San Francisco's AI growth shadows layoffs and tech workers struggles | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

San Francisco’s AI boom is arriving alongside layoffs and job-market whiplash. As potential IPOs from Anthropic and OpenAI are expected to bring major wealth to the city, more than four dozen laid-off workers hiked Mount Tamalpais, a peak overlooking the Bay, organized through a community called un(PTO). Started in December by Basem Istanbouli, a former Google employee, the group has grown to over 1,700 members, with outings sometimes drawing 80 people. Labor data underscores the strain: in the 12 months ended in June, employers filed layoff notices for more than 14,500 Bay Area workers, nearly double the prior fiscal year, while job growth since February 2020 still leaves large net losses.