5 ms·

Ask HN: What is everyone in SF talking about?

35 points by morgangiraud 5mo ago

I’m not in San Francisco, but I’m curious about the current local zeitgeist. What are the keywords, companies, or ideas that keep coming up in conversations?

cpa 5mo ago
Something something AI
lemonademan 5mo ago
I believe the World Cup is a hot topic right now.
KerrAvon 5mo ago
Aside from sportsball, AI and deranged [tb]illionaire behavior is basically it. edit: autocorrect
- Jcowell 5mo ago
  Curious to hear more about the deranged behaviors
  - tim-tday 5mo ago
    Zuck thrashing: spending billions on the metaverse. Admitting it failed, spending billions more. Firing a bunch of people. Spending insane amounts to hire sexy name ai people. Instituting total surveillance to train ai to replace people. Then giving that AI away for free online with no real explanation. (I guess the order of those two things should be reversed, but they don’t make any more sense in that order either) Elon (do we even need to do this one?) the horse thing should be enough. Ellison’s quest to defeat death, young blood transfusions and weirder shit. Brin fighting tooth and nail against paying taxes (I guess it’s not deranged for one’s wealth and power to activate to protect itself, it just makes him look like a petulant child)
gradys 5mo ago
IPOs pushing up housing prices New Waymo car models rolling out The laser thing in front of city hall Pride month, parades this weekend Antisocial guy harassing Scott Weiner on social media at Dolores Park Lurie administration, after initially making progress on crime and cleaning up the streets seems to be stalling out Supervisor Jackie Fielder back from long mostly unexplained absence that was maybe due to her illegally leaking confidential information
- appplication 5mo ago
  Interestingly I have found many tech circles in SF would rarely discuss ultra local things like supervisor politics. I don’t even think it’s taboo, I just have found folks tend to not be super informed on any of it. Lurie does seem to capture plenty of political mindshare though.
  - davidw 5mo ago
    That area still has some 'gold rush' mentality to it, where people want to get in, make their money and get out. That doesn't foster much of a long-term attitude that pays attention to local politics. Also some of the local politics are totally psychotic, like the guy harassing Scott Wiener.
- tapoxi 5mo ago
  As an occasional visitor, the city seems a lot cleaner and safer this year (I went last month) than the last times I visited in 2024 and 2019.
khurs 5mo ago
California Billionaire Tax - November 2026 ballot. One off 5%. Sergey Brin leading the fight against it, donating millions to try to kill it.
- chabes 5mo ago
  So ridiculous that folks will spend millions personally to avoid paying their fair share in taxes. Is the alternative really that bad Sergey? You would be paying a similar amount, and the money would actually go to some use, as opposed to being blown on a political fight.
  - deleted 5mo ago
    [deleted]
  - bflesch 5mo ago
    It sets dangerous precedent Edit: guys, it was a joke! /s
    - enraged_camel 5mo ago
      Ah yes, the dangerous precedent of... doing something about obscene and extreme wealth inequality.
    - chabes 5mo ago
      How so?
    - trescenzi 5mo ago
      Dangerous to whom exactly?
      - deleted 5mo ago
        [deleted]
      - rcpt 5mo ago
        Anyone who's not able to populism their way into a cash blast for their org. I am not a billionaire. But I don't want to risk losing my job or moving out of state so that the dialysis people can cash a paycheck.
asadm 5mo ago
Robotics Physical AI.
quatonion 5mo ago
[dead]
deleted 5mo ago
[deleted]
kaycebasques 5mo ago
Muni is not doing well. They've adjusted service to address a huge budget deficit, and the buses are noticeably more crowded and less frequent. Given how SF has a big global immigrant population, there's a lot of World Cup spirit in the air. Also because Santa Clara is a host stadium. Housing demand is back up. Not just single family homes but also condos. Bars are supposedly closing because the 20-somethings are drinking less. Yet at the same time apparently the youngins have discovered the charm of Vesuvio...? Anchor still has not reopened. Woods (IMO) is now the preferred beer spot for locals. The recall of the Sunset supe was a big deal. Fight over cars on the Great Highway is ongoing. Pride is in full swing this weekend. Bay To Breakers was great as always. Weather is decent. The "SF doom spiral" story is being discussed less. I.e. SF seems safer. It's a good time to live in SF.
- quatonion 5mo ago
  > Housing demand is back up. Not just single family homes but also condos. Hmmm, the median house price is $2.1M. > It's a good time to live in SF. It seems pretty K shaped. Great time to live in SF and Bay Area iff you are an AI researcher, founder, VC, executive at one of the hyper-scalers, or a senior engineer with massive equity package in the few winning companies. Not entirely sure if it's a great time to live in SF if you work at a bakery, are a Barista at Starbucks or even a mid tier SWE. Thoughts?
  - dlcarrier 5mo ago
    The San Francisco Bay area has only been affordable for the rich for decades; it's nothing new. Fifteen years ago, I worked with someone who bought a $300,000 house, in his hometown ~150 miles away, and a $150,000 airplane, to commute to his job near the San Carlos airport, because it was much, much cheaper than living in the SF Bay area.
richardchilders 5mo ago
[dead]
- deleted 5mo ago
  [deleted]
deleted 5mo ago
[deleted]
66yatman 5mo ago
Probably data centers in space
randomname4325 5mo ago
Same as in every other bubble: Housing is insanely expensive, Dating sucks, That friend that just got rich, So and so company just got funded, This event coming up, When's the bubble going to burst

35 points by morgangiraud 5mo ago

I’m not in San Francisco, but I’m curious about the current local zeitgeist. What are the keywords, companies, or ideas that keep coming up in conversations?

cpa 5mo ago

Something something AI

lemonademan 5mo ago

I believe the World Cup is a hot topic right now.

KerrAvon 5mo ago

Aside from sportsball, AI and deranged [tb]illionaire behavior is basically it. edit: autocorrect

Jcowell 5mo ago
Curious to hear more about the deranged behaviors
- tim-tday 5mo ago
  Zuck thrashing: spending billions on the metaverse. Admitting it failed, spending billions more. Firing a bunch of people. Spending insane amounts to hire sexy name ai people. Instituting total surveillance to train ai to replace people. Then giving that AI away for free online with no real explanation. (I guess the order of those two things should be reversed, but they don’t make any more sense in that order either) Elon (do we even need to do this one?) the horse thing should be enough. Ellison’s quest to defeat death, young blood transfusions and weirder shit. Brin fighting tooth and nail against paying taxes (I guess it’s not deranged for one’s wealth and power to activate to protect itself, it just makes him look like a petulant child)

gradys 5mo ago

IPOs pushing up housing prices New Waymo car models rolling out The laser thing in front of city hall Pride month, parades this weekend Antisocial guy harassing Scott Weiner on social media at Dolores Park Lurie administration, after initially making progress on crime and cleaning up the streets seems to be stalling out Supervisor Jackie Fielder back from long mostly unexplained absence that was maybe due to her illegally leaking confidential information

appplication 5mo ago
Interestingly I have found many tech circles in SF would rarely discuss ultra local things like supervisor politics. I don’t even think it’s taboo, I just have found folks tend to not be super informed on any of it. Lurie does seem to capture plenty of political mindshare though.
- davidw 5mo ago
  That area still has some 'gold rush' mentality to it, where people want to get in, make their money and get out. That doesn't foster much of a long-term attitude that pays attention to local politics. Also some of the local politics are totally psychotic, like the guy harassing Scott Wiener.
tapoxi 5mo ago
As an occasional visitor, the city seems a lot cleaner and safer this year (I went last month) than the last times I visited in 2024 and 2019.

khurs 5mo ago

California Billionaire Tax - November 2026 ballot. One off 5%. Sergey Brin leading the fight against it, donating millions to try to kill it.

chabes 5mo ago
So ridiculous that folks will spend millions personally to avoid paying their fair share in taxes. Is the alternative really that bad Sergey? You would be paying a similar amount, and the money would actually go to some use, as opposed to being blown on a political fight.
- deleted 5mo ago
  [deleted]
- bflesch 5mo ago
  It sets dangerous precedent Edit: guys, it was a joke! /s
  - enraged_camel 5mo ago
    Ah yes, the dangerous precedent of... doing something about obscene and extreme wealth inequality.
  - chabes 5mo ago
    How so?
  - trescenzi 5mo ago
    Dangerous to whom exactly?
    - deleted 5mo ago
      [deleted]
    - rcpt 5mo ago
      Anyone who's not able to populism their way into a cash blast for their org. I am not a billionaire. But I don't want to risk losing my job or moving out of state so that the dialysis people can cash a paycheck.

asadm 5mo ago

Robotics Physical AI.

quatonion 5mo ago

[dead]

deleted 5mo ago

[deleted]

kaycebasques 5mo ago

Muni is not doing well. They've adjusted service to address a huge budget deficit, and the buses are noticeably more crowded and less frequent. Given how SF has a big global immigrant population, there's a lot of World Cup spirit in the air. Also because Santa Clara is a host stadium. Housing demand is back up. Not just single family homes but also condos. Bars are supposedly closing because the 20-somethings are drinking less. Yet at the same time apparently the youngins have discovered the charm of Vesuvio...? Anchor still has not reopened. Woods (IMO) is now the preferred beer spot for locals. The recall of the Sunset supe was a big deal. Fight over cars on the Great Highway is ongoing. Pride is in full swing this weekend. Bay To Breakers was great as always. Weather is decent. The "SF doom spiral" story is being discussed less. I.e. SF seems safer. It's a good time to live in SF.

quatonion 5mo ago
> Housing demand is back up. Not just single family homes but also condos. Hmmm, the median house price is $2.1M. > It's a good time to live in SF. It seems pretty K shaped. Great time to live in SF and Bay Area iff you are an AI researcher, founder, VC, executive at one of the hyper-scalers, or a senior engineer with massive equity package in the few winning companies. Not entirely sure if it's a great time to live in SF if you work at a bakery, are a Barista at Starbucks or even a mid tier SWE. Thoughts?
- dlcarrier 5mo ago
  The San Francisco Bay area has only been affordable for the rich for decades; it's nothing new. Fifteen years ago, I worked with someone who bought a $300,000 house, in his hometown ~150 miles away, and a $150,000 airplane, to commute to his job near the San Carlos airport, because it was much, much cheaper than living in the SF Bay area.

richardchilders 5mo ago

[dead]

deleted 5mo ago
[deleted]

deleted 5mo ago

[deleted]

66yatman 5mo ago

Probably data centers in space

randomname4325 5mo ago

Same as in every other bubble: Housing is insanely expensive, Dating sucks, That friend that just got rich, So and so company just got funded, This event coming up, When's the bubble going to burst