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Gavin Newsom said the state is accepting the money to connect hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses, many in rural and underserved communities. “Connecting these communities is the goal, and so is protecting them,” Anthony Martinez wrote KQED.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office, which has sued the Trump administration at least 100 times since January 2025, referred all questions to the CPUC.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Original story, Oct. 30, 2026: \u003c/strong>In a world where \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12021777/reporters-notebook\">all of California lives in wildfire country now\u003c/a>, Gov. Gavin Newsom faces a pivotal choice. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2021, Congress \u003ca href=\"https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF12429\">set aside more than $42 billion\u003c/a> through the \u003ca href=\"https://broadbandusa.ntia.gov/funding-programs/broadband-equity-access-and-deployment-bead-program\">Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program\u003c/a> to connect homes and businesses without good internet service. The sum was to be divided among the states, D.C. and the territories. But last November, the Trump administration’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) added a new provision, Condition 50, which stipulates that accepting the money requires states to agree not to enforce any state law or rule that “directly or indirectly” regulates broadband service or imposes net neutrality, open access or “utility-style” rules.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Newsom faces a Monday deadline to decide whether California will accept its share of the funds. Critics say a signature from the governor could leave California unable to enforce a host of broadband consumer protections, including a ban on slowing firefighters’ data during emergencies.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-33-BL-KQED-7273678d.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106175\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-33-BL-KQED-7273678d.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-33-BL-KQED-7273678d-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-33-BL-KQED-7273678d-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at a rally alongside California Democratic Party members, labor leaders and advocates in San Francisco on Oct. 23, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“We don’t have any protections at the federal level anymore,” said Stanford Law professor Barbara van Schewick, who focuses \u003cstrong>\u003c/strong>on internet, communications and antitrust law. “Neither Congress nor the Federal Communications Commission are prepared to do anything to change that. And at the same time, the concentration among internet service providers has increased rapidly.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">van Schewick is one of eight law professors who signed an \u003ca href=\"https://storage.ghost.io/c/d5/17/d517bf5e-0944-433c-a10e-1dfe572602c5/content/files/2026/10/Law-Professor-Letter-to-Governor-Newsom-and-President-Reynolds-BEAD-funding-Condition-50.pdf\">open letter\u003c/a> urging Newsom not to sign the Notice of Award for California’s $1.42 billion BEAD grant while Condition 50 remains attached. According to \u003ca href=\"https://www.ntia.gov/funding-programs/internet-all/broadband-equity-access-and-deployment-bead-program/progress-dashboard\">NTIA’s dashboard\u003c/a>, California is the last holdout.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Turning down the award could delay new internet service for about 270,000 homes and businesses, many in rural areas. But critics of Condition 50 like van Schewick want the state to sue before the deadline instead, arguing the federal government lacked authority to impose such restrictions on the funding. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the letter, the professors argued that accepting the funds would put the award at risk every time California tried to enforce its broadband protections. The state currently has rules in place that mandate phone and internet companies keep 72 hours of backup power at their equipment in high fire-threat areas, so people can still call 911, get emergency alerts, and look up evacuation information when the power goes out. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Even if California won every fight, each could take years to resolve,” the professors wrote. “Violations would harm Californians in the meantime, and some harms, such as those from throttling firefighters during a wildfire, cannot be undone. More likely, enforcers would back off, and providers would stop complying. At worst, courts would hold these protections unenforceable against some or most of California’s major ISPs until about 2040.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The most dramatic example they cite: a 2019 state law passed to address situations like the one in 2018, when Verizon \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11688157/verizon-throttled-firefighters-internet-access-at-outset-of-mendocino-blaze\">restricted data speeds to\u003c/a> Santa Clara County firefighters during the Mendocino Complex Fire and restored full service only after the department paid for a more expensive plan. As KQED previously reported, the data “throttling,” \u003ca href=\"https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/08/verizon-throttled-fire-departments-unlimited-data-during-calif-wildfire/\">first reported\u003c/a> by the technology news site \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11688570/firefighters-get-throttled-by-verizon-during-mendocino-fire\">Ars Technica\u003c/a>, forced Santa Clara County Fire Department firefighters to negotiate with Verizon for higher internet speeds while the unit’s command vehicle was serving as a communications hub for incident commanders. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Verizon later blamed the issue on a “mistake” in communicating with the fire department and said full-speed access should have been restored because the agency was responding to an emergency. The county later said it believed the slowdown was connected to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101866848/did-the-repeal-of-net-neutrality-impede-firefighting-efforts\">repeal of federal net neutrality laws\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The California Public Utilities Commission, van Schewick said, has been a national leader in using its own authority over broadband to protect Californians. “And that has been particularly important because the federal government has left the field,” she said, adding, “There is no cop on the beat at the federal level that can intervene if Comcast, AT&T, or Verizon block access to websites or self-hustlings to others.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anthony Martinez, a deputy communications director for Newsom, said Friday the office would follow up when it had anything to add. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AT&T, Comcast and Verizon did not respond to requests for comment from KQED in time for publication.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“It’s a bad deal. And this is a deliberate effort on the part of the Trump administration to tie our hands. And out of all states in this country, California has the most to lose,” said Regina Costa, who directs telecom policy for TURN, The Utility Reform Network. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Perhaps counterintuitively, opposition to Condition 50 has come from rural California as well, despite the possibility that Newsom declining the award could delay the expansion of broadband access. The state Democratic Party’s Rural Caucus and leaders of 10 \u003ca href=\"https://www.readyforwildfire.org/prepare-for-wildfire/firewise-communities\">Firewise\u003c/a> communities along the lower Russian River, near where Costa lives, have urged Newsom not to sign, telling the governor in an Oct. 21 letter that their communications infrastructure is “already sketchy.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“We are over a 10th of the population,” Costa said of California. “We have one of the largest economies of any nation-state in the world, let alone a U.S. State. We have charted our own course on many, many important things, and telecommunications is one of those areas, and we should not just sign that away,” she told KQED.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>UPDATE, Nov. 3, 2026: \u003c/strong>The California Public Utilities Commission \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/beadprogram\">signed the Notice of Award\u003c/a> for the state’s $1.42 billion federal broadband grant Monday, accepting the money despite the fact that it comes with a threat to California’s consumer protection laws. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>UPDATE, Nov. 3, 2026: \u003c/strong>The California Public Utilities Commission \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/beadprogram\">signed the Notice of Award\u003c/a> for the state’s $1.42 billion federal broadband grant Monday, accepting the money despite the fact that it comes with a threat to California’s consumer protection laws. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In a letter to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration sent alongside the notice, CPUC President John Reynolds called “\u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/-/media/cpuc-website/divisions/communications-division/documents/broadband-implementation-for-california/bead/final-proposal-webpage/2026-11-02---cpuc-bead-program-noa-letter.pdf\">vague and ambiguous,”\u003c/a> Condition 50, a federal stipulation that states that accept the grant not “directly or indirectly” regulate rates, terms and conditions, plus net neutrality, open access and other “utility-style” rules. Reynolds wrote that the commission cannot stop other state agencies, including the attorney general’s office, from enforcing state law. He also noted that California’s net neutrality law declares any waiver of its protections void. The commission will sign agreements to pay AT&T, Comcast and other providers only “if and when” it resolves any disagreement with NTIA over the condition.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In a letter to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration sent alongside the notice, CPUC President John Reynolds called “\u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/-/media/cpuc-website/divisions/communications-division/documents/broadband-implementation-for-california/bead/final-proposal-webpage/2026-11-02---cpuc-bead-program-noa-letter.pdf\">vague and ambiguous,”\u003c/a> Condition 50, a federal stipulation that states that accept the grant not “directly or indirectly” regulate rates, terms and conditions, plus net neutrality, open access and other “utility-style” rules. Reynolds wrote that the commission cannot stop other state agencies, including the attorney general’s office, from enforcing state law. He also noted that California’s net neutrality law declares any waiver of its protections void. The commission will sign agreements to pay AT&T, Comcast and other providers only “if and when” it resolves any disagreement with NTIA over the condition.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Stanford law professor Barbara van Shewick told KQED that the letter preserves California’s legal arguments but doesn’t change the award itself. “Condition 50 is still in it, and only a court of NTIA agreeing in writing can take it out,” she wrote in an email. The real test, she added, will come the first time a provider that took the money breaks one of the state’s rules and California must decide whether to enforce it.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Stanford law professor Barbara van Shewick told KQED that the letter preserves California’s legal arguments but doesn’t change the award itself. “Condition 50 is still in it, and only a court of NTIA agreeing in writing can take it out,” she wrote in an email. The real test, she added, will come the first time a provider that took the money breaks one of the state’s rules and California must decide whether to enforce it.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In a statement, a spokesman for Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state is accepting the money to connect hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses, many in rural and underserved communities. “Connecting these communities is the goal, and so is protecting them,” Anthony Martinez wrote KQED.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In a statement, a spokesman for Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state is accepting the money to connect hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses, many in rural and underserved communities. “Connecting these communities is the goal, and so is protecting them,” Anthony Martinez wrote KQED.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office, which has sued the Trump administration at least 100 times since January 2025, referred all questions to the CPUC.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office, which has sued the Trump administration at least 100 times since January 2025, referred all questions to the CPUC.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Original story, Oct. 30, 2026: \u003c/strong>In a world where \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12021777/reporters-notebook\">all of California lives in wildfire country now\u003c/a>, Gov. Gavin Newsom faces a pivotal choice. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Original story, Oct. 30, 2026: \u003c/strong>In a world where \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12021777/reporters-notebook\">all of California lives in wildfire country now\u003c/a>, Gov. Gavin Newsom faces a pivotal choice. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In 2021, Congress \u003ca href=\"https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF12429\">set aside more than $42 billion\u003c/a> through the \u003ca href=\"https://broadbandusa.ntia.gov/funding-programs/broadband-equity-access-and-deployment-bead-program\">Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program\u003c/a> to connect homes and businesses without good internet service. The sum was to be divided among the states, D.C. and the territories. But last November, the Trump administration’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) added a new provision, Condition 50, which stipulates that accepting the money requires states to agree not to enforce any state law or rule that “directly or indirectly” regulates broadband service or imposes net neutrality, open access or “utility-style” rules.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In 2021, Congress \u003ca href=\"https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF12429\">set aside more than $42 billion\u003c/a> through the \u003ca href=\"https://broadbandusa.ntia.gov/funding-programs/broadband-equity-access-and-deployment-bead-program\">Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program\u003c/a> to connect homes and businesses without good internet service. The sum was to be divided among the states, D.C. and the territories. But last November, the Trump administration’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) added a new provision, Condition 50, which stipulates that accepting the money requires states to agree not to enforce any state law or rule that “directly or indirectly” regulates broadband service or imposes net neutrality, open access or “utility-style” rules.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Newsom faces a Monday deadline to decide whether California will accept its share of the funds. Critics say a signature from the governor could leave California unable to enforce a host of broadband consumer protections, including a ban on slowing firefighters’ data during emergencies.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Newsom faces a Monday deadline to decide whether California will accept its share of the funds. Critics say a signature from the governor could leave California unable to enforce a host of broadband consumer protections, including a ban on slowing firefighters’ data during emergencies.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-33-BL-KQED-7273678d.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106175\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-33-BL-KQED-7273678d.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-33-BL-KQED-7273678d-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-33-BL-KQED-7273678d-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at a rally alongside California Democratic Party members, labor leaders and advocates in San Francisco on Oct. 23, 2026. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-33-BL-KQED-7273678d.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106175\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at a rally alongside California Democratic Party members, labor leaders and advocates in San Francisco on Oct. 23, 2026. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We don’t have any protections at the federal level anymore,” said Stanford Law professor Barbara van Schewick, who focuses \u003cstrong>\u003c/strong>on internet, communications and antitrust law. “Neither Congress nor the Federal Communications Commission are prepared to do anything to change that. And at the same time, the concentration among internet service providers has increased rapidly.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“We don’t have any protections at the federal level anymore,” said Stanford Law professor Barbara van Schewick, who focuses \u003cstrong>\u003c/strong>on internet, communications and antitrust law. “Neither Congress nor the Federal Communications Commission are prepared to do anything to change that. And at the same time, the concentration among internet service providers has increased rapidly.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>van Schewick is one of eight law professors who signed an \u003ca href=\"https://storage.ghost.io/c/d5/17/d517bf5e-0944-433c-a10e-1dfe572602c5/content/files/2026/10/Law-Professor-Letter-to-Governor-Newsom-and-President-Reynolds-BEAD-funding-Condition-50.pdf\">open letter\u003c/a> urging Newsom not to sign the Notice of Award for California’s $1.42 billion BEAD grant while Condition 50 remains attached. According to \u003ca href=\"https://www.ntia.gov/funding-programs/internet-all/broadband-equity-access-and-deployment-bead-program/progress-dashboard\">NTIA’s dashboard\u003c/a>, California is the last holdout.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>van Schewick is one of eight law professors who signed an \u003ca href=\"https://storage.ghost.io/c/d5/17/d517bf5e-0944-433c-a10e-1dfe572602c5/content/files/2026/10/Law-Professor-Letter-to-Governor-Newsom-and-President-Reynolds-BEAD-funding-Condition-50.pdf\">open letter\u003c/a> urging Newsom not to sign the Notice of Award for California’s $1.42 billion BEAD grant while Condition 50 remains attached. According to \u003ca href=\"https://www.ntia.gov/funding-programs/internet-all/broadband-equity-access-and-deployment-bead-program/progress-dashboard\">NTIA’s dashboard\u003c/a>, California is the last holdout.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Turning down the award could delay new internet service for about 270,000 homes and businesses, many in rural areas. But critics of Condition 50 like van Schewick want the state to sue before the deadline instead, arguing the federal government lacked authority to impose such restrictions on the funding. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Turning down the award could delay new internet service for about 270,000 homes and businesses, many in rural areas. But critics of Condition 50 like van Schewick want the state to sue before the deadline instead, arguing the federal government lacked authority to impose such restrictions on the funding. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In the letter, the professors argued that accepting the funds would put the award at risk every time California tried to enforce its broadband protections. The state currently has rules in place that mandate phone and internet companies keep 72 hours of backup power at their equipment in high fire-threat areas, so people can still call 911, get emergency alerts, and look up evacuation information when the power goes out. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In the letter, the professors argued that accepting the funds would put the award at risk every time California tried to enforce its broadband protections. The state currently has rules in place that mandate phone and internet companies keep 72 hours of backup power at their equipment in high fire-threat areas, so people can still call 911, get emergency alerts, and look up evacuation information when the power goes out. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Even if California won every fight, each could take years to resolve,” the professors wrote. “Violations would harm Californians in the meantime, and some harms, such as those from throttling firefighters during a wildfire, cannot be undone. More likely, enforcers would back off, and providers would stop complying. At worst, courts would hold these protections unenforceable against some or most of California’s major ISPs until about 2040.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Even if California won every fight, each could take years to resolve,” the professors wrote. “Violations would harm Californians in the meantime, and some harms, such as those from throttling firefighters during a wildfire, cannot be undone. More likely, enforcers would back off, and providers would stop complying. At worst, courts would hold these protections unenforceable against some or most of California’s major ISPs until about 2040.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The most dramatic example they cite: a 2019 state law passed to address situations like the one in 2018, when Verizon \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11688157/verizon-throttled-firefighters-internet-access-at-outset-of-mendocino-blaze\">restricted data speeds to\u003c/a> Santa Clara County firefighters during the Mendocino Complex Fire and restored full service only after the department paid for a more expensive plan. As KQED previously reported, the data “throttling,” \u003ca href=\"https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/08/verizon-throttled-fire-departments-unlimited-data-during-calif-wildfire/\">first reported\u003c/a> by the technology news site \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11688570/firefighters-get-throttled-by-verizon-during-mendocino-fire\">Ars Technica\u003c/a>, forced Santa Clara County Fire Department firefighters to negotiate with Verizon for higher internet speeds while the unit’s command vehicle was serving as a communications hub for incident commanders. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The most dramatic example they cite: a 2019 state law passed to address situations like the one in 2018, when Verizon \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11688157/verizon-throttled-firefighters-internet-access-at-outset-of-mendocino-blaze\">restricted data speeds to\u003c/a> Santa Clara County firefighters during the Mendocino Complex Fire and restored full service only after the department paid for a more expensive plan. As KQED previously reported, the data “throttling,” \u003ca href=\"https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/08/verizon-throttled-fire-departments-unlimited-data-during-calif-wildfire/\">first reported\u003c/a> by the technology news site \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11688570/firefighters-get-throttled-by-verizon-during-mendocino-fire\">Ars Technica\u003c/a>, forced Santa Clara County Fire Department firefighters to negotiate with Verizon for higher internet speeds while the unit’s command vehicle was serving as a communications hub for incident commanders. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Verizon later blamed the issue on a “mistake” in communicating with the fire department and said full-speed access should have been restored because the agency was responding to an emergency. The county later said it believed the slowdown was connected to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101866848/did-the-repeal-of-net-neutrality-impede-firefighting-efforts\">repeal of federal net neutrality laws\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The California Public Utilities Commission, van Schewick said, has been a national leader in using its own authority over broadband to protect Californians. “And that has been particularly important because the federal government has left the field,” she said, adding, “There is no cop on the beat at the federal level that can intervene if Comcast, AT&T, or Verizon block access to websites or self-hustlings to others.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The California Public Utilities Commission, van Schewick said, has been a national leader in using its own authority over broadband to protect Californians. “And that has been particularly important because the federal government has left the field,” she said, adding, “There is no cop on the beat at the federal level that can intervene if Comcast, AT&T, or Verizon block access to websites or self-hustlings to others.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Anthony Martinez, a deputy communications director for Newsom, said Friday the office would follow up when it had anything to add. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It’s a bad deal. And this is a deliberate effort on the part of the Trump administration to tie our hands. And out of all states in this country, California has the most to lose,” said Regina Costa, who directs telecom policy for TURN, The Utility Reform Network. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Perhaps counterintuitively, opposition to Condition 50 has come from rural California as well, despite the possibility that Newsom declining the award could delay the expansion of broadband access. The state Democratic Party’s Rural Caucus and leaders of 10 \u003ca href=\"https://www.readyforwildfire.org/prepare-for-wildfire/firewise-communities\">Firewise\u003c/a> communities along the lower Russian River, near where Costa lives, have urged Newsom not to sign, telling the governor in an Oct. 21 letter that their communications infrastructure is “already sketchy.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We are over a 10th of the population,” Costa said of California. “We have one of the largest economies of any nation-state in the world, let alone a U.S. State. We have charted our own course on many, many important things, and telecommunications is one of those areas, and we should not just sign that away,” she told KQED.\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The California Public Utilities Commission accepted the federal award Monday. The governor’s office says the state’s laws, including net neutrality, ‘still stand.’ ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>UPDATE, Nov. 3, 2026: \u003c/strong>The California Public Utilities Commission \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/beadprogram\">signed the Notice of Award\u003c/a> for the state’s $1.42 billion federal broadband grant Monday, accepting the money despite the fact that it comes with a threat to California’s consumer protection laws. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a letter to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration sent alongside the notice, CPUC President John Reynolds called “\u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/-/media/cpuc-website/divisions/communications-division/documents/broadband-implementation-for-california/bead/final-proposal-webpage/2026-11-02---cpuc-bead-program-noa-letter.pdf\">vague and ambiguous,”\u003c/a> Condition 50, a federal stipulation that states that accept the grant not “directly or indirectly” regulate rates, terms and conditions, plus net neutrality, open access and other “utility-style” rules. Reynolds wrote that the commission cannot stop other state agencies, including the attorney general’s office, from enforcing state law. He also noted that California’s net neutrality law declares any waiver of its protections void. The commission will sign agreements to pay AT&T, Comcast and other providers only “if and when” it resolves any disagreement with NTIA over the condition.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stanford law professor Barbara van Shewick told KQED that the letter preserves California’s legal arguments but doesn’t change the award itself. “Condition 50 is still in it, and only a court of NTIA agreeing in writing can take it out,” she wrote in an email. The real test, she added, will come the first time a provider that took the money breaks one of the state’s rules and California must decide whether to enforce it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a statement, a spokesman for Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state is accepting the money to connect hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses, many in rural and underserved communities. “Connecting these communities is the goal, and so is protecting them,” Anthony Martinez wrote KQED.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office, which has sued the Trump administration at least 100 times since January 2025, referred all questions to the CPUC.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Original story, Oct. 30, 2026: \u003c/strong>In a world where \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12021777/reporters-notebook\">all of California lives in wildfire country now\u003c/a>, Gov. Gavin Newsom faces a pivotal choice. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2021, Congress \u003ca href=\"https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF12429\">set aside more than $42 billion\u003c/a> through the \u003ca href=\"https://broadbandusa.ntia.gov/funding-programs/broadband-equity-access-and-deployment-bead-program\">Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program\u003c/a> to connect homes and businesses without good internet service. The sum was to be divided among the states, D.C. and the territories. But last November, the Trump administration’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) added a new provision, Condition 50, which stipulates that accepting the money requires states to agree not to enforce any state law or rule that “directly or indirectly” regulates broadband service or imposes net neutrality, open access or “utility-style” rules.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Newsom faces a Monday deadline to decide whether California will accept its share of the funds. Critics say a signature from the governor could leave California unable to enforce a host of broadband consumer protections, including a ban on slowing firefighters’ data during emergencies.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-33-BL-KQED-7273678d.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106175\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-33-BL-KQED-7273678d.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-33-BL-KQED-7273678d-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-33-BL-KQED-7273678d-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at a rally alongside California Democratic Party members, labor leaders and advocates in San Francisco on Oct. 23, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“We don’t have any protections at the federal level anymore,” said Stanford Law professor Barbara van Schewick, who focuses \u003cstrong>\u003c/strong>on internet, communications and antitrust law. “Neither Congress nor the Federal Communications Commission are prepared to do anything to change that. And at the same time, the concentration among internet service providers has increased rapidly.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">van Schewick is one of eight law professors who signed an \u003ca href=\"https://storage.ghost.io/c/d5/17/d517bf5e-0944-433c-a10e-1dfe572602c5/content/files/2026/10/Law-Professor-Letter-to-Governor-Newsom-and-President-Reynolds-BEAD-funding-Condition-50.pdf\">open letter\u003c/a> urging Newsom not to sign the Notice of Award for California’s $1.42 billion BEAD grant while Condition 50 remains attached. According to \u003ca href=\"https://www.ntia.gov/funding-programs/internet-all/broadband-equity-access-and-deployment-bead-program/progress-dashboard\">NTIA’s dashboard\u003c/a>, California is the last holdout.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Turning down the award could delay new internet service for about 270,000 homes and businesses, many in rural areas. But critics of Condition 50 like van Schewick want the state to sue before the deadline instead, arguing the federal government lacked authority to impose such restrictions on the funding. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the letter, the professors argued that accepting the funds would put the award at risk every time California tried to enforce its broadband protections. The state currently has rules in place that mandate phone and internet companies keep 72 hours of backup power at their equipment in high fire-threat areas, so people can still call 911, get emergency alerts, and look up evacuation information when the power goes out. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Even if California won every fight, each could take years to resolve,” the professors wrote. “Violations would harm Californians in the meantime, and some harms, such as those from throttling firefighters during a wildfire, cannot be undone. More likely, enforcers would back off, and providers would stop complying. At worst, courts would hold these protections unenforceable against some or most of California’s major ISPs until about 2040.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The most dramatic example they cite: a 2019 state law passed to address situations like the one in 2018, when Verizon \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11688157/verizon-throttled-firefighters-internet-access-at-outset-of-mendocino-blaze\">restricted data speeds to\u003c/a> Santa Clara County firefighters during the Mendocino Complex Fire and restored full service only after the department paid for a more expensive plan. As KQED previously reported, the data “throttling,” \u003ca href=\"https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/08/verizon-throttled-fire-departments-unlimited-data-during-calif-wildfire/\">first reported\u003c/a> by the technology news site \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11688570/firefighters-get-throttled-by-verizon-during-mendocino-fire\">Ars Technica\u003c/a>, forced Santa Clara County Fire Department firefighters to negotiate with Verizon for higher internet speeds while the unit’s command vehicle was serving as a communications hub for incident commanders. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Verizon later blamed the issue on a “mistake” in communicating with the fire department and said full-speed access should have been restored because the agency was responding to an emergency. The county later said it believed the slowdown was connected to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101866848/did-the-repeal-of-net-neutrality-impede-firefighting-efforts\">repeal of federal net neutrality laws\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The California Public Utilities Commission, van Schewick said, has been a national leader in using its own authority over broadband to protect Californians. “And that has been particularly important because the federal government has left the field,” she said, adding, “There is no cop on the beat at the federal level that can intervene if Comcast, AT&T, or Verizon block access to websites or self-hustlings to others.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anthony Martinez, a deputy communications director for Newsom, said Friday the office would follow up when it had anything to add. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AT&T, Comcast and Verizon did not respond to requests for comment from KQED in time for publication.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“It’s a bad deal. And this is a deliberate effort on the part of the Trump administration to tie our hands. And out of all states in this country, California has the most to lose,” said Regina Costa, who directs telecom policy for TURN, The Utility Reform Network. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Perhaps counterintuitively, opposition to Condition 50 has come from rural California as well, despite the possibility that Newsom declining the award could delay the expansion of broadband access. The state Democratic Party’s Rural Caucus and leaders of 10 \u003ca href=\"https://www.readyforwildfire.org/prepare-for-wildfire/firewise-communities\">Firewise\u003c/a> communities along the lower Russian River, near where Costa lives, have urged Newsom not to sign, telling the governor in an Oct. 21 letter that their communications infrastructure is “already sketchy.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“We are over a 10th of the population,” Costa said of California. “We have one of the largest economies of any nation-state in the world, let alone a U.S. State. We have charted our own course on many, many important things, and telecommunications is one of those areas, and we should not just sign that away,” she told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A one-hour broadcast special featuring excerpts from the podcast series. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Guests:\u003c/strong> \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Erik Brynjolfsson, economist and Director of the \u003ca href=\"https://digitaleconomy.stanford.edu/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Stanford Digital Economy Lab\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003ca href=\"https://camilolandau.com/home\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Camilo Landau\u003c/a>, musician and music analyst\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.techsploitation.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Annalee Newitz\u003c/a>, journalist and author of Automatic Noodle and other books\u003cbr>\u003cbr>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A one-hour broadcast special featuring excerpts from the podcast series. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Guests:\u003c/strong> \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Erik Brynjolfsson, economist and Director of the \u003ca href=\"https://digitaleconomy.stanford.edu/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Stanford Digital Economy Lab\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003ca href=\"https://camilolandau.com/home\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Camilo Landau\u003c/a>, musician and music analyst\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.techsploitation.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Annalee Newitz\u003c/a>, journalist and author of Automatic Noodle and other books\u003cbr>\u003cbr>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "california-lawmakers-and-drivers-pressure-regulators-to-reign-in-autonomous-vehicles",
"title": "California Lawmakers and Drivers Pressure Regulators to Reign In Autonomous Vehicles",
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"content": "\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Labor leaders and officials across the state said they’ll continue to pressure the California Public Utilities Commission to put meaningful guardrails on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/autonomous-vehicles\">autonomous vehicles\u003c/a>, namely in the form of giving local governments more say when robotaxis are deployed in their cities. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chanting slogans like “Our streets! Our safety! Our say,” Uber and Lyft drivers and public sector employees rallied outside the CPUC’s meeting on Thursday in San Francisco, as driverless Waymo cars made their way around them on Van Ness Avenue. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The state regulator is in the \u003ca href=\"https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Published/G000/M624/K128/624128822.PDF\">process\u003c/a> of adopting new rules for autonomous vehicles — including when companies can be exempt from those rules and when the approval process should be streamlined. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One such exemption granted to Amazon’s Zoox allows the company to operate “purpose-built” autonomous vehicles on the road that don’t have traditional vehicle equipment for human drivers, like steering wheels or pedals. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/250730-WAYMOFILE_00136_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12064736\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/250730-WAYMOFILE_00136_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/250730-WAYMOFILE_00136_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/250730-WAYMOFILE_00136_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Zoox autonomous vehicle drives through 16th Street and Potrero in San Francisco on July 22, 2025. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Agencies like the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency or the San Francisco County Transportation Authority and unions representing drivers generally support that reinstating suspended AV permits be under the commission’s authority. Zoox, however, wants staff to have the authority to reinstate those suspended permits, even when the reason for suspension was “an unreasonable risk to the AV carriers’ passengers,” according to the proposed rules. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After previously allowing AV operators to expand unfettered, cities and labor leaders are intensifying scrutiny of the companies after \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12089915/sf-supe-to-launch-inquiry-on-waymos-july-fourth-traffic-meltdown\">vehicle meltdowns during major events\u003c/a> — like San Francisco’s July 4th traffic fiasco — and emergencies. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Workers rallying at the CPUC on Thursday cited these \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12074861/waymo-to-report-on-mass-stranding-event-during-sf-december-blackout\">robotaxi freezes during power outages\u003c/a> as a need for tighter regulations, instead of allowing companies to regulate themselves. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They also criticized a proposal to allow AV companies to expand service onto highways, at airports and even new cities without input from local leaders and emergency personnel who are directly impacted by AVs, including when they malfunction. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And, of course, the threat of putting many drivers and others in the transportation industry out of jobs, workers said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Joseph Augusto, a San Francisco-based ride-hail driver, said he’s had enough negative interactions with driverless cars that he doesn’t want any more of what he calls “surprise expansions.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“We think that it’s important that the local municipalities and local officials, first responders, are aware of what’s happening in their city,” Augusto said. “We want everyone to have a say that should have a say and make sure everything runs a little smoother than they have been.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Vikkas Shanker has been driving for Lyft and Uber for the last 11 years in and around Fresno. In that time, he’s been able to understand the city and its streets “better than any robot” could, he said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I worry about a future where AVs are allowed to expand into my community in Fresno without input from the people who know our roads,” he said, adding that he wants the CPUC to mandate that AV companies give cities and counties advance notice before autonomous vehicles are allowed to deploy.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Waymo also came under fire last year after one of the company’s autonomous vehicles hit and killed \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12062777/san-francisco-supervisor-calls-for-robotaxi-reform-after-waymo-kills-neighborhood-cat\">a beloved bodega cat\u003c/a> in the Mission. In the wake of that incident, Supervisor Jackie Fielder called for legislation to let voters decide if they want AVs in their cities, but she told workers on Thursday that her colleagues “watered down the legislation, perhaps to appease their campaign benefactors.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I don’t know any other regulating body in the United States that allows for corporations to dictate their own regulations,” Fielder said at Thursday’s rally. “At a time when every level of government is already beholden to corporate spending in elections, we need regulators like the CPUC to maintain independence and rein in corporations like Waymo and Zoox.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, who has also been critical of AVs in the city, rallied for more control at the local level.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/20260707_SFRally_GC-12_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12090127\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/20260707_SFRally_GC-12_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/20260707_SFRally_GC-12_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/20260707_SFRally_GC-12_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Supervisor Bilal Mahmood speaks during a rally for survivors of sexual assault and harassment at San Francisco City Hall in San Francisco on July 7, 2026. (Gina Castro for KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“San Francisco’s streets belong to the people of San Francisco and not the corporations who operate on them,” he said. “When decisions are made about our streets, the people who live and work here deserve a seat at the table. That includes our workers, our drivers, our transit operators, our emergency responders, and every San Franciscan who depends on safe, accessible streets.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Raj Singh, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265 and a bus operator with Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, said bus drivers make split-second decisions every day to keep people safe, whether that be passengers, pedestrians or other drivers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Public safety cannot be an experiment conducted on our streets without accountability,” Singh said. “Let me be clear: we are not against technology. We welcome progress, but progress without accountability is not progress we should blindly accept.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the meeting, nearly three dozen people spoke against the CPUC’s proposal, claiming it doesn’t give local leaders enough authority over autonomous vehicles. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">San Diego City Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera told the CPUC that airports should have their own review process. The CPUC’s current proposal would no longer require AV companies to get a separate approval notice before starting airport service, provided they have airport permission.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“This decision asks the public to trust autonomous vehicle companies to decide for themselves what the public needs to know and what is material to public safety. Airports deserve their own review,” he said. “Deployment at these sites should require an airport-specific safety review, reporting, and public disclosure of airport authorization. It should not hinge solely on an email notice sent to staff.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">San Francisco Deputy City Attorney Andrew Angeles \u003ca href=\"https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Efile/G000/M621/K751/621751926.PDF\">wrote to the CPUC in September\u003c/a> that AV companies should have airport-specific plans that address the “unique passenger safety and security risks” and airports should be able to weigh in before AVs are allowed on their roadways.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“With proper oversight by the Commission, California could become a model for the nation. We look forward to further development of sensible regulations that balance the drive for implementing new transportation technologies with the challenge of smart transportation planning and public safety.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The board ultimately decided to postpone their vote until their next voting meeting on Nov. 19. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“That means we made them think about it,” Cindy Reyes, research staff at SEIU 1021, told the crowd outside of the meeting. “We made them pause on a decision that was going to be very problematic.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>One such exemption granted to Amazon’s Zoox allows the company to operate “purpose-built” autonomous vehicles on the road that don’t have traditional vehicle equipment for human drivers, like steering wheels or pedals. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>One such exemption granted to Amazon’s Zoox allows the company to operate “purpose-built” autonomous vehicles on the road that don’t have traditional vehicle equipment for human drivers, like steering wheels or pedals. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/250730-WAYMOFILE_00136_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12064736\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/250730-WAYMOFILE_00136_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/250730-WAYMOFILE_00136_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/250730-WAYMOFILE_00136_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Zoox autonomous vehicle drives through 16th Street and Potrero in San Francisco on July 22, 2025.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Agencies like the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency or the San Francisco County Transportation Authority and unions representing drivers generally support that reinstating suspended AV permits be under the commission’s authority. Zoox, however, wants staff to have the authority to reinstate those suspended permits, even when the reason for suspension was “an unreasonable risk to the AV carriers’ passengers,” according to the proposed rules. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Agencies like the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency or the San Francisco County Transportation Authority and unions representing drivers generally support that reinstating suspended AV permits be under the commission’s authority. Zoox, however, wants staff to have the authority to reinstate those suspended permits, even when the reason for suspension was “an unreasonable risk to the AV carriers’ passengers,” according to the proposed rules. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>After previously allowing AV operators to expand unfettered, cities and labor leaders are intensifying scrutiny of the companies after \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12089915/sf-supe-to-launch-inquiry-on-waymos-july-fourth-traffic-meltdown\">vehicle meltdowns during major events\u003c/a> — like San Francisco’s July 4th traffic fiasco — and emergencies. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>After previously allowing AV operators to expand unfettered, cities and labor leaders are intensifying scrutiny of the companies after \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12089915/sf-supe-to-launch-inquiry-on-waymos-july-fourth-traffic-meltdown\">vehicle meltdowns during major events\u003c/a> — like San Francisco’s July 4th traffic fiasco — and emergencies. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Workers rallying at the CPUC on Thursday cited these \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12074861/waymo-to-report-on-mass-stranding-event-during-sf-december-blackout\">robotaxi freezes during power outages\u003c/a> as a need for tighter regulations, instead of allowing companies to regulate themselves. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Workers rallying at the CPUC on Thursday cited these \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12074861/waymo-to-report-on-mass-stranding-event-during-sf-december-blackout\">robotaxi freezes during power outages\u003c/a> as a need for tighter regulations, instead of allowing companies to regulate themselves. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>They also criticized a proposal to allow AV companies to expand service onto highways, at airports and even new cities without input from local leaders and emergency personnel who are directly impacted by AVs, including when they malfunction. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>They also criticized a proposal to allow AV companies to expand service onto highways, at airports and even new cities without input from local leaders and emergency personnel who are directly impacted by AVs, including when they malfunction. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Joseph Augusto, a San Francisco-based ride-hail driver, said he’s had enough negative interactions with driverless cars that he doesn’t want any more of what he calls “surprise expansions.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We think that it’s important that the local municipalities and local officials, first responders, are aware of what’s happening in their city,” Augusto said. “We want everyone to have a say that should have a say and make sure everything runs a little smoother than they have been.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“We think that it’s important that the local municipalities and local officials, first responders, are aware of what’s happening in their city,” Augusto said. “We want everyone to have a say that should have a say and make sure everything runs a little smoother than they have been.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Vikkas Shanker has been driving for Lyft and Uber for the last 11 years in and around Fresno. In that time, he’s been able to understand the city and its streets “better than any robot” could, he said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Vikkas Shanker has been driving for Lyft and Uber for the last 11 years in and around Fresno. In that time, he’s been able to understand the city and its streets “better than any robot” could, he said.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Waymo also came under fire last year after one of the company’s autonomous vehicles hit and killed \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12062777/san-francisco-supervisor-calls-for-robotaxi-reform-after-waymo-kills-neighborhood-cat\">a beloved bodega cat\u003c/a> in the Mission. In the wake of that incident, Supervisor Jackie Fielder called for legislation to let voters decide if they want AVs in their cities, but she told workers on Thursday that her colleagues “watered down the legislation, perhaps to appease their campaign benefactors.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Waymo also came under fire last year after one of the company’s autonomous vehicles hit and killed \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12062777/san-francisco-supervisor-calls-for-robotaxi-reform-after-waymo-kills-neighborhood-cat\">a beloved bodega cat\u003c/a> in the Mission. In the wake of that incident, Supervisor Jackie Fielder called for legislation to let voters decide if they want AVs in their cities, but she told workers on Thursday that her colleagues “watered down the legislation, perhaps to appease their campaign benefactors.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I don’t know any other regulating body in the United States that allows for corporations to dictate their own regulations,” Fielder said at Thursday’s rally. “At a time when every level of government is already beholden to corporate spending in elections, we need regulators like the CPUC to maintain independence and rein in corporations like Waymo and Zoox.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“I don’t know any other regulating body in the United States that allows for corporations to dictate their own regulations,” Fielder said at Thursday’s rally. “At a time when every level of government is already beholden to corporate spending in elections, we need regulators like the CPUC to maintain independence and rein in corporations like Waymo and Zoox.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, who has also been critical of AVs in the city, rallied for more control at the local level.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“San Francisco’s streets belong to the people of San Francisco and not the corporations who operate on them,” he said. “When decisions are made about our streets, the people who live and work here deserve a seat at the table. That includes our workers, our drivers, our transit operators, our emergency responders, and every San Franciscan who depends on safe, accessible streets.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Raj Singh, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265 and a bus operator with Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, said bus drivers make split-second decisions every day to keep people safe, whether that be passengers, pedestrians or other drivers. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Raj Singh, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265 and a bus operator with Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, said bus drivers make split-second decisions every day to keep people safe, whether that be passengers, pedestrians or other drivers. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Public safety cannot be an experiment conducted on our streets without accountability,” Singh said. “Let me be clear: we are not against technology. We welcome progress, but progress without accountability is not progress we should blindly accept.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Public safety cannot be an experiment conducted on our streets without accountability,” Singh said. “Let me be clear: we are not against technology. We welcome progress, but progress without accountability is not progress we should blindly accept.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>During the meeting, nearly three dozen people spoke against the CPUC’s proposal, claiming it doesn’t give local leaders enough authority over autonomous vehicles. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>San Diego City Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera told the CPUC that airports should have their own review process. The CPUC’s current proposal would no longer require AV companies to get a separate approval notice before starting airport service, provided they have airport permission.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>San Diego City Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera told the CPUC that airports should have their own review process. The CPUC’s current proposal would no longer require AV companies to get a separate approval notice before starting airport service, provided they have airport permission.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“This decision asks the public to trust autonomous vehicle companies to decide for themselves what the public needs to know and what is material to public safety. Airports deserve their own review,” he said. “Deployment at these sites should require an airport-specific safety review, reporting, and public disclosure of airport authorization. It should not hinge solely on an email notice sent to staff.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>San Francisco Deputy City Attorney Andrew Angeles \u003ca href=\"https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Efile/G000/M621/K751/621751926.PDF\">wrote to the CPUC in September\u003c/a> that AV companies should have airport-specific plans that address the “unique passenger safety and security risks” and airports should be able to weigh in before AVs are allowed on their roadways.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>San Francisco Deputy City Attorney Andrew Angeles \u003ca href=\"https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Efile/G000/M621/K751/621751926.PDF\">wrote to the CPUC in September\u003c/a> that AV companies should have airport-specific plans that address the “unique passenger safety and security risks” and airports should be able to weigh in before AVs are allowed on their roadways.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“With proper oversight by the Commission, California could become a model for the nation. We look forward to further development of sensible regulations that balance the drive for implementing new transportation technologies with the challenge of smart transportation planning and public safety.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“With proper oversight by the Commission, California could become a model for the nation. We look forward to further development of sensible regulations that balance the drive for implementing new transportation technologies with the challenge of smart transportation planning and public safety.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The board ultimately decided to postpone their vote until their next voting meeting on Nov. 19. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“That means we made them think about it,” Cindy Reyes, research staff at SEIU 1021, told the crowd outside of the meeting. “We made them pause on a decision that was going to be very problematic.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“That means we made them think about it,” Cindy Reyes, research staff at SEIU 1021, told the crowd outside of the meeting. “We made them pause on a decision that was going to be very problematic.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"excerpt": "Ride-hail workers and local officials called on the California Public Utilities Commission to put driverless car regulation in the hands of local leaders. ",
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"title": "California Lawmakers and Drivers Pressure Regulators to Reign In Autonomous Vehicles | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Labor leaders and officials across the state said they’ll continue to pressure the California Public Utilities Commission to put meaningful guardrails on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/autonomous-vehicles\">autonomous vehicles\u003c/a>, namely in the form of giving local governments more say when robotaxis are deployed in their cities. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chanting slogans like “Our streets! Our safety! Our say,” Uber and Lyft drivers and public sector employees rallied outside the CPUC’s meeting on Thursday in San Francisco, as driverless Waymo cars made their way around them on Van Ness Avenue. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The state regulator is in the \u003ca href=\"https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Published/G000/M624/K128/624128822.PDF\">process\u003c/a> of adopting new rules for autonomous vehicles — including when companies can be exempt from those rules and when the approval process should be streamlined. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One such exemption granted to Amazon’s Zoox allows the company to operate “purpose-built” autonomous vehicles on the road that don’t have traditional vehicle equipment for human drivers, like steering wheels or pedals. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/250730-WAYMOFILE_00136_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12064736\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/250730-WAYMOFILE_00136_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/250730-WAYMOFILE_00136_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/250730-WAYMOFILE_00136_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Zoox autonomous vehicle drives through 16th Street and Potrero in San Francisco on July 22, 2025. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Agencies like the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency or the San Francisco County Transportation Authority and unions representing drivers generally support that reinstating suspended AV permits be under the commission’s authority. Zoox, however, wants staff to have the authority to reinstate those suspended permits, even when the reason for suspension was “an unreasonable risk to the AV carriers’ passengers,” according to the proposed rules. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After previously allowing AV operators to expand unfettered, cities and labor leaders are intensifying scrutiny of the companies after \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12089915/sf-supe-to-launch-inquiry-on-waymos-july-fourth-traffic-meltdown\">vehicle meltdowns during major events\u003c/a> — like San Francisco’s July 4th traffic fiasco — and emergencies. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Workers rallying at the CPUC on Thursday cited these \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12074861/waymo-to-report-on-mass-stranding-event-during-sf-december-blackout\">robotaxi freezes during power outages\u003c/a> as a need for tighter regulations, instead of allowing companies to regulate themselves. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They also criticized a proposal to allow AV companies to expand service onto highways, at airports and even new cities without input from local leaders and emergency personnel who are directly impacted by AVs, including when they malfunction. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And, of course, the threat of putting many drivers and others in the transportation industry out of jobs, workers said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Joseph Augusto, a San Francisco-based ride-hail driver, said he’s had enough negative interactions with driverless cars that he doesn’t want any more of what he calls “surprise expansions.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“We think that it’s important that the local municipalities and local officials, first responders, are aware of what’s happening in their city,” Augusto said. “We want everyone to have a say that should have a say and make sure everything runs a little smoother than they have been.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Vikkas Shanker has been driving for Lyft and Uber for the last 11 years in and around Fresno. In that time, he’s been able to understand the city and its streets “better than any robot” could, he said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I worry about a future where AVs are allowed to expand into my community in Fresno without input from the people who know our roads,” he said, adding that he wants the CPUC to mandate that AV companies give cities and counties advance notice before autonomous vehicles are allowed to deploy.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Waymo also came under fire last year after one of the company’s autonomous vehicles hit and killed \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12062777/san-francisco-supervisor-calls-for-robotaxi-reform-after-waymo-kills-neighborhood-cat\">a beloved bodega cat\u003c/a> in the Mission. In the wake of that incident, Supervisor Jackie Fielder called for legislation to let voters decide if they want AVs in their cities, but she told workers on Thursday that her colleagues “watered down the legislation, perhaps to appease their campaign benefactors.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I don’t know any other regulating body in the United States that allows for corporations to dictate their own regulations,” Fielder said at Thursday’s rally. “At a time when every level of government is already beholden to corporate spending in elections, we need regulators like the CPUC to maintain independence and rein in corporations like Waymo and Zoox.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, who has also been critical of AVs in the city, rallied for more control at the local level.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/20260707_SFRally_GC-12_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12090127\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/20260707_SFRally_GC-12_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/20260707_SFRally_GC-12_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/20260707_SFRally_GC-12_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Supervisor Bilal Mahmood speaks during a rally for survivors of sexual assault and harassment at San Francisco City Hall in San Francisco on July 7, 2026. (Gina Castro for KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“San Francisco’s streets belong to the people of San Francisco and not the corporations who operate on them,” he said. “When decisions are made about our streets, the people who live and work here deserve a seat at the table. That includes our workers, our drivers, our transit operators, our emergency responders, and every San Franciscan who depends on safe, accessible streets.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Raj Singh, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265 and a bus operator with Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, said bus drivers make split-second decisions every day to keep people safe, whether that be passengers, pedestrians or other drivers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Public safety cannot be an experiment conducted on our streets without accountability,” Singh said. “Let me be clear: we are not against technology. We welcome progress, but progress without accountability is not progress we should blindly accept.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the meeting, nearly three dozen people spoke against the CPUC’s proposal, claiming it doesn’t give local leaders enough authority over autonomous vehicles. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">San Diego City Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera told the CPUC that airports should have their own review process. The CPUC’s current proposal would no longer require AV companies to get a separate approval notice before starting airport service, provided they have airport permission.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“This decision asks the public to trust autonomous vehicle companies to decide for themselves what the public needs to know and what is material to public safety. Airports deserve their own review,” he said. “Deployment at these sites should require an airport-specific safety review, reporting, and public disclosure of airport authorization. It should not hinge solely on an email notice sent to staff.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">San Francisco Deputy City Attorney Andrew Angeles \u003ca href=\"https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Efile/G000/M621/K751/621751926.PDF\">wrote to the CPUC in September\u003c/a> that AV companies should have airport-specific plans that address the “unique passenger safety and security risks” and airports should be able to weigh in before AVs are allowed on their roadways.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“With proper oversight by the Commission, California could become a model for the nation. We look forward to further development of sensible regulations that balance the drive for implementing new transportation technologies with the challenge of smart transportation planning and public safety.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The board ultimately decided to postpone their vote until their next voting meeting on Nov. 19. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“That means we made them think about it,” Cindy Reyes, research staff at SEIU 1021, told the crowd outside of the meeting. “We made them pause on a decision that was going to be very problematic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "anthropic-ipo-open-ai-when-will-go-public-effect-on-san-francisco-bay-area",
"title": "Real Estate, Climate and Wild Parties? Here’s How Anthropic’s IPO Could Affect the Bay Area",
"publishDate": 1793297420,
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"headTitle": "Real Estate, Climate and Wild Parties? Here’s How Anthropic’s IPO Could Affect the Bay Area | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Living in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/bay-area\">Bay Area\u003c/a> can feel like living in a different economy from the rest of the U.S. — even a different world. Whether you’re buying a coffee or renting an apartment, prices inevitably get pegged to tech workers, many of whom make inconceivable amounts of money.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And soon, the Bay Area could pull even further away from the rest of the country now that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12106384/ai-giant-anthropic-files-for-an-ipo-that-could-break-records\">Anthropic\u003c/a>, one of the AI giants, has filed its initial public offering paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission and could begin trading as soon as November. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The filing comes weeks after the company’s CEO, Dario Amodei, argued in an \u003ca href=\"https://darioamodei.com/essay/the-adolescence-of-technology\">essay\u003c/a> for the slowdown of the development of AI models, acknowledging the risks associated with the “powerful” emergent technology are “serious.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The IPO would give the company “enormous resources to accelerate its expansion,” \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/anthropic-ipo-shares-public-ca2f4c282bef3201a392e59e3df2300c\">\u003cem>the Associated Press\u003c/em>\u003c/a> said, and would turn the startup into one of the world’s most valuable companies, even at lower estimates.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>The IPO and the Bay \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once the company goes public, Anthropic employees and investors can begin selling their shares, turning their hitherto-hypothetical millions into cold hard cash. (That exact timing, however, will depend on a shareholder’s individual \u003ca href=\"https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/lockup-period.asp\">“lock-up”\u003c/a> schedule.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Bay Area is no stranger to technological \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11655090/how-californias-gold-rush-forged-the-path-for-todays-tech-innovators\">“Gold Rushes.”\u003c/a> But Anthropic’s imminent IPO could blow them all out of the water, with reports estimating a valuation as high as \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/10/26/nx-s1-6014772/anthropic-ai-ipo-could-break-records\">$2 trillion\u003c/a>. And speculation has already begun about the impact this kind of cash could have on the Bay Area. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In July, \u003ca href=\"https://www.redfin.com/news/openai-anthropic-housing-wealth/\">Redfin\u003c/a> estimated that the current and former employees of Anthropic — and fellow AI company OpenAI, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/09/12/nx-s1-5950588/openai-anthropic-ai-safety-researchers-hacks\">delayed\u003c/a> its own IPO to 2027 — could hypothetically make enough from their respective IPOs to buy up a third of the total homes in San Francisco. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"857\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Houses_in_San_Francisco_qed-1adc92e1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12107213\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Houses_in_San_Francisco_qed-1adc92e1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Houses_in_San_Francisco_qed-1adc92e1-160x69.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Houses_in_San_Francisco_qed-1adc92e1-1536x658.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A row of homes on Capp Street, between 22nd and 23rd Streets, in San Francisco’s Mission District. (Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But economists are skeptical the offering will bring widespread change. Ted Egan, the city of San Francisco’s chief economist, said that the impact of Anthropic’s IPO on San Francisco’s budget will be “modest” at best. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“While it could potentially be a lot of money, I’m not sure it will be particularly noticeable to everybody in the city,” Egan said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here’s what we know about how the coming Anthropic IPO could affect you in the Bay Area. Spoiler: Many of its impacts on those of us in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/30/opinion/ai-labor-work-force-silicon-valley.html\">“permanent underclass”\u003c/a> are already here. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Housing prices could keep rising\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>Who will be most affected: Anyone trying to buy a house, afford rent, or move in San Francisco. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/housing\">Real estate and rental prices\u003c/a> increased \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12095536/after-the-18000-scam-how-can-bay-area-renters-protect-themselves\">dramatically\u003c/a> over the summer, thanks to a booming AI economy. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Redfin’s latest \u003ca href=\"https://www.redfin.com/cost-of-living-calculator/san-francisco-ca\">data\u003c/a> shows that the average price to buy a home in San Francisco is about $1.7 million dollars and the average rental is about $4,000 — 161% more than the national average.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With prices already high, news of Anthropic’s IPO sparked \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/sanfrancisco/comments/1whm8cg/future_of_sf_housing/\">fear\u003c/a> in both renters and buyers — with one \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/sanfrancisco/comments/1xfzic9/anthropic_files_for_ipo_setting_the_stage_for_a/\">Reddit\u003c/a> user harkening back to a 2007 article from \u003ca href=\"https://theonion.com/report-nations-gentrified-neighborhoods-threatened-by-1819569723/\">\u003cem>The Onion\u003c/em>\u003c/a> titled “Nation’s Gentrified Neighborhoods Threatened By Aristocratization.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1438\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1236193788-a3ffbc0d-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12107215\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1236193788-a3ffbc0d-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1236193788-a3ffbc0d-2000x1124.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1236193788-a3ffbc0d-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1236193788-a3ffbc0d-1536x863.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1236193788-a3ffbc0d-2048x1151.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1236193788-a3ffbc0d-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An aerial view shows a newly unveiled logo for “Meta”, the new name for Facebook’s parent company, in front of Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park on Oct. 28, 2021. – Facebook changed its parent company name to “Meta” on Oct. 28 as the tech giant tries to move past being a scandal-plagued social network to its virtual reality vision for the future. (NOAH BERGER/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And understandably so, given the ghosts of IPOs past. A 2019 Zillow \u003ca href=\"https://www.zillow.com/research/facebook-ipo-home-values/\">report\u003c/a> found that after Facebook went public with a $104 billion valuation, home values near the company’s Menlo Park headquarters climbed at a higher rate than other parts of the Bay Area real estate market — 21% compared to 17%. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But UC Berkeley economics professor Enrico Moretti said this particular IPO might not cause prices to increase much more than they already have — because of the limited number of people who live in the city \u003cem>and\u003c/em> work at Anthropic. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“The demand for housing will increase by a few thousand units,” Moretti said. Anthropic has 5,300 employees globally as of Sept. 30, according to its SEC filing, but Moretti said that not all of the employees and investors who will profit are based in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260317-BeautifulBuildings-05-BL_qed-17647b3c.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12107222\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260317-BeautifulBuildings-05-BL_qed-17647b3c.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260317-BeautifulBuildings-05-BL_qed-17647b3c-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260317-BeautifulBuildings-05-BL_qed-17647b3c-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A house on California Street in the Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco on March 17, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While newly wealthy shareholders may not push up prices across the city, they could still drive up prices in specific neighborhoods near Anthropic and OpenAI’s headquarters, said Karen Chapple, a professor emerita at UC Berkeley focused on economic development and housing. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These areas include Mission-Potrero, South of Market, Pacific Heights, Hayes Valley and potentially downtown, Chapple said. “People really want to get to work within 15 minutes,” she said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Something else that might contribute to rising prices is the city’s ongoing shortage of available units. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“The Bay Area economy is between a rock and a hard place,” said Christopher Thornberg, a founding partner of research and consulting firm Beacon Economics. “The rock is this AI funding that’s pouring in; the hard place is the lack of housing.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>More money, more jobs and bigger ice cream cones \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>Who will be most impacted: Service industry employees, AI-adjacent industries and artisans. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When it comes to the economy, more money usually means more jobs — usually. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Moretti said a single new tech job typically creates four to five additional jobs outside the tech sector. That’s because “every time that a new tech job is created in a metro area, that income is spent, in part, in the local economy,” Moretti said, listing everything from retail and restaurants to healthcare, education and architecture. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But while \u003ca href=\"https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-financial-and-quantitative-analysis/article/local-economic-spillover-effects-of-stock-market-listings/E61E5EA26F8FEF5D5A9CBC8477493A6C\">research\u003c/a> has linked previous IPOs to significant job creation, Moretti said that this particular Anthropic IPO may produce fewer new jobs. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-2294539418-a86fe375-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12107266\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-2294539418-a86fe375-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-2294539418-a86fe375-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-2294539418-a86fe375-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-2294539418-a86fe375-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-2294539418-a86fe375-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Entrance to Foundry Square IV, headquarters of artificial intelligence company Anthropic, in the South of Market neighborhood, San Francisco, California, United States, Sept. 9, 2026. (Smith Collection/Gado via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That’s because companies have historically used IPOs to help them raise new capital and expand their operations — but that may not be the case for Anthropic. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“It had plenty of capital. In fact, there were people banging on its door to provide capital,” Moretti said, adding that the AI industry as a whole has not been “capital-constrained.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Without major employment growth from Anthropic itself, there will be fewer new employees to spend money in the Bay Area and, subsequently, fewer new jobs in complementary industries, he said. “There’s only so much that you can spend locally,” Moretti said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One sector that’s already seen an increase in local spending — and could see more as IPO wealth floods in? Elaborate, in-person events. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Vivienne Errington-Barnes, founder of [Shift + Alt], a company that produces everything from corporate retreats to birthday parties for individuals and companies in the tech sector, said that “there is a direct correlation between AI becoming more prolific and people wanting more in-person events.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-3 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" data-id=\"12107210\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261029-Anthropic-IPO-02-KQED-5ac416d1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12107210\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261029-Anthropic-IPO-02-KQED-5ac416d1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261029-Anthropic-IPO-02-KQED-5ac416d1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261029-Anthropic-IPO-02-KQED-5ac416d1-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Shift+Alt planned a lavish event for luxury wine group Osiris Club. (Courtesy of Shift + Alt Events)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" data-id=\"12107212\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261029-Anthropic-IPO-04-KQED-8df42784.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12107212\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261029-Anthropic-IPO-04-KQED-8df42784.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261029-Anthropic-IPO-04-KQED-8df42784-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261029-Anthropic-IPO-04-KQED-8df42784-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Shift + Alt founder Vivienne Errington-Barnes said “human” experiences are becoming more coveted in the age of AI. (Courtesy of Shift + Alt Events)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“There’s a lot of weird and wonderful things coming up, like people who are fabricating life-size ice cream cones,” Errington-Barnes said. “They want to be remembered.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">People don’t just want more events; they want their events to be high-touch, high-impact and exceptionally human, Errington-Barnes said, describing a shift from DJs to live music and from light projections to physical performances and elaborate installations.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“We want the chef to come out and make a speech about how he made this Michelin star dish and what his story is. We want to get a human-interest kind of angle,” Errington-Barnes said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>IPOs could boost the industry of love\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>Who will be most impacted: Wedding planners, divorce lawyers and the couples they serve. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another business that could see a local bump? Marriages and divorces.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A 2012 \u003ca href=\"https://www.ft.com/content/433af3b0-a082-11e1-88e6-00144feabdc0\">Financial Times\u003c/a> article tracked the trend leading up to Facebook’s IPO, and found that wedding planners and wealth managers were gearing up to court newly-minted millionaires. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260403-SFLibraryWeddings-03-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12078843\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260403-SFLibraryWeddings-03-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260403-SFLibraryWeddings-03-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260403-SFLibraryWeddings-03-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A couple poses for photos in the San Francisco Public Library Main Library on April 3, 2026, before their wedding ceremony. The library hosted a limited series of weddings during its 30th anniversary celebration, offering couples a chance to marry in a unique civic space. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Divorce lawyers, too, could see an influx of clients, said Haitham Amin, a San Francisco attorney and founding partner of Amin Law. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The attorney said 90% of his clients are in the tech industry, and forecasted a wide number of possibilities based on his experiences following the Facebook IPO and the rise of Nvidia. A boon can make or break some relationships, he said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“There’s going to be a good chunk of people that are going to realize that big money comes with a lot of problems — usually marital problems,” Amin said. “People just change when they get a lot of money.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Billionaire altruists could donate wealth\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>Who will be the most impacted: Anyone the effective altruists deem worthy. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As newly wealthy tech employees search for meaning and connection, they may start donating more to Bay Area charities … potentially. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After working with dot-com millionaires in the 1990s, psychologists Stephen Goldbart and Joan DiFuria coined the term \u003ca href=\"https://www.mmcinstitute.com/?page_id=15\">“sudden wealth syndrome”\u003c/a> — aimed at capturing how people can face issues finding meaning and purpose after coming into a shocking amount of money and can become isolated from friends and family. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“We’re seeing what we call billionaire bubbles,” DiFuria told KQED. “These gated communities are getting deeper and thicker, because the money is higher.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some newly-minted millionaires retreat from society, DiFuria said. But others might decide to invest their money into their local communities. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“If you’re richer and you decide to donate, history tells us that a share of that will go to local charities,” Moretti said. “I think this is an area where there’s probably going to be a significant effect.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Berber Jin, AI enterprise reporter for \u003cem>The Wall Street Journal\u003c/em>, told KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101915855/what-an-anthropic-ipo-could-mean-for-the-bay-area\">Forum\u003c/a> on Wednesday that early Anthropic employees have pledged up to half of their wealth to philanthropic causes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While wealthy philanthropists have historically donated to arts, culture and local nonprofits, the company has strong \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/09/26/nx-s1-5979085/the-ai-safety-debate-is-confusing-heres-our-guide-to-the-different-factions\">ties\u003c/a> to the effective altruism movement — a philosophy followed by some in the tech industry that purports to use rational thought to do the most long-term good possible. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The movement drew criticism after one of its most vocal proponents, crypto exchange founder \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/12/09/1141820351/can-billionaires-save-the-world-some-are-skeptical\">Sam Bankman-Fried\u003c/a>, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for fraud and money laundering. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2341\" height=\"1559\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1556770481-75ef1d7e.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12107237\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1556770481-75ef1d7e.jpg 2341w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1556770481-75ef1d7e-2000x1332.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1556770481-75ef1d7e-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1556770481-75ef1d7e-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1556770481-75ef1d7e-2048x1364.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2341px) 100vw, 2341px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Former FTX chief Sam Bankman-Fried leaves the Federal Courthouse following a bail hearing ahead of his October trial, in New York City on July 26, 2023. (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jin said the enduring popularity of the movement among Anthropic’s earliest hires will likely impact how they spend their money. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Because effective altruism is so ingrained in their worldviews, the chatter right now amongst early employees is like we should donate this money to fund AI safety nonprofits,” Jin said. Effective altruists often focus on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/201504091000/poor-kids-vs-batkid-ethicist-peter-singer-on-how-to-choose-a-charitable-cause\">global causes\u003c/a> including animal welfare and public health. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In addition to spending more on philanthropy, Anthropic employees could continue to ramp up their political donations — they’ve already been spending big on AI-safety PACs, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/dario-amodei-donation-22348647.php\">\u003cem>SFGate\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Climate change and environmental concerns \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>Who will be the most impacted: Climate tech, nonprofits and environmental advocates. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AI’s impact on our environment is a hot topic — pun intended. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Many groups have called attention to data centers’ staggering energy and water usage — which can lead to increased emissions and disrupt local water supplies and ecosystems, according to \u003ca href=\"https://news.mit.edu/2025/explained-generative-ai-environmental-impact-0117\">\u003cem>MIT News\u003c/em>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Other \u003ca href=\"https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/can-ais-climate-benefits-outweigh-its-costs\">research\u003c/a> has also linked AI’s climate impact to the emissions associated with increasing production and economic growth. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wealth itself is often \u003ca href=\"https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/richest-1-emit-much-planet-heating-pollution-two-thirds-humanity\">linked\u003c/a> to pollution, especially when it’s spent on fossil-fuel-intensive goods and services like driving, flying and eating red meat, just to name a few.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260828-SOUTH-BAY-DATA-CENTERS-MD-07-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098431\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260828-SOUTH-BAY-DATA-CENTERS-MD-07-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260828-SOUTH-BAY-DATA-CENTERS-MD-07-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260828-SOUTH-BAY-DATA-CENTERS-MD-07-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Buildings in the Alviso neighborhood of San José that Google plans to modify to operate in a capacity similar to a data center on Sept. 3, 2026. (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But on an individual level, “someone becoming a multimillionaire overnight does not suddenly mean that they are generating more emissions,” said Ben Gould, president of EcoDataLab, a firm that calculates consumer emissions for cities and counties.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“If anything, I would actually expect the IPO to have beneficial local climate impacts,” Gould told KQED by email. “Anthropic’s employees are probably more climate-conscious than average, and coming into a large amount of liquidity could help enable them to invest in low-emission technologies for their homes and lifestyles, like solar panels, heat pumps and EVs.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His colleague Christopher Jones, director of UC Berkeley’s CoolClimate Network, a group aimed at scaling up climate solutions, suggested that the development of AI has the potential — like the advent of personal computers — to enable the spread of low-carbon technologies. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"> “The largest environmental impacts of AI will not be from the water or energy demand of server farms, or the wealth generated for shareholders or employees,” Jones said, “but rather how AI will be used to change the ways humans live on the planet.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That is, if it doesn’t \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/09/13/nx-s1-5966638/could-ai-kill-us-all-professor-weighs-in-on-former-anthropic-employees-claim\">kill us\u003c/a> all first. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>KQED’s\u003c/em> \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/dventon\">\u003cem>Danielle Venton\u003c/em>\u003c/a> \u003cem>and\u003c/em> \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/emanoukian\">\u003cem>Elize Manoukian\u003c/em>\u003c/a> \u003cem>contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Living in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/bay-area\">Bay Area\u003c/a> can feel like living in a different economy from the rest of the U.S. — even a different world. Whether you’re buying a coffee or renting an apartment, prices inevitably get pegged to tech workers, many of whom make inconceivable amounts of money.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Living in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/bay-area\">Bay Area\u003c/a> can feel like living in a different economy from the rest of the U.S. — even a different world. Whether you’re buying a coffee or renting an apartment, prices inevitably get pegged to tech workers, many of whom make inconceivable amounts of money.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>And soon, the Bay Area could pull even further away from the rest of the country now that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12106384/ai-giant-anthropic-files-for-an-ipo-that-could-break-records\">Anthropic\u003c/a>, one of the AI giants, has filed its initial public offering paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission and could begin trading as soon as November. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>And soon, the Bay Area could pull even further away from the rest of the country now that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12106384/ai-giant-anthropic-files-for-an-ipo-that-could-break-records\">Anthropic\u003c/a>, one of the AI giants, has filed its initial public offering paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission and could begin trading as soon as November. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The filing comes weeks after the company’s CEO, Dario Amodei, argued in an \u003ca href=\"https://darioamodei.com/essay/the-adolescence-of-technology\">essay\u003c/a> for the slowdown of the development of AI models, acknowledging the risks associated with the “powerful” emergent technology are “serious.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The filing comes weeks after the company’s CEO, Dario Amodei, argued in an \u003ca href=\"https://darioamodei.com/essay/the-adolescence-of-technology\">essay\u003c/a> for the slowdown of the development of AI models, acknowledging the risks associated with the “powerful” emergent technology are “serious.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The IPO would give the company “enormous resources to accelerate its expansion,” \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/anthropic-ipo-shares-public-ca2f4c282bef3201a392e59e3df2300c\">\u003cem>the Associated Press\u003c/em>\u003c/a> said, and would turn the startup into one of the world’s most valuable companies, even at lower estimates.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The IPO would give the company “enormous resources to accelerate its expansion,” \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/anthropic-ipo-shares-public-ca2f4c282bef3201a392e59e3df2300c\">\u003cem>the Associated Press\u003c/em>\u003c/a> said, and would turn the startup into one of the world’s most valuable companies, even at lower estimates.\u003c/p>\n"
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"text": "The IPO and the Bay ",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>The IPO and the Bay \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>The IPO and the Bay \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Once the company goes public, Anthropic employees and investors can begin selling their shares, turning their hitherto-hypothetical millions into cold hard cash. (That exact timing, however, will depend on a shareholder’s individual \u003ca href=\"https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/lockup-period.asp\">“lock-up”\u003c/a> schedule.)\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Once the company goes public, Anthropic employees and investors can begin selling their shares, turning their hitherto-hypothetical millions into cold hard cash. (That exact timing, however, will depend on a shareholder’s individual \u003ca href=\"https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/lockup-period.asp\">“lock-up”\u003c/a> schedule.)\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Bay Area is no stranger to technological \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11655090/how-californias-gold-rush-forged-the-path-for-todays-tech-innovators\">“Gold Rushes.”\u003c/a> But Anthropic’s imminent IPO could blow them all out of the water, with reports estimating a valuation as high as \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/10/26/nx-s1-6014772/anthropic-ai-ipo-could-break-records\">$2 trillion\u003c/a>. And speculation has already begun about the impact this kind of cash could have on the Bay Area. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>The Bay Area is no stranger to technological \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11655090/how-californias-gold-rush-forged-the-path-for-todays-tech-innovators\">“Gold Rushes.”\u003c/a> But Anthropic’s imminent IPO could blow them all out of the water, with reports estimating a valuation as high as \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/10/26/nx-s1-6014772/anthropic-ai-ipo-could-break-records\">$2 trillion\u003c/a>. And speculation has already begun about the impact this kind of cash could have on the Bay Area. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In July, \u003ca href=\"https://www.redfin.com/news/openai-anthropic-housing-wealth/\">Redfin\u003c/a> estimated that the current and former employees of Anthropic — and fellow AI company OpenAI, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/09/12/nx-s1-5950588/openai-anthropic-ai-safety-researchers-hacks\">delayed\u003c/a> its own IPO to 2027 — could hypothetically make enough from their respective IPOs to buy up a third of the total homes in San Francisco. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>In July, \u003ca href=\"https://www.redfin.com/news/openai-anthropic-housing-wealth/\">Redfin\u003c/a> estimated that the current and former employees of Anthropic — and fellow AI company OpenAI, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/09/12/nx-s1-5950588/openai-anthropic-ai-safety-researchers-hacks\">delayed\u003c/a> its own IPO to 2027 — could hypothetically make enough from their respective IPOs to buy up a third of the total homes in San Francisco. \u003c/p>\n"
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"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Houses_in_San_Francisco_qed-1adc92e1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Houses_in_San_Francisco_qed-1adc92e1-160x69.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Houses_in_San_Francisco_qed-1adc92e1-1536x658.jpg 1536w",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Houses_in_San_Francisco_qed-1adc92e1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12107213\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Houses_in_San_Francisco_qed-1adc92e1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Houses_in_San_Francisco_qed-1adc92e1-160x69.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Houses_in_San_Francisco_qed-1adc92e1-1536x658.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A row of homes on Capp Street, between 22nd and 23rd Streets, in San Francisco’s Mission District.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Houses_in_San_Francisco_qed-1adc92e1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12107213\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A row of homes on Capp Street, between 22nd and 23rd Streets, in San Francisco’s Mission District.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But economists are skeptical the offering will bring widespread change. Ted Egan, the city of San Francisco’s chief economist, said that the impact of Anthropic’s IPO on San Francisco’s budget will be “modest” at best. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>But economists are skeptical the offering will bring widespread change. Ted Egan, the city of San Francisco’s chief economist, said that the impact of Anthropic’s IPO on San Francisco’s budget will be “modest” at best. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“While it could potentially be a lot of money, I’m not sure it will be particularly noticeable to everybody in the city,” Egan said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“While it could potentially be a lot of money, I’m not sure it will be particularly noticeable to everybody in the city,” Egan said. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Here’s what we know about how the coming Anthropic IPO could affect you in the Bay Area. Spoiler: Many of its impacts on those of us in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/30/opinion/ai-labor-work-force-silicon-valley.html\">“permanent underclass”\u003c/a> are already here. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Here’s what we know about how the coming Anthropic IPO could affect you in the Bay Area. Spoiler: Many of its impacts on those of us in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/30/opinion/ai-labor-work-force-silicon-valley.html\">“permanent underclass”\u003c/a> are already here. \u003c/p>\n"
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"attrs": {
"text": "Housing prices could keep rising",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Housing prices could keep rising\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Housing prices could keep rising\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Who will be most affected: Anyone trying to buy a house, afford rent, or move in San Francisco. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Who will be most affected: Anyone trying to buy a house, afford rent, or move in San Francisco. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/housing\">Real estate and rental prices\u003c/a> increased \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12095536/after-the-18000-scam-how-can-bay-area-renters-protect-themselves\">dramatically\u003c/a> over the summer, thanks to a booming AI economy. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/housing\">Real estate and rental prices\u003c/a> increased \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12095536/after-the-18000-scam-how-can-bay-area-renters-protect-themselves\">dramatically\u003c/a> over the summer, thanks to a booming AI economy. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Redfin’s latest \u003ca href=\"https://www.redfin.com/cost-of-living-calculator/san-francisco-ca\">data\u003c/a> shows that the average price to buy a home in San Francisco is about $1.7 million dollars and the average rental is about $4,000 — 161% more than the national average.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Redfin’s latest \u003ca href=\"https://www.redfin.com/cost-of-living-calculator/san-francisco-ca\">data\u003c/a> shows that the average price to buy a home in San Francisco is about $1.7 million dollars and the average rental is about $4,000 — 161% more than the national average.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>With prices already high, news of Anthropic’s IPO sparked \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/sanfrancisco/comments/1whm8cg/future_of_sf_housing/\">fear\u003c/a> in both renters and buyers — with one \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/sanfrancisco/comments/1xfzic9/anthropic_files_for_ipo_setting_the_stage_for_a/\">Reddit\u003c/a> user harkening back to a 2007 article from \u003ca href=\"https://theonion.com/report-nations-gentrified-neighborhoods-threatened-by-1819569723/\">\u003cem>The Onion\u003c/em>\u003c/a> titled “Nation’s Gentrified Neighborhoods Threatened By Aristocratization.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1236193788-a3ffbc0d-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12107215\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1236193788-a3ffbc0d-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1236193788-a3ffbc0d-2000x1124.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1236193788-a3ffbc0d-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1236193788-a3ffbc0d-1536x863.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1236193788-a3ffbc0d-2048x1151.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1236193788-a3ffbc0d-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An aerial view shows a newly unveiled logo for “Meta”, the new name for Facebook’s parent company, in front of Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park on Oct. 28, 2021. – Facebook changed its parent company name to “Meta” on Oct. 28 as the tech giant tries to move past being a scandal-plagued social network to its virtual reality vision for the future.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (NOAH BERGER/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>And understandably so, given the ghosts of IPOs past. A 2019 Zillow \u003ca href=\"https://www.zillow.com/research/facebook-ipo-home-values/\">report\u003c/a> found that after Facebook went public with a $104 billion valuation, home values near the company’s Menlo Park headquarters climbed at a higher rate than other parts of the Bay Area real estate market — 21% compared to 17%. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But UC Berkeley economics professor Enrico Moretti said this particular IPO might not cause prices to increase much more than they already have — because of the limited number of people who live in the city \u003cem>and\u003c/em> work at Anthropic. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>But UC Berkeley economics professor Enrico Moretti said this particular IPO might not cause prices to increase much more than they already have — because of the limited number of people who live in the city \u003cem>and\u003c/em> work at Anthropic. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The demand for housing will increase by a few thousand units,” Moretti said. Anthropic has 5,300 employees globally as of Sept. 30, according to its SEC filing, but Moretti said that not all of the employees and investors who will profit are based in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“The demand for housing will increase by a few thousand units,” Moretti said. Anthropic has 5,300 employees globally as of Sept. 30, according to its SEC filing, but Moretti said that not all of the employees and investors who will profit are based in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260317-BeautifulBuildings-05-BL_qed-17647b3c.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12107222\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260317-BeautifulBuildings-05-BL_qed-17647b3c.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260317-BeautifulBuildings-05-BL_qed-17647b3c-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260317-BeautifulBuildings-05-BL_qed-17647b3c-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A house on California Street in the Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco on March 17, 2026. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260317-BeautifulBuildings-05-BL_qed-17647b3c.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12107222\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A house on California Street in the Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco on March 17, 2026. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>While newly wealthy shareholders may not push up prices across the city, they could still drive up prices in specific neighborhoods near Anthropic and OpenAI’s headquarters, said Karen Chapple, a professor emerita at UC Berkeley focused on economic development and housing. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>While newly wealthy shareholders may not push up prices across the city, they could still drive up prices in specific neighborhoods near Anthropic and OpenAI’s headquarters, said Karen Chapple, a professor emerita at UC Berkeley focused on economic development and housing. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>These areas include Mission-Potrero, South of Market, Pacific Heights, Hayes Valley and potentially downtown, Chapple said. “People really want to get to work within 15 minutes,” she said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>These areas include Mission-Potrero, South of Market, Pacific Heights, Hayes Valley and potentially downtown, Chapple said. “People really want to get to work within 15 minutes,” she said. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Something else that might contribute to rising prices is the city’s ongoing shortage of available units. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Something else that might contribute to rising prices is the city’s ongoing shortage of available units. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The Bay Area economy is between a rock and a hard place,” said Christopher Thornberg, a founding partner of research and consulting firm Beacon Economics. “The rock is this AI funding that’s pouring in; the hard place is the lack of housing.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“The Bay Area economy is between a rock and a hard place,” said Christopher Thornberg, a founding partner of research and consulting firm Beacon Economics. “The rock is this AI funding that’s pouring in; the hard place is the lack of housing.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"attrs": {
"text": "More money, more jobs and bigger ice cream cones ",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>More money, more jobs and bigger ice cream cones \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Who will be most impacted: Service industry employees, AI-adjacent industries and artisans. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Who will be most impacted: Service industry employees, AI-adjacent industries and artisans. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>When it comes to the economy, more money usually means more jobs — usually. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>When it comes to the economy, more money usually means more jobs — usually. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Moretti said a single new tech job typically creates four to five additional jobs outside the tech sector. That’s because “every time that a new tech job is created in a metro area, that income is spent, in part, in the local economy,” Moretti said, listing everything from retail and restaurants to healthcare, education and architecture. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Moretti said a single new tech job typically creates four to five additional jobs outside the tech sector. That’s because “every time that a new tech job is created in a metro area, that income is spent, in part, in the local economy,” Moretti said, listing everything from retail and restaurants to healthcare, education and architecture. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But while \u003ca href=\"https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-financial-and-quantitative-analysis/article/local-economic-spillover-effects-of-stock-market-listings/E61E5EA26F8FEF5D5A9CBC8477493A6C\">research\u003c/a> has linked previous IPOs to significant job creation, Moretti said that this particular Anthropic IPO may produce fewer new jobs. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>But while \u003ca href=\"https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-financial-and-quantitative-analysis/article/local-economic-spillover-effects-of-stock-market-listings/E61E5EA26F8FEF5D5A9CBC8477493A6C\">research\u003c/a> has linked previous IPOs to significant job creation, Moretti said that this particular Anthropic IPO may produce fewer new jobs. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-2294539418-a86fe375-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12107266\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-2294539418-a86fe375-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-2294539418-a86fe375-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-2294539418-a86fe375-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-2294539418-a86fe375-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-2294539418-a86fe375-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Entrance to Foundry Square IV, headquarters of artificial intelligence company Anthropic, in the South of Market neighborhood, San Francisco, California, United States, Sept. 9, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Smith Collection/Gado via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-2294539418-a86fe375-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12107266\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Entrance to Foundry Square IV, headquarters of artificial intelligence company Anthropic, in the South of Market neighborhood, San Francisco, California, United States, Sept. 9, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Smith Collection/Gado via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>That’s because companies have historically used IPOs to help them raise new capital and expand their operations — but that may not be the case for Anthropic. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>That’s because companies have historically used IPOs to help them raise new capital and expand their operations — but that may not be the case for Anthropic. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It had plenty of capital. In fact, there were people banging on its door to provide capital,” Moretti said, adding that the AI industry as a whole has not been “capital-constrained.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“It had plenty of capital. In fact, there were people banging on its door to provide capital,” Moretti said, adding that the AI industry as a whole has not been “capital-constrained.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Without major employment growth from Anthropic itself, there will be fewer new employees to spend money in the Bay Area and, subsequently, fewer new jobs in complementary industries, he said. “There’s only so much that you can spend locally,” Moretti said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Without major employment growth from Anthropic itself, there will be fewer new employees to spend money in the Bay Area and, subsequently, fewer new jobs in complementary industries, he said. “There’s only so much that you can spend locally,” Moretti said. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>One sector that’s already seen an increase in local spending — and could see more as IPO wealth floods in? Elaborate, in-person events. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>One sector that’s already seen an increase in local spending — and could see more as IPO wealth floods in? Elaborate, in-person events. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Vivienne Errington-Barnes, founder of [Shift + Alt], a company that produces everything from corporate retreats to birthday parties for individuals and companies in the tech sector, said that “there is a direct correlation between AI becoming more prolific and people wanting more in-person events.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261029-Anthropic-IPO-02-KQED-5ac416d1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12107210\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Shift+Alt planned a lavish event for luxury wine group Osiris Club. \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261029-Anthropic-IPO-04-KQED-8df42784.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12107212\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Shift + Alt founder Vivienne Errington-Barnes said “human” experiences are becoming more coveted in the age of AI. \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“There’s a lot of weird and wonderful things coming up, like people who are fabricating life-size ice cream cones,” Errington-Barnes said. “They want to be remembered.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>People don’t just want more events; they want their events to be high-touch, high-impact and exceptionally human, Errington-Barnes said, describing a shift from DJs to live music and from light projections to physical performances and elaborate installations.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Another business that could see a local bump? Marriages and divorces.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>A 2012 \u003ca href=\"https://www.ft.com/content/433af3b0-a082-11e1-88e6-00144feabdc0\">Financial Times\u003c/a> article tracked the trend leading up to Facebook’s IPO, and found that wedding planners and wealth managers were gearing up to court newly-minted millionaires. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Divorce lawyers, too, could see an influx of clients, said Haitham Amin, a San Francisco attorney and founding partner of Amin Law. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The attorney said 90% of his clients are in the tech industry, and forecasted a wide number of possibilities based on his experiences following the Facebook IPO and the rise of Nvidia. A boon can make or break some relationships, he said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“There’s going to be a good chunk of people that are going to realize that big money comes with a lot of problems — usually marital problems,” Amin said. “People just change when they get a lot of money.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Who will be the most impacted: Anyone the effective altruists deem worthy. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>As newly wealthy tech employees search for meaning and connection, they may start donating more to Bay Area charities … potentially. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>After working with dot-com millionaires in the 1990s, psychologists Stephen Goldbart and Joan DiFuria coined the term \u003ca href=\"https://www.mmcinstitute.com/?page_id=15\">“sudden wealth syndrome”\u003c/a> — aimed at capturing how people can face issues finding meaning and purpose after coming into a shocking amount of money and can become isolated from friends and family. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We’re seeing what we call billionaire bubbles,” DiFuria told KQED. “These gated communities are getting deeper and thicker, because the money is higher.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Some newly-minted millionaires retreat from society, DiFuria said. But others might decide to invest their money into their local communities. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“If you’re richer and you decide to donate, history tells us that a share of that will go to local charities,” Moretti said. “I think this is an area where there’s probably going to be a significant effect.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Berber Jin, AI enterprise reporter for \u003cem>The Wall Street Journal\u003c/em>, told KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101915855/what-an-anthropic-ipo-could-mean-for-the-bay-area\">Forum\u003c/a> on Wednesday that early Anthropic employees have pledged up to half of their wealth to philanthropic causes. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>While wealthy philanthropists have historically donated to arts, culture and local nonprofits, the company has strong \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/09/26/nx-s1-5979085/the-ai-safety-debate-is-confusing-heres-our-guide-to-the-different-factions\">ties\u003c/a> to the effective altruism movement — a philosophy followed by some in the tech industry that purports to use rational thought to do the most long-term good possible. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>While wealthy philanthropists have historically donated to arts, culture and local nonprofits, the company has strong \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/09/26/nx-s1-5979085/the-ai-safety-debate-is-confusing-heres-our-guide-to-the-different-factions\">ties\u003c/a> to the effective altruism movement — a philosophy followed by some in the tech industry that purports to use rational thought to do the most long-term good possible. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The movement drew criticism after one of its most vocal proponents, crypto exchange founder \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/12/09/1141820351/can-billionaires-save-the-world-some-are-skeptical\">Sam Bankman-Fried\u003c/a>, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for fraud and money laundering. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1556770481-75ef1d7e.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12107237\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1556770481-75ef1d7e.jpg 2341w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1556770481-75ef1d7e-2000x1332.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1556770481-75ef1d7e-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1556770481-75ef1d7e-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1556770481-75ef1d7e-2048x1364.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Former FTX chief Sam Bankman-Fried leaves the Federal Courthouse following a bail hearing ahead of his October trial, in New York City on July 26, 2023. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Jin said the enduring popularity of the movement among Anthropic’s earliest hires will likely impact how they spend their money. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Because effective altruism is so ingrained in their worldviews, the chatter right now amongst early employees is like we should donate this money to fund AI safety nonprofits,” Jin said. Effective altruists often focus on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/201504091000/poor-kids-vs-batkid-ethicist-peter-singer-on-how-to-choose-a-charitable-cause\">global causes\u003c/a> including animal welfare and public health. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In addition to spending more on philanthropy, Anthropic employees could continue to ramp up their political donations — they’ve already been spending big on AI-safety PACs, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/dario-amodei-donation-22348647.php\">\u003cem>SFGate\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In addition to spending more on philanthropy, Anthropic employees could continue to ramp up their political donations — they’ve already been spending big on AI-safety PACs, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/dario-amodei-donation-22348647.php\">\u003cem>SFGate\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Who will be the most impacted: Climate tech, nonprofits and environmental advocates. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>AI’s impact on our environment is a hot topic — pun intended. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Many groups have called attention to data centers’ staggering energy and water usage — which can lead to increased emissions and disrupt local water supplies and ecosystems, according to \u003ca href=\"https://news.mit.edu/2025/explained-generative-ai-environmental-impact-0117\">\u003cem>MIT News\u003c/em>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Other \u003ca href=\"https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/can-ais-climate-benefits-outweigh-its-costs\">research\u003c/a> has also linked AI’s climate impact to the emissions associated with increasing production and economic growth. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260828-SOUTH-BAY-DATA-CENTERS-MD-07-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098431\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260828-SOUTH-BAY-DATA-CENTERS-MD-07-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260828-SOUTH-BAY-DATA-CENTERS-MD-07-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260828-SOUTH-BAY-DATA-CENTERS-MD-07-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Buildings in the Alviso neighborhood of San José that Google plans to modify to operate in a capacity similar to a data center on Sept. 3, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But on an individual level, “someone becoming a multimillionaire overnight does not suddenly mean that they are generating more emissions,” said Ben Gould, president of EcoDataLab, a firm that calculates consumer emissions for cities and counties.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>But on an individual level, “someone becoming a multimillionaire overnight does not suddenly mean that they are generating more emissions,” said Ben Gould, president of EcoDataLab, a firm that calculates consumer emissions for cities and counties.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“If anything, I would actually expect the IPO to have beneficial local climate impacts,” Gould told KQED by email. “Anthropic’s employees are probably more climate-conscious than average, and coming into a large amount of liquidity could help enable them to invest in low-emission technologies for their homes and lifestyles, like solar panels, heat pumps and EVs.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“If anything, I would actually expect the IPO to have beneficial local climate impacts,” Gould told KQED by email. “Anthropic’s employees are probably more climate-conscious than average, and coming into a large amount of liquidity could help enable them to invest in low-emission technologies for their homes and lifestyles, like solar panels, heat pumps and EVs.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>His colleague Christopher Jones, director of UC Berkeley’s CoolClimate Network, a group aimed at scaling up climate solutions, suggested that the development of AI has the potential — like the advent of personal computers — to enable the spread of low-carbon technologies. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>His colleague Christopher Jones, director of UC Berkeley’s CoolClimate Network, a group aimed at scaling up climate solutions, suggested that the development of AI has the potential — like the advent of personal computers — to enable the spread of low-carbon technologies. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp> “The largest environmental impacts of AI will not be from the water or energy demand of server farms, or the wealth generated for shareholders or employees,” Jones said, “but rather how AI will be used to change the ways humans live on the planet.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp> “The largest environmental impacts of AI will not be from the water or energy demand of server farms, or the wealth generated for shareholders or employees,” Jones said, “but rather how AI will be used to change the ways humans live on the planet.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>That is, if it doesn’t \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/09/13/nx-s1-5966638/could-ai-kill-us-all-professor-weighs-in-on-former-anthropic-employees-claim\">kill us\u003c/a> all first. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>That is, if it doesn’t \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/09/13/nx-s1-5966638/could-ai-kill-us-all-professor-weighs-in-on-former-anthropic-employees-claim\">kill us\u003c/a> all first. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s\u003c/em> \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/dventon\">\u003cem>Danielle Venton\u003c/em>\u003c/a> \u003cem>and\u003c/em> \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/emanoukian\">\u003cem>Elize Manoukian\u003c/em>\u003c/a> \u003cem>contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s\u003c/em> \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/dventon\">\u003cem>Danielle Venton\u003c/em>\u003c/a> \u003cem>and\u003c/em> \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/emanoukian\">\u003cem>Elize Manoukian\u003c/em>\u003c/a> \u003cem>contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"excerpt": "Analysts say that San Francisco AI giant Anthropic might make its stock market debut with a trillion-dollar valuation. Will any of this money trickle down to its hometown?",
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"title": "Real Estate, Climate and Wild Parties? Here’s How Anthropic’s IPO Could Affect the Bay Area | KQED",
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"headline": "Real Estate, Climate and Wild Parties? Here’s How Anthropic’s IPO Could Affect the Bay Area",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Living in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/bay-area\">Bay Area\u003c/a> can feel like living in a different economy from the rest of the U.S. — even a different world. Whether you’re buying a coffee or renting an apartment, prices inevitably get pegged to tech workers, many of whom make inconceivable amounts of money.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And soon, the Bay Area could pull even further away from the rest of the country now that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12106384/ai-giant-anthropic-files-for-an-ipo-that-could-break-records\">Anthropic\u003c/a>, one of the AI giants, has filed its initial public offering paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission and could begin trading as soon as November. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The filing comes weeks after the company’s CEO, Dario Amodei, argued in an \u003ca href=\"https://darioamodei.com/essay/the-adolescence-of-technology\">essay\u003c/a> for the slowdown of the development of AI models, acknowledging the risks associated with the “powerful” emergent technology are “serious.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The IPO would give the company “enormous resources to accelerate its expansion,” \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/anthropic-ipo-shares-public-ca2f4c282bef3201a392e59e3df2300c\">\u003cem>the Associated Press\u003c/em>\u003c/a> said, and would turn the startup into one of the world’s most valuable companies, even at lower estimates.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>The IPO and the Bay \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once the company goes public, Anthropic employees and investors can begin selling their shares, turning their hitherto-hypothetical millions into cold hard cash. (That exact timing, however, will depend on a shareholder’s individual \u003ca href=\"https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/lockup-period.asp\">“lock-up”\u003c/a> schedule.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Bay Area is no stranger to technological \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11655090/how-californias-gold-rush-forged-the-path-for-todays-tech-innovators\">“Gold Rushes.”\u003c/a> But Anthropic’s imminent IPO could blow them all out of the water, with reports estimating a valuation as high as \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/10/26/nx-s1-6014772/anthropic-ai-ipo-could-break-records\">$2 trillion\u003c/a>. And speculation has already begun about the impact this kind of cash could have on the Bay Area. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In July, \u003ca href=\"https://www.redfin.com/news/openai-anthropic-housing-wealth/\">Redfin\u003c/a> estimated that the current and former employees of Anthropic — and fellow AI company OpenAI, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/09/12/nx-s1-5950588/openai-anthropic-ai-safety-researchers-hacks\">delayed\u003c/a> its own IPO to 2027 — could hypothetically make enough from their respective IPOs to buy up a third of the total homes in San Francisco. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"857\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Houses_in_San_Francisco_qed-1adc92e1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12107213\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Houses_in_San_Francisco_qed-1adc92e1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Houses_in_San_Francisco_qed-1adc92e1-160x69.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/Houses_in_San_Francisco_qed-1adc92e1-1536x658.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A row of homes on Capp Street, between 22nd and 23rd Streets, in San Francisco’s Mission District. (Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But economists are skeptical the offering will bring widespread change. Ted Egan, the city of San Francisco’s chief economist, said that the impact of Anthropic’s IPO on San Francisco’s budget will be “modest” at best. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“While it could potentially be a lot of money, I’m not sure it will be particularly noticeable to everybody in the city,” Egan said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here’s what we know about how the coming Anthropic IPO could affect you in the Bay Area. Spoiler: Many of its impacts on those of us in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/30/opinion/ai-labor-work-force-silicon-valley.html\">“permanent underclass”\u003c/a> are already here. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Housing prices could keep rising\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>Who will be most affected: Anyone trying to buy a house, afford rent, or move in San Francisco. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/housing\">Real estate and rental prices\u003c/a> increased \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12095536/after-the-18000-scam-how-can-bay-area-renters-protect-themselves\">dramatically\u003c/a> over the summer, thanks to a booming AI economy. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Redfin’s latest \u003ca href=\"https://www.redfin.com/cost-of-living-calculator/san-francisco-ca\">data\u003c/a> shows that the average price to buy a home in San Francisco is about $1.7 million dollars and the average rental is about $4,000 — 161% more than the national average.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With prices already high, news of Anthropic’s IPO sparked \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/sanfrancisco/comments/1whm8cg/future_of_sf_housing/\">fear\u003c/a> in both renters and buyers — with one \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/sanfrancisco/comments/1xfzic9/anthropic_files_for_ipo_setting_the_stage_for_a/\">Reddit\u003c/a> user harkening back to a 2007 article from \u003ca href=\"https://theonion.com/report-nations-gentrified-neighborhoods-threatened-by-1819569723/\">\u003cem>The Onion\u003c/em>\u003c/a> titled “Nation’s Gentrified Neighborhoods Threatened By Aristocratization.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1438\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1236193788-a3ffbc0d-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12107215\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1236193788-a3ffbc0d-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1236193788-a3ffbc0d-2000x1124.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1236193788-a3ffbc0d-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1236193788-a3ffbc0d-1536x863.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1236193788-a3ffbc0d-2048x1151.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1236193788-a3ffbc0d-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An aerial view shows a newly unveiled logo for “Meta”, the new name for Facebook’s parent company, in front of Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park on Oct. 28, 2021. – Facebook changed its parent company name to “Meta” on Oct. 28 as the tech giant tries to move past being a scandal-plagued social network to its virtual reality vision for the future. (NOAH BERGER/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And understandably so, given the ghosts of IPOs past. A 2019 Zillow \u003ca href=\"https://www.zillow.com/research/facebook-ipo-home-values/\">report\u003c/a> found that after Facebook went public with a $104 billion valuation, home values near the company’s Menlo Park headquarters climbed at a higher rate than other parts of the Bay Area real estate market — 21% compared to 17%. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But UC Berkeley economics professor Enrico Moretti said this particular IPO might not cause prices to increase much more than they already have — because of the limited number of people who live in the city \u003cem>and\u003c/em> work at Anthropic. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“The demand for housing will increase by a few thousand units,” Moretti said. Anthropic has 5,300 employees globally as of Sept. 30, according to its SEC filing, but Moretti said that not all of the employees and investors who will profit are based in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260317-BeautifulBuildings-05-BL_qed-17647b3c.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12107222\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260317-BeautifulBuildings-05-BL_qed-17647b3c.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260317-BeautifulBuildings-05-BL_qed-17647b3c-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260317-BeautifulBuildings-05-BL_qed-17647b3c-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A house on California Street in the Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco on March 17, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While newly wealthy shareholders may not push up prices across the city, they could still drive up prices in specific neighborhoods near Anthropic and OpenAI’s headquarters, said Karen Chapple, a professor emerita at UC Berkeley focused on economic development and housing. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These areas include Mission-Potrero, South of Market, Pacific Heights, Hayes Valley and potentially downtown, Chapple said. “People really want to get to work within 15 minutes,” she said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Something else that might contribute to rising prices is the city’s ongoing shortage of available units. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“The Bay Area economy is between a rock and a hard place,” said Christopher Thornberg, a founding partner of research and consulting firm Beacon Economics. “The rock is this AI funding that’s pouring in; the hard place is the lack of housing.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>More money, more jobs and bigger ice cream cones \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>Who will be most impacted: Service industry employees, AI-adjacent industries and artisans. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When it comes to the economy, more money usually means more jobs — usually. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Moretti said a single new tech job typically creates four to five additional jobs outside the tech sector. That’s because “every time that a new tech job is created in a metro area, that income is spent, in part, in the local economy,” Moretti said, listing everything from retail and restaurants to healthcare, education and architecture. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But while \u003ca href=\"https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-financial-and-quantitative-analysis/article/local-economic-spillover-effects-of-stock-market-listings/E61E5EA26F8FEF5D5A9CBC8477493A6C\">research\u003c/a> has linked previous IPOs to significant job creation, Moretti said that this particular Anthropic IPO may produce fewer new jobs. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-2294539418-a86fe375-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12107266\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-2294539418-a86fe375-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-2294539418-a86fe375-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-2294539418-a86fe375-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-2294539418-a86fe375-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-2294539418-a86fe375-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Entrance to Foundry Square IV, headquarters of artificial intelligence company Anthropic, in the South of Market neighborhood, San Francisco, California, United States, Sept. 9, 2026. (Smith Collection/Gado via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That’s because companies have historically used IPOs to help them raise new capital and expand their operations — but that may not be the case for Anthropic. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“It had plenty of capital. In fact, there were people banging on its door to provide capital,” Moretti said, adding that the AI industry as a whole has not been “capital-constrained.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Without major employment growth from Anthropic itself, there will be fewer new employees to spend money in the Bay Area and, subsequently, fewer new jobs in complementary industries, he said. “There’s only so much that you can spend locally,” Moretti said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One sector that’s already seen an increase in local spending — and could see more as IPO wealth floods in? Elaborate, in-person events. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Vivienne Errington-Barnes, founder of [Shift + Alt], a company that produces everything from corporate retreats to birthday parties for individuals and companies in the tech sector, said that “there is a direct correlation between AI becoming more prolific and people wanting more in-person events.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-3 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" data-id=\"12107210\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261029-Anthropic-IPO-02-KQED-5ac416d1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12107210\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261029-Anthropic-IPO-02-KQED-5ac416d1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261029-Anthropic-IPO-02-KQED-5ac416d1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261029-Anthropic-IPO-02-KQED-5ac416d1-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Shift+Alt planned a lavish event for luxury wine group Osiris Club. (Courtesy of Shift + Alt Events)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" data-id=\"12107212\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261029-Anthropic-IPO-04-KQED-8df42784.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12107212\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261029-Anthropic-IPO-04-KQED-8df42784.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261029-Anthropic-IPO-04-KQED-8df42784-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261029-Anthropic-IPO-04-KQED-8df42784-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Shift + Alt founder Vivienne Errington-Barnes said “human” experiences are becoming more coveted in the age of AI. (Courtesy of Shift + Alt Events)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“There’s a lot of weird and wonderful things coming up, like people who are fabricating life-size ice cream cones,” Errington-Barnes said. “They want to be remembered.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">People don’t just want more events; they want their events to be high-touch, high-impact and exceptionally human, Errington-Barnes said, describing a shift from DJs to live music and from light projections to physical performances and elaborate installations.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“We want the chef to come out and make a speech about how he made this Michelin star dish and what his story is. We want to get a human-interest kind of angle,” Errington-Barnes said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>IPOs could boost the industry of love\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>Who will be most impacted: Wedding planners, divorce lawyers and the couples they serve. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another business that could see a local bump? Marriages and divorces.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A 2012 \u003ca href=\"https://www.ft.com/content/433af3b0-a082-11e1-88e6-00144feabdc0\">Financial Times\u003c/a> article tracked the trend leading up to Facebook’s IPO, and found that wedding planners and wealth managers were gearing up to court newly-minted millionaires. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260403-SFLibraryWeddings-03-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12078843\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260403-SFLibraryWeddings-03-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260403-SFLibraryWeddings-03-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260403-SFLibraryWeddings-03-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A couple poses for photos in the San Francisco Public Library Main Library on April 3, 2026, before their wedding ceremony. The library hosted a limited series of weddings during its 30th anniversary celebration, offering couples a chance to marry in a unique civic space. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Divorce lawyers, too, could see an influx of clients, said Haitham Amin, a San Francisco attorney and founding partner of Amin Law. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The attorney said 90% of his clients are in the tech industry, and forecasted a wide number of possibilities based on his experiences following the Facebook IPO and the rise of Nvidia. A boon can make or break some relationships, he said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“There’s going to be a good chunk of people that are going to realize that big money comes with a lot of problems — usually marital problems,” Amin said. “People just change when they get a lot of money.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Billionaire altruists could donate wealth\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>Who will be the most impacted: Anyone the effective altruists deem worthy. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As newly wealthy tech employees search for meaning and connection, they may start donating more to Bay Area charities … potentially. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After working with dot-com millionaires in the 1990s, psychologists Stephen Goldbart and Joan DiFuria coined the term \u003ca href=\"https://www.mmcinstitute.com/?page_id=15\">“sudden wealth syndrome”\u003c/a> — aimed at capturing how people can face issues finding meaning and purpose after coming into a shocking amount of money and can become isolated from friends and family. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“We’re seeing what we call billionaire bubbles,” DiFuria told KQED. “These gated communities are getting deeper and thicker, because the money is higher.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some newly-minted millionaires retreat from society, DiFuria said. But others might decide to invest their money into their local communities. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“If you’re richer and you decide to donate, history tells us that a share of that will go to local charities,” Moretti said. “I think this is an area where there’s probably going to be a significant effect.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Berber Jin, AI enterprise reporter for \u003cem>The Wall Street Journal\u003c/em>, told KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101915855/what-an-anthropic-ipo-could-mean-for-the-bay-area\">Forum\u003c/a> on Wednesday that early Anthropic employees have pledged up to half of their wealth to philanthropic causes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While wealthy philanthropists have historically donated to arts, culture and local nonprofits, the company has strong \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/09/26/nx-s1-5979085/the-ai-safety-debate-is-confusing-heres-our-guide-to-the-different-factions\">ties\u003c/a> to the effective altruism movement — a philosophy followed by some in the tech industry that purports to use rational thought to do the most long-term good possible. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The movement drew criticism after one of its most vocal proponents, crypto exchange founder \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/12/09/1141820351/can-billionaires-save-the-world-some-are-skeptical\">Sam Bankman-Fried\u003c/a>, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for fraud and money laundering. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2341\" height=\"1559\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1556770481-75ef1d7e.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12107237\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1556770481-75ef1d7e.jpg 2341w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1556770481-75ef1d7e-2000x1332.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1556770481-75ef1d7e-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1556770481-75ef1d7e-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-1556770481-75ef1d7e-2048x1364.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2341px) 100vw, 2341px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Former FTX chief Sam Bankman-Fried leaves the Federal Courthouse following a bail hearing ahead of his October trial, in New York City on July 26, 2023. (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jin said the enduring popularity of the movement among Anthropic’s earliest hires will likely impact how they spend their money. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Because effective altruism is so ingrained in their worldviews, the chatter right now amongst early employees is like we should donate this money to fund AI safety nonprofits,” Jin said. Effective altruists often focus on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/201504091000/poor-kids-vs-batkid-ethicist-peter-singer-on-how-to-choose-a-charitable-cause\">global causes\u003c/a> including animal welfare and public health. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In addition to spending more on philanthropy, Anthropic employees could continue to ramp up their political donations — they’ve already been spending big on AI-safety PACs, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/dario-amodei-donation-22348647.php\">\u003cem>SFGate\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Climate change and environmental concerns \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>Who will be the most impacted: Climate tech, nonprofits and environmental advocates. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AI’s impact on our environment is a hot topic — pun intended. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Many groups have called attention to data centers’ staggering energy and water usage — which can lead to increased emissions and disrupt local water supplies and ecosystems, according to \u003ca href=\"https://news.mit.edu/2025/explained-generative-ai-environmental-impact-0117\">\u003cem>MIT News\u003c/em>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Other \u003ca href=\"https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/can-ais-climate-benefits-outweigh-its-costs\">research\u003c/a> has also linked AI’s climate impact to the emissions associated with increasing production and economic growth. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wealth itself is often \u003ca href=\"https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/richest-1-emit-much-planet-heating-pollution-two-thirds-humanity\">linked\u003c/a> to pollution, especially when it’s spent on fossil-fuel-intensive goods and services like driving, flying and eating red meat, just to name a few.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260828-SOUTH-BAY-DATA-CENTERS-MD-07-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12098431\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260828-SOUTH-BAY-DATA-CENTERS-MD-07-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260828-SOUTH-BAY-DATA-CENTERS-MD-07-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/260828-SOUTH-BAY-DATA-CENTERS-MD-07-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Buildings in the Alviso neighborhood of San José that Google plans to modify to operate in a capacity similar to a data center on Sept. 3, 2026. (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But on an individual level, “someone becoming a multimillionaire overnight does not suddenly mean that they are generating more emissions,” said Ben Gould, president of EcoDataLab, a firm that calculates consumer emissions for cities and counties.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“If anything, I would actually expect the IPO to have beneficial local climate impacts,” Gould told KQED by email. “Anthropic’s employees are probably more climate-conscious than average, and coming into a large amount of liquidity could help enable them to invest in low-emission technologies for their homes and lifestyles, like solar panels, heat pumps and EVs.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His colleague Christopher Jones, director of UC Berkeley’s CoolClimate Network, a group aimed at scaling up climate solutions, suggested that the development of AI has the potential — like the advent of personal computers — to enable the spread of low-carbon technologies. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"> “The largest environmental impacts of AI will not be from the water or energy demand of server farms, or the wealth generated for shareholders or employees,” Jones said, “but rather how AI will be used to change the ways humans live on the planet.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That is, if it doesn’t \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/09/13/nx-s1-5966638/could-ai-kill-us-all-professor-weighs-in-on-former-anthropic-employees-claim\">kill us\u003c/a> all first. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>KQED’s\u003c/em> \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/dventon\">\u003cem>Danielle Venton\u003c/em>\u003c/a> \u003cem>and\u003c/em> \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/emanoukian\">\u003cem>Elize Manoukian\u003c/em>\u003c/a> \u003cem>contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "californias-new-ai-bossware-laws-are-about-to-take-effect-are-employers-ready",
"title": "California’s New AI ‘Bossware’ Laws Are About to Take Effect. Are Employers Ready?",
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"headTitle": "California’s New AI ‘Bossware’ Laws Are About to Take Effect. Are Employers Ready? | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pa Vue is a telephone triage nurse with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/kaiser-permanente\">Kaiser Permanente\u003c/a>. She works the night shift, from midnight to 8:30 a.m., from her home in the Central Valley. Vue’s job is to calmly assess each caller as they describe their concerns and symptoms, looking for red flags that indicate immediate treatment is warranted, like signs of a heart attack or stroke.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It’s a critical job, and one of a growing number impacted by AI-powered surveillance software, aka “bossware.” California has gone further than any other state to begin regulating it. At the end of September, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102337/newsom-signs-slate-of-ai-workplace-laws-barring-robo-bosses-and-surveillance\">five labor-backed bills regulating AI in the workplace\u003c/a>. Among them is \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1979\">AB 1979\u003c/a>, which bars health facilities from letting AI alone do work reserved for licensed professionals, and requires them to protect clinicians’ independent judgment when AI informs care. \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billVersionsCompareClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1883\">AB 1883\u003c/a> restricts employers from using AI-powered workplace surveillance tools to read workers’ emotions or collect their neural data. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2024, Vue said she learned Kaiser was piloting a feature that included scoring the sentiment of recorded calls — as in, evaluating employees’ attitudes in the recordings. Nurses were later told the pilot was paused. But while Vue was on maternity leave a year later, Kaiser appeared to have instituted the feature, because Vue said she came back to work to find a “sentiment score” in the metadata attached to each of her recorded calls. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Vue said she isn’t opposed to AI in medicine, but she objects to the sentiment scoring because triage nurses are trained to stay calm and press patients to detail their symptoms, even if that means the patients become agitated or fearful in the process. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Vue said she wasn’t even sure how to interpret the numbers she was seeing in the metadata. She wasn’t sure what scale she was being graded on or how high the numbers went. The nurses asked management about the metrics, Vue said, but got no answers. Whoever made the system that was evaluating the calls, Vue said, didn’t “really understand what we’re going through.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-KAISER-AI-NURSES-01-KQED-bab50399.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106026\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-KAISER-AI-NURSES-01-KQED-bab50399.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-KAISER-AI-NURSES-01-KQED-bab50399-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-KAISER-AI-NURSES-01-KQED-bab50399-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Pa Vue, a Telephone Triage Nurse, at her home office in Fresno on Oct. 22, 2026. (Jennifer Emerling for KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Contacted for comment, a spokesperson for Kaiser wrote KQED, “We currently do not use AI tools to recognize, predict or infer emotional states of our nurses.” The spokesperson also wrote that the healthcare giant is reviewing the implications of AB 1883 for its operations. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Scoring whether someone said the right words is one thing, and that’s okay, but scoring what they were feeling now is off limits,” management-side employment attorney Anthony Zaller told KQED. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AB 1883 should, in theory, require removing sentiment scoring-style software from jobs like Vue’s. Zaller said he’s not familiar with Kaiser’s use of AI specifically, but he said that employers commonly don’t realize the extent to which AI is embedded in their software — or that existing laws already make employers responsible in a way they can’t sidestep “just because you ran it through some software.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Vue is a member of the California Nurses Association, which has been \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097878/in-oakland-kaiser-nurses-take-staffing-ai-concerns-to-the-picket-lines\">battling Kaiser\u003c/a> over its use of AI bossware. Her account appeared under a pseudonym as one first-person example among a couple dozen from workers around the state in a recent labor coalition \u003ca href=\"https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/wjHhCwpkPvsknn3yFVfGpsJn6NG?domain=report.norobobosses.org/\">report\u003c/a> warning that artificial intelligence and surveillance tools are increasingly used to monitor, manage and discipline workers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Workers are experiencing unprecedented levels of surveillance and monitoring in their workplaces,” said Stasia Hansen, deputy director of research and strategy at one of the coalition members, the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy, a labor and housing organization focused on Alameda and Contra Costa counties. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Vue first learned of the 2024 pilot because she sits on a joint union-management committee on nursing practice; the committee brought its concerns to management’s attention “to really hold them accountable to their own principles,” she said, referring to \u003ca href=\"https://about.kaiserpermanente.org/expertise-and-impact/public-policy/our-key-issues/artificial-intelligence\">Kaiser’s publicly stated AI policy\u003c/a>. She was less than impressed with management’s response.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“They tell us they can’t turn it off. Of course, nothing can be turned off because it’s built into the system. So they will have to lose a lot of money and go with a different software, or they’re just going to have to use the platform,” Vue said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">KQED asked Kaiser whether its call platform generates sentiment scores, whose sentiment they measure and whether the feature can be turned off. Kaiser did not answer. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">How widespread bossware is remains hard to measure. Employers rarely disclose the tools they use, and the algorithms are proprietary, so outside researchers seldom get to examine them except through leaks or lawsuits. But the signs keep piling up.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The use of work-surveillance technology took off during the pandemic. As many people started working remotely, more employers began surveilling their teams in new ways: tracking keyboard strokes, taking screenshots and monitoring pauses. According to The New York Times, by 2022, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/08/14/business/worker-productivity-tracking.html\">eight of the 10 biggest private employers\u003c/a> in the United States were tracking the productivity metrics of individual workers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260317-KAISER-RETREATS-MD-09-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12076763\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260317-KAISER-RETREATS-MD-09-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260317-KAISER-RETREATS-MD-09-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260317-KAISER-RETREATS-MD-09-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Kaiser Permanente building at 1800 Harrison (center-top) in Oakland on March 16, 2026. (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Workers in a wide variety of industries, Hansen said, “are facing consequences due to productivity expectations or due to systems that don’t reasonably take into consideration key factors of their workplaces and work situations, which we as humans are able to assess.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As it moved through the legislature last session, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097632/chatbots-data-centers-and-surveillance-5-silicon-valley-bills-land-on-newsoms-desk\">AB 1883\u003c/a> faced opposition among business-friendly interests. The California Chamber of Commerce, for example, said in a letter to lawmakers that the bill would open employers up to litigation over what the phrase “emotional state” means. The Chamber also said that the ban could sweep in AI security systems that detect agitation or aggression, tools some employers adopted to comply with a 2023 state law requiring workplace violence prevention plans.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">California lawmakers aren’t the only ones to consider legislating limits on bossware. The European Union, for instance, has banned emotion recognition at work since 2025. But similar bills specifically seeking to regulate the use of AI to detect worker emotion died this year in Minnesota, New York and Washington. A broader Massachusetts bill limiting workplace monitoring stalled in committee. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">California’s bills “took some hits in the committee process,” said Hansen, the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy deputy research director, referring to the compromises made to get the proposals through the legislature and signed by the governor. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What can pass in Sacramento, she said, is different from what can pass locally. “So while we’re thrilled to see this foundation at the state level, we also know that there’s a lot more to be done for actual robust protections for workers, and so we’re looking to move those on the local level, across the state.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hansen did not name a Bay Area city or county that has agreed to take up such a measure. None appears to have done so, although Santa Clara County supervisors voted in March to study AI use across county departments, and San José’s largest city employee union has sought limits on AI in contract talks with the city.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The People’s Technology Coalition, which includes the San José nonprofit Working Partnerships USA, held its launch at San José City Hall in September. Hansen said the coalition plans to start with public employers, because cities can act both as employers — setting rules for their own workforce and the technology they buy — and as regulators of private employers within their limits. “It’s both the city as an employer and also the city as a regulatory body,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the meantime, tech companies are pouring some of the largest private investments in history into AI built to automate work. Zaller, the employment attorney, is doubtful regulation will stop the use of bossware altogether.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“The Pandora’s box is open. It’s here,” he said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Pa Vue is a telephone triage nurse with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/kaiser-permanente\">Kaiser Permanente\u003c/a>. She works the night shift, from midnight to 8:30 a.m., from her home in the Central Valley. Vue’s job is to calmly assess each caller as they describe their concerns and symptoms, looking for red flags that indicate immediate treatment is warranted, like signs of a heart attack or stroke.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Pa Vue is a telephone triage nurse with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/kaiser-permanente\">Kaiser Permanente\u003c/a>. She works the night shift, from midnight to 8:30 a.m., from her home in the Central Valley. Vue’s job is to calmly assess each caller as they describe their concerns and symptoms, looking for red flags that indicate immediate treatment is warranted, like signs of a heart attack or stroke.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>It’s a critical job, and one of a growing number impacted by AI-powered surveillance software, aka “bossware.” California has gone further than any other state to begin regulating it. At the end of September, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102337/newsom-signs-slate-of-ai-workplace-laws-barring-robo-bosses-and-surveillance\">five labor-backed bills regulating AI in the workplace\u003c/a>. Among them is \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1979\">AB 1979\u003c/a>, which bars health facilities from letting AI alone do work reserved for licensed professionals, and requires them to protect clinicians’ independent judgment when AI informs care. \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billVersionsCompareClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1883\">AB 1883\u003c/a> restricts employers from using AI-powered workplace surveillance tools to read workers’ emotions or collect their neural data. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>It’s a critical job, and one of a growing number impacted by AI-powered surveillance software, aka “bossware.” California has gone further than any other state to begin regulating it. At the end of September, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102337/newsom-signs-slate-of-ai-workplace-laws-barring-robo-bosses-and-surveillance\">five labor-backed bills regulating AI in the workplace\u003c/a>. Among them is \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1979\">AB 1979\u003c/a>, which bars health facilities from letting AI alone do work reserved for licensed professionals, and requires them to protect clinicians’ independent judgment when AI informs care. \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billVersionsCompareClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1883\">AB 1883\u003c/a> restricts employers from using AI-powered workplace surveillance tools to read workers’ emotions or collect their neural data. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In 2024, Vue said she learned Kaiser was piloting a feature that included scoring the sentiment of recorded calls — as in, evaluating employees’ attitudes in the recordings. Nurses were later told the pilot was paused. But while Vue was on maternity leave a year later, Kaiser appeared to have instituted the feature, because Vue said she came back to work to find a “sentiment score” in the metadata attached to each of her recorded calls. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In 2024, Vue said she learned Kaiser was piloting a feature that included scoring the sentiment of recorded calls — as in, evaluating employees’ attitudes in the recordings. Nurses were later told the pilot was paused. But while Vue was on maternity leave a year later, Kaiser appeared to have instituted the feature, because Vue said she came back to work to find a “sentiment score” in the metadata attached to each of her recorded calls. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Vue said she isn’t opposed to AI in medicine, but she objects to the sentiment scoring because triage nurses are trained to stay calm and press patients to detail their symptoms, even if that means the patients become agitated or fearful in the process. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Vue said she isn’t opposed to AI in medicine, but she objects to the sentiment scoring because triage nurses are trained to stay calm and press patients to detail their symptoms, even if that means the patients become agitated or fearful in the process. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Vue said she wasn’t even sure how to interpret the numbers she was seeing in the metadata. She wasn’t sure what scale she was being graded on or how high the numbers went. The nurses asked management about the metrics, Vue said, but got no answers. Whoever made the system that was evaluating the calls, Vue said, didn’t “really understand what we’re going through.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Vue said she wasn’t even sure how to interpret the numbers she was seeing in the metadata. She wasn’t sure what scale she was being graded on or how high the numbers went. The nurses asked management about the metrics, Vue said, but got no answers. Whoever made the system that was evaluating the calls, Vue said, didn’t “really understand what we’re going through.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-KAISER-AI-NURSES-01-KQED-bab50399.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106026\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-KAISER-AI-NURSES-01-KQED-bab50399.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-KAISER-AI-NURSES-01-KQED-bab50399-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-KAISER-AI-NURSES-01-KQED-bab50399-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Pa Vue, a Telephone Triage Nurse, at her home office in Fresno on Oct. 22, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Jennifer Emerling for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Contacted for comment, a spokesperson for Kaiser wrote KQED, “We currently do not use AI tools to recognize, predict or infer emotional states of our nurses.” The spokesperson also wrote that the healthcare giant is reviewing the implications of AB 1883 for its operations. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Contacted for comment, a spokesperson for Kaiser wrote KQED, “We currently do not use AI tools to recognize, predict or infer emotional states of our nurses.” The spokesperson also wrote that the healthcare giant is reviewing the implications of AB 1883 for its operations. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Scoring whether someone said the right words is one thing, and that’s okay, but scoring what they were feeling now is off limits,” management-side employment attorney Anthony Zaller told KQED. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>AB 1883 should, in theory, require removing sentiment scoring-style software from jobs like Vue’s. Zaller said he’s not familiar with Kaiser’s use of AI specifically, but he said that employers commonly don’t realize the extent to which AI is embedded in their software — or that existing laws already make employers responsible in a way they can’t sidestep “just because you ran it through some software.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>AB 1883 should, in theory, require removing sentiment scoring-style software from jobs like Vue’s. Zaller said he’s not familiar with Kaiser’s use of AI specifically, but he said that employers commonly don’t realize the extent to which AI is embedded in their software — or that existing laws already make employers responsible in a way they can’t sidestep “just because you ran it through some software.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Vue is a member of the California Nurses Association, which has been \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097878/in-oakland-kaiser-nurses-take-staffing-ai-concerns-to-the-picket-lines\">battling Kaiser\u003c/a> over its use of AI bossware. Her account appeared under a pseudonym as one first-person example among a couple dozen from workers around the state in a recent labor coalition \u003ca href=\"https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/wjHhCwpkPvsknn3yFVfGpsJn6NG?domain=report.norobobosses.org/\">report\u003c/a> warning that artificial intelligence and surveillance tools are increasingly used to monitor, manage and discipline workers.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Vue is a member of the California Nurses Association, which has been \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097878/in-oakland-kaiser-nurses-take-staffing-ai-concerns-to-the-picket-lines\">battling Kaiser\u003c/a> over its use of AI bossware. Her account appeared under a pseudonym as one first-person example among a couple dozen from workers around the state in a recent labor coalition \u003ca href=\"https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/wjHhCwpkPvsknn3yFVfGpsJn6NG?domain=report.norobobosses.org/\">report\u003c/a> warning that artificial intelligence and surveillance tools are increasingly used to monitor, manage and discipline workers.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Workers are experiencing unprecedented levels of surveillance and monitoring in their workplaces,” said Stasia Hansen, deputy director of research and strategy at one of the coalition members, the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy, a labor and housing organization focused on Alameda and Contra Costa counties. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Workers are experiencing unprecedented levels of surveillance and monitoring in their workplaces,” said Stasia Hansen, deputy director of research and strategy at one of the coalition members, the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy, a labor and housing organization focused on Alameda and Contra Costa counties. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Vue first learned of the 2024 pilot because she sits on a joint union-management committee on nursing practice; the committee brought its concerns to management’s attention “to really hold them accountable to their own principles,” she said, referring to \u003ca href=\"https://about.kaiserpermanente.org/expertise-and-impact/public-policy/our-key-issues/artificial-intelligence\">Kaiser’s publicly stated AI policy\u003c/a>. She was less than impressed with management’s response.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Vue first learned of the 2024 pilot because she sits on a joint union-management committee on nursing practice; the committee brought its concerns to management’s attention “to really hold them accountable to their own principles,” she said, referring to \u003ca href=\"https://about.kaiserpermanente.org/expertise-and-impact/public-policy/our-key-issues/artificial-intelligence\">Kaiser’s publicly stated AI policy\u003c/a>. She was less than impressed with management’s response.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“They tell us they can’t turn it off. Of course, nothing can be turned off because it’s built into the system. So they will have to lose a lot of money and go with a different software, or they’re just going to have to use the platform,” Vue said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“They tell us they can’t turn it off. Of course, nothing can be turned off because it’s built into the system. So they will have to lose a lot of money and go with a different software, or they’re just going to have to use the platform,” Vue said. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>KQED asked Kaiser whether its call platform generates sentiment scores, whose sentiment they measure and whether the feature can be turned off. Kaiser did not answer. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>KQED asked Kaiser whether its call platform generates sentiment scores, whose sentiment they measure and whether the feature can be turned off. Kaiser did not answer. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>How widespread bossware is remains hard to measure. Employers rarely disclose the tools they use, and the algorithms are proprietary, so outside researchers seldom get to examine them except through leaks or lawsuits. But the signs keep piling up.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>How widespread bossware is remains hard to measure. Employers rarely disclose the tools they use, and the algorithms are proprietary, so outside researchers seldom get to examine them except through leaks or lawsuits. But the signs keep piling up.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The use of work-surveillance technology took off during the pandemic. As many people started working remotely, more employers began surveilling their teams in new ways: tracking keyboard strokes, taking screenshots and monitoring pauses. According to The New York Times, by 2022, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/08/14/business/worker-productivity-tracking.html\">eight of the 10 biggest private employers\u003c/a> in the United States were tracking the productivity metrics of individual workers.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260317-KAISER-RETREATS-MD-09-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12076763\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260317-KAISER-RETREATS-MD-09-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260317-KAISER-RETREATS-MD-09-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260317-KAISER-RETREATS-MD-09-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Kaiser Permanente building at 1800 Harrison (center-top) in Oakland on March 16, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Workers in a wide variety of industries, Hansen said, “are facing consequences due to productivity expectations or due to systems that don’t reasonably take into consideration key factors of their workplaces and work situations, which we as humans are able to assess.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>As it moved through the legislature last session, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097632/chatbots-data-centers-and-surveillance-5-silicon-valley-bills-land-on-newsoms-desk\">AB 1883\u003c/a> faced opposition among business-friendly interests. The California Chamber of Commerce, for example, said in a letter to lawmakers that the bill would open employers up to litigation over what the phrase “emotional state” means. The Chamber also said that the ban could sweep in AI security systems that detect agitation or aggression, tools some employers adopted to comply with a 2023 state law requiring workplace violence prevention plans.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>California lawmakers aren’t the only ones to consider legislating limits on bossware. The European Union, for instance, has banned emotion recognition at work since 2025. But similar bills specifically seeking to regulate the use of AI to detect worker emotion died this year in Minnesota, New York and Washington. A broader Massachusetts bill limiting workplace monitoring stalled in committee. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>California’s bills “took some hits in the committee process,” said Hansen, the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy deputy research director, referring to the compromises made to get the proposals through the legislature and signed by the governor. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>What can pass in Sacramento, she said, is different from what can pass locally. “So while we’re thrilled to see this foundation at the state level, we also know that there’s a lot more to be done for actual robust protections for workers, and so we’re looking to move those on the local level, across the state.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Hansen did not name a Bay Area city or county that has agreed to take up such a measure. None appears to have done so, although Santa Clara County supervisors voted in March to study AI use across county departments, and San José’s largest city employee union has sought limits on AI in contract talks with the city.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The People’s Technology Coalition, which includes the San José nonprofit Working Partnerships USA, held its launch at San José City Hall in September. Hansen said the coalition plans to start with public employers, because cities can act both as employers — setting rules for their own workforce and the technology they buy — and as regulators of private employers within their limits. “It’s both the city as an employer and also the city as a regulatory body,” she said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In the meantime, tech companies are pouring some of the largest private investments in history into AI built to automate work. Zaller, the employment attorney, is doubtful regulation will stop the use of bossware altogether.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The Pandora’s box is open. It’s here,” he said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "New labor-backed laws about AI in the workplace are about to take effect in California. It’s not clear how many employers realize the software they already use may run afoul of the new rules.",
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"title": "California’s New AI ‘Bossware’ Laws Are About to Take Effect. Are Employers Ready? | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pa Vue is a telephone triage nurse with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/kaiser-permanente\">Kaiser Permanente\u003c/a>. She works the night shift, from midnight to 8:30 a.m., from her home in the Central Valley. Vue’s job is to calmly assess each caller as they describe their concerns and symptoms, looking for red flags that indicate immediate treatment is warranted, like signs of a heart attack or stroke.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It’s a critical job, and one of a growing number impacted by AI-powered surveillance software, aka “bossware.” California has gone further than any other state to begin regulating it. At the end of September, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102337/newsom-signs-slate-of-ai-workplace-laws-barring-robo-bosses-and-surveillance\">five labor-backed bills regulating AI in the workplace\u003c/a>. Among them is \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1979\">AB 1979\u003c/a>, which bars health facilities from letting AI alone do work reserved for licensed professionals, and requires them to protect clinicians’ independent judgment when AI informs care. \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billVersionsCompareClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1883\">AB 1883\u003c/a> restricts employers from using AI-powered workplace surveillance tools to read workers’ emotions or collect their neural data. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2024, Vue said she learned Kaiser was piloting a feature that included scoring the sentiment of recorded calls — as in, evaluating employees’ attitudes in the recordings. Nurses were later told the pilot was paused. But while Vue was on maternity leave a year later, Kaiser appeared to have instituted the feature, because Vue said she came back to work to find a “sentiment score” in the metadata attached to each of her recorded calls. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Vue said she isn’t opposed to AI in medicine, but she objects to the sentiment scoring because triage nurses are trained to stay calm and press patients to detail their symptoms, even if that means the patients become agitated or fearful in the process. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Vue said she wasn’t even sure how to interpret the numbers she was seeing in the metadata. She wasn’t sure what scale she was being graded on or how high the numbers went. The nurses asked management about the metrics, Vue said, but got no answers. Whoever made the system that was evaluating the calls, Vue said, didn’t “really understand what we’re going through.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-KAISER-AI-NURSES-01-KQED-bab50399.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106026\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-KAISER-AI-NURSES-01-KQED-bab50399.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-KAISER-AI-NURSES-01-KQED-bab50399-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-KAISER-AI-NURSES-01-KQED-bab50399-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Pa Vue, a Telephone Triage Nurse, at her home office in Fresno on Oct. 22, 2026. (Jennifer Emerling for KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Contacted for comment, a spokesperson for Kaiser wrote KQED, “We currently do not use AI tools to recognize, predict or infer emotional states of our nurses.” The spokesperson also wrote that the healthcare giant is reviewing the implications of AB 1883 for its operations. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Scoring whether someone said the right words is one thing, and that’s okay, but scoring what they were feeling now is off limits,” management-side employment attorney Anthony Zaller told KQED. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AB 1883 should, in theory, require removing sentiment scoring-style software from jobs like Vue’s. Zaller said he’s not familiar with Kaiser’s use of AI specifically, but he said that employers commonly don’t realize the extent to which AI is embedded in their software — or that existing laws already make employers responsible in a way they can’t sidestep “just because you ran it through some software.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Vue is a member of the California Nurses Association, which has been \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097878/in-oakland-kaiser-nurses-take-staffing-ai-concerns-to-the-picket-lines\">battling Kaiser\u003c/a> over its use of AI bossware. Her account appeared under a pseudonym as one first-person example among a couple dozen from workers around the state in a recent labor coalition \u003ca href=\"https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/wjHhCwpkPvsknn3yFVfGpsJn6NG?domain=report.norobobosses.org/\">report\u003c/a> warning that artificial intelligence and surveillance tools are increasingly used to monitor, manage and discipline workers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Workers are experiencing unprecedented levels of surveillance and monitoring in their workplaces,” said Stasia Hansen, deputy director of research and strategy at one of the coalition members, the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy, a labor and housing organization focused on Alameda and Contra Costa counties. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Vue first learned of the 2024 pilot because she sits on a joint union-management committee on nursing practice; the committee brought its concerns to management’s attention “to really hold them accountable to their own principles,” she said, referring to \u003ca href=\"https://about.kaiserpermanente.org/expertise-and-impact/public-policy/our-key-issues/artificial-intelligence\">Kaiser’s publicly stated AI policy\u003c/a>. She was less than impressed with management’s response.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“They tell us they can’t turn it off. Of course, nothing can be turned off because it’s built into the system. So they will have to lose a lot of money and go with a different software, or they’re just going to have to use the platform,” Vue said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">KQED asked Kaiser whether its call platform generates sentiment scores, whose sentiment they measure and whether the feature can be turned off. Kaiser did not answer. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">How widespread bossware is remains hard to measure. Employers rarely disclose the tools they use, and the algorithms are proprietary, so outside researchers seldom get to examine them except through leaks or lawsuits. But the signs keep piling up.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The use of work-surveillance technology took off during the pandemic. As many people started working remotely, more employers began surveilling their teams in new ways: tracking keyboard strokes, taking screenshots and monitoring pauses. According to The New York Times, by 2022, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/08/14/business/worker-productivity-tracking.html\">eight of the 10 biggest private employers\u003c/a> in the United States were tracking the productivity metrics of individual workers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260317-KAISER-RETREATS-MD-09-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12076763\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260317-KAISER-RETREATS-MD-09-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260317-KAISER-RETREATS-MD-09-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260317-KAISER-RETREATS-MD-09-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Kaiser Permanente building at 1800 Harrison (center-top) in Oakland on March 16, 2026. (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Workers in a wide variety of industries, Hansen said, “are facing consequences due to productivity expectations or due to systems that don’t reasonably take into consideration key factors of their workplaces and work situations, which we as humans are able to assess.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As it moved through the legislature last session, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097632/chatbots-data-centers-and-surveillance-5-silicon-valley-bills-land-on-newsoms-desk\">AB 1883\u003c/a> faced opposition among business-friendly interests. The California Chamber of Commerce, for example, said in a letter to lawmakers that the bill would open employers up to litigation over what the phrase “emotional state” means. The Chamber also said that the ban could sweep in AI security systems that detect agitation or aggression, tools some employers adopted to comply with a 2023 state law requiring workplace violence prevention plans.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">California lawmakers aren’t the only ones to consider legislating limits on bossware. The European Union, for instance, has banned emotion recognition at work since 2025. But similar bills specifically seeking to regulate the use of AI to detect worker emotion died this year in Minnesota, New York and Washington. A broader Massachusetts bill limiting workplace monitoring stalled in committee. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">California’s bills “took some hits in the committee process,” said Hansen, the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy deputy research director, referring to the compromises made to get the proposals through the legislature and signed by the governor. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What can pass in Sacramento, she said, is different from what can pass locally. “So while we’re thrilled to see this foundation at the state level, we also know that there’s a lot more to be done for actual robust protections for workers, and so we’re looking to move those on the local level, across the state.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hansen did not name a Bay Area city or county that has agreed to take up such a measure. None appears to have done so, although Santa Clara County supervisors voted in March to study AI use across county departments, and San José’s largest city employee union has sought limits on AI in contract talks with the city.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The People’s Technology Coalition, which includes the San José nonprofit Working Partnerships USA, held its launch at San José City Hall in September. Hansen said the coalition plans to start with public employers, because cities can act both as employers — setting rules for their own workforce and the technology they buy — and as regulators of private employers within their limits. “It’s both the city as an employer and also the city as a regulatory body,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the meantime, tech companies are pouring some of the largest private investments in history into AI built to automate work. Zaller, the employment attorney, is doubtful regulation will stop the use of bossware altogether.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“The Pandora’s box is open. It’s here,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "ai-giant-anthropic-files-for-an-ipo-that-could-break-records",
"title": "AI Giant Anthropic Files for an IPO That Could Break Records",
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"headTitle": "AI Giant Anthropic Files for an IPO That Could Break Records | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/ai\">artificial intelligence\u003c/a> startup Anthropic, maker of the hugely popular Claude AI models, has taken a major step toward holding an initial public offering that analysts expect to be one of the biggest ever.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anthropic filed final paperwork with regulators on Monday for an IPO under the ticker symbol ANT that reports have said could value the company at between \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/investors-temper-anthropic-ipo-valuation-expectations-over-revenue-growth-2026-10-15/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">$1.5 trillion\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/anthropic-expected-to-tell-investors-it-sees-over-30-trillion-in-potential-revenue-a611efea\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">$2 trillion\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That would put it in league with Elon Musk’s rocketry and AI company SpaceX, which was valued at around $1.8 trillion when \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/06/12/nx-s1-5855004/stock-ai-spacex-ipo-elon-musk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">it listed in June\u003c/a>. Anthropic’s listing prospectus did not say how many shares the company will offer or at what price range.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The filing of a public version of a registration statement called a Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission is a major milestone in Anthropic’s meteoric rise. It was launched just five years ago by a breakaway group of OpenAI researchers, led by Dario Amodei, who were concerned that that company, run by Sam Altman, was not on a path to develop AI safely.\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/09/12/nx-s1-5950588/openai-anthropic-ai-safety-researchers-hacks\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anthropic has since become a juggernaut, and OpenAI’s biggest competitor, with some of the most widely used AI models on the market. But the company has faced controversy, including a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/08/28/nx-s1-5947761/judge-pentagon-anthropic-illegal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">conflict with the Pentagon\u003c/a> over how its models can be used and questions about Amodei’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/09/12/nx-s1-5950588/openai-anthropic-ai-safety-researchers-hacks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">dire warnings on AI risks\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>AI stocks have been hit by volatility \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The filing comes at a volatile time in the stock market for AI-related companies, as investors waver between exuberance about the positive effects AI could have on the economy and concern about safety and the tsunami of investment in the technology.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The IPO, which could happen as soon as November, will be one of the most eagerly anticipated public share offerings in years. OpenAI, which makes ChatGPT, is also planning an IPO, but \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/openai-ipo-will-not-happen-2026-amid-ai-safety-fears-altman-says-2026-09-12/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">those plans are temporarily on ice\u003c/a>, with Altman ruling out a listing this year as “ill-advised” in the face of swirling AI safety concerns.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Going public has a lot of advantages. It brings in capital for growth. It makes it easier for you to raise additional capital elsewhere. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And it makes it possible for your existing investors to cash out,” said Jim Angel, an associate professor and markets specialist at Georgetown University.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But, he added, “there’s concern that we may be in an AI bubble. We’re in a very dynamic industry, to say the least, and we can expect a lot of volatility in the markets.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still, Angel said, it makes sense for Anthropic to “strike while the iron is hot” and list shares now to get as high a valuation as possible.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With SpaceX already trading publicly, Anthropic’s IPO could test investor appetite for AI businesses at a time when markets are jittery about whether they can be profitable enough to justify the mind-boggling sums of money being invested in AI. SpaceX’s shares soared briefly after the listing, but have come back down to around $150, where they started trading.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Concerns remain about the AI sector\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The balancing act for companies trying to ride the AI wave is real. The data center and infrastructure provider \u003ca href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/20/investing/ai-debt-coreweave-tech-stocks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CoreWeave\u003c/a> saw its share price plummet this month when investors got nervous about its ability to finance its expansion plans and its bond yields leaped. Other major players, including Intel, Meta and Nvidia, have also been buffeted by concerns and watched their share prices slide in recent weeks.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Debt financing has been a growing concern as AI-related companies scramble to raise money to meet demand at a time when interest rates are poised to keep rising as the Federal Reserve tries to douse stubborn inflation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The S-1 filing that tees up the IPO flagged what Anthropic sees as the risks from AI — and to its business model. Among them are the risk that its AI models could develop faster than the company can keep them safe, or that they could be used to cause harm — or take harmful actions on their own. It also flagged the risk of heightened scrutiny or political backlash for the company’s views on policy and regulation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Amodei himself has issued some of the AI world’s sharpest warnings about the possibility of AI spiraling out of control and causing harm, and urged AI companies to “\u003ca href=\"https://darioamodei.com/post/we-must-pace-the-frontier\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pace the frontier\u003c/a>,” or to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/09/14/nx-s1-5968624/a-roundtable-on-the-rapid-acceleration-of-ai\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">slow the development\u003c/a> of their most capable models.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anthropic has also clashed with the Pentagon this year over how the military can use its models. Amodei has drawn a line in the sand when it comes to using Anthropic’s AI for autonomous weapons and mass surveillance of Americans.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In response, the Pentagon blacklisted Anthropic and designated it a “\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/03/06/g-s1-112713/pentagon-labels-ai-company-anthropic-a-supply-chain-risk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">supply chain risk\u003c/a>” — a label previously reserved for entities affiliated with U.S. adversaries. Anthropic has sued the Pentagon in two federal district courts. Those legal battles remain ongoing.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/ai\">artificial intelligence\u003c/a> startup Anthropic, maker of the hugely popular Claude AI models, has taken a major step toward holding an initial public offering that analysts expect to be one of the biggest ever.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Anthropic filed final paperwork with regulators on Monday for an IPO under the ticker symbol ANT that reports have said could value the company at between \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/investors-temper-anthropic-ipo-valuation-expectations-over-revenue-growth-2026-10-15/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">$1.5 trillion\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/anthropic-expected-to-tell-investors-it-sees-over-30-trillion-in-potential-revenue-a611efea\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">$2 trillion\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Anthropic filed final paperwork with regulators on Monday for an IPO under the ticker symbol ANT that reports have said could value the company at between \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/investors-temper-anthropic-ipo-valuation-expectations-over-revenue-growth-2026-10-15/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">$1.5 trillion\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/anthropic-expected-to-tell-investors-it-sees-over-30-trillion-in-potential-revenue-a611efea\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">$2 trillion\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>That would put it in league with Elon Musk’s rocketry and AI company SpaceX, which was valued at around $1.8 trillion when \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/06/12/nx-s1-5855004/stock-ai-spacex-ipo-elon-musk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">it listed in June\u003c/a>. Anthropic’s listing prospectus did not say how many shares the company will offer or at what price range.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>That would put it in league with Elon Musk’s rocketry and AI company SpaceX, which was valued at around $1.8 trillion when \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/06/12/nx-s1-5855004/stock-ai-spacex-ipo-elon-musk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">it listed in June\u003c/a>. Anthropic’s listing prospectus did not say how many shares the company will offer or at what price range.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The filing of a public version of a registration statement called a Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission is a major milestone in Anthropic’s meteoric rise. It was launched just five years ago by a breakaway group of OpenAI researchers, led by Dario Amodei, who were concerned that that company, run by Sam Altman, was not on a path to develop AI safely.\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/09/12/nx-s1-5950588/openai-anthropic-ai-safety-researchers-hacks\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Anthropic has since become a juggernaut, and OpenAI’s biggest competitor, with some of the most widely used AI models on the market. But the company has faced controversy, including a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/08/28/nx-s1-5947761/judge-pentagon-anthropic-illegal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">conflict with the Pentagon\u003c/a> over how its models can be used and questions about Amodei’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/09/12/nx-s1-5950588/openai-anthropic-ai-safety-researchers-hacks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">dire warnings on AI risks\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Anthropic has since become a juggernaut, and OpenAI’s biggest competitor, with some of the most widely used AI models on the market. But the company has faced controversy, including a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/08/28/nx-s1-5947761/judge-pentagon-anthropic-illegal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">conflict with the Pentagon\u003c/a> over how its models can be used and questions about Amodei’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/09/12/nx-s1-5950588/openai-anthropic-ai-safety-researchers-hacks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">dire warnings on AI risks\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The filing comes at a volatile time in the stock market for AI-related companies, as investors waver between exuberance about the positive effects AI could have on the economy and concern about safety and the tsunami of investment in the technology.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The filing comes at a volatile time in the stock market for AI-related companies, as investors waver between exuberance about the positive effects AI could have on the economy and concern about safety and the tsunami of investment in the technology.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The IPO, which could happen as soon as November, will be one of the most eagerly anticipated public share offerings in years. OpenAI, which makes ChatGPT, is also planning an IPO, but \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/openai-ipo-will-not-happen-2026-amid-ai-safety-fears-altman-says-2026-09-12/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">those plans are temporarily on ice\u003c/a>, with Altman ruling out a listing this year as “ill-advised” in the face of swirling AI safety concerns.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The IPO, which could happen as soon as November, will be one of the most eagerly anticipated public share offerings in years. OpenAI, which makes ChatGPT, is also planning an IPO, but \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/openai-ipo-will-not-happen-2026-amid-ai-safety-fears-altman-says-2026-09-12/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">those plans are temporarily on ice\u003c/a>, with Altman ruling out a listing this year as “ill-advised” in the face of swirling AI safety concerns.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Going public has a lot of advantages. It brings in capital for growth. It makes it easier for you to raise additional capital elsewhere. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>And it makes it possible for your existing investors to cash out,” said Jim Angel, an associate professor and markets specialist at Georgetown University.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But, he added, “there’s concern that we may be in an AI bubble. We’re in a very dynamic industry, to say the least, and we can expect a lot of volatility in the markets.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>But, he added, “there’s concern that we may be in an AI bubble. We’re in a very dynamic industry, to say the least, and we can expect a lot of volatility in the markets.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Still, Angel said, it makes sense for Anthropic to “strike while the iron is hot” and list shares now to get as high a valuation as possible.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Still, Angel said, it makes sense for Anthropic to “strike while the iron is hot” and list shares now to get as high a valuation as possible.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>With SpaceX already trading publicly, Anthropic’s IPO could test investor appetite for AI businesses at a time when markets are jittery about whether they can be profitable enough to justify the mind-boggling sums of money being invested in AI. SpaceX’s shares soared briefly after the listing, but have come back down to around $150, where they started trading.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>With SpaceX already trading publicly, Anthropic’s IPO could test investor appetite for AI businesses at a time when markets are jittery about whether they can be profitable enough to justify the mind-boggling sums of money being invested in AI. SpaceX’s shares soared briefly after the listing, but have come back down to around $150, where they started trading.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The balancing act for companies trying to ride the AI wave is real. The data center and infrastructure provider \u003ca href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/20/investing/ai-debt-coreweave-tech-stocks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CoreWeave\u003c/a> saw its share price plummet this month when investors got nervous about its ability to finance its expansion plans and its bond yields leaped. Other major players, including Intel, Meta and Nvidia, have also been buffeted by concerns and watched their share prices slide in recent weeks.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The balancing act for companies trying to ride the AI wave is real. The data center and infrastructure provider \u003ca href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/20/investing/ai-debt-coreweave-tech-stocks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CoreWeave\u003c/a> saw its share price plummet this month when investors got nervous about its ability to finance its expansion plans and its bond yields leaped. Other major players, including Intel, Meta and Nvidia, have also been buffeted by concerns and watched their share prices slide in recent weeks.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Debt financing has been a growing concern as AI-related companies scramble to raise money to meet demand at a time when interest rates are poised to keep rising as the Federal Reserve tries to douse stubborn inflation.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Debt financing has been a growing concern as AI-related companies scramble to raise money to meet demand at a time when interest rates are poised to keep rising as the Federal Reserve tries to douse stubborn inflation.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The S-1 filing that tees up the IPO flagged what Anthropic sees as the risks from AI — and to its business model. Among them are the risk that its AI models could develop faster than the company can keep them safe, or that they could be used to cause harm — or take harmful actions on their own. It also flagged the risk of heightened scrutiny or political backlash for the company’s views on policy and regulation.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The S-1 filing that tees up the IPO flagged what Anthropic sees as the risks from AI — and to its business model. Among them are the risk that its AI models could develop faster than the company can keep them safe, or that they could be used to cause harm — or take harmful actions on their own. It also flagged the risk of heightened scrutiny or political backlash for the company’s views on policy and regulation.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Amodei himself has issued some of the AI world’s sharpest warnings about the possibility of AI spiraling out of control and causing harm, and urged AI companies to “\u003ca href=\"https://darioamodei.com/post/we-must-pace-the-frontier\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pace the frontier\u003c/a>,” or to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/09/14/nx-s1-5968624/a-roundtable-on-the-rapid-acceleration-of-ai\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">slow the development\u003c/a> of their most capable models.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Anthropic has also clashed with the Pentagon this year over how the military can use its models. Amodei has drawn a line in the sand when it comes to using Anthropic’s AI for autonomous weapons and mass surveillance of Americans.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Anthropic has also clashed with the Pentagon this year over how the military can use its models. Amodei has drawn a line in the sand when it comes to using Anthropic’s AI for autonomous weapons and mass surveillance of Americans.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In response, the Pentagon blacklisted Anthropic and designated it a “\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/03/06/g-s1-112713/pentagon-labels-ai-company-anthropic-a-supply-chain-risk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">supply chain risk\u003c/a>” — a label previously reserved for entities affiliated with U.S. adversaries. Anthropic has sued the Pentagon in two federal district courts. Those legal battles remain ongoing.\u003c/p>\n",
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"headline": "AI Giant Anthropic Files for an IPO That Could Break Records",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/ai\">artificial intelligence\u003c/a> startup Anthropic, maker of the hugely popular Claude AI models, has taken a major step toward holding an initial public offering that analysts expect to be one of the biggest ever.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anthropic filed final paperwork with regulators on Monday for an IPO under the ticker symbol ANT that reports have said could value the company at between \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/investors-temper-anthropic-ipo-valuation-expectations-over-revenue-growth-2026-10-15/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">$1.5 trillion\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/anthropic-expected-to-tell-investors-it-sees-over-30-trillion-in-potential-revenue-a611efea\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">$2 trillion\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That would put it in league with Elon Musk’s rocketry and AI company SpaceX, which was valued at around $1.8 trillion when \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/06/12/nx-s1-5855004/stock-ai-spacex-ipo-elon-musk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">it listed in June\u003c/a>. Anthropic’s listing prospectus did not say how many shares the company will offer or at what price range.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The filing of a public version of a registration statement called a Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission is a major milestone in Anthropic’s meteoric rise. It was launched just five years ago by a breakaway group of OpenAI researchers, led by Dario Amodei, who were concerned that that company, run by Sam Altman, was not on a path to develop AI safely.\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/09/12/nx-s1-5950588/openai-anthropic-ai-safety-researchers-hacks\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anthropic has since become a juggernaut, and OpenAI’s biggest competitor, with some of the most widely used AI models on the market. But the company has faced controversy, including a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/08/28/nx-s1-5947761/judge-pentagon-anthropic-illegal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">conflict with the Pentagon\u003c/a> over how its models can be used and questions about Amodei’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/09/12/nx-s1-5950588/openai-anthropic-ai-safety-researchers-hacks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">dire warnings on AI risks\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>AI stocks have been hit by volatility \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The filing comes at a volatile time in the stock market for AI-related companies, as investors waver between exuberance about the positive effects AI could have on the economy and concern about safety and the tsunami of investment in the technology.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The IPO, which could happen as soon as November, will be one of the most eagerly anticipated public share offerings in years. OpenAI, which makes ChatGPT, is also planning an IPO, but \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/openai-ipo-will-not-happen-2026-amid-ai-safety-fears-altman-says-2026-09-12/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">those plans are temporarily on ice\u003c/a>, with Altman ruling out a listing this year as “ill-advised” in the face of swirling AI safety concerns.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Going public has a lot of advantages. It brings in capital for growth. It makes it easier for you to raise additional capital elsewhere. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And it makes it possible for your existing investors to cash out,” said Jim Angel, an associate professor and markets specialist at Georgetown University.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But, he added, “there’s concern that we may be in an AI bubble. We’re in a very dynamic industry, to say the least, and we can expect a lot of volatility in the markets.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still, Angel said, it makes sense for Anthropic to “strike while the iron is hot” and list shares now to get as high a valuation as possible.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With SpaceX already trading publicly, Anthropic’s IPO could test investor appetite for AI businesses at a time when markets are jittery about whether they can be profitable enough to justify the mind-boggling sums of money being invested in AI. SpaceX’s shares soared briefly after the listing, but have come back down to around $150, where they started trading.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Concerns remain about the AI sector\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The balancing act for companies trying to ride the AI wave is real. The data center and infrastructure provider \u003ca href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/20/investing/ai-debt-coreweave-tech-stocks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CoreWeave\u003c/a> saw its share price plummet this month when investors got nervous about its ability to finance its expansion plans and its bond yields leaped. Other major players, including Intel, Meta and Nvidia, have also been buffeted by concerns and watched their share prices slide in recent weeks.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Debt financing has been a growing concern as AI-related companies scramble to raise money to meet demand at a time when interest rates are poised to keep rising as the Federal Reserve tries to douse stubborn inflation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The S-1 filing that tees up the IPO flagged what Anthropic sees as the risks from AI — and to its business model. Among them are the risk that its AI models could develop faster than the company can keep them safe, or that they could be used to cause harm — or take harmful actions on their own. It also flagged the risk of heightened scrutiny or political backlash for the company’s views on policy and regulation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Amodei himself has issued some of the AI world’s sharpest warnings about the possibility of AI spiraling out of control and causing harm, and urged AI companies to “\u003ca href=\"https://darioamodei.com/post/we-must-pace-the-frontier\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pace the frontier\u003c/a>,” or to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/09/14/nx-s1-5968624/a-roundtable-on-the-rapid-acceleration-of-ai\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">slow the development\u003c/a> of their most capable models.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anthropic has also clashed with the Pentagon this year over how the military can use its models. Amodei has drawn a line in the sand when it comes to using Anthropic’s AI for autonomous weapons and mass surveillance of Americans.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In response, the Pentagon blacklisted Anthropic and designated it a “\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/03/06/g-s1-112713/pentagon-labels-ai-company-anthropic-a-supply-chain-risk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">supply chain risk\u003c/a>” — a label previously reserved for entities affiliated with U.S. adversaries. Anthropic has sued the Pentagon in two federal district courts. Those legal battles remain ongoing.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Faculty and Students Protest CSU Event, Demand Higher Pay and Job Security",
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"content": "\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A group of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a> Faculty Association union members and students rallied in San José on Thursday to protest a speech by the state university system’s chancellor, demanding higher pay and more job security protections against AI.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lecturers, faculty members and students from Sacramento and San José State University marched in the rain in front of the city’s Signia Hilton Hotel, which hosted California State University’s 2026 Student Success Symposium.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>Holding signs that read “CSU unfair to labor” and “Step up or strike out,” they called on CSU Chancellor Mildred García, who was giving a speech at the event. They chanted, “What do we want? Fair contracts! When do we want it? Now!”\u003cbr>\u003cbr>“We want to be heard at the bargaining table and let her know that faculty is present at San José State,” said Ginevra Marta Scherini, a lecturer at the university. “We want fair bargaining and good outcomes for our contracts.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240403_SJSUFILE_GC-11-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12037915\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240403_SJSUFILE_GC-11-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240403_SJSUFILE_GC-11-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240403_SJSUFILE_GC-11-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240403_SJSUFILE_GC-11-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240403_SJSUFILE_GC-11-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240403_SJSUFILE_GC-11-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Tower Hall at San José State University on April 3, 2025. (Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In July, the faculty union declared an impasse in contract negotiations after \u003ca href=\"https://www.calfac.org/cfa-declares-impasse-in-contract-bargaining-negotiations/\">CSU returned with a proposal\u003c/a> that would cut their health benefits. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Scherini, who said she’s been working at the university for five years and teaches in three different departments, still has to work a second job to afford living in the Bay.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She also said she’s worried about how SJSU and CSU’s interest in AI will impact her job security.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.calstate.edu/impact-of-the-csu/technology/ai-empowered-csu/Pages/ai-timeline.aspx\">CSU launched its AI Initiative in 2025\u003c/a> with the goal of becoming the “nation’s first and largest AI-empowered university system,” partnering with the governor’s office, Adobe, OpenAI, NVIDIA and other tech companies to implement more AI tools for students, staff and faculty members.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Upstairs, above the lobby, administrators and presidents from each of the 22 CSU campuses listened to García’s plans for increasing academic success, graduation rates and hiring rates in the coming few years. \u003cbr>\u003cbr>“The CSU has never been and will not now be reckless with our students’ futures,” García said at the symposium.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Personally, I’m a waitress on Fridays so that I can make ends meet,” Scherini said. “If we’re having to juggle two, three jobs to make ends meet, that’s going to directly impact their learning outcomes.” She said she has been going to AI training sessions, but the policies around how AI usage on campus are still vague.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“One of the major guardrails I hope to see come out is to make sure that artificial intelligence isn’t used to replace faculty and substitute for classroom learning,” Scherini added.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">San José State University spokesperson Michelle Smith McDonald told KQED at the event that the university is keeping its AI policies “more open” to allow professors and lecturers to freely decide how they want it to be used in the classroom.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“The university hears those concerns, the provost hears those concerns, and it’s a matter of how prescriptive you are about AI and AI usage,” McDonald said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.calstate.edu/impact-of-the-csu/technology/ai-empowered-csu/Pages/ai-timeline.aspx\">CSU launched its AI Initiative in 2025\u003c/a> with the goal of becoming the “nation’s first and largest AI-empowered university system,” partnering with the governor’s office, Adobe, OpenAI, NVIDIA and other tech companies to implement more AI tools for students, staff and faculty members.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>San José State University spokesperson Michelle Smith McDonald told KQED at the event that the university is keeping its AI policies “more open” to allow professors and lecturers to freely decide how they want it to be used in the classroom.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The university hears those concerns, the provost hears those concerns, and it’s a matter of how prescriptive you are about AI and AI usage,” McDonald said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The rally follows a recent impasse in contract negotiations between the faculty union and California State University.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A group of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a> Faculty Association union members and students rallied in San José on Thursday to protest a speech by the state university system’s chancellor, demanding higher pay and more job security protections against AI.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lecturers, faculty members and students from Sacramento and San José State University marched in the rain in front of the city’s Signia Hilton Hotel, which hosted California State University’s 2026 Student Success Symposium.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>Holding signs that read “CSU unfair to labor” and “Step up or strike out,” they called on CSU Chancellor Mildred García, who was giving a speech at the event. They chanted, “What do we want? Fair contracts! When do we want it? Now!”\u003cbr>\u003cbr>“We want to be heard at the bargaining table and let her know that faculty is present at San José State,” said Ginevra Marta Scherini, a lecturer at the university. “We want fair bargaining and good outcomes for our contracts.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240403_SJSUFILE_GC-11-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12037915\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240403_SJSUFILE_GC-11-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240403_SJSUFILE_GC-11-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240403_SJSUFILE_GC-11-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240403_SJSUFILE_GC-11-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240403_SJSUFILE_GC-11-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240403_SJSUFILE_GC-11-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Tower Hall at San José State University on April 3, 2025. (Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In July, the faculty union declared an impasse in contract negotiations after \u003ca href=\"https://www.calfac.org/cfa-declares-impasse-in-contract-bargaining-negotiations/\">CSU returned with a proposal\u003c/a> that would cut their health benefits. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Scherini, who said she’s been working at the university for five years and teaches in three different departments, still has to work a second job to afford living in the Bay.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She also said she’s worried about how SJSU and CSU’s interest in AI will impact her job security.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.calstate.edu/impact-of-the-csu/technology/ai-empowered-csu/Pages/ai-timeline.aspx\">CSU launched its AI Initiative in 2025\u003c/a> with the goal of becoming the “nation’s first and largest AI-empowered university system,” partnering with the governor’s office, Adobe, OpenAI, NVIDIA and other tech companies to implement more AI tools for students, staff and faculty members.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Upstairs, above the lobby, administrators and presidents from each of the 22 CSU campuses listened to García’s plans for increasing academic success, graduation rates and hiring rates in the coming few years. \u003cbr>\u003cbr>“The CSU has never been and will not now be reckless with our students’ futures,” García said at the symposium.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Personally, I’m a waitress on Fridays so that I can make ends meet,” Scherini said. “If we’re having to juggle two, three jobs to make ends meet, that’s going to directly impact their learning outcomes.” She said she has been going to AI training sessions, but the policies around how AI usage on campus are still vague.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“One of the major guardrails I hope to see come out is to make sure that artificial intelligence isn’t used to replace faculty and substitute for classroom learning,” Scherini added.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">San José State University spokesperson Michelle Smith McDonald told KQED at the event that the university is keeping its AI policies “more open” to allow professors and lecturers to freely decide how they want it to be used in the classroom.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“The university hears those concerns, the provost hears those concerns, and it’s a matter of how prescriptive you are about AI and AI usage,” McDonald said.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "behind-the-viral-nun-podcast",
"title": "“Sister, yesss!” What’s Behind the Viral Nun Podcast?",
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"headTitle": "“Sister, yesss!” What’s Behind the Viral Nun Podcast? | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003cem>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This year’s internet breakout star was an order of Catholic sisters with a podcast. Within weeks of launching, Dominican Sisters Open Mic went mega viral. Clips and fan edits of host Sister Miriam saying “Sister, yesss!” spread across social media. Secular women’s magazines and Catholic media alike dubbed this year a “nun girl summer.” At the same time, some have criticized the order behind the podcast for the conservative ideology baked into its educational content. In this episode, we explore how the Dominican Sisters of Mary rose to viral fame, the beliefs behind their easy charm and infectious laughter, and what it all says about the cultural moment we’re in.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Guests: \u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>Paul Dailey, director of marketing at Openlight Media\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://cara.georgetown.edu/sr-thu-t-do-lhc-phd\">Sister Thu T. Do\u003c/a>, Sister of the Lovers of the Holy Cross of Hanoi and Research Associate at the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, Georgetown University\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://triciabruce.com/\">Dr. Tricia Bruce\u003c/a>, Sociology of Religion and Director of Social Science Research, Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://matthewremski.com/wordpress/\">Matthew Remski\u003c/a>, religion and politics journalist, co-host of Conspirituality and author of \u003cem>Antifascist Dad: Urgent Conversations with Young People in Chaotic Times\u003c/em>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Further Reading/Listening:\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/28/style/nuns-podcast-ultimate-frisbee-tiktok.html\">Don’t Call Them Nuns. They’re Podcasters.\u003c/a> — Madison Malone Kircher, \u003cem>NYT\u003c/em>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026/08/dominican-sisters-podcast/688395/\">Why Are So Many People Listening to a Podcast About Living in a Convent?\u003c/a> — Luis Parrales, \u003cem>The Atlantic\u003c/em>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cosmopolitan.com/lifestyle/a71668183/tiktok-nuns/\">The TikTok Nuns Have Everyone in a Chokehold\u003c/a> — Christen A. Johnson, \u003cem>Cosmopolitan\u003c/em>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/nun-girl-summer-rules_uk_6a55fbfee4b0ac1765ef704f\">The Next Hot Trend Might Just Be ‘Nun Girl Summer’\u003c/a> — Amy Glover, \u003cem>Huffington Post\u003c/em>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Want to give us feedback on the show? Shoot us an email at \u003ca href=\"mailto:CloseAllTabs@KQED.org\">CloseAllTabs@KQED.org\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Follow us on \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/closealltabspod/\">Instagram\u003c/a> and\u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@closealltabs\">\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@closealltabs\">TikTok\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Hello, do you like these deep dives? Do you want more? Then please rate and review Close All Tabs on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show. And tell your friends, tell your frenemies, stir up some drama and while you’re at it, it would be a huge help to get the word out. Okay, let’s get to the show. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This year’s internet breakout star was not a family vlogger, or a fashion influencer, or a Hype House type creator collective, but an order of Catholic nuns with a podcast. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>[Clip from Dominican Sisters Open Mic]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister 1: Mary is so uncomplicated and we are.\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister 2: Sister, yes! \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This is Dominican Sisters Open Mic, a podcast from the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist. They’re an order based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Within weeks of launching their podcast, they went mega viral. I personally cannot stop saying, Sister, yessss, whenever I agree with a friend’s take. Just like the host Sister Miriam does in this iconic clip. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>[Clip from Dominican Sisters Open Mic]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister Miriam: Do you have a hobby?\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister Mercedes: Cooking\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister Miriam: Sister, yes!\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister Mercedes: I love cooking!\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister Miriam: Sister, teach me your ways!\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> That phrase is the internet earworm of the year. It has its own fan edits. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>[Clip from TikTok User@whsprtz]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister Miriam: Do you have a hobby?\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister Mercedes: Cooking.\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister Miriam: Sister, yes! \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> And fan reenactments. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>[Clip from TikTok user @whoismikecentanni]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Person 1: Do you have a hobby?\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>Person 2: Cooking.\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>Person 1: Sister, Yes! \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Okay, they technically aren’t nuns, since they aren’t cloistered in a convent. Here’s Sister Louise Marie explaining it in another viral clip. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>[Clip from Dominican Sisters Open Mic]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister Louise Marie: We go out and teach, so we’re not just remaining in the convent and so we’re called Sister.\u003c/em> \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> But still, both secular women’s magazines and Catholic media alike dubbed this year a nun-girl summer, undoubtedly thanks to the popularity of these religious sisters. One commenter claimed, “They sound like a healed, regulated nervous system.” Others pointed out how the clips of these joyful and relaxed sisters are conspicuously devoid of men. But, at its core their popularity seems to stem from the fact that so many people online yearn for the life these sisters portray in their podcast clips. They talk about cooking dinner for each other. They play ultimate frisbee together. They’re always supporting their fellow sisters and complimenting each other’s virtues. Who wouldn’t want a joyful communal living experience like that? But the full story isn’t so simple. Their virality comes at a really unique moment for both secular culture and the Catholic Church. Under that shiny, wholesome exterior, some critics have questioned the political motivations of the Sisters’ religious order. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>[Clip from TikTok user@antifascistdad]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Matthew Remski: Whenever I’m charmed, I try to see what the catch is, and so I went beyond the clips to see what they’re doing politically. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> So, who are the Dominican Sisters of Mary? Why is everyone obsessed with them? Today, we’re looking at how they rose to viral fame, what that says about the cultural moment we’re in, and what some critics see behind their infectious laughter. Ready? This is Close All Tabs. I’m Morgan Sung, tech journalist, and your chronically online friend, here to open as many browser tabs as it takes to help you understand how the digital world affects our real lives. Let’s get into it. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> As usual, let’s open a new tab. Who are the Dominican Sisters of Mary? To understand the sisters, we have to understand charisms. In Catholicism, a charism is a divine spiritual gift given by God so that a person can serve others and the church. It’s the driving force behind their mission, and Catholic orders are often organized around them. Some are focused on running community hospitals. Others are focused missionary outreach. And many, like the Dominican Sisters, work in education. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> So, Dominican sisters follow the Dominican charism, which was established by Saint Dominic. And Dominicans place a lot of emphasis on virtue and virtue. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> That’s Paul Dailey, the Director of Marketing for Open Light Media, the communications arm for the order. It’s the media company that produces the Sisters’ podcast. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> They are supposed to be teachers and preachers spreading the word of God, how to teach future generations how to live a virtuous life. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This specific order behind Open Light Media—the Dominican Sisters of Mary, mother of the Eucharist—is actually relatively young for a Catholic order. Their mission began in July 1996, when Pope John Paul II called for sisters and priests to be more present in local communities. So four Dominican Sisters from Nashville started looking for a place to establish a new order. Dailey says their origins can be traced back to pizza. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> I think it was Sister Joseph Andrew who saw a USA Today article. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> They were visiting friends in Chicago when, stopping for gas, she saw a photo of Tom Monaghan, the founder of Domino’s Pizza. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> She said, we should just go talk to him because he certainly seems like he would have maybe some money to help us establish an order. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Monaghan was a devout Catholic and already deeply involved in Catholic philanthropy. One of the sisters actually knew him through a Catholic business network that he founded. The sisters were enroute to New York, and the Domino’s headquarters were on the way. So they decided to stop by and say hello. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> And so they just went and without really scheduling a call or anything, walked into his office and ended up meeting with Tom Monaghan, the CEO of Domino’s Pizza. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> And he was interested in establishing some Catholic schools in his hometown of Ann Arbor, Michigan. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> And who better to run your Catholic schools than a bunch of Dominican Sisters. So that was how it ended up in Ann Arbor, and it’s grown to, I believe we’re at over 140 sisters. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Daly says that while their mission has remained consistent over the years, how they approach it has evolved. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> Their goal is to preach in the town square, right? And today, it’s not like you have a physical town square that you go to and everybody’s there listening to what’s going on. The internet has really become the town square. It’s not too often you see a religious sister pop up on TikTok, but that’s the whole point is you’re not supposed to just talk to people who believe the same things as you. You’re supposed to go out there into the public square and talk to everybody. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Which is why they saw an opportunity to spread their religious message through a podcast. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>[Clip from Dominican Sisters Open Mic]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister Maria: I wonder if Mary, she would ever mess with Jesus when he was little, you know, like joke around? Come on, she had to. Every mother does. Like she’d go, where did Messiah go? There he is! \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>[Clip from Dominican Sisters Open Mic]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister Mary Bethany: My all time favorite, this is an outdoor game, but in the summers when we’re all home together is playing ultimate frisbee.\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister Miriam: Sister and you are so good at that. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>[Clip from Dominican Sisters Open Mic]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister Mary Bethany: I heard of one sister for Lent, she tried to drive the speed limit like the whole time.\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister Miriam: So she gave up speeding? \u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister Mary Bethany: Yeah, she gave up speeding. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> We weren’t able to sit down with any of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, but we did talk to Sister Thu Do, a research associate for the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, CARA for short. Sister Thu theorizes that the reason the podcast is so popular is because it shatters stereotypes people have about religious sisterhood.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Sister Thu:\u003c/strong> Popular culture, uh, has painted religious life as like somber or rigid, uh, for far too long. So by projecting authentic joy, the sisters show single women that giving your life to God doesn’t mean losing your personality or joy. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> And it offers an alternative vision to the isolation many people feel today. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Sister Thu:\u003c/strong> Showing the beauty of community living makes the vocation feel human, touchable and, of course, deeply attractive. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The podcast launched in February this year, and within a couple of weeks, the first viral clip took off. Back in June, Cosmopolitan reported that Dominican Sisters Open Mic listenership is up 3500% since launch, according to Spotify. Millennials and Gen Z make up 84% of the podcast’s audience on the platform. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> This has been a total shock. Sister Miriam always jokes. She said, “when we first started, I told myself, at least my mom will watch this.” She really did not know if anybody was gonna be interested. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> But as it turns out, everyone loves these sisters. I mean, the diva edits speak for themselves. These are the fan-made videos remixing clips from the podcast with sick beats and sparkly filters. Fans usually make these edits for pop stars, but in this case, it’s Catholic Sisters. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>[Clip from TikTok user@enzoiio]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>[music] Do you have a hobby? Cooking. Sister, yesss! \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> They’re so authentically kind and they make you feel like you’re the only person in the whole world even though you know that they interact with like hundreds or thousands of people and yet they’ll still remember fun facts about you. And that just speaks to who they are and the way that they live. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> I think it really captured the imagination of folks who suddenly see these women laughing and saw them as very human and relatable. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> That’s Dr. Trisha Bruce, a sociologist of religion who studies Catholicism and social change. She pointed out that the average age of religious sisters in the U.S. is around 80 years old. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> This group is not like that. These are younger women. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The sisters interviewed on the podcast are typically in their 30s. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> These are women who were thinking about the here and now and the future. They’re influencers, but they don’t live a life or act like influencers other than having the influence that they have. So there are all sorts of contradictions and unique things about them that I think really spark curiosity and attention and intrigue. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> According to Dr. Bruce, it’s also… \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> Showcasing a different story for what religion is or also for how, in this case, younger women for whom this is a deeply meaningful experience. So I think they show something in a bright light that has otherwise been fairly treated with skepticism and uncertainty for so many years, given all of the trouble, of course, that religion has been in, too, in different ways. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Women have always been part of the Catholic media landscape, from developing programming to managing communications to helping write and distribute diocese newspapers. Back in 1981, Mother Angelica established the Catholic Media Empire by launching EWTN, which turned into a global religious broadcasting network. She herself appeared in broadcasts, answering questions and giving advice from her rocking chair. Her show was revolutionary because it was so casual. The vibe wasn’t that different from what the Dominican Sisters are doing with their podcasts today. Mother Angelica was so influential that she herself has gotten the diva edit TikTok treatment, years after her passing. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Clip from TikTok user @giramoficiall]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Mother Angelica: I’ve always said, God was very, very good to some man when he gave me a religious vocation. [laughter]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> But Mother Angelica was an outlier. Dr. Bruce says that historically, men were front and center in Catholic media. They were the voices of the church, speaking on Catholic radio, writing Catholic op-eds, and appearing on Catholic television broadcasts. Today, media has evolved, drastically. The great shift to digital has given others a chance to share their voices too. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> And I think we’re seeing here an example of a group of religious sisters who has very wisely seen, ah, there’s a gap, there is an opening. The people are here, the messaging is over here. So we need to take the message and put it into these new spaces. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The Dominican Sisters have actually been working on their media presence for years. The podcast is just the latest in several efforts they’ve made to spread their message and fundraise, using the media to their advantage, like going on the Oprah Winfrey Show. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>[Clip from Oprah Show]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Oprah correspondent Lisa Ling: Why did you want to pursue this life? \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This is a clip from their first appearance on Oprah in 2010. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>[Clip from Oprah Show]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister: God wanted me here, and he made it very clear to me.\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Lisa Ling: How do you know? Like, do you hear a voice?\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister: It’s right here.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Five years after that appearance, Oprah aired an update and interviewed the Dominican Sisters of Mary. Some of them were actually viewers. They said they were inspired to answer the call after watching that first segment. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>[Clip from Oprah Show]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister: Now we’re known as the Oprah nuns, so if you put into Google or any search engine the Oprah Nuns, we will come right up. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Obviously, virality is not a Catholic charism. The Dominican Sisters’ ultimate mission goes beyond getting on Oprah or building a TikTok following. They’re really focused on education and they’ve been incredibly digitally adept in that field too. They run Open Light Media, a subscription platform of Catholic educational content. And this is where things start to get complicated. Matthew Remski was also taken by the Sisters’ easy charm and joyful conversations. But as a cradle Catholic and writer who reports on religion and authoritarian extremism, he had to dig deeper. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> I think they really offer a fantastic package, and then they also hide what they believe too, and they have to, because if you really scratch the surface on what fairly conservative Catholic nuns believe, it’s not going to be appealing to a lot of the women that are actually really thrilled by contemplating this communal life. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> So what isn’t reflected in the podcast clips going viral on TikTok? After the break, we’re driving into open light media and some of the ideology baked into its educational content. But first, we wanted to remind you that Close All Tabs depends on listeners like you. To become a member and support the show, go to donate.kqed.org/podcasts. When we’re back, we are getting into the politics behind the clips. Stick around. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Okay, we’re back. Let’s open a new tab. What do the Dominican Sisters believe? While the sisters have definitely gotten a lot of attention for their viral success, others are looking beyond the charm. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>[Clip from TikTok user@antifascistdad]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Matthew Remski: Now the press coverage has focused on the vibes without a single question raised about their politics. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> That’s Matthew Remski again, a researcher and writer who reports on authoritarian extremism, spiritual influence, and religion. He’s critiqued the sisters on his own show, the Conspirituality Podcast, and on TikTok. He, too, grew up Catholic, in a very particular school of Catholic thought. That experience shaped his viewpoint on organized religion. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> There’s a pugnacious part of me that says, yeah, I’m absolutely still Catholic, but I’m the kind of Catholic that I learned how to be initially when I was introduced to the church through liberation theology back in the 1970s. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Liberation theology is a religious movement. It emphasizes not just serving the poor, but also dismantling social injustice and economic inequality. It’s a very political approach to religion. It actually originated in Latin American Marxist movements. And this is important, because this is central to Matthew’s criticism of Dominican Sisters Open Mic. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> I think that they’ve done an incredible job at providing people, women especially, younger women especially with a vision of, you know, productivity and communal life and shared purpose in the world that is also, you now, about shared resources. And I think they really put together an attractive vision of an alternative to the precarious. Uh, an alternative to, um, you know, Instagram and tech talk life. I also knew at the same time that they were, uh, concealing what they’re really about, uh in a particular way that, that I wanted to make clear. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Because while the sisters talk about playing frisbee and cooking and the joys of communal living for a higher purpose, Matthew has qualms about the ideology of the Catholic order they serve under. Chief among his concerns is Open Light Media, the media company that produces their podcast. The podcast is actually just a side project. Open Light’s main focus is producing educational content. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> If you look at their product page, that is their main output, right? They sell these courses to Catholic educators and homeschoolers. It is an anti-public education, anti-secular industry. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Open Light Media produces a faith-based Catholic alternative to something called social emotional learning. Social emotional learning is an educational framework that revolves around teaching children relationship building skills, responsible decision making, and emotional regulation. This method has been widely adopted by American public schools, many of which implement classroom-wide life skill lessons and daily check-ins, as well as individualized behavioral support for students who need it. There’s a lot of focus on identifying feelings, empathy for others, and affirmation, which has been criticized by some conservatives, including many Catholic organizations, who say \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> Look, you know, all of this touchy-feely, no-God-centered, secular, psychological stuff that you guys are doing with kids are really leaving them unanchored. They’re leading kids astray. They are not giving them a grounding of the truth of the gospel, which is that there are two genders or, you can’t really change your sex or whatever, or that it’s not really natural to be queer. If you’re going to be a queer, you can’t really act on it. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> They actually addressed this in the very first episode of Dominican Sisters Open Mic, when one sister interviewed Catholic psychologists about the dangers of secular education. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>[Clip from Dominican Sisters Open Mic]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Dr. Karen Villa: I think Tik Tok was essentially responsible for this kind of transgender movement.\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Dr. Brett Salkeld: Right.\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Dr. Karen Villa: And creating a generation that had been manipulated\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Dr. Brett Salkeld: Right\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Dr. Karen Villa: to think about gender in this very relative way. We’re just leaving them in this state of confusion because they’ve been manipulated in this way.\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Brett Salkeld: Right. And then, and then when we put them in this state, and then we affirm. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Instead of affirmation culture, as one of the podcast guests put it, Open Light’s educational programs focus on virtues and faith. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski:\u003c/strong> Which they believe should replace the secular version of social-emotional learning in public schools because they believe that social- emotional learning in public school is the kind of thing that just allows kids to explore themselves in a way that might make them understand that they’re trans. Like they’re using a kind of quasi-intellectual take on an educational practice to try to persuade people that in order to be a well-rounded teacher who nurtures well-rounded children, you really have to give them a kind of social-emotional context that’s based in God. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Of course, this conservative religious ideology isn’t obvious from the clips going viral on TikTok. As Matthew noted, the podcast didn’t blow up until Sister Miriam took the reins as host, and they pivoted from lengthy discussions on Catholic education to one-on-one interviews with other sisters about their own lives. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>[Clip from Dominican Sisters Open Mic]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister Mary Andre: Some people like to play scripture roulette, right? Do the, like, flip through the Bible and like finger point. I mean, that’s one way. Actually, sometimes God has really spoken to me in that way. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Some people on ex-Catholic forums on Reddit have questioned the authenticity of the sisters’ joy. Commenters have speculated that they’re under pressure to come off as fun and that the podcast is just propaganda. And while Matthew agrees that the clips are propaganda for the Catholic Church, he doesn’t agree with all of the detractors’ assumptions. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> I don’t want to dismiss them personally because they seem like really lovely people who, you know, I would love to hang out with. And I don’t t get any sense that anybody is trying to be deceptive or anybody is trying to be, you know, manipulative and recruiting. I think they are really presenting their best lives and I don t know how conscious they are of, you know, concealing the ideology. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> But what does bother him is that this portrayal of Catholicism is what consistently goes viral, a palatable version that isn’t upfront about a belief system that younger viewers on social media might find far less appealing. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> And while they’re doing that, they are not, to my knowledge, engaging in any of the social justice work that generations of prior religious women in the United States have been engaged in. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Religious sisters have taken on different types of social justice work throughout modern American history. In 1965, a group of Catholic sisters marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Alabama to support voting rights for all. During the peak of the AIDS epidemic, Catholic sisters in Oakland fought to build affordable housing for patients who needed live-in medical care. In 2012, sisters known as the Nuns on the Bus traveled across the country in protest of federal budget cuts that would have affected vulnerable, low-income Americans. And more recently, religious sisters have been fighting ICE deportation efforts across the country, funding passports for children who’ve been separated from their deported parents. And organizing demonstrations outside of ICE detention centers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> This is the liberation theology legacy that exists within Catholic religious life, which has now become a kind of minority demographic and now which is being outshadowed by the high production values of, you know, convents and monastic communities that have better social media skills and, you now, may well be supported by conservative Catholics. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> And that glitzy, polished Catholic media costs money. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> You need support for that. You need cultural support for that. And we also know that, you know, especially in the United States, wealthy Catholics are responsible for supporting all kinds of politicized reactionary religious efforts. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> We asked Paul Daly, Open Light Media’s Director of Marketing, about some of the critiques of the organization’s ideology. He wasn’t surprised. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> I mean, no matter what, if you’re going into the public space in any way, there’s going to be critiques, right? If somebody disagrees with something that the sisters say, the whole point is that the sisters are not saying necessarily that you have to agree with them in order to still listen to them. And keep in mind, a majority of these sisters are teachers. And so, they’re out throughout the country working at different schools. And of course, they work at Catholic schools, but you don’t have to be Catholic to go to Catholic school. So, they have tons of students, you know, who have different viewpoints. And so, they’re very used to interacting with people who disagree with them, even dislike them. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> But he did acknowledge that religious sisterhood is deeper than what viewers see in short vertical video clips. Committing to religious life is far from an easy choice. And for many, it comes with great personal sacrifice. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> They are joyful and happy and you know, but we also don’t want to, you know, sell short just how hard they work. Cause it really is definitely not just hanging out playing frisbee. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> We followed up with Paul after our interview, giving him another opportunity to respond to critiques of Open Light Media and asking him whether the Dominican Sisters of Mary have engaged in any type of social justice work. We didn’t hear back though. So what does the sisters’ virality say about religious life in the U.S. though? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> That’s a new tab. What is “nun girl summer” really about? While the Dominican Sisters of Mary kicked off “nun girl summer” earlier this year, Catholic influence appears to have made waves in pop culture across America, both on and offline. Convents in New York are reporting long waitlists for prayer retreats. Birkenstock rolled out these stop-motion ads this summer, featuring nuns doing hopscotch in slides. Catholic Kitsch has made a comeback. Cutesy, nostalgic, novelty prayer candles and glittery Jesus statues are prime meme material. In other words, Catholicism is really up right now. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> My mom, a baby boomer, she grew up in a very Catholic world. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Dr. Tricia Bruce again. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> And I think for a lot of Catholics who grew up in that world, your neighborhood was Catholic. You called your neighborhood by the name of your parish. Oftentimes, this was very intertwined with ethnic identity. religion, Catholicism was everywhere. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Fast forward, and religious life in the US looks very different now. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> Many kids today, of course, are being raised in non-religious households, non- religious families. So. Religion is less of a forefront reality in home, in the neighborhood, in the broader culture. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> If organized religion is no longer mainstream, then… \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> It makes it feel countercultural. It makes that look different. It makes it feels intriguing and mysterious or maybe even a way to connect to something bigger than oneself in a world that feels so isolating and lonely. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Think about the vintage marketplace today. For some, their grail is a 90s-era purse that someone’s grandma probably has in her closet. For others, it’s a mid-century table lamp that was once common in every university library. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> They’re a treasure to one generation. They get thrown out as trash to the next. And then suddenly, another generation looks around and is like, oh, this is super cool. There’s something here. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> We’re trying to dig around for something authentic and real. And in that, there becomes… \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> An opening there for an intrigue around religion that I think is likewise helping to give Catholicism this kind of moment. It is certainly an invitation to learn more and for some to take action. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Dr. Bruce says that people have been distrustful and skeptical of religion and religious institutions for valid reasons. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> Because, of course, you have instances of abuse or discrimination or inauthenticity that have really been a reckoning for many institutions. And I think now the religion and other institutions are undergoing a massive project to rebuild trust and people talk about looking for authenticity. And so I think the podcast by these Dominican sisters is in some ways a reflection of authenticity or a desire to showcase a more transparent experience and message around religion and a re-invitation to see as trustworthy, something like religion. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Sister Thu agrees. In her research at CARA at Georgetown, she’s found that Millennials and Gen Z are reporting historic levels of isolation and anxiety. The Dominican Sisters podcast emerged in the midst of that cold. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Sister Thu:\u003c/strong> It is responding directly to a hunger for belonging and meaning, especially among the younger generations, as they always search for meaning and real connection. We are seeing a remarkable spiritual surge. Dioceses and campus ministries across the country reported significant surges in baptisms and new candidates last Easter. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> She says that what the sisters are doing with their podcast is really in line with what the whole universal Catholic Church is doing. CARA reports that adults 18 to 35 spend hours online searching for connection, so it makes sense to reach them where they’re at. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Sister Thu:\u003c/strong> And that is the digital evangelization tool in the modern town square, which today happens to be TikTok and YouTube feeds. Right, so by showing up in these digital spaces, the sisters fulfill their religious mandate to meet believers, you know, seekers and non-believers alike where they already spend their time. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Is it actually bringing anyone into religious sisterhood though? Well, it takes a really long time to become a sister. It’s a years long process. But while it’s too early to tell if podcast listeners will be inspired to join the Catholic order, like Oprah viewers were 16 years ago, there is a lot of interest in it. Paul from Open Light Media said that after going viral, the Dominican sisters have seen an uptick in young women reaching out for discernment. That’s a process of examining whether it’s God’s will to do something, like becoming a nun. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> And there’s actually a link specifically for that because we saw that happening on our link tree. The process of becoming a sister is very drawn out. It takes years to become a fully professed sister. I anticipate that 10, 15 years down the line, we will probably have a handful of sisters who first heard about the order from the podcast. I really do. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> But Matthew Remski urges people to look beyond the viral clips, the fan edits, and the esthetic mood boards, to really investigate what religious sisterhood means and what the organization, the viral content is coming from, stands for. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> Religious life is punk rock. There’s something really cool about it. And let’s just be clear about what it all entails, right? I would say that what they are showing is the delight they have in communal life. And they’re not showing what the ideological price is for that. Like, I think most people will watch the clip about Ultimate Frisbee or any other activity that they have or like Bingo Night or Games Night or whatever they’re talking about, they’re talking how much fun they have together. And that’s really wonderful and heartwarming. But I think that when you understand that, oh, they actually have a straightforward Catholic ideology that’s driving their faith and their intellectual output and you learn what that ideology teaches and you learned that it’s exclusionary, the conviviality, the thing that people are attracted to, I just wanna say it comes at a price and you gotta know what the price is. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This doesn’t mean that you can’t watch the sisters’ content or find solace in their joy. Will I stop saying, ‘sister, yes’ every time I agree with my literal sister? No. But it is worth considering where the content on your feed really comes from and digging deeper beyond viral clips, even if their laughter is infectious. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>[Clip from Dominican Sisters Open Mic] \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>[Laughter] Sister, yes! [laughter]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> With that, let’s close all these tabs. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Close All Tabs is a production of KQED Studios, and is reported and hosted by me, Morgan Sung. This episode was produced by Cayla Mihalovich and Maya Cueva It was edited by Chris Egusa, who also composed our theme song and credits music. The Close All tabs team also includes editor Chris Hambrick and audio engineer, Brendan Willard. Our intern is Lauren Yoon, additional music by APM. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is executive director of podcasts, and Ethan Toven Lindsey is our editor-in-chief. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by the Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, San Francisco, Northern California local. This episode includes clips from Open Light Media and Matthew Remske, AKA Anti-Fascist Dad, and the Oprah Winfrey Show. It also includes clips from the TikTok accounts @Whsprtz, @whoismikecentanni, @Rag_dti, @thawestt, @editzz103d, @enzoiio, and @giramoficial. This episode’s keyboard sounds were submitted by Alex Tran. And recorded on his white Epomaker Hi75 keyboard with Fogruaden red samurai keycaps and gateron milky yellow pro v2 switches.Thanks for listening. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> It’s really meant for people who, maybe they grew up Catholic and they just don’t really go to church anymore. Maybe they grew up without any religion at all and they see a sister pop up in their TikTok feed and they’re like, I didn’t realize that nuns had podcasts, which is a pretty common comment that we get.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>This year’s internet breakout star was an order of Catholic sisters with a podcast. Within weeks of launching, Dominican Sisters Open Mic went mega viral. Clips and fan edits of host Sister Miriam saying “Sister, yesss!” spread across social media. Secular women’s magazines and Catholic media alike dubbed this year a “nun girl summer.” At the same time, some have criticized the order behind the podcast for the conservative ideology baked into its educational content. In this episode, we explore how the Dominican Sisters of Mary rose to viral fame, the beliefs behind their easy charm and infectious laughter, and what it all says about the cultural moment we’re in.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>This year’s internet breakout star was an order of Catholic sisters with a podcast. Within weeks of launching, Dominican Sisters Open Mic went mega viral. Clips and fan edits of host Sister Miriam saying “Sister, yesss!” spread across social media. Secular women’s magazines and Catholic media alike dubbed this year a “nun girl summer.” At the same time, some have criticized the order behind the podcast for the conservative ideology baked into its educational content. In this episode, we explore how the Dominican Sisters of Mary rose to viral fame, the beliefs behind their easy charm and infectious laughter, and what it all says about the cultural moment we’re in.\u003c/p>\n"
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"Don’t Call Them Nuns. They’re Podcasters. — Madison Malone Kircher, NYT",
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"The TikTok Nuns Have Everyone in a Chokehold — Christen A. Johnson, Cosmopolitan",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Hello, do you like these deep dives? Do you want more? Then please rate and review Close All Tabs on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show. And tell your friends, tell your frenemies, stir up some drama and while you’re at it, it would be a huge help to get the word out. Okay, let’s get to the show. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Hello, do you like these deep dives? Do you want more? Then please rate and review Close All Tabs on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show. And tell your friends, tell your frenemies, stir up some drama and while you’re at it, it would be a huge help to get the word out. Okay, let’s get to the show. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This year’s internet breakout star was not a family vlogger, or a fashion influencer, or a Hype House type creator collective, but an order of Catholic nuns with a podcast. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This year’s internet breakout star was not a family vlogger, or a fashion influencer, or a Hype House type creator collective, but an order of Catholic nuns with a podcast. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip from Dominican Sisters Open Mic]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister 1: Mary is so uncomplicated and we are.\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister 2: Sister, yes! \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip from Dominican Sisters Open Mic]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister 1: Mary is so uncomplicated and we are.\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister 2: Sister, yes! \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This is Dominican Sisters Open Mic, a podcast from the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist. They’re an order based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Within weeks of launching their podcast, they went mega viral. I personally cannot stop saying, Sister, yessss, whenever I agree with a friend’s take. Just like the host Sister Miriam does in this iconic clip. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This is Dominican Sisters Open Mic, a podcast from the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist. They’re an order based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Within weeks of launching their podcast, they went mega viral. I personally cannot stop saying, Sister, yessss, whenever I agree with a friend’s take. Just like the host Sister Miriam does in this iconic clip. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip from Dominican Sisters Open Mic]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister Miriam: Do you have a hobby?\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister Mercedes: Cooking\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister Miriam: Sister, yes!\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister Mercedes: I love cooking!\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister Miriam: Sister, teach me your ways!\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip from Dominican Sisters Open Mic]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister Miriam: Do you have a hobby?\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister Mercedes: Cooking\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister Miriam: Sister, yes!\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister Mercedes: I love cooking!\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister Miriam: Sister, teach me your ways!\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> That phrase is the internet earworm of the year. It has its own fan edits. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> That phrase is the internet earworm of the year. It has its own fan edits. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip from TikTok User@whsprtz]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister Miriam: Do you have a hobby?\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister Mercedes: Cooking.\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister Miriam: Sister, yes! \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip from TikTok User@whsprtz]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister Miriam: Do you have a hobby?\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister Mercedes: Cooking.\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister Miriam: Sister, yes! \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> And fan reenactments. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> And fan reenactments. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip from TikTok user @whoismikecentanni]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Person 1: Do you have a hobby?\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>Person 2: Cooking.\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>Person 1: Sister, Yes! \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip from TikTok user @whoismikecentanni]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Person 1: Do you have a hobby?\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>Person 2: Cooking.\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>Person 1: Sister, Yes! \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Okay, they technically aren’t nuns, since they aren’t cloistered in a convent. Here’s Sister Louise Marie explaining it in another viral clip. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Okay, they technically aren’t nuns, since they aren’t cloistered in a convent. Here’s Sister Louise Marie explaining it in another viral clip. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip from Dominican Sisters Open Mic]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister Louise Marie: We go out and teach, so we’re not just remaining in the convent and so we’re called Sister.\u003c/em> \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip from Dominican Sisters Open Mic]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister Louise Marie: We go out and teach, so we’re not just remaining in the convent and so we’re called Sister.\u003c/em> \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> But still, both secular women’s magazines and Catholic media alike dubbed this year a nun-girl summer, undoubtedly thanks to the popularity of these religious sisters. One commenter claimed, “They sound like a healed, regulated nervous system.” Others pointed out how the clips of these joyful and relaxed sisters are conspicuously devoid of men. But, at its core their popularity seems to stem from the fact that so many people online yearn for the life these sisters portray in their podcast clips. They talk about cooking dinner for each other. They play ultimate frisbee together. They’re always supporting their fellow sisters and complimenting each other’s virtues. Who wouldn’t want a joyful communal living experience like that? But the full story isn’t so simple. Their virality comes at a really unique moment for both secular culture and the Catholic Church. Under that shiny, wholesome exterior, some critics have questioned the political motivations of the Sisters’ religious order. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> But still, both secular women’s magazines and Catholic media alike dubbed this year a nun-girl summer, undoubtedly thanks to the popularity of these religious sisters. One commenter claimed, “They sound like a healed, regulated nervous system.” Others pointed out how the clips of these joyful and relaxed sisters are conspicuously devoid of men. But, at its core their popularity seems to stem from the fact that so many people online yearn for the life these sisters portray in their podcast clips. They talk about cooking dinner for each other. They play ultimate frisbee together. They’re always supporting their fellow sisters and complimenting each other’s virtues. Who wouldn’t want a joyful communal living experience like that? But the full story isn’t so simple. Their virality comes at a really unique moment for both secular culture and the Catholic Church. Under that shiny, wholesome exterior, some critics have questioned the political motivations of the Sisters’ religious order. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip from TikTok user@antifascistdad]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Matthew Remski: Whenever I’m charmed, I try to see what the catch is, and so I went beyond the clips to see what they’re doing politically. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip from TikTok user@antifascistdad]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Matthew Remski: Whenever I’m charmed, I try to see what the catch is, and so I went beyond the clips to see what they’re doing politically. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> So, who are the Dominican Sisters of Mary? Why is everyone obsessed with them? Today, we’re looking at how they rose to viral fame, what that says about the cultural moment we’re in, and what some critics see behind their infectious laughter. Ready? This is Close All Tabs. I’m Morgan Sung, tech journalist, and your chronically online friend, here to open as many browser tabs as it takes to help you understand how the digital world affects our real lives. Let’s get into it. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> So, who are the Dominican Sisters of Mary? Why is everyone obsessed with them? Today, we’re looking at how they rose to viral fame, what that says about the cultural moment we’re in, and what some critics see behind their infectious laughter. Ready? This is Close All Tabs. I’m Morgan Sung, tech journalist, and your chronically online friend, here to open as many browser tabs as it takes to help you understand how the digital world affects our real lives. Let’s get into it. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> As usual, let’s open a new tab. Who are the Dominican Sisters of Mary? To understand the sisters, we have to understand charisms. In Catholicism, a charism is a divine spiritual gift given by God so that a person can serve others and the church. It’s the driving force behind their mission, and Catholic orders are often organized around them. Some are focused on running community hospitals. Others are focused missionary outreach. And many, like the Dominican Sisters, work in education. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> As usual, let’s open a new tab. Who are the Dominican Sisters of Mary? To understand the sisters, we have to understand charisms. In Catholicism, a charism is a divine spiritual gift given by God so that a person can serve others and the church. It’s the driving force behind their mission, and Catholic orders are often organized around them. Some are focused on running community hospitals. Others are focused missionary outreach. And many, like the Dominican Sisters, work in education. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> So, Dominican sisters follow the Dominican charism, which was established by Saint Dominic. And Dominicans place a lot of emphasis on virtue and virtue. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> So, Dominican sisters follow the Dominican charism, which was established by Saint Dominic. And Dominicans place a lot of emphasis on virtue and virtue. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> That’s Paul Dailey, the Director of Marketing for Open Light Media, the communications arm for the order. It’s the media company that produces the Sisters’ podcast. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> That’s Paul Dailey, the Director of Marketing for Open Light Media, the communications arm for the order. It’s the media company that produces the Sisters’ podcast. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> They are supposed to be teachers and preachers spreading the word of God, how to teach future generations how to live a virtuous life. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> They are supposed to be teachers and preachers spreading the word of God, how to teach future generations how to live a virtuous life. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This specific order behind Open Light Media—the Dominican Sisters of Mary, mother of the Eucharist—is actually relatively young for a Catholic order. Their mission began in July 1996, when Pope John Paul II called for sisters and priests to be more present in local communities. So four Dominican Sisters from Nashville started looking for a place to establish a new order. Dailey says their origins can be traced back to pizza. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This specific order behind Open Light Media—the Dominican Sisters of Mary, mother of the Eucharist—is actually relatively young for a Catholic order. Their mission began in July 1996, when Pope John Paul II called for sisters and priests to be more present in local communities. So four Dominican Sisters from Nashville started looking for a place to establish a new order. Dailey says their origins can be traced back to pizza. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> I think it was Sister Joseph Andrew who saw a USA Today article. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> I think it was Sister Joseph Andrew who saw a USA Today article. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> They were visiting friends in Chicago when, stopping for gas, she saw a photo of Tom Monaghan, the founder of Domino’s Pizza. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> They were visiting friends in Chicago when, stopping for gas, she saw a photo of Tom Monaghan, the founder of Domino’s Pizza. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> She said, we should just go talk to him because he certainly seems like he would have maybe some money to help us establish an order. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> She said, we should just go talk to him because he certainly seems like he would have maybe some money to help us establish an order. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Monaghan was a devout Catholic and already deeply involved in Catholic philanthropy. One of the sisters actually knew him through a Catholic business network that he founded. The sisters were enroute to New York, and the Domino’s headquarters were on the way. So they decided to stop by and say hello. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Monaghan was a devout Catholic and already deeply involved in Catholic philanthropy. One of the sisters actually knew him through a Catholic business network that he founded. The sisters were enroute to New York, and the Domino’s headquarters were on the way. So they decided to stop by and say hello. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> And so they just went and without really scheduling a call or anything, walked into his office and ended up meeting with Tom Monaghan, the CEO of Domino’s Pizza. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> And so they just went and without really scheduling a call or anything, walked into his office and ended up meeting with Tom Monaghan, the CEO of Domino’s Pizza. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> And he was interested in establishing some Catholic schools in his hometown of Ann Arbor, Michigan. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> And he was interested in establishing some Catholic schools in his hometown of Ann Arbor, Michigan. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> And who better to run your Catholic schools than a bunch of Dominican Sisters. So that was how it ended up in Ann Arbor, and it’s grown to, I believe we’re at over 140 sisters. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> And who better to run your Catholic schools than a bunch of Dominican Sisters. So that was how it ended up in Ann Arbor, and it’s grown to, I believe we’re at over 140 sisters. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Daly says that while their mission has remained consistent over the years, how they approach it has evolved. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Daly says that while their mission has remained consistent over the years, how they approach it has evolved. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> Their goal is to preach in the town square, right? And today, it’s not like you have a physical town square that you go to and everybody’s there listening to what’s going on. The internet has really become the town square. It’s not too often you see a religious sister pop up on TikTok, but that’s the whole point is you’re not supposed to just talk to people who believe the same things as you. You’re supposed to go out there into the public square and talk to everybody. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> Their goal is to preach in the town square, right? And today, it’s not like you have a physical town square that you go to and everybody’s there listening to what’s going on. The internet has really become the town square. It’s not too often you see a religious sister pop up on TikTok, but that’s the whole point is you’re not supposed to just talk to people who believe the same things as you. You’re supposed to go out there into the public square and talk to everybody. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Which is why they saw an opportunity to spread their religious message through a podcast. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Which is why they saw an opportunity to spread their religious message through a podcast. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip from Dominican Sisters Open Mic]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister Maria: I wonder if Mary, she would ever mess with Jesus when he was little, you know, like joke around? Come on, she had to. Every mother does. Like she’d go, where did Messiah go? There he is! \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip from Dominican Sisters Open Mic]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister Maria: I wonder if Mary, she would ever mess with Jesus when he was little, you know, like joke around? Come on, she had to. Every mother does. Like she’d go, where did Messiah go? There he is! \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip from Dominican Sisters Open Mic]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister Mary Bethany: My all time favorite, this is an outdoor game, but in the summers when we’re all home together is playing ultimate frisbee.\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister Miriam: Sister and you are so good at that. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip from Dominican Sisters Open Mic]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister Mary Bethany: My all time favorite, this is an outdoor game, but in the summers when we’re all home together is playing ultimate frisbee.\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister Miriam: Sister and you are so good at that. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip from Dominican Sisters Open Mic]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister Mary Bethany: I heard of one sister for Lent, she tried to drive the speed limit like the whole time.\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister Miriam: So she gave up speeding? \u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister Mary Bethany: Yeah, she gave up speeding. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip from Dominican Sisters Open Mic]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister Mary Bethany: I heard of one sister for Lent, she tried to drive the speed limit like the whole time.\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister Miriam: So she gave up speeding? \u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister Mary Bethany: Yeah, she gave up speeding. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> We weren’t able to sit down with any of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, but we did talk to Sister Thu Do, a research associate for the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, CARA for short. Sister Thu theorizes that the reason the podcast is so popular is because it shatters stereotypes people have about religious sisterhood.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> We weren’t able to sit down with any of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, but we did talk to Sister Thu Do, a research associate for the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, CARA for short. Sister Thu theorizes that the reason the podcast is so popular is because it shatters stereotypes people have about religious sisterhood.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sister Thu:\u003c/strong> Popular culture, uh, has painted religious life as like somber or rigid, uh, for far too long. So by projecting authentic joy, the sisters show single women that giving your life to God doesn’t mean losing your personality or joy. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sister Thu:\u003c/strong> Popular culture, uh, has painted religious life as like somber or rigid, uh, for far too long. So by projecting authentic joy, the sisters show single women that giving your life to God doesn’t mean losing your personality or joy. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> And it offers an alternative vision to the isolation many people feel today. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> And it offers an alternative vision to the isolation many people feel today. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sister Thu:\u003c/strong> Showing the beauty of community living makes the vocation feel human, touchable and, of course, deeply attractive. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sister Thu:\u003c/strong> Showing the beauty of community living makes the vocation feel human, touchable and, of course, deeply attractive. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The podcast launched in February this year, and within a couple of weeks, the first viral clip took off. Back in June, Cosmopolitan reported that Dominican Sisters Open Mic listenership is up 3500% since launch, according to Spotify. Millennials and Gen Z make up 84% of the podcast’s audience on the platform. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The podcast launched in February this year, and within a couple of weeks, the first viral clip took off. Back in June, Cosmopolitan reported that Dominican Sisters Open Mic listenership is up 3500% since launch, according to Spotify. Millennials and Gen Z make up 84% of the podcast’s audience on the platform. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> This has been a total shock. Sister Miriam always jokes. She said, “when we first started, I told myself, at least my mom will watch this.” She really did not know if anybody was gonna be interested. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> This has been a total shock. Sister Miriam always jokes. She said, “when we first started, I told myself, at least my mom will watch this.” She really did not know if anybody was gonna be interested. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> But as it turns out, everyone loves these sisters. I mean, the diva edits speak for themselves. These are the fan-made videos remixing clips from the podcast with sick beats and sparkly filters. Fans usually make these edits for pop stars, but in this case, it’s Catholic Sisters. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> But as it turns out, everyone loves these sisters. I mean, the diva edits speak for themselves. These are the fan-made videos remixing clips from the podcast with sick beats and sparkly filters. Fans usually make these edits for pop stars, but in this case, it’s Catholic Sisters. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip from TikTok user@enzoiio]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>[music] Do you have a hobby? Cooking. Sister, yesss! \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip from TikTok user@enzoiio]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>[music] Do you have a hobby? Cooking. Sister, yesss! \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> They’re so authentically kind and they make you feel like you’re the only person in the whole world even though you know that they interact with like hundreds or thousands of people and yet they’ll still remember fun facts about you. And that just speaks to who they are and the way that they live. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> They’re so authentically kind and they make you feel like you’re the only person in the whole world even though you know that they interact with like hundreds or thousands of people and yet they’ll still remember fun facts about you. And that just speaks to who they are and the way that they live. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> I think it really captured the imagination of folks who suddenly see these women laughing and saw them as very human and relatable. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> I think it really captured the imagination of folks who suddenly see these women laughing and saw them as very human and relatable. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> That’s Dr. Trisha Bruce, a sociologist of religion who studies Catholicism and social change. She pointed out that the average age of religious sisters in the U.S. is around 80 years old. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> That’s Dr. Trisha Bruce, a sociologist of religion who studies Catholicism and social change. She pointed out that the average age of religious sisters in the U.S. is around 80 years old. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> This group is not like that. These are younger women. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> This group is not like that. These are younger women. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The sisters interviewed on the podcast are typically in their 30s. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The sisters interviewed on the podcast are typically in their 30s. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> These are women who were thinking about the here and now and the future. They’re influencers, but they don’t live a life or act like influencers other than having the influence that they have. So there are all sorts of contradictions and unique things about them that I think really spark curiosity and attention and intrigue. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> These are women who were thinking about the here and now and the future. They’re influencers, but they don’t live a life or act like influencers other than having the influence that they have. So there are all sorts of contradictions and unique things about them that I think really spark curiosity and attention and intrigue. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> According to Dr. Bruce, it’s also… \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> According to Dr. Bruce, it’s also… \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> Showcasing a different story for what religion is or also for how, in this case, younger women for whom this is a deeply meaningful experience. So I think they show something in a bright light that has otherwise been fairly treated with skepticism and uncertainty for so many years, given all of the trouble, of course, that religion has been in, too, in different ways. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> Showcasing a different story for what religion is or also for how, in this case, younger women for whom this is a deeply meaningful experience. So I think they show something in a bright light that has otherwise been fairly treated with skepticism and uncertainty for so many years, given all of the trouble, of course, that religion has been in, too, in different ways. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Women have always been part of the Catholic media landscape, from developing programming to managing communications to helping write and distribute diocese newspapers. Back in 1981, Mother Angelica established the Catholic Media Empire by launching EWTN, which turned into a global religious broadcasting network. She herself appeared in broadcasts, answering questions and giving advice from her rocking chair. Her show was revolutionary because it was so casual. The vibe wasn’t that different from what the Dominican Sisters are doing with their podcasts today. Mother Angelica was so influential that she herself has gotten the diva edit TikTok treatment, years after her passing. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Women have always been part of the Catholic media landscape, from developing programming to managing communications to helping write and distribute diocese newspapers. Back in 1981, Mother Angelica established the Catholic Media Empire by launching EWTN, which turned into a global religious broadcasting network. She herself appeared in broadcasts, answering questions and giving advice from her rocking chair. Her show was revolutionary because it was so casual. The vibe wasn’t that different from what the Dominican Sisters are doing with their podcasts today. Mother Angelica was so influential that she herself has gotten the diva edit TikTok treatment, years after her passing. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Clip from TikTok user @giramoficiall]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Mother Angelica: I’ve always said, God was very, very good to some man when he gave me a religious vocation. [laughter]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Clip from TikTok user @giramoficiall]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Mother Angelica: I’ve always said, God was very, very good to some man when he gave me a religious vocation. [laughter]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> But Mother Angelica was an outlier. Dr. Bruce says that historically, men were front and center in Catholic media. They were the voices of the church, speaking on Catholic radio, writing Catholic op-eds, and appearing on Catholic television broadcasts. Today, media has evolved, drastically. The great shift to digital has given others a chance to share their voices too. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> But Mother Angelica was an outlier. Dr. Bruce says that historically, men were front and center in Catholic media. They were the voices of the church, speaking on Catholic radio, writing Catholic op-eds, and appearing on Catholic television broadcasts. Today, media has evolved, drastically. The great shift to digital has given others a chance to share their voices too. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> And I think we’re seeing here an example of a group of religious sisters who has very wisely seen, ah, there’s a gap, there is an opening. The people are here, the messaging is over here. So we need to take the message and put it into these new spaces. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> And I think we’re seeing here an example of a group of religious sisters who has very wisely seen, ah, there’s a gap, there is an opening. The people are here, the messaging is over here. So we need to take the message and put it into these new spaces. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The Dominican Sisters have actually been working on their media presence for years. The podcast is just the latest in several efforts they’ve made to spread their message and fundraise, using the media to their advantage, like going on the Oprah Winfrey Show. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The Dominican Sisters have actually been working on their media presence for years. The podcast is just the latest in several efforts they’ve made to spread their message and fundraise, using the media to their advantage, like going on the Oprah Winfrey Show. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip from Oprah Show]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Oprah correspondent Lisa Ling: Why did you want to pursue this life? \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip from Oprah Show]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Oprah correspondent Lisa Ling: Why did you want to pursue this life? \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This is a clip from their first appearance on Oprah in 2010. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This is a clip from their first appearance on Oprah in 2010. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip from Oprah Show]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister: God wanted me here, and he made it very clear to me.\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Lisa Ling: How do you know? Like, do you hear a voice?\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister: It’s right here.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip from Oprah Show]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister: God wanted me here, and he made it very clear to me.\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Lisa Ling: How do you know? Like, do you hear a voice?\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister: It’s right here.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Five years after that appearance, Oprah aired an update and interviewed the Dominican Sisters of Mary. Some of them were actually viewers. They said they were inspired to answer the call after watching that first segment. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Five years after that appearance, Oprah aired an update and interviewed the Dominican Sisters of Mary. Some of them were actually viewers. They said they were inspired to answer the call after watching that first segment. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip from Oprah Show]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister: Now we’re known as the Oprah nuns, so if you put into Google or any search engine the Oprah Nuns, we will come right up. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip from Oprah Show]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister: Now we’re known as the Oprah nuns, so if you put into Google or any search engine the Oprah Nuns, we will come right up. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Obviously, virality is not a Catholic charism. The Dominican Sisters’ ultimate mission goes beyond getting on Oprah or building a TikTok following. They’re really focused on education and they’ve been incredibly digitally adept in that field too. They run Open Light Media, a subscription platform of Catholic educational content. And this is where things start to get complicated. Matthew Remski was also taken by the Sisters’ easy charm and joyful conversations. But as a cradle Catholic and writer who reports on religion and authoritarian extremism, he had to dig deeper. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Obviously, virality is not a Catholic charism. The Dominican Sisters’ ultimate mission goes beyond getting on Oprah or building a TikTok following. They’re really focused on education and they’ve been incredibly digitally adept in that field too. They run Open Light Media, a subscription platform of Catholic educational content. And this is where things start to get complicated. Matthew Remski was also taken by the Sisters’ easy charm and joyful conversations. But as a cradle Catholic and writer who reports on religion and authoritarian extremism, he had to dig deeper. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> I think they really offer a fantastic package, and then they also hide what they believe too, and they have to, because if you really scratch the surface on what fairly conservative Catholic nuns believe, it’s not going to be appealing to a lot of the women that are actually really thrilled by contemplating this communal life. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> I think they really offer a fantastic package, and then they also hide what they believe too, and they have to, because if you really scratch the surface on what fairly conservative Catholic nuns believe, it’s not going to be appealing to a lot of the women that are actually really thrilled by contemplating this communal life. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> So what isn’t reflected in the podcast clips going viral on TikTok? After the break, we’re driving into open light media and some of the ideology baked into its educational content. But first, we wanted to remind you that Close All Tabs depends on listeners like you. To become a member and support the show, go to donate.kqed.org/podcasts. When we’re back, we are getting into the politics behind the clips. Stick around. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> So what isn’t reflected in the podcast clips going viral on TikTok? After the break, we’re driving into open light media and some of the ideology baked into its educational content. But first, we wanted to remind you that Close All Tabs depends on listeners like you. To become a member and support the show, go to donate.kqed.org/podcasts. When we’re back, we are getting into the politics behind the clips. Stick around. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Okay, we’re back. Let’s open a new tab. What do the Dominican Sisters believe? While the sisters have definitely gotten a lot of attention for their viral success, others are looking beyond the charm. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Okay, we’re back. Let’s open a new tab. What do the Dominican Sisters believe? While the sisters have definitely gotten a lot of attention for their viral success, others are looking beyond the charm. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip from TikTok user@antifascistdad]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Matthew Remski: Now the press coverage has focused on the vibes without a single question raised about their politics. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip from TikTok user@antifascistdad]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Matthew Remski: Now the press coverage has focused on the vibes without a single question raised about their politics. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> That’s Matthew Remski again, a researcher and writer who reports on authoritarian extremism, spiritual influence, and religion. He’s critiqued the sisters on his own show, the Conspirituality Podcast, and on TikTok. He, too, grew up Catholic, in a very particular school of Catholic thought. That experience shaped his viewpoint on organized religion. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> That’s Matthew Remski again, a researcher and writer who reports on authoritarian extremism, spiritual influence, and religion. He’s critiqued the sisters on his own show, the Conspirituality Podcast, and on TikTok. He, too, grew up Catholic, in a very particular school of Catholic thought. That experience shaped his viewpoint on organized religion. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> There’s a pugnacious part of me that says, yeah, I’m absolutely still Catholic, but I’m the kind of Catholic that I learned how to be initially when I was introduced to the church through liberation theology back in the 1970s. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> There’s a pugnacious part of me that says, yeah, I’m absolutely still Catholic, but I’m the kind of Catholic that I learned how to be initially when I was introduced to the church through liberation theology back in the 1970s. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Liberation theology is a religious movement. It emphasizes not just serving the poor, but also dismantling social injustice and economic inequality. It’s a very political approach to religion. It actually originated in Latin American Marxist movements. And this is important, because this is central to Matthew’s criticism of Dominican Sisters Open Mic. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Liberation theology is a religious movement. It emphasizes not just serving the poor, but also dismantling social injustice and economic inequality. It’s a very political approach to religion. It actually originated in Latin American Marxist movements. And this is important, because this is central to Matthew’s criticism of Dominican Sisters Open Mic. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> I think that they’ve done an incredible job at providing people, women especially, younger women especially with a vision of, you know, productivity and communal life and shared purpose in the world that is also, you now, about shared resources. And I think they really put together an attractive vision of an alternative to the precarious. Uh, an alternative to, um, you know, Instagram and tech talk life. I also knew at the same time that they were, uh, concealing what they’re really about, uh in a particular way that, that I wanted to make clear. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> I think that they’ve done an incredible job at providing people, women especially, younger women especially with a vision of, you know, productivity and communal life and shared purpose in the world that is also, you now, about shared resources. And I think they really put together an attractive vision of an alternative to the precarious. Uh, an alternative to, um, you know, Instagram and tech talk life. I also knew at the same time that they were, uh, concealing what they’re really about, uh in a particular way that, that I wanted to make clear. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Because while the sisters talk about playing frisbee and cooking and the joys of communal living for a higher purpose, Matthew has qualms about the ideology of the Catholic order they serve under. Chief among his concerns is Open Light Media, the media company that produces their podcast. The podcast is actually just a side project. Open Light’s main focus is producing educational content. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Because while the sisters talk about playing frisbee and cooking and the joys of communal living for a higher purpose, Matthew has qualms about the ideology of the Catholic order they serve under. Chief among his concerns is Open Light Media, the media company that produces their podcast. The podcast is actually just a side project. Open Light’s main focus is producing educational content. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> If you look at their product page, that is their main output, right? They sell these courses to Catholic educators and homeschoolers. It is an anti-public education, anti-secular industry. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> If you look at their product page, that is their main output, right? They sell these courses to Catholic educators and homeschoolers. It is an anti-public education, anti-secular industry. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Open Light Media produces a faith-based Catholic alternative to something called social emotional learning. Social emotional learning is an educational framework that revolves around teaching children relationship building skills, responsible decision making, and emotional regulation. This method has been widely adopted by American public schools, many of which implement classroom-wide life skill lessons and daily check-ins, as well as individualized behavioral support for students who need it. There’s a lot of focus on identifying feelings, empathy for others, and affirmation, which has been criticized by some conservatives, including many Catholic organizations, who say \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Open Light Media produces a faith-based Catholic alternative to something called social emotional learning. Social emotional learning is an educational framework that revolves around teaching children relationship building skills, responsible decision making, and emotional regulation. This method has been widely adopted by American public schools, many of which implement classroom-wide life skill lessons and daily check-ins, as well as individualized behavioral support for students who need it. There’s a lot of focus on identifying feelings, empathy for others, and affirmation, which has been criticized by some conservatives, including many Catholic organizations, who say \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> Look, you know, all of this touchy-feely, no-God-centered, secular, psychological stuff that you guys are doing with kids are really leaving them unanchored. They’re leading kids astray. They are not giving them a grounding of the truth of the gospel, which is that there are two genders or, you can’t really change your sex or whatever, or that it’s not really natural to be queer. If you’re going to be a queer, you can’t really act on it. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> Look, you know, all of this touchy-feely, no-God-centered, secular, psychological stuff that you guys are doing with kids are really leaving them unanchored. They’re leading kids astray. They are not giving them a grounding of the truth of the gospel, which is that there are two genders or, you can’t really change your sex or whatever, or that it’s not really natural to be queer. If you’re going to be a queer, you can’t really act on it. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> They actually addressed this in the very first episode of Dominican Sisters Open Mic, when one sister interviewed Catholic psychologists about the dangers of secular education. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> They actually addressed this in the very first episode of Dominican Sisters Open Mic, when one sister interviewed Catholic psychologists about the dangers of secular education. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip from Dominican Sisters Open Mic]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Dr. Karen Villa: I think Tik Tok was essentially responsible for this kind of transgender movement.\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Dr. Brett Salkeld: Right.\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Dr. Karen Villa: And creating a generation that had been manipulated\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Dr. Brett Salkeld: Right\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Dr. Karen Villa: to think about gender in this very relative way. We’re just leaving them in this state of confusion because they’ve been manipulated in this way.\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Brett Salkeld: Right. And then, and then when we put them in this state, and then we affirm. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip from Dominican Sisters Open Mic]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Dr. Karen Villa: I think Tik Tok was essentially responsible for this kind of transgender movement.\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Dr. Brett Salkeld: Right.\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Dr. Karen Villa: And creating a generation that had been manipulated\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Dr. Brett Salkeld: Right\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Dr. Karen Villa: to think about gender in this very relative way. We’re just leaving them in this state of confusion because they’ve been manipulated in this way.\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Brett Salkeld: Right. And then, and then when we put them in this state, and then we affirm. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Instead of affirmation culture, as one of the podcast guests put it, Open Light’s educational programs focus on virtues and faith. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Instead of affirmation culture, as one of the podcast guests put it, Open Light’s educational programs focus on virtues and faith. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski:\u003c/strong> Which they believe should replace the secular version of social-emotional learning in public schools because they believe that social- emotional learning in public school is the kind of thing that just allows kids to explore themselves in a way that might make them understand that they’re trans. Like they’re using a kind of quasi-intellectual take on an educational practice to try to persuade people that in order to be a well-rounded teacher who nurtures well-rounded children, you really have to give them a kind of social-emotional context that’s based in God. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski:\u003c/strong> Which they believe should replace the secular version of social-emotional learning in public schools because they believe that social- emotional learning in public school is the kind of thing that just allows kids to explore themselves in a way that might make them understand that they’re trans. Like they’re using a kind of quasi-intellectual take on an educational practice to try to persuade people that in order to be a well-rounded teacher who nurtures well-rounded children, you really have to give them a kind of social-emotional context that’s based in God. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Of course, this conservative religious ideology isn’t obvious from the clips going viral on TikTok. As Matthew noted, the podcast didn’t blow up until Sister Miriam took the reins as host, and they pivoted from lengthy discussions on Catholic education to one-on-one interviews with other sisters about their own lives. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Of course, this conservative religious ideology isn’t obvious from the clips going viral on TikTok. As Matthew noted, the podcast didn’t blow up until Sister Miriam took the reins as host, and they pivoted from lengthy discussions on Catholic education to one-on-one interviews with other sisters about their own lives. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip from Dominican Sisters Open Mic]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister Mary Andre: Some people like to play scripture roulette, right? Do the, like, flip through the Bible and like finger point. I mean, that’s one way. Actually, sometimes God has really spoken to me in that way. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip from Dominican Sisters Open Mic]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister Mary Andre: Some people like to play scripture roulette, right? Do the, like, flip through the Bible and like finger point. I mean, that’s one way. Actually, sometimes God has really spoken to me in that way. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Some people on ex-Catholic forums on Reddit have questioned the authenticity of the sisters’ joy. Commenters have speculated that they’re under pressure to come off as fun and that the podcast is just propaganda. And while Matthew agrees that the clips are propaganda for the Catholic Church, he doesn’t agree with all of the detractors’ assumptions. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Some people on ex-Catholic forums on Reddit have questioned the authenticity of the sisters’ joy. Commenters have speculated that they’re under pressure to come off as fun and that the podcast is just propaganda. And while Matthew agrees that the clips are propaganda for the Catholic Church, he doesn’t agree with all of the detractors’ assumptions. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> I don’t want to dismiss them personally because they seem like really lovely people who, you know, I would love to hang out with. And I don’t t get any sense that anybody is trying to be deceptive or anybody is trying to be, you know, manipulative and recruiting. I think they are really presenting their best lives and I don t know how conscious they are of, you know, concealing the ideology. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> I don’t want to dismiss them personally because they seem like really lovely people who, you know, I would love to hang out with. And I don’t t get any sense that anybody is trying to be deceptive or anybody is trying to be, you know, manipulative and recruiting. I think they are really presenting their best lives and I don t know how conscious they are of, you know, concealing the ideology. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> But what does bother him is that this portrayal of Catholicism is what consistently goes viral, a palatable version that isn’t upfront about a belief system that younger viewers on social media might find far less appealing. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> But what does bother him is that this portrayal of Catholicism is what consistently goes viral, a palatable version that isn’t upfront about a belief system that younger viewers on social media might find far less appealing. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> And while they’re doing that, they are not, to my knowledge, engaging in any of the social justice work that generations of prior religious women in the United States have been engaged in. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> And while they’re doing that, they are not, to my knowledge, engaging in any of the social justice work that generations of prior religious women in the United States have been engaged in. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Religious sisters have taken on different types of social justice work throughout modern American history. In 1965, a group of Catholic sisters marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Alabama to support voting rights for all. During the peak of the AIDS epidemic, Catholic sisters in Oakland fought to build affordable housing for patients who needed live-in medical care. In 2012, sisters known as the Nuns on the Bus traveled across the country in protest of federal budget cuts that would have affected vulnerable, low-income Americans. And more recently, religious sisters have been fighting ICE deportation efforts across the country, funding passports for children who’ve been separated from their deported parents. And organizing demonstrations outside of ICE detention centers. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Religious sisters have taken on different types of social justice work throughout modern American history. In 1965, a group of Catholic sisters marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Alabama to support voting rights for all. During the peak of the AIDS epidemic, Catholic sisters in Oakland fought to build affordable housing for patients who needed live-in medical care. In 2012, sisters known as the Nuns on the Bus traveled across the country in protest of federal budget cuts that would have affected vulnerable, low-income Americans. And more recently, religious sisters have been fighting ICE deportation efforts across the country, funding passports for children who’ve been separated from their deported parents. And organizing demonstrations outside of ICE detention centers. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> This is the liberation theology legacy that exists within Catholic religious life, which has now become a kind of minority demographic and now which is being outshadowed by the high production values of, you know, convents and monastic communities that have better social media skills and, you now, may well be supported by conservative Catholics. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> This is the liberation theology legacy that exists within Catholic religious life, which has now become a kind of minority demographic and now which is being outshadowed by the high production values of, you know, convents and monastic communities that have better social media skills and, you now, may well be supported by conservative Catholics. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> And that glitzy, polished Catholic media costs money. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> And that glitzy, polished Catholic media costs money. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> You need support for that. You need cultural support for that. And we also know that, you know, especially in the United States, wealthy Catholics are responsible for supporting all kinds of politicized reactionary religious efforts. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> You need support for that. You need cultural support for that. And we also know that, you know, especially in the United States, wealthy Catholics are responsible for supporting all kinds of politicized reactionary religious efforts. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> We asked Paul Daly, Open Light Media’s Director of Marketing, about some of the critiques of the organization’s ideology. He wasn’t surprised. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> We asked Paul Daly, Open Light Media’s Director of Marketing, about some of the critiques of the organization’s ideology. He wasn’t surprised. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> I mean, no matter what, if you’re going into the public space in any way, there’s going to be critiques, right? If somebody disagrees with something that the sisters say, the whole point is that the sisters are not saying necessarily that you have to agree with them in order to still listen to them. And keep in mind, a majority of these sisters are teachers. And so, they’re out throughout the country working at different schools. And of course, they work at Catholic schools, but you don’t have to be Catholic to go to Catholic school. So, they have tons of students, you know, who have different viewpoints. And so, they’re very used to interacting with people who disagree with them, even dislike them. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> I mean, no matter what, if you’re going into the public space in any way, there’s going to be critiques, right? If somebody disagrees with something that the sisters say, the whole point is that the sisters are not saying necessarily that you have to agree with them in order to still listen to them. And keep in mind, a majority of these sisters are teachers. And so, they’re out throughout the country working at different schools. And of course, they work at Catholic schools, but you don’t have to be Catholic to go to Catholic school. So, they have tons of students, you know, who have different viewpoints. And so, they’re very used to interacting with people who disagree with them, even dislike them. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> But he did acknowledge that religious sisterhood is deeper than what viewers see in short vertical video clips. Committing to religious life is far from an easy choice. And for many, it comes with great personal sacrifice. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> But he did acknowledge that religious sisterhood is deeper than what viewers see in short vertical video clips. Committing to religious life is far from an easy choice. And for many, it comes with great personal sacrifice. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> They are joyful and happy and you know, but we also don’t want to, you know, sell short just how hard they work. Cause it really is definitely not just hanging out playing frisbee. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> They are joyful and happy and you know, but we also don’t want to, you know, sell short just how hard they work. Cause it really is definitely not just hanging out playing frisbee. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> We followed up with Paul after our interview, giving him another opportunity to respond to critiques of Open Light Media and asking him whether the Dominican Sisters of Mary have engaged in any type of social justice work. We didn’t hear back though. So what does the sisters’ virality say about religious life in the U.S. though? \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> We followed up with Paul after our interview, giving him another opportunity to respond to critiques of Open Light Media and asking him whether the Dominican Sisters of Mary have engaged in any type of social justice work. We didn’t hear back though. So what does the sisters’ virality say about religious life in the U.S. though? \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> That’s a new tab. What is “nun girl summer” really about? While the Dominican Sisters of Mary kicked off “nun girl summer” earlier this year, Catholic influence appears to have made waves in pop culture across America, both on and offline. Convents in New York are reporting long waitlists for prayer retreats. Birkenstock rolled out these stop-motion ads this summer, featuring nuns doing hopscotch in slides. Catholic Kitsch has made a comeback. Cutesy, nostalgic, novelty prayer candles and glittery Jesus statues are prime meme material. In other words, Catholicism is really up right now. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> That’s a new tab. What is “nun girl summer” really about? While the Dominican Sisters of Mary kicked off “nun girl summer” earlier this year, Catholic influence appears to have made waves in pop culture across America, both on and offline. Convents in New York are reporting long waitlists for prayer retreats. Birkenstock rolled out these stop-motion ads this summer, featuring nuns doing hopscotch in slides. Catholic Kitsch has made a comeback. Cutesy, nostalgic, novelty prayer candles and glittery Jesus statues are prime meme material. In other words, Catholicism is really up right now. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> My mom, a baby boomer, she grew up in a very Catholic world. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> My mom, a baby boomer, she grew up in a very Catholic world. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Dr. Tricia Bruce again. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Dr. Tricia Bruce again. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> And I think for a lot of Catholics who grew up in that world, your neighborhood was Catholic. You called your neighborhood by the name of your parish. Oftentimes, this was very intertwined with ethnic identity. religion, Catholicism was everywhere. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> And I think for a lot of Catholics who grew up in that world, your neighborhood was Catholic. You called your neighborhood by the name of your parish. Oftentimes, this was very intertwined with ethnic identity. religion, Catholicism was everywhere. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Fast forward, and religious life in the US looks very different now. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Fast forward, and religious life in the US looks very different now. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> Many kids today, of course, are being raised in non-religious households, non- religious families. So. Religion is less of a forefront reality in home, in the neighborhood, in the broader culture. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> Many kids today, of course, are being raised in non-religious households, non- religious families. So. Religion is less of a forefront reality in home, in the neighborhood, in the broader culture. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> If organized religion is no longer mainstream, then… \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> If organized religion is no longer mainstream, then… \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> It makes it feel countercultural. It makes that look different. It makes it feels intriguing and mysterious or maybe even a way to connect to something bigger than oneself in a world that feels so isolating and lonely. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> It makes it feel countercultural. It makes that look different. It makes it feels intriguing and mysterious or maybe even a way to connect to something bigger than oneself in a world that feels so isolating and lonely. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Think about the vintage marketplace today. For some, their grail is a 90s-era purse that someone’s grandma probably has in her closet. For others, it’s a mid-century table lamp that was once common in every university library. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Think about the vintage marketplace today. For some, their grail is a 90s-era purse that someone’s grandma probably has in her closet. For others, it’s a mid-century table lamp that was once common in every university library. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> They’re a treasure to one generation. They get thrown out as trash to the next. And then suddenly, another generation looks around and is like, oh, this is super cool. There’s something here. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> They’re a treasure to one generation. They get thrown out as trash to the next. And then suddenly, another generation looks around and is like, oh, this is super cool. There’s something here. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> We’re trying to dig around for something authentic and real. And in that, there becomes… \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> We’re trying to dig around for something authentic and real. And in that, there becomes… \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> An opening there for an intrigue around religion that I think is likewise helping to give Catholicism this kind of moment. It is certainly an invitation to learn more and for some to take action. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> An opening there for an intrigue around religion that I think is likewise helping to give Catholicism this kind of moment. It is certainly an invitation to learn more and for some to take action. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Dr. Bruce says that people have been distrustful and skeptical of religion and religious institutions for valid reasons. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Dr. Bruce says that people have been distrustful and skeptical of religion and religious institutions for valid reasons. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> Because, of course, you have instances of abuse or discrimination or inauthenticity that have really been a reckoning for many institutions. And I think now the religion and other institutions are undergoing a massive project to rebuild trust and people talk about looking for authenticity. And so I think the podcast by these Dominican sisters is in some ways a reflection of authenticity or a desire to showcase a more transparent experience and message around religion and a re-invitation to see as trustworthy, something like religion. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> Because, of course, you have instances of abuse or discrimination or inauthenticity that have really been a reckoning for many institutions. And I think now the religion and other institutions are undergoing a massive project to rebuild trust and people talk about looking for authenticity. And so I think the podcast by these Dominican sisters is in some ways a reflection of authenticity or a desire to showcase a more transparent experience and message around religion and a re-invitation to see as trustworthy, something like religion. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Sister Thu agrees. In her research at CARA at Georgetown, she’s found that Millennials and Gen Z are reporting historic levels of isolation and anxiety. The Dominican Sisters podcast emerged in the midst of that cold. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Sister Thu agrees. In her research at CARA at Georgetown, she’s found that Millennials and Gen Z are reporting historic levels of isolation and anxiety. The Dominican Sisters podcast emerged in the midst of that cold. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sister Thu:\u003c/strong> It is responding directly to a hunger for belonging and meaning, especially among the younger generations, as they always search for meaning and real connection. We are seeing a remarkable spiritual surge. Dioceses and campus ministries across the country reported significant surges in baptisms and new candidates last Easter. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sister Thu:\u003c/strong> It is responding directly to a hunger for belonging and meaning, especially among the younger generations, as they always search for meaning and real connection. We are seeing a remarkable spiritual surge. Dioceses and campus ministries across the country reported significant surges in baptisms and new candidates last Easter. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> She says that what the sisters are doing with their podcast is really in line with what the whole universal Catholic Church is doing. CARA reports that adults 18 to 35 spend hours online searching for connection, so it makes sense to reach them where they’re at. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> She says that what the sisters are doing with their podcast is really in line with what the whole universal Catholic Church is doing. CARA reports that adults 18 to 35 spend hours online searching for connection, so it makes sense to reach them where they’re at. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sister Thu:\u003c/strong> And that is the digital evangelization tool in the modern town square, which today happens to be TikTok and YouTube feeds. Right, so by showing up in these digital spaces, the sisters fulfill their religious mandate to meet believers, you know, seekers and non-believers alike where they already spend their time. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sister Thu:\u003c/strong> And that is the digital evangelization tool in the modern town square, which today happens to be TikTok and YouTube feeds. Right, so by showing up in these digital spaces, the sisters fulfill their religious mandate to meet believers, you know, seekers and non-believers alike where they already spend their time. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Is it actually bringing anyone into religious sisterhood though? Well, it takes a really long time to become a sister. It’s a years long process. But while it’s too early to tell if podcast listeners will be inspired to join the Catholic order, like Oprah viewers were 16 years ago, there is a lot of interest in it. Paul from Open Light Media said that after going viral, the Dominican sisters have seen an uptick in young women reaching out for discernment. That’s a process of examining whether it’s God’s will to do something, like becoming a nun. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Is it actually bringing anyone into religious sisterhood though? Well, it takes a really long time to become a sister. It’s a years long process. But while it’s too early to tell if podcast listeners will be inspired to join the Catholic order, like Oprah viewers were 16 years ago, there is a lot of interest in it. Paul from Open Light Media said that after going viral, the Dominican sisters have seen an uptick in young women reaching out for discernment. That’s a process of examining whether it’s God’s will to do something, like becoming a nun. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> And there’s actually a link specifically for that because we saw that happening on our link tree. The process of becoming a sister is very drawn out. It takes years to become a fully professed sister. I anticipate that 10, 15 years down the line, we will probably have a handful of sisters who first heard about the order from the podcast. I really do. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> And there’s actually a link specifically for that because we saw that happening on our link tree. The process of becoming a sister is very drawn out. It takes years to become a fully professed sister. I anticipate that 10, 15 years down the line, we will probably have a handful of sisters who first heard about the order from the podcast. I really do. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> But Matthew Remski urges people to look beyond the viral clips, the fan edits, and the esthetic mood boards, to really investigate what religious sisterhood means and what the organization, the viral content is coming from, stands for. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> But Matthew Remski urges people to look beyond the viral clips, the fan edits, and the esthetic mood boards, to really investigate what religious sisterhood means and what the organization, the viral content is coming from, stands for. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> Religious life is punk rock. There’s something really cool about it. And let’s just be clear about what it all entails, right? I would say that what they are showing is the delight they have in communal life. And they’re not showing what the ideological price is for that. Like, I think most people will watch the clip about Ultimate Frisbee or any other activity that they have or like Bingo Night or Games Night or whatever they’re talking about, they’re talking how much fun they have together. And that’s really wonderful and heartwarming. But I think that when you understand that, oh, they actually have a straightforward Catholic ideology that’s driving their faith and their intellectual output and you learn what that ideology teaches and you learned that it’s exclusionary, the conviviality, the thing that people are attracted to, I just wanna say it comes at a price and you gotta know what the price is. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> Religious life is punk rock. There’s something really cool about it. And let’s just be clear about what it all entails, right? I would say that what they are showing is the delight they have in communal life. And they’re not showing what the ideological price is for that. Like, I think most people will watch the clip about Ultimate Frisbee or any other activity that they have or like Bingo Night or Games Night or whatever they’re talking about, they’re talking how much fun they have together. And that’s really wonderful and heartwarming. But I think that when you understand that, oh, they actually have a straightforward Catholic ideology that’s driving their faith and their intellectual output and you learn what that ideology teaches and you learned that it’s exclusionary, the conviviality, the thing that people are attracted to, I just wanna say it comes at a price and you gotta know what the price is. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This doesn’t mean that you can’t watch the sisters’ content or find solace in their joy. Will I stop saying, ‘sister, yes’ every time I agree with my literal sister? No. But it is worth considering where the content on your feed really comes from and digging deeper beyond viral clips, even if their laughter is infectious. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This doesn’t mean that you can’t watch the sisters’ content or find solace in their joy. Will I stop saying, ‘sister, yes’ every time I agree with my literal sister? No. But it is worth considering where the content on your feed really comes from and digging deeper beyond viral clips, even if their laughter is infectious. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip from Dominican Sisters Open Mic] \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Clip from Dominican Sisters Open Mic] \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[Laughter] Sister, yes! [laughter]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[Laughter] Sister, yes! [laughter]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> With that, let’s close all these tabs. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> With that, let’s close all these tabs. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Close All Tabs is a production of KQED Studios, and is reported and hosted by me, Morgan Sung. This episode was produced by Cayla Mihalovich and Maya Cueva It was edited by Chris Egusa, who also composed our theme song and credits music. The Close All tabs team also includes editor Chris Hambrick and audio engineer, Brendan Willard. Our intern is Lauren Yoon, additional music by APM. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is executive director of podcasts, and Ethan Toven Lindsey is our editor-in-chief. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Close All Tabs is a production of KQED Studios, and is reported and hosted by me, Morgan Sung. This episode was produced by Cayla Mihalovich and Maya Cueva It was edited by Chris Egusa, who also composed our theme song and credits music. The Close All tabs team also includes editor Chris Hambrick and audio engineer, Brendan Willard. Our intern is Lauren Yoon, additional music by APM. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is executive director of podcasts, and Ethan Toven Lindsey is our editor-in-chief. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by the Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, San Francisco, Northern California local. This episode includes clips from Open Light Media and Matthew Remske, AKA Anti-Fascist Dad, and the Oprah Winfrey Show. It also includes clips from the TikTok accounts @Whsprtz, @whoismikecentanni, @Rag_dti, @thawestt, @editzz103d, @enzoiio, and @giramoficial. This episode’s keyboard sounds were submitted by Alex Tran. And recorded on his white Epomaker Hi75 keyboard with Fogruaden red samurai keycaps and gateron milky yellow pro v2 switches.Thanks for listening. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by the Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, San Francisco, Northern California local. This episode includes clips from Open Light Media and Matthew Remske, AKA Anti-Fascist Dad, and the Oprah Winfrey Show. It also includes clips from the TikTok accounts @Whsprtz, @whoismikecentanni, @Rag_dti, @thawestt, @editzz103d, @enzoiio, and @giramoficial. This episode’s keyboard sounds were submitted by Alex Tran. And recorded on his white Epomaker Hi75 keyboard with Fogruaden red samurai keycaps and gateron milky yellow pro v2 switches.Thanks for listening. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> It’s really meant for people who, maybe they grew up Catholic and they just don’t really go to church anymore. Maybe they grew up without any religion at all and they see a sister pop up in their TikTok feed and they’re like, I didn’t realize that nuns had podcasts, which is a pretty common comment that we get.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> It’s really meant for people who, maybe they grew up Catholic and they just don’t really go to church anymore. Maybe they grew up without any religion at all and they see a sister pop up in their TikTok feed and they’re like, I didn’t realize that nuns had podcasts, which is a pretty common comment that we get.\u003c/p>\n"
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003cem>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This year’s internet breakout star was an order of Catholic sisters with a podcast. Within weeks of launching, Dominican Sisters Open Mic went mega viral. Clips and fan edits of host Sister Miriam saying “Sister, yesss!” spread across social media. Secular women’s magazines and Catholic media alike dubbed this year a “nun girl summer.” At the same time, some have criticized the order behind the podcast for the conservative ideology baked into its educational content. In this episode, we explore how the Dominican Sisters of Mary rose to viral fame, the beliefs behind their easy charm and infectious laughter, and what it all says about the cultural moment we’re in.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Guests: \u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>Paul Dailey, director of marketing at Openlight Media\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://cara.georgetown.edu/sr-thu-t-do-lhc-phd\">Sister Thu T. Do\u003c/a>, Sister of the Lovers of the Holy Cross of Hanoi and Research Associate at the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, Georgetown University\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://triciabruce.com/\">Dr. Tricia Bruce\u003c/a>, Sociology of Religion and Director of Social Science Research, Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://matthewremski.com/wordpress/\">Matthew Remski\u003c/a>, religion and politics journalist, co-host of Conspirituality and author of \u003cem>Antifascist Dad: Urgent Conversations with Young People in Chaotic Times\u003c/em>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Further Reading/Listening:\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/28/style/nuns-podcast-ultimate-frisbee-tiktok.html\">Don’t Call Them Nuns. They’re Podcasters.\u003c/a> — Madison Malone Kircher, \u003cem>NYT\u003c/em>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026/08/dominican-sisters-podcast/688395/\">Why Are So Many People Listening to a Podcast About Living in a Convent?\u003c/a> — Luis Parrales, \u003cem>The Atlantic\u003c/em>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cosmopolitan.com/lifestyle/a71668183/tiktok-nuns/\">The TikTok Nuns Have Everyone in a Chokehold\u003c/a> — Christen A. Johnson, \u003cem>Cosmopolitan\u003c/em>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/nun-girl-summer-rules_uk_6a55fbfee4b0ac1765ef704f\">The Next Hot Trend Might Just Be ‘Nun Girl Summer’\u003c/a> — Amy Glover, \u003cem>Huffington Post\u003c/em>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Want to give us feedback on the show? Shoot us an email at \u003ca href=\"mailto:CloseAllTabs@KQED.org\">CloseAllTabs@KQED.org\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Follow us on \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/closealltabspod/\">Instagram\u003c/a> and\u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@closealltabs\">\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@closealltabs\">TikTok\u003c/a>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-content post-body\">\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Hello, do you like these deep dives? Do you want more? Then please rate and review Close All Tabs on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show. And tell your friends, tell your frenemies, stir up some drama and while you’re at it, it would be a huge help to get the word out. Okay, let’s get to the show. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This year’s internet breakout star was not a family vlogger, or a fashion influencer, or a Hype House type creator collective, but an order of Catholic nuns with a podcast. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>[Clip from Dominican Sisters Open Mic]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister 1: Mary is so uncomplicated and we are.\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister 2: Sister, yes! \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This is Dominican Sisters Open Mic, a podcast from the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist. They’re an order based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Within weeks of launching their podcast, they went mega viral. I personally cannot stop saying, Sister, yessss, whenever I agree with a friend’s take. Just like the host Sister Miriam does in this iconic clip. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>[Clip from Dominican Sisters Open Mic]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister Miriam: Do you have a hobby?\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister Mercedes: Cooking\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister Miriam: Sister, yes!\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister Mercedes: I love cooking!\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister Miriam: Sister, teach me your ways!\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> That phrase is the internet earworm of the year. It has its own fan edits. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>[Clip from TikTok User@whsprtz]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister Miriam: Do you have a hobby?\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister Mercedes: Cooking.\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister Miriam: Sister, yes! \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> And fan reenactments. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>[Clip from TikTok user @whoismikecentanni]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Person 1: Do you have a hobby?\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>Person 2: Cooking.\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>Person 1: Sister, Yes! \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Okay, they technically aren’t nuns, since they aren’t cloistered in a convent. Here’s Sister Louise Marie explaining it in another viral clip. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>[Clip from Dominican Sisters Open Mic]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister Louise Marie: We go out and teach, so we’re not just remaining in the convent and so we’re called Sister.\u003c/em> \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> But still, both secular women’s magazines and Catholic media alike dubbed this year a nun-girl summer, undoubtedly thanks to the popularity of these religious sisters. One commenter claimed, “They sound like a healed, regulated nervous system.” Others pointed out how the clips of these joyful and relaxed sisters are conspicuously devoid of men. But, at its core their popularity seems to stem from the fact that so many people online yearn for the life these sisters portray in their podcast clips. They talk about cooking dinner for each other. They play ultimate frisbee together. They’re always supporting their fellow sisters and complimenting each other’s virtues. Who wouldn’t want a joyful communal living experience like that? But the full story isn’t so simple. Their virality comes at a really unique moment for both secular culture and the Catholic Church. Under that shiny, wholesome exterior, some critics have questioned the political motivations of the Sisters’ religious order. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>[Clip from TikTok user@antifascistdad]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Matthew Remski: Whenever I’m charmed, I try to see what the catch is, and so I went beyond the clips to see what they’re doing politically. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> So, who are the Dominican Sisters of Mary? Why is everyone obsessed with them? Today, we’re looking at how they rose to viral fame, what that says about the cultural moment we’re in, and what some critics see behind their infectious laughter. Ready? This is Close All Tabs. I’m Morgan Sung, tech journalist, and your chronically online friend, here to open as many browser tabs as it takes to help you understand how the digital world affects our real lives. Let’s get into it. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> As usual, let’s open a new tab. Who are the Dominican Sisters of Mary? To understand the sisters, we have to understand charisms. In Catholicism, a charism is a divine spiritual gift given by God so that a person can serve others and the church. It’s the driving force behind their mission, and Catholic orders are often organized around them. Some are focused on running community hospitals. Others are focused missionary outreach. And many, like the Dominican Sisters, work in education. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> So, Dominican sisters follow the Dominican charism, which was established by Saint Dominic. And Dominicans place a lot of emphasis on virtue and virtue. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> That’s Paul Dailey, the Director of Marketing for Open Light Media, the communications arm for the order. It’s the media company that produces the Sisters’ podcast. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> They are supposed to be teachers and preachers spreading the word of God, how to teach future generations how to live a virtuous life. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This specific order behind Open Light Media—the Dominican Sisters of Mary, mother of the Eucharist—is actually relatively young for a Catholic order. Their mission began in July 1996, when Pope John Paul II called for sisters and priests to be more present in local communities. So four Dominican Sisters from Nashville started looking for a place to establish a new order. Dailey says their origins can be traced back to pizza. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> I think it was Sister Joseph Andrew who saw a USA Today article. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> They were visiting friends in Chicago when, stopping for gas, she saw a photo of Tom Monaghan, the founder of Domino’s Pizza. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> She said, we should just go talk to him because he certainly seems like he would have maybe some money to help us establish an order. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Monaghan was a devout Catholic and already deeply involved in Catholic philanthropy. One of the sisters actually knew him through a Catholic business network that he founded. The sisters were enroute to New York, and the Domino’s headquarters were on the way. So they decided to stop by and say hello. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> And so they just went and without really scheduling a call or anything, walked into his office and ended up meeting with Tom Monaghan, the CEO of Domino’s Pizza. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> And he was interested in establishing some Catholic schools in his hometown of Ann Arbor, Michigan. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> And who better to run your Catholic schools than a bunch of Dominican Sisters. So that was how it ended up in Ann Arbor, and it’s grown to, I believe we’re at over 140 sisters. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Daly says that while their mission has remained consistent over the years, how they approach it has evolved. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> Their goal is to preach in the town square, right? And today, it’s not like you have a physical town square that you go to and everybody’s there listening to what’s going on. The internet has really become the town square. It’s not too often you see a religious sister pop up on TikTok, but that’s the whole point is you’re not supposed to just talk to people who believe the same things as you. You’re supposed to go out there into the public square and talk to everybody. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Which is why they saw an opportunity to spread their religious message through a podcast. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>[Clip from Dominican Sisters Open Mic]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister Maria: I wonder if Mary, she would ever mess with Jesus when he was little, you know, like joke around? Come on, she had to. Every mother does. Like she’d go, where did Messiah go? There he is! \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>[Clip from Dominican Sisters Open Mic]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister Mary Bethany: My all time favorite, this is an outdoor game, but in the summers when we’re all home together is playing ultimate frisbee.\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister Miriam: Sister and you are so good at that. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>[Clip from Dominican Sisters Open Mic]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister Mary Bethany: I heard of one sister for Lent, she tried to drive the speed limit like the whole time.\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister Miriam: So she gave up speeding? \u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister Mary Bethany: Yeah, she gave up speeding. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> We weren’t able to sit down with any of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, but we did talk to Sister Thu Do, a research associate for the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, CARA for short. Sister Thu theorizes that the reason the podcast is so popular is because it shatters stereotypes people have about religious sisterhood.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Sister Thu:\u003c/strong> Popular culture, uh, has painted religious life as like somber or rigid, uh, for far too long. So by projecting authentic joy, the sisters show single women that giving your life to God doesn’t mean losing your personality or joy. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> And it offers an alternative vision to the isolation many people feel today. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Sister Thu:\u003c/strong> Showing the beauty of community living makes the vocation feel human, touchable and, of course, deeply attractive. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The podcast launched in February this year, and within a couple of weeks, the first viral clip took off. Back in June, Cosmopolitan reported that Dominican Sisters Open Mic listenership is up 3500% since launch, according to Spotify. Millennials and Gen Z make up 84% of the podcast’s audience on the platform. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> This has been a total shock. Sister Miriam always jokes. She said, “when we first started, I told myself, at least my mom will watch this.” She really did not know if anybody was gonna be interested. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> But as it turns out, everyone loves these sisters. I mean, the diva edits speak for themselves. These are the fan-made videos remixing clips from the podcast with sick beats and sparkly filters. Fans usually make these edits for pop stars, but in this case, it’s Catholic Sisters. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>[Clip from TikTok user@enzoiio]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>[music] Do you have a hobby? Cooking. Sister, yesss! \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> They’re so authentically kind and they make you feel like you’re the only person in the whole world even though you know that they interact with like hundreds or thousands of people and yet they’ll still remember fun facts about you. And that just speaks to who they are and the way that they live. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> I think it really captured the imagination of folks who suddenly see these women laughing and saw them as very human and relatable. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> That’s Dr. Trisha Bruce, a sociologist of religion who studies Catholicism and social change. She pointed out that the average age of religious sisters in the U.S. is around 80 years old. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> This group is not like that. These are younger women. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The sisters interviewed on the podcast are typically in their 30s. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> These are women who were thinking about the here and now and the future. They’re influencers, but they don’t live a life or act like influencers other than having the influence that they have. So there are all sorts of contradictions and unique things about them that I think really spark curiosity and attention and intrigue. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> According to Dr. Bruce, it’s also… \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> Showcasing a different story for what religion is or also for how, in this case, younger women for whom this is a deeply meaningful experience. So I think they show something in a bright light that has otherwise been fairly treated with skepticism and uncertainty for so many years, given all of the trouble, of course, that religion has been in, too, in different ways. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Women have always been part of the Catholic media landscape, from developing programming to managing communications to helping write and distribute diocese newspapers. Back in 1981, Mother Angelica established the Catholic Media Empire by launching EWTN, which turned into a global religious broadcasting network. She herself appeared in broadcasts, answering questions and giving advice from her rocking chair. Her show was revolutionary because it was so casual. The vibe wasn’t that different from what the Dominican Sisters are doing with their podcasts today. Mother Angelica was so influential that she herself has gotten the diva edit TikTok treatment, years after her passing. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Clip from TikTok user @giramoficiall]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Mother Angelica: I’ve always said, God was very, very good to some man when he gave me a religious vocation. [laughter]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> But Mother Angelica was an outlier. Dr. Bruce says that historically, men were front and center in Catholic media. They were the voices of the church, speaking on Catholic radio, writing Catholic op-eds, and appearing on Catholic television broadcasts. Today, media has evolved, drastically. The great shift to digital has given others a chance to share their voices too. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> And I think we’re seeing here an example of a group of religious sisters who has very wisely seen, ah, there’s a gap, there is an opening. The people are here, the messaging is over here. So we need to take the message and put it into these new spaces. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> The Dominican Sisters have actually been working on their media presence for years. The podcast is just the latest in several efforts they’ve made to spread their message and fundraise, using the media to their advantage, like going on the Oprah Winfrey Show. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>[Clip from Oprah Show]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Oprah correspondent Lisa Ling: Why did you want to pursue this life? \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This is a clip from their first appearance on Oprah in 2010. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>[Clip from Oprah Show]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister: God wanted me here, and he made it very clear to me.\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Lisa Ling: How do you know? Like, do you hear a voice?\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Sister: It’s right here.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Five years after that appearance, Oprah aired an update and interviewed the Dominican Sisters of Mary. Some of them were actually viewers. They said they were inspired to answer the call after watching that first segment. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>[Clip from Oprah Show]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister: Now we’re known as the Oprah nuns, so if you put into Google or any search engine the Oprah Nuns, we will come right up. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Obviously, virality is not a Catholic charism. The Dominican Sisters’ ultimate mission goes beyond getting on Oprah or building a TikTok following. They’re really focused on education and they’ve been incredibly digitally adept in that field too. They run Open Light Media, a subscription platform of Catholic educational content. And this is where things start to get complicated. Matthew Remski was also taken by the Sisters’ easy charm and joyful conversations. But as a cradle Catholic and writer who reports on religion and authoritarian extremism, he had to dig deeper. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> I think they really offer a fantastic package, and then they also hide what they believe too, and they have to, because if you really scratch the surface on what fairly conservative Catholic nuns believe, it’s not going to be appealing to a lot of the women that are actually really thrilled by contemplating this communal life. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> So what isn’t reflected in the podcast clips going viral on TikTok? After the break, we’re driving into open light media and some of the ideology baked into its educational content. But first, we wanted to remind you that Close All Tabs depends on listeners like you. To become a member and support the show, go to donate.kqed.org/podcasts. When we’re back, we are getting into the politics behind the clips. Stick around. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Okay, we’re back. Let’s open a new tab. What do the Dominican Sisters believe? While the sisters have definitely gotten a lot of attention for their viral success, others are looking beyond the charm. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>[Clip from TikTok user@antifascistdad]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Matthew Remski: Now the press coverage has focused on the vibes without a single question raised about their politics. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> That’s Matthew Remski again, a researcher and writer who reports on authoritarian extremism, spiritual influence, and religion. He’s critiqued the sisters on his own show, the Conspirituality Podcast, and on TikTok. He, too, grew up Catholic, in a very particular school of Catholic thought. That experience shaped his viewpoint on organized religion. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> There’s a pugnacious part of me that says, yeah, I’m absolutely still Catholic, but I’m the kind of Catholic that I learned how to be initially when I was introduced to the church through liberation theology back in the 1970s. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Liberation theology is a religious movement. It emphasizes not just serving the poor, but also dismantling social injustice and economic inequality. It’s a very political approach to religion. It actually originated in Latin American Marxist movements. And this is important, because this is central to Matthew’s criticism of Dominican Sisters Open Mic. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> I think that they’ve done an incredible job at providing people, women especially, younger women especially with a vision of, you know, productivity and communal life and shared purpose in the world that is also, you now, about shared resources. And I think they really put together an attractive vision of an alternative to the precarious. Uh, an alternative to, um, you know, Instagram and tech talk life. I also knew at the same time that they were, uh, concealing what they’re really about, uh in a particular way that, that I wanted to make clear. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Because while the sisters talk about playing frisbee and cooking and the joys of communal living for a higher purpose, Matthew has qualms about the ideology of the Catholic order they serve under. Chief among his concerns is Open Light Media, the media company that produces their podcast. The podcast is actually just a side project. Open Light’s main focus is producing educational content. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> If you look at their product page, that is their main output, right? They sell these courses to Catholic educators and homeschoolers. It is an anti-public education, anti-secular industry. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Open Light Media produces a faith-based Catholic alternative to something called social emotional learning. Social emotional learning is an educational framework that revolves around teaching children relationship building skills, responsible decision making, and emotional regulation. This method has been widely adopted by American public schools, many of which implement classroom-wide life skill lessons and daily check-ins, as well as individualized behavioral support for students who need it. There’s a lot of focus on identifying feelings, empathy for others, and affirmation, which has been criticized by some conservatives, including many Catholic organizations, who say \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> Look, you know, all of this touchy-feely, no-God-centered, secular, psychological stuff that you guys are doing with kids are really leaving them unanchored. They’re leading kids astray. They are not giving them a grounding of the truth of the gospel, which is that there are two genders or, you can’t really change your sex or whatever, or that it’s not really natural to be queer. If you’re going to be a queer, you can’t really act on it. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> They actually addressed this in the very first episode of Dominican Sisters Open Mic, when one sister interviewed Catholic psychologists about the dangers of secular education. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>[Clip from Dominican Sisters Open Mic]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Dr. Karen Villa: I think Tik Tok was essentially responsible for this kind of transgender movement.\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Dr. Brett Salkeld: Right.\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Dr. Karen Villa: And creating a generation that had been manipulated\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Dr. Brett Salkeld: Right\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Dr. Karen Villa: to think about gender in this very relative way. We’re just leaving them in this state of confusion because they’ve been manipulated in this way.\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Brett Salkeld: Right. And then, and then when we put them in this state, and then we affirm. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Instead of affirmation culture, as one of the podcast guests put it, Open Light’s educational programs focus on virtues and faith. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski:\u003c/strong> Which they believe should replace the secular version of social-emotional learning in public schools because they believe that social- emotional learning in public school is the kind of thing that just allows kids to explore themselves in a way that might make them understand that they’re trans. Like they’re using a kind of quasi-intellectual take on an educational practice to try to persuade people that in order to be a well-rounded teacher who nurtures well-rounded children, you really have to give them a kind of social-emotional context that’s based in God. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Of course, this conservative religious ideology isn’t obvious from the clips going viral on TikTok. As Matthew noted, the podcast didn’t blow up until Sister Miriam took the reins as host, and they pivoted from lengthy discussions on Catholic education to one-on-one interviews with other sisters about their own lives. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>[Clip from Dominican Sisters Open Mic]\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cem>Sister Mary Andre: Some people like to play scripture roulette, right? Do the, like, flip through the Bible and like finger point. I mean, that’s one way. Actually, sometimes God has really spoken to me in that way. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Some people on ex-Catholic forums on Reddit have questioned the authenticity of the sisters’ joy. Commenters have speculated that they’re under pressure to come off as fun and that the podcast is just propaganda. And while Matthew agrees that the clips are propaganda for the Catholic Church, he doesn’t agree with all of the detractors’ assumptions. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> I don’t want to dismiss them personally because they seem like really lovely people who, you know, I would love to hang out with. And I don’t t get any sense that anybody is trying to be deceptive or anybody is trying to be, you know, manipulative and recruiting. I think they are really presenting their best lives and I don t know how conscious they are of, you know, concealing the ideology. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> But what does bother him is that this portrayal of Catholicism is what consistently goes viral, a palatable version that isn’t upfront about a belief system that younger viewers on social media might find far less appealing. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> And while they’re doing that, they are not, to my knowledge, engaging in any of the social justice work that generations of prior religious women in the United States have been engaged in. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Religious sisters have taken on different types of social justice work throughout modern American history. In 1965, a group of Catholic sisters marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Alabama to support voting rights for all. During the peak of the AIDS epidemic, Catholic sisters in Oakland fought to build affordable housing for patients who needed live-in medical care. In 2012, sisters known as the Nuns on the Bus traveled across the country in protest of federal budget cuts that would have affected vulnerable, low-income Americans. And more recently, religious sisters have been fighting ICE deportation efforts across the country, funding passports for children who’ve been separated from their deported parents. And organizing demonstrations outside of ICE detention centers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> This is the liberation theology legacy that exists within Catholic religious life, which has now become a kind of minority demographic and now which is being outshadowed by the high production values of, you know, convents and monastic communities that have better social media skills and, you now, may well be supported by conservative Catholics. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> And that glitzy, polished Catholic media costs money. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> You need support for that. You need cultural support for that. And we also know that, you know, especially in the United States, wealthy Catholics are responsible for supporting all kinds of politicized reactionary religious efforts. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> We asked Paul Daly, Open Light Media’s Director of Marketing, about some of the critiques of the organization’s ideology. He wasn’t surprised. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> I mean, no matter what, if you’re going into the public space in any way, there’s going to be critiques, right? If somebody disagrees with something that the sisters say, the whole point is that the sisters are not saying necessarily that you have to agree with them in order to still listen to them. And keep in mind, a majority of these sisters are teachers. And so, they’re out throughout the country working at different schools. And of course, they work at Catholic schools, but you don’t have to be Catholic to go to Catholic school. So, they have tons of students, you know, who have different viewpoints. And so, they’re very used to interacting with people who disagree with them, even dislike them. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> But he did acknowledge that religious sisterhood is deeper than what viewers see in short vertical video clips. Committing to religious life is far from an easy choice. And for many, it comes with great personal sacrifice. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> They are joyful and happy and you know, but we also don’t want to, you know, sell short just how hard they work. Cause it really is definitely not just hanging out playing frisbee. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> We followed up with Paul after our interview, giving him another opportunity to respond to critiques of Open Light Media and asking him whether the Dominican Sisters of Mary have engaged in any type of social justice work. We didn’t hear back though. So what does the sisters’ virality say about religious life in the U.S. though? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> That’s a new tab. What is “nun girl summer” really about? While the Dominican Sisters of Mary kicked off “nun girl summer” earlier this year, Catholic influence appears to have made waves in pop culture across America, both on and offline. Convents in New York are reporting long waitlists for prayer retreats. Birkenstock rolled out these stop-motion ads this summer, featuring nuns doing hopscotch in slides. Catholic Kitsch has made a comeback. Cutesy, nostalgic, novelty prayer candles and glittery Jesus statues are prime meme material. In other words, Catholicism is really up right now. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> My mom, a baby boomer, she grew up in a very Catholic world. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Dr. Tricia Bruce again. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> And I think for a lot of Catholics who grew up in that world, your neighborhood was Catholic. You called your neighborhood by the name of your parish. Oftentimes, this was very intertwined with ethnic identity. religion, Catholicism was everywhere. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Fast forward, and religious life in the US looks very different now. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> Many kids today, of course, are being raised in non-religious households, non- religious families. So. Religion is less of a forefront reality in home, in the neighborhood, in the broader culture. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> If organized religion is no longer mainstream, then… \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> It makes it feel countercultural. It makes that look different. It makes it feels intriguing and mysterious or maybe even a way to connect to something bigger than oneself in a world that feels so isolating and lonely. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Think about the vintage marketplace today. For some, their grail is a 90s-era purse that someone’s grandma probably has in her closet. For others, it’s a mid-century table lamp that was once common in every university library. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> They’re a treasure to one generation. They get thrown out as trash to the next. And then suddenly, another generation looks around and is like, oh, this is super cool. There’s something here. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> We’re trying to dig around for something authentic and real. And in that, there becomes… \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> An opening there for an intrigue around religion that I think is likewise helping to give Catholicism this kind of moment. It is certainly an invitation to learn more and for some to take action. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Dr. Bruce says that people have been distrustful and skeptical of religion and religious institutions for valid reasons. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Tricia Bruce:\u003c/strong> Because, of course, you have instances of abuse or discrimination or inauthenticity that have really been a reckoning for many institutions. And I think now the religion and other institutions are undergoing a massive project to rebuild trust and people talk about looking for authenticity. And so I think the podcast by these Dominican sisters is in some ways a reflection of authenticity or a desire to showcase a more transparent experience and message around religion and a re-invitation to see as trustworthy, something like religion. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Sister Thu agrees. In her research at CARA at Georgetown, she’s found that Millennials and Gen Z are reporting historic levels of isolation and anxiety. The Dominican Sisters podcast emerged in the midst of that cold. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Sister Thu:\u003c/strong> It is responding directly to a hunger for belonging and meaning, especially among the younger generations, as they always search for meaning and real connection. We are seeing a remarkable spiritual surge. Dioceses and campus ministries across the country reported significant surges in baptisms and new candidates last Easter. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> She says that what the sisters are doing with their podcast is really in line with what the whole universal Catholic Church is doing. CARA reports that adults 18 to 35 spend hours online searching for connection, so it makes sense to reach them where they’re at. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Sister Thu:\u003c/strong> And that is the digital evangelization tool in the modern town square, which today happens to be TikTok and YouTube feeds. Right, so by showing up in these digital spaces, the sisters fulfill their religious mandate to meet believers, you know, seekers and non-believers alike where they already spend their time. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Is it actually bringing anyone into religious sisterhood though? Well, it takes a really long time to become a sister. It’s a years long process. But while it’s too early to tell if podcast listeners will be inspired to join the Catholic order, like Oprah viewers were 16 years ago, there is a lot of interest in it. Paul from Open Light Media said that after going viral, the Dominican sisters have seen an uptick in young women reaching out for discernment. That’s a process of examining whether it’s God’s will to do something, like becoming a nun. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> And there’s actually a link specifically for that because we saw that happening on our link tree. The process of becoming a sister is very drawn out. It takes years to become a fully professed sister. I anticipate that 10, 15 years down the line, we will probably have a handful of sisters who first heard about the order from the podcast. I really do. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> But Matthew Remski urges people to look beyond the viral clips, the fan edits, and the esthetic mood boards, to really investigate what religious sisterhood means and what the organization, the viral content is coming from, stands for. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Matthew Remski: \u003c/strong> Religious life is punk rock. There’s something really cool about it. And let’s just be clear about what it all entails, right? I would say that what they are showing is the delight they have in communal life. And they’re not showing what the ideological price is for that. Like, I think most people will watch the clip about Ultimate Frisbee or any other activity that they have or like Bingo Night or Games Night or whatever they’re talking about, they’re talking how much fun they have together. And that’s really wonderful and heartwarming. But I think that when you understand that, oh, they actually have a straightforward Catholic ideology that’s driving their faith and their intellectual output and you learn what that ideology teaches and you learned that it’s exclusionary, the conviviality, the thing that people are attracted to, I just wanna say it comes at a price and you gotta know what the price is. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> This doesn’t mean that you can’t watch the sisters’ content or find solace in their joy. Will I stop saying, ‘sister, yes’ every time I agree with my literal sister? No. But it is worth considering where the content on your feed really comes from and digging deeper beyond viral clips, even if their laughter is infectious. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>[Clip from Dominican Sisters Open Mic] \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>[Laughter] Sister, yes! [laughter]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> With that, let’s close all these tabs. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Close All Tabs is a production of KQED Studios, and is reported and hosted by me, Morgan Sung. This episode was produced by Cayla Mihalovich and Maya Cueva It was edited by Chris Egusa, who also composed our theme song and credits music. The Close All tabs team also includes editor Chris Hambrick and audio engineer, Brendan Willard. Our intern is Lauren Yoon, additional music by APM. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is executive director of podcasts, and Ethan Toven Lindsey is our editor-in-chief. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Morgan Sung:\u003c/strong> Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by the Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, San Francisco, Northern California local. This episode includes clips from Open Light Media and Matthew Remske, AKA Anti-Fascist Dad, and the Oprah Winfrey Show. It also includes clips from the TikTok accounts @Whsprtz, @whoismikecentanni, @Rag_dti, @thawestt, @editzz103d, @enzoiio, and @giramoficial. This episode’s keyboard sounds were submitted by Alex Tran. And recorded on his white Epomaker Hi75 keyboard with Fogruaden red samurai keycaps and gateron milky yellow pro v2 switches.Thanks for listening. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cstrong>Paul Dailey:\u003c/strong> It’s really meant for people who, maybe they grew up Catholic and they just don’t really go to church anymore. Maybe they grew up without any religion at all and they see a sister pop up in their TikTok feed and they’re like, I didn’t realize that nuns had podcasts, which is a pretty common comment that we get.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>"
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"slug": "freeze-ai-now-bay-area-activists-rally-outside-openai-headquarters",
"title": "‘Freeze AI Now’: Bay Area Activists Rally Outside OpenAI Headquarters",
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"headTitle": "‘Freeze AI Now’: Bay Area Activists Rally Outside OpenAI Headquarters | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>Bay Area activists joined a nationwide walkout on Tuesday to demand a pause on the development of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/artificial-intelligence\">artificial intelligence\u003c/a>, so that the public — and Congress — can set development and use guardrails for the technology. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>About two dozen protesters held signs that read “We Didn’t Elect Big Tech” and “Water For People, Not Data Centers” outside of OpenAI’s office in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>They joined activists across 50 U.S. cities and college campuses, including in Los Angeles, New York and Florida, where rallies had been organized by the nonprofit organization Irreplaceable.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Irreplaceable, founded by several climate activists, leaders of civil rights organizations and national labor unions, launched in August with the goal to “give voice to anxiety and anger about AI” and spur federal legislation regulating the technology.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261020-OPENAIPROTEST-02-BL-KQED-31c358f5.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12105419\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261020-OPENAIPROTEST-02-BL-KQED-31c358f5.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261020-OPENAIPROTEST-02-BL-KQED-31c358f5-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261020-OPENAIPROTEST-02-BL-KQED-31c358f5-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Max Blair, an organizer with Stop the AI Race, speaks during a rally calling for a freeze on artificial intelligence development outside OpenAI’s headquarters in San Francisco during a walkout on Oct. 20, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Jeremy Ornstein, an organizer with Irreplaceable, spoke to the protesters outside OpenAI’s office. “The world is about to change,” he said. “AI is being advanced so quickly, [and] the people building it know that catastrophes, critical catastrophes, are going to hit everyday people as soon as next year. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“But there’s another kind of change that’s coming too,” he continued. “There’s thousands of people who are demanding … a freeze on AI until it can be under public control and benefit us.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Irreplaceable’s \u003ca href=\"https://irreplaceable.org/\">website\u003c/a> makes the case that people are “irreplaceable by AI.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Its executive director, Phil Aroneanu, previously co-founded \u003ca href=\"http://350.org\">350.org\u003c/a>, a grassroots climate movement pushing for the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We’re building a movement to Freeze AI Now. It’s time for the people to determine the future of AI, not big tech CEOs,” Irreplaceable’s website reads. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The organization has laid out a \u003ca href=\"https://irreplaceable.org/our-plan\">three-year plan:\u003c/a> To coalesce a base of Americans angry and concerned about AI development in 2026, develop a “shared federal agenda on AI” in 2027 and launch a pressure campaign on politicians in 2028, the year of the next presidential election.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But it hasn’t given details about what regulations and legislation it hopes to see those politicians pass. \u003cem>The Atlantic\u003c/em> in August \u003ca href=\"https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/08/irreplaceable-climate-activists-ai-backlash/688404/\">reported\u003c/a> that another climate activist behind the project, Sunrise Movement co-founder William Lawrence, said a concrete agenda would come later. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But there doesn’t seem to be consensus yet on what that plan will look like.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Even sisters Junia and Gwen Martens, who came to the San Francisco protest from Berkeley High School, have different opinions on how far regulation should go. Gwen, 14, thinks “AI should be stopped,” but Junia, 16, wants to see regulation and education about the technology in schools.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-3 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105421\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261020-OPENAIPROTEST-04-BL-KQED-a8c952db.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12105421\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261020-OPENAIPROTEST-04-BL-KQED-a8c952db.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261020-OPENAIPROTEST-04-BL-KQED-a8c952db-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261020-OPENAIPROTEST-04-BL-KQED-a8c952db-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gwendolyn (center), 14, protests during a walkout and rally calling for a freeze on artificial intelligence development outside OpenAI’s headquarters in San Francisco on Oct. 20, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105424\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261020-OPENAIPROTEST-09-BL-KQED-8416bf38.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12105424\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261020-OPENAIPROTEST-09-BL-KQED-8416bf38.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261020-OPENAIPROTEST-09-BL-KQED-8416bf38-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261020-OPENAIPROTEST-09-BL-KQED-8416bf38-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Junia, 16, speaks during a rally calling for a freeze on artificial intelligence development outside OpenAI’s headquarters in San Francisco during a walkout on Oct. 20, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I kind of disagree with my sister. I think that AI can be helpful in a lot of different situations,” Junia told KQED. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Junia and a classmate are co-presidents of a club at Berkeley High, called AI Effects and Consequences, which talks to elementary and middle school students about AI and its effects.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That “lets the students form their own opinions,” she said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The sisters are in agreement, though, about cutting back on AI use in schools. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I don’t use generative AI,” Gwen said. “It really stops you from thinking, which is how you learn. That is my worst fear. I would never want to dim down my education.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>She said “few” of her other classmates agree.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/shossaini\">\u003cem>Sara Hossaini\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Irreplaceable’s \u003ca href=\"https://irreplaceable.org/\">website\u003c/a> makes the case that people are “irreplaceable by AI.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We’re building a movement to Freeze AI Now. It’s time for the people to determine the future of AI, not big tech CEOs,” Irreplaceable’s website reads. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The organization has laid out a \u003ca href=\"https://irreplaceable.org/our-plan\">three-year plan:\u003c/a> To coalesce a base of Americans angry and concerned about AI development in 2026, develop a “shared federal agenda on AI” in 2027 and launch a pressure campaign on politicians in 2028, the year of the next presidential election.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But it hasn’t given details about what regulations and legislation it hopes to see those politicians pass. \u003cem>The Atlantic\u003c/em> in August \u003ca href=\"https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/08/irreplaceable-climate-activists-ai-backlash/688404/\">reported\u003c/a> that another climate activist behind the project, Sunrise Movement co-founder William Lawrence, said a concrete agenda would come later. \u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>Bay Area activists joined a nationwide walkout on Tuesday to demand a pause on the development of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/artificial-intelligence\">artificial intelligence\u003c/a>, so that the public — and Congress — can set development and use guardrails for the technology. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>About two dozen protesters held signs that read “We Didn’t Elect Big Tech” and “Water For People, Not Data Centers” outside of OpenAI’s office in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>They joined activists across 50 U.S. cities and college campuses, including in Los Angeles, New York and Florida, where rallies had been organized by the nonprofit organization Irreplaceable.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Irreplaceable, founded by several climate activists, leaders of civil rights organizations and national labor unions, launched in August with the goal to “give voice to anxiety and anger about AI” and spur federal legislation regulating the technology.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261020-OPENAIPROTEST-02-BL-KQED-31c358f5.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12105419\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261020-OPENAIPROTEST-02-BL-KQED-31c358f5.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261020-OPENAIPROTEST-02-BL-KQED-31c358f5-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261020-OPENAIPROTEST-02-BL-KQED-31c358f5-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Max Blair, an organizer with Stop the AI Race, speaks during a rally calling for a freeze on artificial intelligence development outside OpenAI’s headquarters in San Francisco during a walkout on Oct. 20, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Jeremy Ornstein, an organizer with Irreplaceable, spoke to the protesters outside OpenAI’s office. “The world is about to change,” he said. “AI is being advanced so quickly, [and] the people building it know that catastrophes, critical catastrophes, are going to hit everyday people as soon as next year. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“But there’s another kind of change that’s coming too,” he continued. “There’s thousands of people who are demanding … a freeze on AI until it can be under public control and benefit us.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Irreplaceable’s \u003ca href=\"https://irreplaceable.org/\">website\u003c/a> makes the case that people are “irreplaceable by AI.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Its executive director, Phil Aroneanu, previously co-founded \u003ca href=\"http://350.org\">350.org\u003c/a>, a grassroots climate movement pushing for the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We’re building a movement to Freeze AI Now. It’s time for the people to determine the future of AI, not big tech CEOs,” Irreplaceable’s website reads. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The organization has laid out a \u003ca href=\"https://irreplaceable.org/our-plan\">three-year plan:\u003c/a> To coalesce a base of Americans angry and concerned about AI development in 2026, develop a “shared federal agenda on AI” in 2027 and launch a pressure campaign on politicians in 2028, the year of the next presidential election.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But it hasn’t given details about what regulations and legislation it hopes to see those politicians pass. \u003cem>The Atlantic\u003c/em> in August \u003ca href=\"https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/08/irreplaceable-climate-activists-ai-backlash/688404/\">reported\u003c/a> that another climate activist behind the project, Sunrise Movement co-founder William Lawrence, said a concrete agenda would come later. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But there doesn’t seem to be consensus yet on what that plan will look like.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Even sisters Junia and Gwen Martens, who came to the San Francisco protest from Berkeley High School, have different opinions on how far regulation should go. Gwen, 14, thinks “AI should be stopped,” but Junia, 16, wants to see regulation and education about the technology in schools.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-3 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105421\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261020-OPENAIPROTEST-04-BL-KQED-a8c952db.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12105421\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261020-OPENAIPROTEST-04-BL-KQED-a8c952db.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261020-OPENAIPROTEST-04-BL-KQED-a8c952db-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261020-OPENAIPROTEST-04-BL-KQED-a8c952db-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gwendolyn (center), 14, protests during a walkout and rally calling for a freeze on artificial intelligence development outside OpenAI’s headquarters in San Francisco on Oct. 20, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105424\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261020-OPENAIPROTEST-09-BL-KQED-8416bf38.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12105424\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261020-OPENAIPROTEST-09-BL-KQED-8416bf38.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261020-OPENAIPROTEST-09-BL-KQED-8416bf38-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261020-OPENAIPROTEST-09-BL-KQED-8416bf38-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Junia, 16, speaks during a rally calling for a freeze on artificial intelligence development outside OpenAI’s headquarters in San Francisco during a walkout on Oct. 20, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I kind of disagree with my sister. I think that AI can be helpful in a lot of different situations,” Junia told KQED. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Junia and a classmate are co-presidents of a club at Berkeley High, called AI Effects and Consequences, which talks to elementary and middle school students about AI and its effects.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That “lets the students form their own opinions,” she said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The sisters are in agreement, though, about cutting back on AI use in schools. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I don’t use generative AI,” Gwen said. “It really stops you from thinking, which is how you learn. That is my worst fear. I would never want to dim down my education.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>She said “few” of her other classmates agree.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/shossaini\">\u003cem>Sara Hossaini\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "San Francisco Judge Denies Bail to Engineer Accused of Bugging OpenAI HQ",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/open-ai\">OpenAI\u003c/a> engineer who was accused last week of \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/13/technology/openai-worker-arrested-bugging.html\">planting a secret recording device\u003c/a> at the company’s San Francisco offices was ordered detained without bail pending trial Monday. Magistrate Judge Alex G. Tse said there is a “significant” risk he would flee, according to CNBC.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tse’s order came at a San Francisco court hearing where he questioned an offer by the Saudi Consulate in Los Angeles to back the full bond for Abdulrahman Alfozan, a Saudi national. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tse reportedly said he found that offer “problematic,” and asked what confidence he should have that the Saudi government would protect the interests of the U.S. government.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In a court filing Sunday, prosecutors argued that Alfozan was “mere days away from leaving the United States for Saudi Arabia when he was arrested.” Prosecutors also cited his Bay Area earnings, at least two Saudi bank accounts, and “what appears to be considerable support from a foreign government” with no U.S. extradition treaty.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We respectfully disagree with the decision and will continue to fight for his release,” Alfozan’s lawyer, William Pernik, wrote to KQED on Tuesday. “Mr. Alfozan is a lawful permanent resident of the United States with years of significant contributions and ties to his community, as well as science and technology. I believe firmly that perception of who he is will change once full facts come out.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/OpenAISFGetty-a0787728.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104799\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/OpenAISFGetty-a0787728.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/OpenAISFGetty-a0787728-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/OpenAISFGetty-a0787728-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Attendees gather at the OpenAI DevDay 2026 conference, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, in San Francisco. (Jeff Chiu/AP Photo)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“If he really was an agent of a foreign government, why wouldn’t he just abscond right away?” Pernik said, according to the Times. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Prosecutors said in their filing Sunday that Alfozan had been in frequent contact with a member of the Saudi royal family who tried to recruit him to a new Saudi artificial intelligence initiative. In one message, prosecutors said, the Saudi royal family member wrote to Alfozan that “Saudi needs you more” than the US. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Alfozan’s response, according to prosecutors: “100.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But Alfozan said he would not leave OpenAI until his stock vested. His new-hire equity grant was worth $2.2 million, according to the filing.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In a footnote, prosecutors pointed to a 2019 case in the same court, in which a Twitter employee accused of spying for Saudi Arabia left the U.S. the day after the company confronted him — a departure the U.S government says was coordinated with the Saudi consul general in Los Angeles. He has never returned to face charges.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The government’s filing cited the fact that Alfozan’s wife and their 3-month-old baby flew to Doha, Qatar, the day after his arrest on a business-class ticket booked and paid for by a Saudi military official. His wife now lives in Saudi Arabia, per the filing.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Alfozan has been in jail since his arrest on a charge of using or endeavoring to use an electronic, mechanical, or other device to intercept oral communications. He faces a maximum possible sentence of five years in prison if convicted. OpenAI fired him after his arrest but has said it has no indication Alfozan improperly accessed or took model weights, source code or customer data.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tse’s decision to deny Alfozan bail was “no surprise” to Rory Little, a professor at UC Law San Francisco, “given the one-way trip tickets and he’s not a citizen.” Little also told KQED he would be surprised if Alfozan’s lawyers seek an immediate appeal.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Alfozan came to the U.S. in 2009, earned degrees at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and UC Berkeley, became a permanent resident in 2020 and joined OpenAI in July 2025, according to prosecutors.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In an Arabic \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1Dq_g-d9XI\">podcast interview\u003c/a> last month, according to the Times, Alfozan said he and other Saudi tech professionals in Silicon Valley had formed a group that advised Saudi organizations. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_temp.pl?file=merged_9799_17143067-1792446196.pdf&type=application/pdf\">filing\u003c/a> in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California unsealed last week, prosecutors detailed how OpenAI’s security team had found a thumb-size recording device on Sept. 30, wrapped in toilet paper and plugged into the back of a television in an executive conference room. Only executives and their assistants could reserve the room, which was used for leadership meetings and briefings with government officials, the criminal complaint said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>OpenAI employees then placed a camera in the conference room, prosecutors said, and it recorded Alfozan checking behind the TV on Oct. 5. That day, security staff found a second device in a bag that Alfozan had left in a printer room, the complaint said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/AP24134775174210-scaled-e1770337042768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11985952\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The OpenAI logo is seen on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen displaying output from ChatGPT, March 21, 2023, in Boston, Massachusetts. (Michael Dwyer/Associated Press)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Last month, a ChatGPT account linked to Alfozan’s wife was used to ask how to build a continuous audio recorder, add Wi-Fi connectivity, encrypt its memory card and hide its activity. Alfozan asked an AI tool to list meeting rooms in OpenAI’s offices and asked about locations for “leadership and exec,” prosecutors said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The case is a reminder of how much information chatbot companies like OpenAI retain.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Your chatbot conversations in general are less private than you might assume,” Riana Pfefferkorn at Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered AI wrote KQED, adding that in a case where the company is also the alleged victim, it may be likelier to volunteer information rather than demand legal process for any information disclosure. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Nearly every company logs your IP address when you create an account and/or login,” said Jen King, a privacy and data policy fellow at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, who has \u003ca href=\"https://ojs.aaai.org/index.php/AIES/article/view/36646/38784\">researched\u003c/a> AI companies’ privacy policies. “If you are not deleting your chats, and not using a temporary chat window, the chats associated with your account in most cases are kept indefinitely,” she added in an email to KQED.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Prosecutors wrote that whether Alfozan wanted to record meetings “to enrich himself by enhancing his own business prospects, or to provide aid [to] a foreign government, or both, his conduct is criminal.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>OpenAI, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Saudi Consulate General did not respond to requests for comment.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Alfozan is next due in court Nov. 6, for a status conference on the preliminary hearing — the same day Alfozan was scheduled for his U.S. citizenship interview, \u003ca href=\"https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_temp.pl?file=merged_60188_17143067-1792449015.pdf&type=application/pdf\">according to his lawyers\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Editor’s note: This story was updated on Oct. 20 to add a new comment from William Pernik.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But Alfozan said he would not leave OpenAI until his stock vested. His new-hire equity grant was worth $2.2 million, according to the filing.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In a footnote, prosecutors pointed to a 2019 case in the same court, in which a Twitter employee accused of spying for Saudi Arabia left the U.S. the day after the company confronted him — a departure the U.S government says was coordinated with the Saudi consul general in Los Angeles. He has never returned to face charges.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Alfozan has been in jail since his arrest on a charge of using or endeavoring to use an electronic, mechanical, or other device to intercept oral communications. He faces a maximum possible sentence of five years in prison if convicted. OpenAI fired him after his arrest but has said it has no indication Alfozan improperly accessed or took model weights, source code or customer data.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Tse’s decision to deny Alfozan bail was “no surprise” to Rory Little, a professor at UC Law San Francisco, “given the one-way trip tickets and he’s not a citizen.” Little also told KQED he would be surprised if Alfozan’s lawyers seek an immediate appeal.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Alfozan came to the U.S. in 2009, earned degrees at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and UC Berkeley, became a permanent resident in 2020 and joined OpenAI in July 2025, according to prosecutors.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In an Arabic \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1Dq_g-d9XI\">podcast interview\u003c/a> last month, according to the Times, Alfozan said he and other Saudi tech professionals in Silicon Valley had formed a group that advised Saudi organizations. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In an Arabic \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1Dq_g-d9XI\">podcast interview\u003c/a> last month, according to the Times, Alfozan said he and other Saudi tech professionals in Silicon Valley had formed a group that advised Saudi organizations. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_temp.pl?file=merged_9799_17143067-1792446196.pdf&type=application/pdf\">filing\u003c/a> in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California unsealed last week, prosecutors detailed how OpenAI’s security team had found a thumb-size recording device on Sept. 30, wrapped in toilet paper and plugged into the back of a television in an executive conference room. Only executives and their assistants could reserve the room, which was used for leadership meetings and briefings with government officials, the criminal complaint said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_temp.pl?file=merged_9799_17143067-1792446196.pdf&type=application/pdf\">filing\u003c/a> in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California unsealed last week, prosecutors detailed how OpenAI’s security team had found a thumb-size recording device on Sept. 30, wrapped in toilet paper and plugged into the back of a television in an executive conference room. Only executives and their assistants could reserve the room, which was used for leadership meetings and briefings with government officials, the criminal complaint said.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>OpenAI employees then placed a camera in the conference room, prosecutors said, and it recorded Alfozan checking behind the TV on Oct. 5. That day, security staff found a second device in a bag that Alfozan had left in a printer room, the complaint said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>OpenAI employees then placed a camera in the conference room, prosecutors said, and it recorded Alfozan checking behind the TV on Oct. 5. That day, security staff found a second device in a bag that Alfozan had left in a printer room, the complaint said.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Last month, a ChatGPT account linked to Alfozan’s wife was used to ask how to build a continuous audio recorder, add Wi-Fi connectivity, encrypt its memory card and hide its activity. Alfozan asked an AI tool to list meeting rooms in OpenAI’s offices and asked about locations for “leadership and exec,” prosecutors said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Your chatbot conversations in general are less private than you might assume,” Riana Pfefferkorn at Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered AI wrote KQED, adding that in a case where the company is also the alleged victim, it may be likelier to volunteer information rather than demand legal process for any information disclosure. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Nearly every company logs your IP address when you create an account and/or login,” said Jen King, a privacy and data policy fellow at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, who has \u003ca href=\"https://ojs.aaai.org/index.php/AIES/article/view/36646/38784\">researched\u003c/a> AI companies’ privacy policies. “If you are not deleting your chats, and not using a temporary chat window, the chats associated with your account in most cases are kept indefinitely,” she added in an email to KQED.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Prosecutors wrote that whether Alfozan wanted to record meetings “to enrich himself by enhancing his own business prospects, or to provide aid [to] a foreign government, or both, his conduct is criminal.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Alfozan is next due in court Nov. 6, for a status conference on the preliminary hearing — the same day Alfozan was scheduled for his U.S. citizenship interview, \u003ca href=\"https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_temp.pl?file=merged_60188_17143067-1792449015.pdf&type=application/pdf\">according to his lawyers\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Editor’s note: This story was updated on Oct. 20 to add a new comment from William Pernik.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Abdulrahman Alfozan, accused of hiding a recording device in a San Francisco conference room, will stay in jail until trial after a U.S. judge found the Saudi national posed a significant flight risk. \n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/open-ai\">OpenAI\u003c/a> engineer who was accused last week of \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/13/technology/openai-worker-arrested-bugging.html\">planting a secret recording device\u003c/a> at the company’s San Francisco offices was ordered detained without bail pending trial Monday. Magistrate Judge Alex G. Tse said there is a “significant” risk he would flee, according to CNBC.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tse’s order came at a San Francisco court hearing where he questioned an offer by the Saudi Consulate in Los Angeles to back the full bond for Abdulrahman Alfozan, a Saudi national. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tse reportedly said he found that offer “problematic,” and asked what confidence he should have that the Saudi government would protect the interests of the U.S. government.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In a court filing Sunday, prosecutors argued that Alfozan was “mere days away from leaving the United States for Saudi Arabia when he was arrested.” Prosecutors also cited his Bay Area earnings, at least two Saudi bank accounts, and “what appears to be considerable support from a foreign government” with no U.S. extradition treaty.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We respectfully disagree with the decision and will continue to fight for his release,” Alfozan’s lawyer, William Pernik, wrote to KQED on Tuesday. “Mr. Alfozan is a lawful permanent resident of the United States with years of significant contributions and ties to his community, as well as science and technology. I believe firmly that perception of who he is will change once full facts come out.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/OpenAISFGetty-a0787728.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104799\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/OpenAISFGetty-a0787728.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/OpenAISFGetty-a0787728-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/OpenAISFGetty-a0787728-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Attendees gather at the OpenAI DevDay 2026 conference, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, in San Francisco. (Jeff Chiu/AP Photo)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“If he really was an agent of a foreign government, why wouldn’t he just abscond right away?” Pernik said, according to the Times. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Prosecutors said in their filing Sunday that Alfozan had been in frequent contact with a member of the Saudi royal family who tried to recruit him to a new Saudi artificial intelligence initiative. In one message, prosecutors said, the Saudi royal family member wrote to Alfozan that “Saudi needs you more” than the US. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Alfozan’s response, according to prosecutors: “100.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But Alfozan said he would not leave OpenAI until his stock vested. His new-hire equity grant was worth $2.2 million, according to the filing.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In a footnote, prosecutors pointed to a 2019 case in the same court, in which a Twitter employee accused of spying for Saudi Arabia left the U.S. the day after the company confronted him — a departure the U.S government says was coordinated with the Saudi consul general in Los Angeles. He has never returned to face charges.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The government’s filing cited the fact that Alfozan’s wife and their 3-month-old baby flew to Doha, Qatar, the day after his arrest on a business-class ticket booked and paid for by a Saudi military official. His wife now lives in Saudi Arabia, per the filing.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Alfozan has been in jail since his arrest on a charge of using or endeavoring to use an electronic, mechanical, or other device to intercept oral communications. He faces a maximum possible sentence of five years in prison if convicted. OpenAI fired him after his arrest but has said it has no indication Alfozan improperly accessed or took model weights, source code or customer data.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tse’s decision to deny Alfozan bail was “no surprise” to Rory Little, a professor at UC Law San Francisco, “given the one-way trip tickets and he’s not a citizen.” Little also told KQED he would be surprised if Alfozan’s lawyers seek an immediate appeal.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Alfozan came to the U.S. in 2009, earned degrees at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and UC Berkeley, became a permanent resident in 2020 and joined OpenAI in July 2025, according to prosecutors.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In an Arabic \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1Dq_g-d9XI\">podcast interview\u003c/a> last month, according to the Times, Alfozan said he and other Saudi tech professionals in Silicon Valley had formed a group that advised Saudi organizations. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_temp.pl?file=merged_9799_17143067-1792446196.pdf&type=application/pdf\">filing\u003c/a> in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California unsealed last week, prosecutors detailed how OpenAI’s security team had found a thumb-size recording device on Sept. 30, wrapped in toilet paper and plugged into the back of a television in an executive conference room. Only executives and their assistants could reserve the room, which was used for leadership meetings and briefings with government officials, the criminal complaint said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>OpenAI employees then placed a camera in the conference room, prosecutors said, and it recorded Alfozan checking behind the TV on Oct. 5. That day, security staff found a second device in a bag that Alfozan had left in a printer room, the complaint said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/AP24134775174210-scaled-e1770337042768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11985952\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The OpenAI logo is seen on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen displaying output from ChatGPT, March 21, 2023, in Boston, Massachusetts. (Michael Dwyer/Associated Press)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Last month, a ChatGPT account linked to Alfozan’s wife was used to ask how to build a continuous audio recorder, add Wi-Fi connectivity, encrypt its memory card and hide its activity. Alfozan asked an AI tool to list meeting rooms in OpenAI’s offices and asked about locations for “leadership and exec,” prosecutors said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The case is a reminder of how much information chatbot companies like OpenAI retain.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Your chatbot conversations in general are less private than you might assume,” Riana Pfefferkorn at Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered AI wrote KQED, adding that in a case where the company is also the alleged victim, it may be likelier to volunteer information rather than demand legal process for any information disclosure. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Nearly every company logs your IP address when you create an account and/or login,” said Jen King, a privacy and data policy fellow at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, who has \u003ca href=\"https://ojs.aaai.org/index.php/AIES/article/view/36646/38784\">researched\u003c/a> AI companies’ privacy policies. “If you are not deleting your chats, and not using a temporary chat window, the chats associated with your account in most cases are kept indefinitely,” she added in an email to KQED.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Prosecutors wrote that whether Alfozan wanted to record meetings “to enrich himself by enhancing his own business prospects, or to provide aid [to] a foreign government, or both, his conduct is criminal.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>OpenAI, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Saudi Consulate General did not respond to requests for comment.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Alfozan is next due in court Nov. 6, for a status conference on the preliminary hearing — the same day Alfozan was scheduled for his U.S. citizenship interview, \u003ca href=\"https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_temp.pl?file=merged_60188_17143067-1792449015.pdf&type=application/pdf\">according to his lawyers\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Editor’s note: This story was updated on Oct. 20 to add a new comment from William Pernik.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "as-bay-area-cities-break-up-with-flock-pushback-to-surveillance-mounts-in-sf",
"title": "As Bay Area Cities Break Up With Flock, Pushback to Surveillance Mounts in SF",
"publishDate": 1792407600,
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"headTitle": "As Bay Area Cities Break Up With Flock, Pushback to Surveillance Mounts in SF | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>As Bay Area cities set stricter guardrails or break up entirely with automated license plate reader tools like Flock in the face of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12096106/anti-flock-organizers-ramp-up-bay-area-protests-urging-cities-to-cut-ties-with-company\">intense criticism from constituents\u003c/a>, many elected officials in San Francisco are doubling down on their support for the surveillance technology. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>From Mayor Daniel Lurie to supervisors like Matt Dorsey and other local Democratic Party leaders, they say the cameras have aided law enforcement and reduced crime. Critics say they are a gross invasion of privacy. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tensions over the city’s use of Flock have fueled protests and fiery public comment as San Francisco prepares to reconsider its contract with the controversial Atlanta-based company next February and as the election next month spurs widespread debate about artificial intelligence and surveillance technology. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I don’t feel safe being watched. There’s definitely nothing related to surveillance that is going to help me feel safer,” said Zachary Schwartz, a 16-year-old junior at Lowell High School, who started the local DeFlock SF chapter to organize against what he said is increasing mass surveillance in the city where he’s growing up.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>San Francisco announced in 2024 that it would begin rolling out a network of about \u003ca href=\"https://www.flocksafety.com/blog/sf-takes-historic-step-to-solve-crime-with-400-lpr-cameras\">400 cameras\u003c/a> mounted on streetlights around the city. Today, San Francisco ranks toward the top of U.S. cities when it comes to the number of cameras per road mile, according to geographic data from DeFlock, a national organization seeking to remove automated license plate reader technology from cities. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-33-KQED-c5d20ac1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104422\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-33-KQED-c5d20ac1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-33-KQED-c5d20ac1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-33-KQED-c5d20ac1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Manny speaks at a protest against Flock cameras outside the TechCrunch Disrupt Conference at Moscone Center in San Francisco where Flock CEO Garrett Langley spoke on Oct. 14, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Supporters say the license plate reader technology can quickly help solve crimes, like smash-and-grab car burglaries, which have plummeted in the city since 2023. By mapping out images collected by the cameras, police officers can reconstruct a vehicle’s route and location. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This technology helps us keep workers, small business owners and families safe, because we will not go back to a time when people could break into cars, rob businesses or commit serious crime without consequences,” Lurie said at a recent press conference. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But critics say automated license plate readers, drones and other mounted cameras have created mass surveillance systems that operate with no opportunity to opt out.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This type of technology is still being used in unconstitutional ways to watch all of our movements all the time,” said Matthew Guariglia, a senior policy analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on civil liberties in the digital age. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the roughly two years since San Francisco began mounting hundreds of cameras, stories of data misuse and concerns around mass surveillance have taken off around the country, setting off new pressure to take the technology down. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-2295252662-scaled-e1791310942675.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103099\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">DeFlock privacy advocacy sticker warns of a nearby Flock Safety AI-enabled automated license plate reader tracking vehicles, San Francisco, California, Sept. 9, 2026. (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We kept hearing from our community members about their fears of constantly being on camera and what can happen if their data gets in the wrong hands,” said Kimberly Woo, a Bay Area-based community organizer for the Services Immigrant Rights and Education Network, which works with immigrant and refugee communities. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In June, SFPD announced that its Flock data had been \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12088076/san-francisco-police-audit-shows-feds-accessed-license-plate-data-hundreds-of-times\">inappropriately searched\u003c/a> hundreds of times by federal and other out-of-state agencies. The San Francisco Human Rights Commission found that the improper searches did not violate the city’s sanctuary policy, but called for new guardrails to protect people from future mishandling of data. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Even as they’ve insisted the technology is worthwhile, local officials have made some changes in response to reports of misuse and pushback. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Following public protests by residents concerned about the way Flock data is collected and shared with police, Lurie announced last month that the city would \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12101844/san-francisco-keeps-its-flock-cameras-with-new-restrictions\">restrict the number of days\u003c/a> that San Francisco Police officers can access license plate reader data from one year to 30 days after it is captured. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The public should never be expected to sacrifice privacy for safety, and the SFPD has always used technology like ALPR for law enforcement purposes only,” SFPD Chief Derrick Lew said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The announcement brought San Francisco in line with many other metro areas. But the city is still not meeting Flock’s own privacy recommendations for how long the data should be retained, which it recently brought down to \u003ca href=\"https://www.flocksafety.com/blog/flock-guardrails-address-lpr-privacy-concerns-and-police-transparency\">just seven days\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Abuse of Flock technology, at any level, is unacceptable,” Flock CEO Garrett Langley said in an announcement of the company’s standards change and other new privacy features. “These changes reflect years of work and deliberation. They are not the end of that work, but simply the continuation of our commitment to both safety and privacy.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Still, Lurie, who made increasing public safety a cornerstone of his campaign for mayor, touted the city’s move to the 30-day retention policy, saying it was in the interest of both protecting privacy and allowing police to use what they deem an essential tool for quickly responding to crimes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“San Franciscans expect us to keep them safe and protect their privacy,” he said. “Today, we are putting tighter limits on the data collected by public safety cameras — strengthening the trust between law enforcement and communities that has been critical to our city’s public safety progress.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Nationwide, opinions on Flock skew negative. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/us/who-likes-flock-ai-cameras-reutersipsos-polled-1000-americans-find-out-2026-09-11/\">September 2026 poll from Reuters\u003c/a> found that 47% of American adults do not want the cameras in their communities, while 38% support them. Younger Americans were more likely to oppose Flock cameras compared to older adults, and Republicans were also more likely to support the technology than Democrats.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Public opinion is more mixed in San Francisco. A \u003ca href=\"https://growsf.org/pulse/growsf-pulse-july-2026/?share=police-cameras-and-drones#police-cameras-and-drones\">poll by GrowSF\u003c/a>, a tech-backed political group, found that 64% of poll responders said they support allowing police to monitor live footage from cameras, specifically in areas like the Tenderloin and the Mission, to deter crime. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This technology has been a game changer in strengthening our ability to hold people who commit crimes in our city accountable,” said District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, who also supports a state legislative proposal to increase penalties for people who misuse license plate reader data. “We cannot allow concerns about misuse to prevent us from using the tools we need to protect our communities.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-28-KQED-6725326d.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104419\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-28-KQED-6725326d.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-28-KQED-6725326d-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-28-KQED-6725326d-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Demonstrators wear Flock cameras made of cardboard on their heads at a protest against Flock cameras outside the TechCrunch Disrupt Conference at Moscone Center in San Francisco, where Flock CEO Garrett Langley spoke on Oct. 14, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In 2024, San Francisco voters approved Proposition E, which allowed police to use drones for active investigations. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the two years since then, many Bay Area cities have scaled back their relationships with Flock. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12100732/richmond-could-be-the-latest-bay-area-city-to-leave-flock-safety\">Richmond\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069705/santa-cruz-the-first-in-california-to-terminate-its-contract-with-flock-safety\">Santa Cruz\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/el-cerrito-flock-cameras-to-be-removed/4122158/\">El Cerrito\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.losaltosonline.com/news/los-altos-hills-to-remove-alpr-cameras/article_59f90aa8-14c1-4309-9f7f-12d16c649d9e.html\">Los Altos Hills\u003c/a> have all pulled back or canceled their Flock contracts over concerns about privacy and data-sharing, as have several cities in \u003ca href=\"https://abc7news.com/post/santa-clara-county-stop-using-flock-safety-cameras-several-cities-privacy-concerns/18646060/\">Santa Clara County\u003c/a>. Some cities that have broken up with Flock have turned to other automated license plate reader vendors. \u003ca href=\"https://www.mountainview.gov/Home/Components/News/News/1211/284\">Mountain View\u003c/a>, a wealthy suburb in the South Bay, ended use of automatic license plate technology entirely, a move that Woo of SIREN called a “north star victory.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Earlier this year in San José, another major metro area that embraced the technology, a police officer used the technology to find the vehicle of a woman who accused his cousin of domestic violence. Woo’s organization, SIREN, sued the city of San José over its Flock camera use. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>San José Mayor Matt Mahan later \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/09/23/san-jose-pushes-tighter-controls-on-flock-camera-database-after-officer-abuse/?clearUserState=true\">called for stronger safeguards\u003c/a> against misuse of the technology. The city still has nearly 500 cameras. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-36-KQED-93970c72.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104423\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-36-KQED-93970c72.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-36-KQED-93970c72-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-36-KQED-93970c72-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Demonstrators protest against Flock cameras outside the TechCrunch Disrupt Conference at Moscone Center in San Francisco where Flock CEO Garrett Langley spoke on Oct. 14, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12082887/berkeley-extends-surveillance-contract-with-flock-safety-but-rejects-major-expansion\">Berkeley\u003c/a> voted to continue its relationship with Flock, but did not pass a proposed expansion of the technology. In Oakland, the City Council voted in December to renew and expand its Flock network. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, in San Francisco, several politicians who have publicly supported the city’s Flock program have faced criticism over conflicts of interest and funding. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee, for example, has two members who are employed by Flock. This fall, when committee member Gordon Mar attempted to pass a resolution calling for stricter guardrails for the technology, the proposal was met with opposition and a competing resolution reaffirming the party’s support for the technology. Mar’s resolution failed to pass.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It reinforced my concern about the level of influence that wealthy tech interests, including those that have been championing AI-enabled mass surveillance technologies like Flock, have over our Democratic Party and the political establishment in San Francisco currently,” Mar told KQED. He later resigned from the committee, citing disappointment in the party’s direction and leadership under Chair Nancy Tung, who attended a Flock conference weeks before the vote, the \u003ca href=\"https://sfstandard.com/2026/09/28/sf-dem-party-chair-who-blocked-key-flock-vote-got-10-000-donation-billionaire/\">\u003cem>San Francisco Standard\u003c/em>\u003c/a> reported. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At the same meeting, a group of protesters staged a demonstration calling out the party for its ties to Flock. Schwartz of DeFlock SF was among them. He said the city’s recent policy change for its Flock data is welcome, but he’d like the city to move away from the technology entirely, including other companies that offer the same service. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-4-KQED-3e58826b.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104416\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-4-KQED-3e58826b.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-4-KQED-3e58826b-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-4-KQED-3e58826b-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Flock camera display outside the TechCrunch Disrupt Conference at Moscone Center in San Francisco where Flock CEO Garrett Langley spoke on Oct. 14, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In late August, activists protested outside of cryptocurrency billionaire \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104645/sf-billionaire-chris-larsen-on-ai-this-is-an-incredibly-dangerous-moment\">Chris Larsen\u003c/a>’s San Francisco mansion, turning out immigrant rights advocates, climate activists and other groups opposing the technology. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Larsen, a major political donor in San Francisco politics and public safety efforts, has contributed millions of dollars to create the city’s Real Time Investigation Center, a facility that uses drones and surveillance cameras to respond to crime reports and to the expansion of license plate reader technology.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But Larsen now shares some of his critics’ concerns, which he recently told KQED’s Political Breakdown are “legitimate.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“They’re right to be protesting because of what’s going on kind of nationally,” he said, noting that public distrust in government and technology is high, especially due to federal immigration enforcement and AI safety risks. “It’s a shame because at the same time, these tools, if they’re targeted and very, very focused like they are in San Francisco, they’re incredibly effective.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In today’s digital age, devices capture data constantly. But Woo said that ALPR technology is particularly concerning, compared to social media, for example, because there isn’t an ability to opt out or avoid the cameras, and the government immediately has access to that personal data.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-30-KQED-169ae6ae.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104421\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-30-KQED-169ae6ae.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-30-KQED-169ae6ae-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-30-KQED-169ae6ae-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A demonstrator wears a Flock camera made of cardboard on their head at a protest against Flock cameras outside the TechCrunch Disrupt Conference at Moscone Center in San Francisco where Flock CEO Garrett Langley spoke on Oct. 14, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We have phones in our hands, but in order for the government to access that data, that requires a valid judicial warrant,” Woo said. “With these ALPR cameras, however, these are tracking anyone who gets within their purview without a warrant and without a consent on a mass dragnet scale.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Schwartz said he’d rather have the city he was raised in invest resources toward reducing poverty and improving access to education, to address crime. Even though the city has responded to pushback by curtailing its Flock data somewhat, he and other concerned residents aren’t satisfied. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Protests have not slowed down after Lurie’s announcement that the city would restrict data retention. Last week, a group of anti-surveillance protesters gathered outside the TechCrunch conference at San Francisco’s Moscone Center, calling for an end to the technology across the country. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>San Francisco will consider renewing its contract with Flock in February 2027. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“These policies are a step in the right direction, but they’re not a solution to the problem,” Schwartz said. “We’re still going to keep fighting this.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>From Mayor Daniel Lurie to supervisors like Matt Dorsey and other local Democratic Party leaders, they say the cameras have aided law enforcement and reduced crime. Critics say they are a gross invasion of privacy. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Tensions over the city’s use of Flock have fueled protests and fiery public comment as San Francisco prepares to reconsider its contract with the controversial Atlanta-based company next February and as the election next month spurs widespread debate about artificial intelligence and surveillance technology. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I don’t feel safe being watched. There’s definitely nothing related to surveillance that is going to help me feel safer,” said Zachary Schwartz, a 16-year-old junior at Lowell High School, who started the local DeFlock SF chapter to organize against what he said is increasing mass surveillance in the city where he’s growing up.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“I don’t feel safe being watched. There’s definitely nothing related to surveillance that is going to help me feel safer,” said Zachary Schwartz, a 16-year-old junior at Lowell High School, who started the local DeFlock SF chapter to organize against what he said is increasing mass surveillance in the city where he’s growing up.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>San Francisco announced in 2024 that it would begin rolling out a network of about \u003ca href=\"https://www.flocksafety.com/blog/sf-takes-historic-step-to-solve-crime-with-400-lpr-cameras\">400 cameras\u003c/a> mounted on streetlights around the city. Today, San Francisco ranks toward the top of U.S. cities when it comes to the number of cameras per road mile, according to geographic data from DeFlock, a national organization seeking to remove automated license plate reader technology from cities. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>San Francisco announced in 2024 that it would begin rolling out a network of about \u003ca href=\"https://www.flocksafety.com/blog/sf-takes-historic-step-to-solve-crime-with-400-lpr-cameras\">400 cameras\u003c/a> mounted on streetlights around the city. Today, San Francisco ranks toward the top of U.S. cities when it comes to the number of cameras per road mile, according to geographic data from DeFlock, a national organization seeking to remove automated license plate reader technology from cities. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-33-KQED-c5d20ac1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104422\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-33-KQED-c5d20ac1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-33-KQED-c5d20ac1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-33-KQED-c5d20ac1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Manny speaks at a protest against Flock cameras outside the TechCrunch Disrupt Conference at Moscone Center in San Francisco where Flock CEO Garrett Langley spoke on Oct. 14, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-33-KQED-c5d20ac1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104422\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Manny speaks at a protest against Flock cameras outside the TechCrunch Disrupt Conference at Moscone Center in San Francisco where Flock CEO Garrett Langley spoke on Oct. 14, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Supporters say the license plate reader technology can quickly help solve crimes, like smash-and-grab car burglaries, which have plummeted in the city since 2023. By mapping out images collected by the cameras, police officers can reconstruct a vehicle’s route and location. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Supporters say the license plate reader technology can quickly help solve crimes, like smash-and-grab car burglaries, which have plummeted in the city since 2023. By mapping out images collected by the cameras, police officers can reconstruct a vehicle’s route and location. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“This technology helps us keep workers, small business owners and families safe, because we will not go back to a time when people could break into cars, rob businesses or commit serious crime without consequences,” Lurie said at a recent press conference. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“This technology helps us keep workers, small business owners and families safe, because we will not go back to a time when people could break into cars, rob businesses or commit serious crime without consequences,” Lurie said at a recent press conference. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But critics say automated license plate readers, drones and other mounted cameras have created mass surveillance systems that operate with no opportunity to opt out.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“This type of technology is still being used in unconstitutional ways to watch all of our movements all the time,” said Matthew Guariglia, a senior policy analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on civil liberties in the digital age. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“This type of technology is still being used in unconstitutional ways to watch all of our movements all the time,” said Matthew Guariglia, a senior policy analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on civil liberties in the digital age. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In the roughly two years since San Francisco began mounting hundreds of cameras, stories of data misuse and concerns around mass surveillance have taken off around the country, setting off new pressure to take the technology down. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In the roughly two years since San Francisco began mounting hundreds of cameras, stories of data misuse and concerns around mass surveillance have taken off around the country, setting off new pressure to take the technology down. \u003c/p>\n"
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-2295252662-scaled-e1791310942675.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103099\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">DeFlock privacy advocacy sticker warns of a nearby Flock Safety AI-enabled automated license plate reader tracking vehicles, San Francisco, California, Sept. 9, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We kept hearing from our community members about their fears of constantly being on camera and what can happen if their data gets in the wrong hands,” said Kimberly Woo, a Bay Area-based community organizer for the Services Immigrant Rights and Education Network, which works with immigrant and refugee communities. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“We kept hearing from our community members about their fears of constantly being on camera and what can happen if their data gets in the wrong hands,” said Kimberly Woo, a Bay Area-based community organizer for the Services Immigrant Rights and Education Network, which works with immigrant and refugee communities. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In June, SFPD announced that its Flock data had been \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12088076/san-francisco-police-audit-shows-feds-accessed-license-plate-data-hundreds-of-times\">inappropriately searched\u003c/a> hundreds of times by federal and other out-of-state agencies. The San Francisco Human Rights Commission found that the improper searches did not violate the city’s sanctuary policy, but called for new guardrails to protect people from future mishandling of data. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In June, SFPD announced that its Flock data had been \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12088076/san-francisco-police-audit-shows-feds-accessed-license-plate-data-hundreds-of-times\">inappropriately searched\u003c/a> hundreds of times by federal and other out-of-state agencies. The San Francisco Human Rights Commission found that the improper searches did not violate the city’s sanctuary policy, but called for new guardrails to protect people from future mishandling of data. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Even as they’ve insisted the technology is worthwhile, local officials have made some changes in response to reports of misuse and pushback. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Even as they’ve insisted the technology is worthwhile, local officials have made some changes in response to reports of misuse and pushback. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Following public protests by residents concerned about the way Flock data is collected and shared with police, Lurie announced last month that the city would \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12101844/san-francisco-keeps-its-flock-cameras-with-new-restrictions\">restrict the number of days\u003c/a> that San Francisco Police officers can access license plate reader data from one year to 30 days after it is captured. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Following public protests by residents concerned about the way Flock data is collected and shared with police, Lurie announced last month that the city would \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12101844/san-francisco-keeps-its-flock-cameras-with-new-restrictions\">restrict the number of days\u003c/a> that San Francisco Police officers can access license plate reader data from one year to 30 days after it is captured. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The public should never be expected to sacrifice privacy for safety, and the SFPD has always used technology like ALPR for law enforcement purposes only,” SFPD Chief Derrick Lew said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“The public should never be expected to sacrifice privacy for safety, and the SFPD has always used technology like ALPR for law enforcement purposes only,” SFPD Chief Derrick Lew said.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The announcement brought San Francisco in line with many other metro areas. But the city is still not meeting Flock’s own privacy recommendations for how long the data should be retained, which it recently brought down to \u003ca href=\"https://www.flocksafety.com/blog/flock-guardrails-address-lpr-privacy-concerns-and-police-transparency\">just seven days\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The announcement brought San Francisco in line with many other metro areas. But the city is still not meeting Flock’s own privacy recommendations for how long the data should be retained, which it recently brought down to \u003ca href=\"https://www.flocksafety.com/blog/flock-guardrails-address-lpr-privacy-concerns-and-police-transparency\">just seven days\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Abuse of Flock technology, at any level, is unacceptable,” Flock CEO Garrett Langley said in an announcement of the company’s standards change and other new privacy features. “These changes reflect years of work and deliberation. They are not the end of that work, but simply the continuation of our commitment to both safety and privacy.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Abuse of Flock technology, at any level, is unacceptable,” Flock CEO Garrett Langley said in an announcement of the company’s standards change and other new privacy features. “These changes reflect years of work and deliberation. They are not the end of that work, but simply the continuation of our commitment to both safety and privacy.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Still, Lurie, who made increasing public safety a cornerstone of his campaign for mayor, touted the city’s move to the 30-day retention policy, saying it was in the interest of both protecting privacy and allowing police to use what they deem an essential tool for quickly responding to crimes. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Still, Lurie, who made increasing public safety a cornerstone of his campaign for mayor, touted the city’s move to the 30-day retention policy, saying it was in the interest of both protecting privacy and allowing police to use what they deem an essential tool for quickly responding to crimes. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“San Franciscans expect us to keep them safe and protect their privacy,” he said. “Today, we are putting tighter limits on the data collected by public safety cameras — strengthening the trust between law enforcement and communities that has been critical to our city’s public safety progress.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“San Franciscans expect us to keep them safe and protect their privacy,” he said. “Today, we are putting tighter limits on the data collected by public safety cameras — strengthening the trust between law enforcement and communities that has been critical to our city’s public safety progress.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Nationwide, opinions on Flock skew negative. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/us/who-likes-flock-ai-cameras-reutersipsos-polled-1000-americans-find-out-2026-09-11/\">September 2026 poll from Reuters\u003c/a> found that 47% of American adults do not want the cameras in their communities, while 38% support them. Younger Americans were more likely to oppose Flock cameras compared to older adults, and Republicans were also more likely to support the technology than Democrats.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Nationwide, opinions on Flock skew negative. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/us/who-likes-flock-ai-cameras-reutersipsos-polled-1000-americans-find-out-2026-09-11/\">September 2026 poll from Reuters\u003c/a> found that 47% of American adults do not want the cameras in their communities, while 38% support them. Younger Americans were more likely to oppose Flock cameras compared to older adults, and Republicans were also more likely to support the technology than Democrats.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Public opinion is more mixed in San Francisco. A \u003ca href=\"https://growsf.org/pulse/growsf-pulse-july-2026/?share=police-cameras-and-drones#police-cameras-and-drones\">poll by GrowSF\u003c/a>, a tech-backed political group, found that 64% of poll responders said they support allowing police to monitor live footage from cameras, specifically in areas like the Tenderloin and the Mission, to deter crime. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Public opinion is more mixed in San Francisco. A \u003ca href=\"https://growsf.org/pulse/growsf-pulse-july-2026/?share=police-cameras-and-drones#police-cameras-and-drones\">poll by GrowSF\u003c/a>, a tech-backed political group, found that 64% of poll responders said they support allowing police to monitor live footage from cameras, specifically in areas like the Tenderloin and the Mission, to deter crime. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“This technology has been a game changer in strengthening our ability to hold people who commit crimes in our city accountable,” said District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, who also supports a state legislative proposal to increase penalties for people who misuse license plate reader data. “We cannot allow concerns about misuse to prevent us from using the tools we need to protect our communities.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“This technology has been a game changer in strengthening our ability to hold people who commit crimes in our city accountable,” said District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, who also supports a state legislative proposal to increase penalties for people who misuse license plate reader data. “We cannot allow concerns about misuse to prevent us from using the tools we need to protect our communities.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-28-KQED-6725326d.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104419\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-28-KQED-6725326d.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-28-KQED-6725326d-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-28-KQED-6725326d-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Demonstrators wear Flock cameras made of cardboard on their heads at a protest against Flock cameras outside the TechCrunch Disrupt Conference at Moscone Center in San Francisco, where Flock CEO Garrett Langley spoke on Oct. 14, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-28-KQED-6725326d.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104419\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Demonstrators wear Flock cameras made of cardboard on their heads at a protest against Flock cameras outside the TechCrunch Disrupt Conference at Moscone Center in San Francisco, where Flock CEO Garrett Langley spoke on Oct. 14, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In 2024, San Francisco voters approved Proposition E, which allowed police to use drones for active investigations. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In 2024, San Francisco voters approved Proposition E, which allowed police to use drones for active investigations. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In the two years since then, many Bay Area cities have scaled back their relationships with Flock. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In the two years since then, many Bay Area cities have scaled back their relationships with Flock. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12100732/richmond-could-be-the-latest-bay-area-city-to-leave-flock-safety\">Richmond\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069705/santa-cruz-the-first-in-california-to-terminate-its-contract-with-flock-safety\">Santa Cruz\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/el-cerrito-flock-cameras-to-be-removed/4122158/\">El Cerrito\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.losaltosonline.com/news/los-altos-hills-to-remove-alpr-cameras/article_59f90aa8-14c1-4309-9f7f-12d16c649d9e.html\">Los Altos Hills\u003c/a> have all pulled back or canceled their Flock contracts over concerns about privacy and data-sharing, as have several cities in \u003ca href=\"https://abc7news.com/post/santa-clara-county-stop-using-flock-safety-cameras-several-cities-privacy-concerns/18646060/\">Santa Clara County\u003c/a>. Some cities that have broken up with Flock have turned to other automated license plate reader vendors. \u003ca href=\"https://www.mountainview.gov/Home/Components/News/News/1211/284\">Mountain View\u003c/a>, a wealthy suburb in the South Bay, ended use of automatic license plate technology entirely, a move that Woo of SIREN called a “north star victory.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12100732/richmond-could-be-the-latest-bay-area-city-to-leave-flock-safety\">Richmond\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069705/santa-cruz-the-first-in-california-to-terminate-its-contract-with-flock-safety\">Santa Cruz\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/el-cerrito-flock-cameras-to-be-removed/4122158/\">El Cerrito\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.losaltosonline.com/news/los-altos-hills-to-remove-alpr-cameras/article_59f90aa8-14c1-4309-9f7f-12d16c649d9e.html\">Los Altos Hills\u003c/a> have all pulled back or canceled their Flock contracts over concerns about privacy and data-sharing, as have several cities in \u003ca href=\"https://abc7news.com/post/santa-clara-county-stop-using-flock-safety-cameras-several-cities-privacy-concerns/18646060/\">Santa Clara County\u003c/a>. Some cities that have broken up with Flock have turned to other automated license plate reader vendors. \u003ca href=\"https://www.mountainview.gov/Home/Components/News/News/1211/284\">Mountain View\u003c/a>, a wealthy suburb in the South Bay, ended use of automatic license plate technology entirely, a move that Woo of SIREN called a “north star victory.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Earlier this year in San José, another major metro area that embraced the technology, a police officer used the technology to find the vehicle of a woman who accused his cousin of domestic violence. Woo’s organization, SIREN, sued the city of San José over its Flock camera use. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Earlier this year in San José, another major metro area that embraced the technology, a police officer used the technology to find the vehicle of a woman who accused his cousin of domestic violence. Woo’s organization, SIREN, sued the city of San José over its Flock camera use. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>San José Mayor Matt Mahan later \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/09/23/san-jose-pushes-tighter-controls-on-flock-camera-database-after-officer-abuse/?clearUserState=true\">called for stronger safeguards\u003c/a> against misuse of the technology. The city still has nearly 500 cameras. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>San José Mayor Matt Mahan later \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/09/23/san-jose-pushes-tighter-controls-on-flock-camera-database-after-officer-abuse/?clearUserState=true\">called for stronger safeguards\u003c/a> against misuse of the technology. The city still has nearly 500 cameras. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-36-KQED-93970c72.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104423\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-36-KQED-93970c72.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-36-KQED-93970c72-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-36-KQED-93970c72-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Demonstrators protest against Flock cameras outside the TechCrunch Disrupt Conference at Moscone Center in San Francisco where Flock CEO Garrett Langley spoke on Oct. 14, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-36-KQED-93970c72.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104423\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Demonstrators protest against Flock cameras outside the TechCrunch Disrupt Conference at Moscone Center in San Francisco where Flock CEO Garrett Langley spoke on Oct. 14, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12082887/berkeley-extends-surveillance-contract-with-flock-safety-but-rejects-major-expansion\">Berkeley\u003c/a> voted to continue its relationship with Flock, but did not pass a proposed expansion of the technology. In Oakland, the City Council voted in December to renew and expand its Flock network. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12082887/berkeley-extends-surveillance-contract-with-flock-safety-but-rejects-major-expansion\">Berkeley\u003c/a> voted to continue its relationship with Flock, but did not pass a proposed expansion of the technology. In Oakland, the City Council voted in December to renew and expand its Flock network. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, in San Francisco, several politicians who have publicly supported the city’s Flock program have faced criticism over conflicts of interest and funding. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee, for example, has two members who are employed by Flock. This fall, when committee member Gordon Mar attempted to pass a resolution calling for stricter guardrails for the technology, the proposal was met with opposition and a competing resolution reaffirming the party’s support for the technology. Mar’s resolution failed to pass.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee, for example, has two members who are employed by Flock. This fall, when committee member Gordon Mar attempted to pass a resolution calling for stricter guardrails for the technology, the proposal was met with opposition and a competing resolution reaffirming the party’s support for the technology. Mar’s resolution failed to pass.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It reinforced my concern about the level of influence that wealthy tech interests, including those that have been championing AI-enabled mass surveillance technologies like Flock, have over our Democratic Party and the political establishment in San Francisco currently,” Mar told KQED. He later resigned from the committee, citing disappointment in the party’s direction and leadership under Chair Nancy Tung, who attended a Flock conference weeks before the vote, the \u003ca href=\"https://sfstandard.com/2026/09/28/sf-dem-party-chair-who-blocked-key-flock-vote-got-10-000-donation-billionaire/\">\u003cem>San Francisco Standard\u003c/em>\u003c/a> reported. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“It reinforced my concern about the level of influence that wealthy tech interests, including those that have been championing AI-enabled mass surveillance technologies like Flock, have over our Democratic Party and the political establishment in San Francisco currently,” Mar told KQED. He later resigned from the committee, citing disappointment in the party’s direction and leadership under Chair Nancy Tung, who attended a Flock conference weeks before the vote, the \u003ca href=\"https://sfstandard.com/2026/09/28/sf-dem-party-chair-who-blocked-key-flock-vote-got-10-000-donation-billionaire/\">\u003cem>San Francisco Standard\u003c/em>\u003c/a> reported. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>At the same meeting, a group of protesters staged a demonstration calling out the party for its ties to Flock. Schwartz of DeFlock SF was among them. He said the city’s recent policy change for its Flock data is welcome, but he’d like the city to move away from the technology entirely, including other companies that offer the same service. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>At the same meeting, a group of protesters staged a demonstration calling out the party for its ties to Flock. Schwartz of DeFlock SF was among them. He said the city’s recent policy change for its Flock data is welcome, but he’d like the city to move away from the technology entirely, including other companies that offer the same service. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-4-KQED-3e58826b.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104416\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-4-KQED-3e58826b.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-4-KQED-3e58826b-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-4-KQED-3e58826b-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Flock camera display outside the TechCrunch Disrupt Conference at Moscone Center in San Francisco where Flock CEO Garrett Langley spoke on Oct. 14, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-4-KQED-3e58826b.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104416\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Flock camera display outside the TechCrunch Disrupt Conference at Moscone Center in San Francisco where Flock CEO Garrett Langley spoke on Oct. 14, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In late August, activists protested outside of cryptocurrency billionaire \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104645/sf-billionaire-chris-larsen-on-ai-this-is-an-incredibly-dangerous-moment\">Chris Larsen\u003c/a>’s San Francisco mansion, turning out immigrant rights advocates, climate activists and other groups opposing the technology. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In late August, activists protested outside of cryptocurrency billionaire \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104645/sf-billionaire-chris-larsen-on-ai-this-is-an-incredibly-dangerous-moment\">Chris Larsen\u003c/a>’s San Francisco mansion, turning out immigrant rights advocates, climate activists and other groups opposing the technology. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Larsen, a major political donor in San Francisco politics and public safety efforts, has contributed millions of dollars to create the city’s Real Time Investigation Center, a facility that uses drones and surveillance cameras to respond to crime reports and to the expansion of license plate reader technology.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Larsen, a major political donor in San Francisco politics and public safety efforts, has contributed millions of dollars to create the city’s Real Time Investigation Center, a facility that uses drones and surveillance cameras to respond to crime reports and to the expansion of license plate reader technology.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But Larsen now shares some of his critics’ concerns, which he recently told KQED’s Political Breakdown are “legitimate.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“They’re right to be protesting because of what’s going on kind of nationally,” he said, noting that public distrust in government and technology is high, especially due to federal immigration enforcement and AI safety risks. “It’s a shame because at the same time, these tools, if they’re targeted and very, very focused like they are in San Francisco, they’re incredibly effective.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“They’re right to be protesting because of what’s going on kind of nationally,” he said, noting that public distrust in government and technology is high, especially due to federal immigration enforcement and AI safety risks. “It’s a shame because at the same time, these tools, if they’re targeted and very, very focused like they are in San Francisco, they’re incredibly effective.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In today’s digital age, devices capture data constantly. But Woo said that ALPR technology is particularly concerning, compared to social media, for example, because there isn’t an ability to opt out or avoid the cameras, and the government immediately has access to that personal data.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In today’s digital age, devices capture data constantly. But Woo said that ALPR technology is particularly concerning, compared to social media, for example, because there isn’t an ability to opt out or avoid the cameras, and the government immediately has access to that personal data.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-30-KQED-169ae6ae.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104421\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-30-KQED-169ae6ae.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-30-KQED-169ae6ae-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-30-KQED-169ae6ae-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A demonstrator wears a Flock camera made of cardboard on their head at a protest against Flock cameras outside the TechCrunch Disrupt Conference at Moscone Center in San Francisco where Flock CEO Garrett Langley spoke on Oct. 14, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-30-KQED-169ae6ae.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104421\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A demonstrator wears a Flock camera made of cardboard on their head at a protest against Flock cameras outside the TechCrunch Disrupt Conference at Moscone Center in San Francisco where Flock CEO Garrett Langley spoke on Oct. 14, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We have phones in our hands, but in order for the government to access that data, that requires a valid judicial warrant,” Woo said. “With these ALPR cameras, however, these are tracking anyone who gets within their purview without a warrant and without a consent on a mass dragnet scale.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Schwartz said he’d rather have the city he was raised in invest resources toward reducing poverty and improving access to education, to address crime. Even though the city has responded to pushback by curtailing its Flock data somewhat, he and other concerned residents aren’t satisfied. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Schwartz said he’d rather have the city he was raised in invest resources toward reducing poverty and improving access to education, to address crime. Even though the city has responded to pushback by curtailing its Flock data somewhat, he and other concerned residents aren’t satisfied. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Protests have not slowed down after Lurie’s announcement that the city would restrict data retention. Last week, a group of anti-surveillance protesters gathered outside the TechCrunch conference at San Francisco’s Moscone Center, calling for an end to the technology across the country. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Protests have not slowed down after Lurie’s announcement that the city would restrict data retention. Last week, a group of anti-surveillance protesters gathered outside the TechCrunch conference at San Francisco’s Moscone Center, calling for an end to the technology across the country. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>San Francisco will consider renewing its contract with Flock in February 2027. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“These policies are a step in the right direction, but they’re not a solution to the problem,” Schwartz said. “We’re still going to keep fighting this.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Tensions around police surveillance technology are boiling over as Flock’s contract with San Francisco faces renewal in February 2027.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>As Bay Area cities set stricter guardrails or break up entirely with automated license plate reader tools like Flock in the face of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12096106/anti-flock-organizers-ramp-up-bay-area-protests-urging-cities-to-cut-ties-with-company\">intense criticism from constituents\u003c/a>, many elected officials in San Francisco are doubling down on their support for the surveillance technology. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>From Mayor Daniel Lurie to supervisors like Matt Dorsey and other local Democratic Party leaders, they say the cameras have aided law enforcement and reduced crime. Critics say they are a gross invasion of privacy. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tensions over the city’s use of Flock have fueled protests and fiery public comment as San Francisco prepares to reconsider its contract with the controversial Atlanta-based company next February and as the election next month spurs widespread debate about artificial intelligence and surveillance technology. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I don’t feel safe being watched. There’s definitely nothing related to surveillance that is going to help me feel safer,” said Zachary Schwartz, a 16-year-old junior at Lowell High School, who started the local DeFlock SF chapter to organize against what he said is increasing mass surveillance in the city where he’s growing up.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>San Francisco announced in 2024 that it would begin rolling out a network of about \u003ca href=\"https://www.flocksafety.com/blog/sf-takes-historic-step-to-solve-crime-with-400-lpr-cameras\">400 cameras\u003c/a> mounted on streetlights around the city. Today, San Francisco ranks toward the top of U.S. cities when it comes to the number of cameras per road mile, according to geographic data from DeFlock, a national organization seeking to remove automated license plate reader technology from cities. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-33-KQED-c5d20ac1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104422\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-33-KQED-c5d20ac1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-33-KQED-c5d20ac1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-33-KQED-c5d20ac1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Manny speaks at a protest against Flock cameras outside the TechCrunch Disrupt Conference at Moscone Center in San Francisco where Flock CEO Garrett Langley spoke on Oct. 14, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Supporters say the license plate reader technology can quickly help solve crimes, like smash-and-grab car burglaries, which have plummeted in the city since 2023. By mapping out images collected by the cameras, police officers can reconstruct a vehicle’s route and location. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This technology helps us keep workers, small business owners and families safe, because we will not go back to a time when people could break into cars, rob businesses or commit serious crime without consequences,” Lurie said at a recent press conference. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But critics say automated license plate readers, drones and other mounted cameras have created mass surveillance systems that operate with no opportunity to opt out.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This type of technology is still being used in unconstitutional ways to watch all of our movements all the time,” said Matthew Guariglia, a senior policy analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on civil liberties in the digital age. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the roughly two years since San Francisco began mounting hundreds of cameras, stories of data misuse and concerns around mass surveillance have taken off around the country, setting off new pressure to take the technology down. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-2295252662-scaled-e1791310942675.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103099\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">DeFlock privacy advocacy sticker warns of a nearby Flock Safety AI-enabled automated license plate reader tracking vehicles, San Francisco, California, Sept. 9, 2026. (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We kept hearing from our community members about their fears of constantly being on camera and what can happen if their data gets in the wrong hands,” said Kimberly Woo, a Bay Area-based community organizer for the Services Immigrant Rights and Education Network, which works with immigrant and refugee communities. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In June, SFPD announced that its Flock data had been \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12088076/san-francisco-police-audit-shows-feds-accessed-license-plate-data-hundreds-of-times\">inappropriately searched\u003c/a> hundreds of times by federal and other out-of-state agencies. The San Francisco Human Rights Commission found that the improper searches did not violate the city’s sanctuary policy, but called for new guardrails to protect people from future mishandling of data. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Even as they’ve insisted the technology is worthwhile, local officials have made some changes in response to reports of misuse and pushback. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Following public protests by residents concerned about the way Flock data is collected and shared with police, Lurie announced last month that the city would \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12101844/san-francisco-keeps-its-flock-cameras-with-new-restrictions\">restrict the number of days\u003c/a> that San Francisco Police officers can access license plate reader data from one year to 30 days after it is captured. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The public should never be expected to sacrifice privacy for safety, and the SFPD has always used technology like ALPR for law enforcement purposes only,” SFPD Chief Derrick Lew said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The announcement brought San Francisco in line with many other metro areas. But the city is still not meeting Flock’s own privacy recommendations for how long the data should be retained, which it recently brought down to \u003ca href=\"https://www.flocksafety.com/blog/flock-guardrails-address-lpr-privacy-concerns-and-police-transparency\">just seven days\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Abuse of Flock technology, at any level, is unacceptable,” Flock CEO Garrett Langley said in an announcement of the company’s standards change and other new privacy features. “These changes reflect years of work and deliberation. They are not the end of that work, but simply the continuation of our commitment to both safety and privacy.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Still, Lurie, who made increasing public safety a cornerstone of his campaign for mayor, touted the city’s move to the 30-day retention policy, saying it was in the interest of both protecting privacy and allowing police to use what they deem an essential tool for quickly responding to crimes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“San Franciscans expect us to keep them safe and protect their privacy,” he said. “Today, we are putting tighter limits on the data collected by public safety cameras — strengthening the trust between law enforcement and communities that has been critical to our city’s public safety progress.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Nationwide, opinions on Flock skew negative. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/us/who-likes-flock-ai-cameras-reutersipsos-polled-1000-americans-find-out-2026-09-11/\">September 2026 poll from Reuters\u003c/a> found that 47% of American adults do not want the cameras in their communities, while 38% support them. Younger Americans were more likely to oppose Flock cameras compared to older adults, and Republicans were also more likely to support the technology than Democrats.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Public opinion is more mixed in San Francisco. A \u003ca href=\"https://growsf.org/pulse/growsf-pulse-july-2026/?share=police-cameras-and-drones#police-cameras-and-drones\">poll by GrowSF\u003c/a>, a tech-backed political group, found that 64% of poll responders said they support allowing police to monitor live footage from cameras, specifically in areas like the Tenderloin and the Mission, to deter crime. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This technology has been a game changer in strengthening our ability to hold people who commit crimes in our city accountable,” said District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, who also supports a state legislative proposal to increase penalties for people who misuse license plate reader data. “We cannot allow concerns about misuse to prevent us from using the tools we need to protect our communities.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-28-KQED-6725326d.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104419\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-28-KQED-6725326d.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-28-KQED-6725326d-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-28-KQED-6725326d-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Demonstrators wear Flock cameras made of cardboard on their heads at a protest against Flock cameras outside the TechCrunch Disrupt Conference at Moscone Center in San Francisco, where Flock CEO Garrett Langley spoke on Oct. 14, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In 2024, San Francisco voters approved Proposition E, which allowed police to use drones for active investigations. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the two years since then, many Bay Area cities have scaled back their relationships with Flock. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12100732/richmond-could-be-the-latest-bay-area-city-to-leave-flock-safety\">Richmond\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069705/santa-cruz-the-first-in-california-to-terminate-its-contract-with-flock-safety\">Santa Cruz\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/el-cerrito-flock-cameras-to-be-removed/4122158/\">El Cerrito\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.losaltosonline.com/news/los-altos-hills-to-remove-alpr-cameras/article_59f90aa8-14c1-4309-9f7f-12d16c649d9e.html\">Los Altos Hills\u003c/a> have all pulled back or canceled their Flock contracts over concerns about privacy and data-sharing, as have several cities in \u003ca href=\"https://abc7news.com/post/santa-clara-county-stop-using-flock-safety-cameras-several-cities-privacy-concerns/18646060/\">Santa Clara County\u003c/a>. Some cities that have broken up with Flock have turned to other automated license plate reader vendors. \u003ca href=\"https://www.mountainview.gov/Home/Components/News/News/1211/284\">Mountain View\u003c/a>, a wealthy suburb in the South Bay, ended use of automatic license plate technology entirely, a move that Woo of SIREN called a “north star victory.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Earlier this year in San José, another major metro area that embraced the technology, a police officer used the technology to find the vehicle of a woman who accused his cousin of domestic violence. Woo’s organization, SIREN, sued the city of San José over its Flock camera use. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>San José Mayor Matt Mahan later \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/09/23/san-jose-pushes-tighter-controls-on-flock-camera-database-after-officer-abuse/?clearUserState=true\">called for stronger safeguards\u003c/a> against misuse of the technology. The city still has nearly 500 cameras. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-36-KQED-93970c72.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104423\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-36-KQED-93970c72.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-36-KQED-93970c72-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-36-KQED-93970c72-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Demonstrators protest against Flock cameras outside the TechCrunch Disrupt Conference at Moscone Center in San Francisco where Flock CEO Garrett Langley spoke on Oct. 14, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12082887/berkeley-extends-surveillance-contract-with-flock-safety-but-rejects-major-expansion\">Berkeley\u003c/a> voted to continue its relationship with Flock, but did not pass a proposed expansion of the technology. In Oakland, the City Council voted in December to renew and expand its Flock network. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, in San Francisco, several politicians who have publicly supported the city’s Flock program have faced criticism over conflicts of interest and funding. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee, for example, has two members who are employed by Flock. This fall, when committee member Gordon Mar attempted to pass a resolution calling for stricter guardrails for the technology, the proposal was met with opposition and a competing resolution reaffirming the party’s support for the technology. Mar’s resolution failed to pass.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It reinforced my concern about the level of influence that wealthy tech interests, including those that have been championing AI-enabled mass surveillance technologies like Flock, have over our Democratic Party and the political establishment in San Francisco currently,” Mar told KQED. He later resigned from the committee, citing disappointment in the party’s direction and leadership under Chair Nancy Tung, who attended a Flock conference weeks before the vote, the \u003ca href=\"https://sfstandard.com/2026/09/28/sf-dem-party-chair-who-blocked-key-flock-vote-got-10-000-donation-billionaire/\">\u003cem>San Francisco Standard\u003c/em>\u003c/a> reported. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At the same meeting, a group of protesters staged a demonstration calling out the party for its ties to Flock. Schwartz of DeFlock SF was among them. He said the city’s recent policy change for its Flock data is welcome, but he’d like the city to move away from the technology entirely, including other companies that offer the same service. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-4-KQED-3e58826b.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104416\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-4-KQED-3e58826b.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-4-KQED-3e58826b-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-4-KQED-3e58826b-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Flock camera display outside the TechCrunch Disrupt Conference at Moscone Center in San Francisco where Flock CEO Garrett Langley spoke on Oct. 14, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In late August, activists protested outside of cryptocurrency billionaire \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104645/sf-billionaire-chris-larsen-on-ai-this-is-an-incredibly-dangerous-moment\">Chris Larsen\u003c/a>’s San Francisco mansion, turning out immigrant rights advocates, climate activists and other groups opposing the technology. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Larsen, a major political donor in San Francisco politics and public safety efforts, has contributed millions of dollars to create the city’s Real Time Investigation Center, a facility that uses drones and surveillance cameras to respond to crime reports and to the expansion of license plate reader technology.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But Larsen now shares some of his critics’ concerns, which he recently told KQED’s Political Breakdown are “legitimate.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“They’re right to be protesting because of what’s going on kind of nationally,” he said, noting that public distrust in government and technology is high, especially due to federal immigration enforcement and AI safety risks. “It’s a shame because at the same time, these tools, if they’re targeted and very, very focused like they are in San Francisco, they’re incredibly effective.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In today’s digital age, devices capture data constantly. But Woo said that ALPR technology is particularly concerning, compared to social media, for example, because there isn’t an ability to opt out or avoid the cameras, and the government immediately has access to that personal data.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-30-KQED-169ae6ae.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104421\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-30-KQED-169ae6ae.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-30-KQED-169ae6ae-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261014-SFFLOCK-NG-30-KQED-169ae6ae-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A demonstrator wears a Flock camera made of cardboard on their head at a protest against Flock cameras outside the TechCrunch Disrupt Conference at Moscone Center in San Francisco where Flock CEO Garrett Langley spoke on Oct. 14, 2026. (Nina Glick/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We have phones in our hands, but in order for the government to access that data, that requires a valid judicial warrant,” Woo said. “With these ALPR cameras, however, these are tracking anyone who gets within their purview without a warrant and without a consent on a mass dragnet scale.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Schwartz said he’d rather have the city he was raised in invest resources toward reducing poverty and improving access to education, to address crime. Even though the city has responded to pushback by curtailing its Flock data somewhat, he and other concerned residents aren’t satisfied. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Protests have not slowed down after Lurie’s announcement that the city would restrict data retention. Last week, a group of anti-surveillance protesters gathered outside the TechCrunch conference at San Francisco’s Moscone Center, calling for an end to the technology across the country. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>San Francisco will consider renewing its contract with Flock in February 2027. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“These policies are a step in the right direction, but they’re not a solution to the problem,” Schwartz said. “We’re still going to keep fighting this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "after-sleeping-tesla-driver-crashes-into-patrol-car-chp-investigates",
"title": "After Sleeping Tesla Driver Crashes Into Patrol Car, CHP Investigates",
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"headTitle": "After Sleeping Tesla Driver Crashes Into Patrol Car, CHP Investigates | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california-highway-patrol\">California Highway Patrol\u003c/a> is investigating an incident in which a man fell asleep at the wheel of a self-driving Tesla and crashed into a CHP cruiser.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Shortly before midnight Tuesday, CHP was on the scene of a fatal crash near Air Base Parkway in Fairfield, where one person had reportedly died. CHP closed several lanes of I-80, with first responders already on the scene.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Dashcam footage released by CHP on Thursday shows the Tesla speeding past road flares and cones before driving head-on into the rear of the parked patrol car. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>According to CHP, two officers standing behind the vehicle were able to run out of the way, but two other officers were inside the patrol car that the Tesla struck. In the video, one officer remains inside the vehicle after the collision, while another stumbles out and appears to collapse. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CHP-Getty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12042545\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CHP-Getty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CHP-Getty-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CHP-Getty-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CHP-Getty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CHP-Getty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CHP-Getty-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A California Highway Patrol officer drives on State Route 52 on Sept. 28, 2024. (Kevin Carter/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Both were suffering from serious injuries, and CHP said they both spent the night in a Fairfield hospital and were released the next day. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The person at the wheel of the Tesla was identified as a 22-year-old from Sacramento. He sustained minor injuries, and investigators said he was not inebriated. He told CHP at the scene that he was asleep while using the vehicle’s Full Self-Driving feature when the crash occurred. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s pretty alarming,” CHP spokesperson Sgt. Andrew Barclay told KQED. “From any first responder’s perspective, to hear somebody say they were letting their vehicle drive themselves while they were sleeping, it’s a pretty incredible thing.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Barclay said that the investigation will include downloading the Tesla’s data and onboard footage to determine the specifics of the crash. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Despite its name, Full Self-Driving is not fully autonomous. It is an SAE Level 2 driver assistance system that requires continuous driver supervision,” CHP wrote in \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DeiP9wok36w/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&cplk=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==&srtk=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==\">a social media post\u003c/a> about the incident. “Technology does not relieve drivers of their responsibility to safely operate their vehicles. Distracted and inattentive driving can have devastating consequences.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tesla did not respond to a request for comment, but CHP is holding the driver — not the company — accountable for the crash. According to \u003ca href=\"https://www.tesla.com/fsd\">Tesla’s website\u003c/a>, “currently enabled features require active driver supervision and do not make the vehicle autonomous.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As for possible legal recourse, Barclay said it has taken a while for the law to catch up to new technology such as autonomous driving and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102184/california-cracks-down-on-e-motos-youth-e-bike-riders-with-new-laws\">e-bikes\u003c/a>. While there are clear vehicle code violations at play, he said, the law has not accounted for these exact scenarios. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“There’s no specific law that says if you sleep while operating a full self-driving vehicle, this is the crime,” Barclay said. “There’s nothing like that. So this is where we have to look at current laws on the books and see which applies, which doesn’t.”\u003cbr>\u003cbr>“Ultimately, it’s going to be up to the area office and their determination of where they want to go,” Barclay said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He said that the CHP could potentially request that the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoke the man’s driver’s license, which the DMV can independently do without the CHP’s recommendation. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Everything is on the table at the moment, nothing has been ruled out, we are continuing to evaluate the circumstances and determine the best course of action,” Barclay said. “I think we can all agree that someone who admits to sleeping while their vehicle drives is probably not someone who’s safe to be on the roadway.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Shortly before midnight Tuesday, CHP was on the scene of a fatal crash near Air Base Parkway in Fairfield, where one person had reportedly died. CHP closed several lanes of I-80, with first responders already on the scene.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Dashcam footage released by CHP on Thursday shows the Tesla speeding past road flares and cones before driving head-on into the rear of the parked patrol car. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>According to CHP, two officers standing behind the vehicle were able to run out of the way, but two other officers were inside the patrol car that the Tesla struck. In the video, one officer remains inside the vehicle after the collision, while another stumbles out and appears to collapse. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Both were suffering from serious injuries, and CHP said they both spent the night in a Fairfield hospital and were released the next day. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The person at the wheel of the Tesla was identified as a 22-year-old from Sacramento. He sustained minor injuries, and investigators said he was not inebriated. He told CHP at the scene that he was asleep while using the vehicle’s Full Self-Driving feature when the crash occurred. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It’s pretty alarming,” CHP spokesperson Sgt. Andrew Barclay told KQED. “From any first responder’s perspective, to hear somebody say they were letting their vehicle drive themselves while they were sleeping, it’s a pretty incredible thing.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Barclay said that the investigation will include downloading the Tesla’s data and onboard footage to determine the specifics of the crash. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Despite its name, Full Self-Driving is not fully autonomous. It is an SAE Level 2 driver assistance system that requires continuous driver supervision,” CHP wrote in \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DeiP9wok36w/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&cplk=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==&srtk=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==\">a social media post\u003c/a> about the incident. “Technology does not relieve drivers of their responsibility to safely operate their vehicles. Distracted and inattentive driving can have devastating consequences.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Despite its name, Full Self-Driving is not fully autonomous. It is an SAE Level 2 driver assistance system that requires continuous driver supervision,” CHP wrote in \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DeiP9wok36w/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&cplk=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==&srtk=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==\">a social media post\u003c/a> about the incident. “Technology does not relieve drivers of their responsibility to safely operate their vehicles. Distracted and inattentive driving can have devastating consequences.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Tesla did not respond to a request for comment, but CHP is holding the driver — not the company — accountable for the crash. According to \u003ca href=\"https://www.tesla.com/fsd\">Tesla’s website\u003c/a>, “currently enabled features require active driver supervision and do not make the vehicle autonomous.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Tesla did not respond to a request for comment, but CHP is holding the driver — not the company — accountable for the crash. According to \u003ca href=\"https://www.tesla.com/fsd\">Tesla’s website\u003c/a>, “currently enabled features require active driver supervision and do not make the vehicle autonomous.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>As for possible legal recourse, Barclay said it has taken a while for the law to catch up to new technology such as autonomous driving and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102184/california-cracks-down-on-e-motos-youth-e-bike-riders-with-new-laws\">e-bikes\u003c/a>. While there are clear vehicle code violations at play, he said, the law has not accounted for these exact scenarios. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>As for possible legal recourse, Barclay said it has taken a while for the law to catch up to new technology such as autonomous driving and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102184/california-cracks-down-on-e-motos-youth-e-bike-riders-with-new-laws\">e-bikes\u003c/a>. While there are clear vehicle code violations at play, he said, the law has not accounted for these exact scenarios. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“There’s no specific law that says if you sleep while operating a full self-driving vehicle, this is the crime,” Barclay said. “There’s nothing like that. So this is where we have to look at current laws on the books and see which applies, which doesn’t.”\u003cbr>\u003cbr>“Ultimately, it’s going to be up to the area office and their determination of where they want to go,” Barclay said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“There’s no specific law that says if you sleep while operating a full self-driving vehicle, this is the crime,” Barclay said. “There’s nothing like that. So this is where we have to look at current laws on the books and see which applies, which doesn’t.”\u003cbr>\u003cbr>“Ultimately, it’s going to be up to the area office and their determination of where they want to go,” Barclay said.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>He said that the CHP could potentially request that the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoke the man’s driver’s license, which the DMV can independently do without the CHP’s recommendation. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>He said that the CHP could potentially request that the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoke the man’s driver’s license, which the DMV can independently do without the CHP’s recommendation. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Everything is on the table at the moment, nothing has been ruled out, we are continuing to evaluate the circumstances and determine the best course of action,” Barclay said. “I think we can all agree that someone who admits to sleeping while their vehicle drives is probably not someone who’s safe to be on the roadway.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The 22-year-old man from Sacramento told authorities that he had fallen asleep at the wheel while his Tesla was in self-driving mode.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california-highway-patrol\">California Highway Patrol\u003c/a> is investigating an incident in which a man fell asleep at the wheel of a self-driving Tesla and crashed into a CHP cruiser.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Shortly before midnight Tuesday, CHP was on the scene of a fatal crash near Air Base Parkway in Fairfield, where one person had reportedly died. CHP closed several lanes of I-80, with first responders already on the scene.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Dashcam footage released by CHP on Thursday shows the Tesla speeding past road flares and cones before driving head-on into the rear of the parked patrol car. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>According to CHP, two officers standing behind the vehicle were able to run out of the way, but two other officers were inside the patrol car that the Tesla struck. In the video, one officer remains inside the vehicle after the collision, while another stumbles out and appears to collapse. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CHP-Getty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12042545\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CHP-Getty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CHP-Getty-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CHP-Getty-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CHP-Getty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CHP-Getty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CHP-Getty-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A California Highway Patrol officer drives on State Route 52 on Sept. 28, 2024. (Kevin Carter/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Both were suffering from serious injuries, and CHP said they both spent the night in a Fairfield hospital and were released the next day. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The person at the wheel of the Tesla was identified as a 22-year-old from Sacramento. He sustained minor injuries, and investigators said he was not inebriated. He told CHP at the scene that he was asleep while using the vehicle’s Full Self-Driving feature when the crash occurred. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s pretty alarming,” CHP spokesperson Sgt. Andrew Barclay told KQED. “From any first responder’s perspective, to hear somebody say they were letting their vehicle drive themselves while they were sleeping, it’s a pretty incredible thing.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Barclay said that the investigation will include downloading the Tesla’s data and onboard footage to determine the specifics of the crash. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Despite its name, Full Self-Driving is not fully autonomous. It is an SAE Level 2 driver assistance system that requires continuous driver supervision,” CHP wrote in \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DeiP9wok36w/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&cplk=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==&srtk=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==\">a social media post\u003c/a> about the incident. “Technology does not relieve drivers of their responsibility to safely operate their vehicles. Distracted and inattentive driving can have devastating consequences.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tesla did not respond to a request for comment, but CHP is holding the driver — not the company — accountable for the crash. According to \u003ca href=\"https://www.tesla.com/fsd\">Tesla’s website\u003c/a>, “currently enabled features require active driver supervision and do not make the vehicle autonomous.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As for possible legal recourse, Barclay said it has taken a while for the law to catch up to new technology such as autonomous driving and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102184/california-cracks-down-on-e-motos-youth-e-bike-riders-with-new-laws\">e-bikes\u003c/a>. While there are clear vehicle code violations at play, he said, the law has not accounted for these exact scenarios. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“There’s no specific law that says if you sleep while operating a full self-driving vehicle, this is the crime,” Barclay said. “There’s nothing like that. So this is where we have to look at current laws on the books and see which applies, which doesn’t.”\u003cbr>\u003cbr>“Ultimately, it’s going to be up to the area office and their determination of where they want to go,” Barclay said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He said that the CHP could potentially request that the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoke the man’s driver’s license, which the DMV can independently do without the CHP’s recommendation. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Everything is on the table at the moment, nothing has been ruled out, we are continuing to evaluate the circumstances and determine the best course of action,” Barclay said. “I think we can all agree that someone who admits to sleeping while their vehicle drives is probably not someone who’s safe to be on the roadway.”\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"meta": {
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"source": "BBC World Service"
},
"link": "/radio/program/bbc-world-service",
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"rss": "https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/p02nq0gn.rss"
}
},
"californiareport": {
"id": "californiareport",
"title": "The California Report",
"tagline": "California, day by day",
"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-California-Report-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareport",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 8
},
"link": "/californiareport",
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"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/26099305-72af-4542-9dde-ac1807fe36d5/kqed-s-the-california-report",
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}
},
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"id": "californiareportmagazine",
"title": "The California Report Magazine",
"tagline": "Your state, your stories",
"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
"airtime": "FRI 4:30pm-5pm, 6:30pm-7pm, 11pm-11:30pm",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareportmagazine",
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"order": 10
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM3NjkwNjk1OTAz",
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},
"city-arts": {
"id": "city-arts",
"title": "City Arts & Lectures",
"info": "A one-hour radio program to hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/cityartsandlecture-300x300.jpg",
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"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
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"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
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"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
"closealltabs": {
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
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"order": 1
},
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"id": "code-switch-life-kit",
"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"meta": {
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
"airtime": "THU 10pm, FRI 1am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"meta": {
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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"id": "forum",
"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
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"freakonomics-radio": {
"id": "freakonomics-radio",
"title": "Freakonomics Radio",
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"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/freakonomicsRadio.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
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},
"fresh-air": {
"id": "fresh-air",
"title": "Fresh Air",
"info": "Hosted by Terry Gross, \u003cem>Fresh Air from WHYY\u003c/em> is the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues. One of public radio's most popular programs, Fresh Air features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries.",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"here-and-now": {
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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},
"hidden-brain": {
"id": "hidden-brain",
"title": "Hidden Brain",
"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
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},
"how-i-built-this": {
"id": "how-i-built-this",
"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this",
"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
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},
"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"order": 15
},
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},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
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"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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}
},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
}
},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
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"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
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"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "On Our Watch from NPR and KQED",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"subscribe": {
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510360/podcast.xml"
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