San Francisco has deployed Microsoft’s AI-powered Copilot tool citywide to 30,000 employees, aiming to boost productivity and improve services by automating administrative tasks and integrating data across departments. Mayor Daniel Lurie emphasized that Copilot will enhance efficiency without replacing workers, supporting diverse city needs such as faster 311 responses and homelessness coordination, while also creating new job opportunities.
The city of San Francisco has announced the rollout of Microsoft’s Copilot, an AI-powered tool integrated with Microsoft 365 and powered by OpenAI’s GPT, to its 30,000 city employees. This makes San Francisco the largest U.S. city to deploy this technology citywide. The initiative aims to enhance productivity and improve city services by assisting employees such as nurses and social workers with administrative tasks like data analytics and report drafting, thereby freeing up more time for direct resident engagement.
The decision to implement Copilot follows a successful six-month pilot program involving over 2,000 city workers, which demonstrated productivity gains of up to five hours per week. Mayor Daniel Lurie highlighted specific use cases, including speeding up response times for 311 services and police, addressing issues like street trash and encampments, and providing language translation support for the city’s diverse population, which speaks over 42 languages. These applications are expected to streamline operations and improve service delivery.
Mayor Lurie emphasized that the introduction of Copilot is not intended to replace city workers but to alleviate mundane and repetitive tasks, allowing employees to focus on more impactful work. He also noted that the adoption of AI technologies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Salesforce is generating new job opportunities within San Francisco. The mayor expressed a strong commitment to leveraging AI to better serve the city’s residents and enhance overall efficiency.
One of the key benefits of Copilot, according to Mayor Lurie, is its ability to integrate data across multiple city departments. For example, the homelessness response involves nine different departments, and Copilot will help consolidate data from these various sources into a single, accessible platform. This integration is expected to improve coordination and effectiveness in addressing complex city challenges.
San Francisco’s choice of Microsoft’s Copilot was influenced by an existing contract with Microsoft, which allowed the city to add Copilot at no extra cost. While Mayor Lurie did not consult directly with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on this decision, he acknowledged Altman’s ongoing advisory role in other city business matters. As a former private sector executive new to City Hall, Mayor Lurie is optimistic about the progress made during his tenure, including revitalizing downtown San Francisco and attracting businesses back to the area.