Francisco’s 2024 election saw moderates sweep the Mayor’s Office, retain District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, and secure key seats on the Board of Supervisors. For the first time, the city’s executive, legislative, and law enforcement branches are on the same page about addressing issues like crime, homelessness, and housing shortages.

Venture capitalist Garry Tan called the shift a “revolt against failing ‘progressive’ policies,” and many tech insiders view the changes as a long-awaited win for San Francisco’s residents and small businesses.

Tech money + startup culture = political power

San Francisco’s tech elite contributed millions to moderate causes. Notably, Y Combinator’s Tan, Yelp’s Jeremy Stoppelman, and Ron Conway, among others, have invested heavily in reshaping the city’s leadership. More than just cash, they’re bringing a results-oriented mentality typical of startup culture—focusing on issues affecting all city residents, from housing and public safety to drug policy.

Organizations like GrowSF lead the charge: Political advocacy groups like GrowSF have amplified the moderate message, offering voter guides and targeting issues like crime and housing. Founded by former tech workers Sachin Agarwal and Steven Buss, GrowSF’s influence grew quickly, becoming a go-to guide for residents on city politics. This year, GrowSF’s voter guide reached 400,000 people, a sign of its growing influence in swaying election results.

Looking forward: Can moderates deliver?

The question now is whether San Francisco’s new moderate leadership can deliver on promises to address the city’s entrenched problems. With state Sen. Scott Wiener’s pro-housing legislation already making progress, expectations are high for City Hall to finally tackle housing and homelessness head-on. “If we don’t see big changes in four years, then we deserve to lose the next election,” says Buss.

The bottom line: San Francisco’s political shift marks a new era where tech’s influence is undeniable, not just financially but culturally. This latest election may be the start of a San Francisco that works for everyone—citizens, businesses, and yes, even tech itself.

From GPT to “O”: OpenAI’s next big move in AI

GPT is getting a bit… stale. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman seems to think so. Forget the next “GPT”—OpenAI’s all about “o” models now, a new line of reasoning-first AI that might redefine the whole game.

Why the shift to “O”?

Last week, Altman hinted that OpenAI’s priority isn’t another GPT but rather their “o” reasoning models, starting with “o1.” With GPTs reaching a plateau in impact, Altman’s eyeing something sharper. GPT-4 was revolutionary, but Orion, the next big model, won’t offer the same leap. This has OpenAI rethinking AI’s future.

Scaling AI isn’t what it used to be: GPTs were built on “more data, more power.” But now, just scaling up resources isn’t cutting it. Orion’s improvements are minor compared to past jumps, which is why OpenAI is all in on reasoning models—AIs that get smarter the more time they have to analyze. This “log-linear compute scaling” could be the future of AI, making reasoning the ace in OpenAI’s playbook as GPT slows down.

Can we chill on the AI doomsday?

This slowdown might actually calm AI doomsday fears. Fears of an AI takeover hinge on models that improve exponentially, but a plateau in GPTs could mean we keep control. Even investors like Marc Andreessen say this “leveling off” may help AI remain manageable.

What’s next for data centers?

OpenAI’s $100 billion supercluster dreams are looking less urgent. Major AI players are moving to smaller, practical setups to refine models post-training. These clusters aren’t cheap, but they’re nimble enough to make every incremental gain count.

The Takeaway: OpenAI’s pivot to reasoning-first “o” models marks a shift from brute-force, data-heavy GPTs to smarter, strategic AI. For founders, this could mean the next wave of AI is about systems that can reason and evolve—without the existential risks.

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