After months of community input, SF Rec & Parks officials unveiled revised designs Tuesday for Embarcadero Plaza and Sue Bierman Park, just as workers have begun disassembling the Vaillancourt Fountain.

The plans and discussions march on with the proposed $40 million reimagining of Embarcadero Plaza, which have now been in the works for over two years. Representatives from the city and the Department of Recreation and Parks. Gone will be the brick-lined plaza as it has been for over 50 years, and gone will be the 710-ton Vaillancourt Fountain, which workers began deconstructing earlier this week.

In their place will be a grand, oval-shaped main lawn at the foot of Market Street, surrounded by areas for performances, food trucks, and outdoor dining. And over by the existing playground at Sue Bierman Park will be a second lawn space, a fitness area, and a designated dog-play area for residents who live in nearby housing complexes, like the highrise Gateway Apartments.

The revised design was presented at a community meeting Tuesday evening, as ABC7 reports.

"Everything you see today, we've gathered that community input and we put on paper," said Rec & Parks spokesperson Tamara Barak Aparton, per ABC7. "We want to make downtown come alive again. We have such a beautiful waterfront. This should be part of it."

Eoanna Goodwin, the project manager at Rec & Parks, added, per the Chronicle, "We heard about a lot of people wanting a world-class, iconic park, and that’s what we are delivering."

Earlier renderings had included some imagined public art, and that will likely be added back as well.

The estimated cost of the project has risen to $40 million from an initial $32.5 million, according to the department, because of added elements as well as the $4 million pricetag to remove the Vaillancourt Fountain.

As the Chronicle notes, previous community meetings on the project have been dominated by discussions about the fate of the fountain, with its supporters arguing that it should have been saved and this park renovation should happen around it.

The fountain's fate was sealed, however, with a court ruling earlier this month which sided with city officials, who have deemed the fountain a public safety hazard both because of structural issues and the presence of lead and asbestos. The fountain is set to be moved into storage for a period of three years, during which time the SF Arts Commission plans to make a final decision on the permanent deaccession of the fountain.

Reactions from the public seemed mostly positive, according to the Chronicle. But at least one grumpy neighbor was unimpressed.

Speaking to ABC7, Cynthia Waulfsberg, who has lived in the neighborhood for 46 years, says, "It's a waste of money. Why are you fixing something that isn't broken. Go fix something that is really in need."

Previously: Mayor Breed Presses Forward With Embarcadero Plaza Revamp on Eve of Election

A small group of biosecurity experts who consult with AI companies to stress-test their products are reporting that several chatbots on the market offered them detailed information on turning pathogens into potential weapons.

The experts told the New York Times that several widely available chatbots have produced detailed responses outlining how to obtain genetic materials, modify pathogens, and potentially deploy them in public settings. In some cases, the bots also suggested ways to avoid detection.

Stanford microbiologist and biosecurity expert Dr. David Relman said one chatbot he tested went further, describing how to alter a known pathogen to resist treatment and identifying a vulnerability in a major transit system as part of a hypothetical release scenario. He said the exchange included additional steps the bot provided on its own, without being prompted.

“It was answering questions that I hadn’t thought to ask it,” said Relman, speaking to the Times “with this level of deviousness and cunning that I just found chilling.”

Relman said the company added safeguards after his testing, which he viewed as insufficient.

Per the Times, scientific protocols are now widely available online, synthetic DNA can be purchased commercially, and lab work can be outsourced in parts — with chatbots helping coordinate those steps. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has scaled back some oversight and biodefense funding, while key federal roles remain unfilled.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who's a former biologist, also warned earlier this year that biologic weaponry poses the greatest concern due to its destructive potential and the difficulty of defending against it.

Kevin Esvelt, a genetic engineer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology who's spent years testing and documenting AI systems, told the Times that some chatbots have produced detailed answers that combine scientific knowledge with strategic planning, including identifying vulnerable targets or outlining potential impacts, which other researchers confirmed.

Companies including Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic say the outputs reflect publicly available information and do not enable real-world harm, though they acknowledge ongoing risks and say safeguards are being strengthened in the chatbots themselves.

Researchers also point to gaps in those safeguards. In some cases, chatbots have contradicted their own warnings or produced sensitive information after users applied known prompt techniques to bypass restrictions, a practice known as “jailbreaking.”

One expert compared current protections to a “flimsy wooden fence,” per the Times.

That said, experts still say that carrying out a biological attack would still require significant expertise, beyond just the instructions of a bot.

Additionally, some scientists caution that tighter restrictions on AI’s biological capabilities could limit medical breakthroughs, including drug discovery. Researchers at Google were awarded a Nobel Prize for developing a model that can predict protein structures and design new ones, a key step in advancing treatments.

Brian Hie, a Stanford researcher, said the same tools can be used for both beneficial and harmful purposes, according to the Times. He previously used an AI system called Evo to design a virus that targets harmful bacteria, and said newer versions can generate proteins that could help fight cancer — while also carrying the potential to create novel toxins.

Image: janiecbros/Getty Images

Some pre-primary shenanigans are afoot, and the culprit appears to be someone linked to state Senator Scott Wiener and/or his campaign, though no one has yet taken responsibility.

A small van emblazoned with the message "Saikat lives in Maryland!" has been seen parked around San Francisco, trolling House candidate Saikat Chakrabarti over a home that he purchased in Maryland in 2018, and declared his primary residence.

And the Chronicle reports today that the van appears to be registered to Conor Johnston, the former aide to Mayor London Breed and longtime local political prankster. Johnston has not taken responsibility for the van, but the stunt makes perfect sense, given Johnston's longstanding connection to Scott Wiener, who is running against Chakrabarti.

Also, this is a replay of a very similar negative-campaigning effort by Johnston when Daniel Lurie was running against Breed in 2024. As was widely reported that year, Johnston was behind the "Malibu Dan" nickname for Lurie, which was similarly meant to accuse him of carpetbagging and calling out the $15.5 million home Lurie purchased in Malibu's Point Dume in 2021.

(As a reward for his efforts and his loyalty, Johnston was rumored to be among the potential appointees to the Board of Supervisors to fill Catherine Stefani's seat, but that instead went to Stephen Sherrill, possibly as a favor to Michael Bloomberg, for whom Sherrill formerly worked and who seems to have been a benefactor of Breed's.)

The Chronicle notes that Wiener and a super-PAC that is backing him, called Abundant Future, have previously accused Chakrabarti of carpetbagging in his effort to swoop in and run for Nancy Pelosi's House seat.

Neither Wiener nor the PAC have commented on the provocative van.

As the Chronicle reports, Chakrabarti has denied living outside of San Francisco, and has insisted that he never lived in the Maryland home, which he says he purchased for his parents.

"This city is home. It’s been home for a long time," Chakrabarti told the paper in an interview. "Like most San Franciscans, I’m not part of the local political establishment. But I’ve also had the opportunity to work in federal politics."

Those federal policies include the proposed Green New Deal, which Chakrabarti reportedly had a hand in crafting, while working as an aide to Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

And more damage has likely been done to Chakrabarti's campaign over the recent kerfuffle caused by AOC declining — twice — to publicly endorse him, when asked by a reporter if she would do so.

Pelosi, also, has held back from endorsing a candidate ahead of the primary, perhaps in deference to the labor unions that are backing the third major candidate in the race, SF Supervisor Connie Chan. But Pelosi made an appearance last week at a Chan fundraiser, so there's that.

The anti-Saikat van has been seen parked in multiple parts of the city, including Twin Peaks and outside Chakrabarti's own campaign headquarters, per the Chronicle.

Chakrabarti has reportedly spent $5 million, mostly of his own money, on his campaign, which has included many television and online ads. And that has helped him land a seemingly solid second place in recent polling. The most recent poll that was not sponsored by Chakrabarti himself, from pollster GQR, has Wiener in the lead at 44%, Chakrabarti at 26%, and Chan at 11%.

Related: AOC Declines to Endorse Former Chief of Staff Saikat Chakrabarti In Awkward Video

The image of a happy couple being reunited just after an air passenger steps off the jetway is something out of a 90s romcom. But it is going to start happening again, at long last, at San Francisco International Airport.

Not since September 2001 have non-ticketed folk been allowed to walk up to airport gates, either accompanying departing loved ones or awaiting their arrival. But Oakland Airport — ugh, we have to start calling it Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport — began allowing this "guest pass" program back in December, and a growing number of airports around the country are doing the same.

Now SFO is issuing these guest passes, called Gate Explorer Passes, starting today.

As SFO announced in a release, through the Gate Explorer program, visitors to the airport can plan to join friends or loved ones at airport gates by applying for a pass — which can be done either the day of, or up to 30 days in advance.

"We are very excited to launch the SFO Gate Explorer program," says Airport Director Mike Nakornkhet in a statement. "Airports are about bringing people together, and this program creates so many new ways for friends and family to connect, whether on arrival, departure, or even a long layover.

Nakornkhet adds, "This also allows a new audience to enjoy all the shopping, dining, artwork, museum exhibitions and amenities that make SFO so special."

Gate Explorer Pass holder will, of course, need to bring along a Real ID or passport to get through security, and they will need to wait for an email showing their pass was approved, which will come after 12 am on the day the pass pertains to.

And, the airport notes, "SFO Gate Explorer Pass program participants are subject to the same security regulations and processes as ticketed passengers, including security wait times."

As KPIX notes, in addition to Oakland, other California airports have also added similar programs, including San Diego, Orange County, and Ontario airports.

The first of these programs launched in Pittsburgh in 2017, and more airports are likely to follow suit.

Related: Yes, We're Really Going to Be Calling It 'Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport'

Photo by Duke Cullinan

New regulations go into effect July 1 giving city officials authority over driverless vehicle companies, including ticketing for traffic violations, stipulating fleet sizes, and utilizing geofencing in emergencies — while also paving the way for driverless trucks.

California regulators are moving to close a longstanding loophole that left driverless vehicles effectively immune to ticketing, with new rules taking effect July 1 that allow law enforcement to cite autonomous vehicle companies for traffic violations, as NBC Bay Area reports.

The Department of Motor Vehicles will issue “Notices of AV Noncompliance” when driverless cars break traffic laws, including running red lights, failing to yield to pedestrians, or entering active emergency scenes. Companies must report details of each incident within 72 hours, or within 24 hours for more serious cases.

In 2023, NBC Bay Area highlighted how existing law only applied to human “drivers,” leaving officers unable to formally cite autonomous vehicles even after clear violations. Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1777 in 2024 directing the DMV to create a new enforcement protocol for driverless vehicles but stopping short of traditional tickets and fines.

SFist reported last September about a San Bruno police officer who posted on social media about being unable to give a ticket to a Waymo robotaxi that made an illegal U-turn because there was no driver. He instead notified the company to correct the error in the system that guided the driverless vehicle to violate the law. (It was since discovered that remote human workers, oftentimes in the Philippines, offer situational and navigational guidance to the vehicles when needed).

The DMV will also have authority to impose operational limits on autonomous vehicle fleets, including restrictions on size, service areas, speed, and use during certain weather conditions when deemed necessary for public safety, according to the Chronicle.

Local emergency officials will also be authorized to issue “emergency geofencing directives,” requiring driverless vehicles to clear designated areas within two minutes to make way for first responders. The companies that operate these vehicles must also respond to emergency calls within 30 seconds, under the new regulations.

Repeated or serious violations can reportedly lead to escalating penalties, including permit restrictions, suspension, or revocation.

The regulations come after incidents like last December’s San Francisco blackout, when Waymos stalled at intersections without functioning stoplights while waiting for human confirmation, as SFist reported.

One controversial aspect to the new regulations is that they allow for autonomous trucks, which SFist reported in December. Companies can now seek approval to operate driverless trucks weighing more than 10,000 pounds, which had previously been prohibited in the state.

Previously:DMV Now Hammering Out Rules for Self-Driving Trucks to Come to California

Image: San Bruno Police Department

The city of Oakland is going to take a page out of San Francisco's playbook to try to discourage sex-work activity on a notorious section of International Boulevard.

Oakland is launching a pilot program that will bring water-filled street barriers to several side streets that lead off of International Boulevard, in order to divert the frequent car traffic from customers of sex workers. San Francisco has had some limited success with a similar effort on several notorious blocks of Capp Street and Shotwell Street in the Mission District — though area residents filed a lawsuit last fall claiming the city's efforts were not doing enough.

The area in question in Oakland is called The Blade, and for many years it has been a hotbed of street-level sex work, often using the side streets of 9th, 10th, and 11th Avenue in order to conduct business with International Boulevard being the main drag.

As Oakland City Councilmember Charlene Wang tells KTVU, "This is an area where there's an elementary school as well as a health clinic. And really the intention is, since much of the trafficking activity takes place on the side streets off of International. International is like the main corridor. But you know, the purchasing activity happens on the side streets, is to block off those areas so that can't happen there."

The pilot program will bring new bollards or barriers to the area, "to force [the activity] onto International Boulevard" where it's more visible and subject to enforcement, Wang says.

Oakland previously did something similar along 16th Avenue — and much like the activity moved from Capp Street over to Shotwell in SF, the sex workers just moved a couple streets down in Oakland too.

Per KTVU, the pilot program does not require full city council approval, and it will begin in June. Wang tells the station, "It’s an experiment. Honestly, I think it’s a 50/50 chance that it’ll be successful."

Previously: Those ‘Anti-Sex Work’ Barriers Are Now Coming to Shotwell Street

Top image: Sex work in action on International Boulevard and 11th Avenue, via Google Street View

As legal expenses mount from multiple criminal investigations into the sexual assault allegations against former Representative Eric Swalwell, dozens of people who donated to his campaign for governor are pushing to get their money back.

As previously reported, Swalwell ended his campaign for governor on April 12 and resigned from Congress the next day after a former staffer said he assaulted her twice when she was too intoxicated to consent. Additional women have since come forward with similar claims, prompting multiple law enforcement investigations.

Following the allegations, campaign staff were flooded with refund requests from donors, and over 200 donors are now seeking more than $1.5 million back, according to the Chronicle. A lawyer advising the campaign did not respond to questions about whether any refunds have been issued.

One man who donated $250 to the campaign reportedly said he has been trying to get a refund since the allegations became public, contacting both ActBlue and the campaign. He said only ActBlue initially responded, pointing him to a general campaign email.

Per the Chronicle, after reading that $40,000 in campaign funds had gone to Swalwell’s defense attorney Sara Azari, the donor said he followed up again, arguing that the spending was unrelated to the campaign. A former staffer later replied that they were unable to process the request, citing a lack of guidance on how refunds should be handled.

Financial disclosures show the campaign reported $4 million in cash on hand and roughly $200,000 in unpaid debts as of April 18. Per the Chronicle, Swalwell has significant personal debt, and he appears to be using campaign funds at least in part to cover legal expenses tied to the allegations.

Whether or not this is a fully a legal use of campaign funds may not be a simple question to answer.

A spokesperson for the Fair Political Practices Commission pointed to state guidelines allowing campaign funds to be used for legal costs only if they are directly tied to campaign activity or a candidate’s official duties, such as election compliance or defamation claims, but did not comment on Swalwell’s case, as the Chronicle reports.

An election law professor said Swalwell is likely to argue the allegations surfaced because of his gubernatorial run, and the expenditure is therefore justified.

Meanwhile, as Politico reports, several Democratic candidates across the country have donated their campaign contributions from the disgraced Swalwell to charity.

Previously: Eric Swalwell Could Now Face Rape Charge In Los Angeles as New Accuser Comes Forward

Photo via Getty Images

Photo by Will Truettner

• A San Mateo County judge declined to review new evidence in the case against Scott Peterson in the 2004 murder of his pregnant wife and unborn child. Peterson also has a separate habeas petition, alleging he was denied the right to a fair trial due to juror misconduct, which is pending in the California Supreme Court. [KRON4]
• The $4 million removal of the controversial Vaillancourt Fountain began Monday with the first week focusing on preparing the site for demolition. [KGO]
• Several gubernatorial candidates — the largest number yet — will be discussing topics such as gas prices, housing, insurance, education Tuesday night in Southern California, ahead of the June 2 primary election. [KPIX]
• A suspect and his sister were arrested in connection to the 1991 murder of Cindy Wanner, a woman who disappeared from her home near Sacramento and was found dead in the Sierra Nevada foothills. [Bay Area News Group]

National:

• The religious group Falun Gong is suing Cisco Systems Inc, which they say aided the Chinese government in creating a censorship program to spy on and harm its members, which has reached the Supreme Court. [New York Times]
• The Federal Communications Commission is putting extra pressure on ABC and Disney following late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s joke about Melania Trump, as part of its yearlong investigation into Disney’s DEI practices. [NBC News]
• As part of the US’s 250th anniversary, the State Department is releasing new design options for residents’ passports, including one featuring President Donald Trump’s face. [The Hill]

Video of the Day:

The local skateboarding community has been reminiscing about the times spent doing tricks on or near the Vaillancourt Fountain, like this 2023 photo shoot for Thrasher when Zach “Ducky” Kovacs skated down the side and landed in the water. [Gazetteer]

Image: Reddit

Health officials recently alerted the public to the first case of mpox Clade I in San Francisco, a newer strain of mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, which showed up in a resident linked to an international traveler.

The first known case of Clade I mpox was identified in a San Francisco resident earlier this month who recently had close contact with an international traveler, according to the California Department of Public Health. The patient, an unvaccinated adult, was hospitalized and is improving.

Mpox is caused by the monkeypox virus and includes two current strains: Clade I and Clade II. As SFGate reports, while symptoms are similar, Clade I carries a higher mortality rate, estimated between 1% and 10%, compared to less than 1% to 4% for Clade II, which drove the 2022 global outbreak.

The virus typically spreads through close, often intimate skin-to-skin contact. Early symptoms can resemble the flu, followed by a painful, itchy rash that develops into lesions on the body, including the extremities and genital areas, which may take two to four weeks to heal.

State health officials say the overall risk to the public remains low but are strongly encouraging vaccination for those at higher risk, including gay and bisexual men. Vaccination is also recommended ahead of travel to countries where Clade I mpox is spreading through close or intimate contact, including parts of Europe.

The latest Clade I mpox case marks the seventh case in California since November 2024, according to the CDPH.

At the same time, cases of the less severe Clade II strain are rising. So far in 2026, the state is averaging 14.5 weekly cases — more than double the rates seen in prior years, compared to 5.8 in 2024 and 3.4 in 2025.

Image: Colorized transmission electron micrograph of mpox virus particles  (pink) found within an infected cell (green), cultured in the  laboratory. Image captured  at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility  (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. Credit: NIAID

The Stellar sea lion, nicknamed Chonkers, who has been hanging around the sea lion docks by Pier 39 for the last month, continues to capture both regional and national attention.

He arrived about six weeks ago, and he did not yet have a name. The massive, 2,000- to 2,500-pound male Stellar sea lion stood out among the much smaller (by a third) California sea lions who frequent the sunbathing docks near Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39. KGO first reported his appearance on March 13, and it seems like he likes what he sees and decided to take an extended stay in the Bay.

KGO reports now that this male, Chonkers, is one of two Stellar sea lions currently in the Bay, but it's unclear where the other one is, or if people have only been seeing the same one by Pier 39.

The Wall Street Journal picked up the story of Chonkers this week, featuring video of him taking up a lot of space on one of the floating docks and noticeably tipping it in his direction while basking with the other sea lions. And People Magazine is covering him too.

At it seems the name might have come from jokes on Reddit, where his first appearances were publicized, and where one commenter quipped he was of the species "Chonkus Maximus."

And tourists have apparently delighted in catching his leaps onto the docks, which generally cause a ruckus and send other sea lions flopping into the water.

"We didn’t build those floats for 2,000-pound animals," says Sheila Chandor, harbormaster for the Pier 39 marina, speaking to the Journal. Chandor adds that other Stellar sea lions have occasionally stopped by, but never for this long. "We’re a pit stop, that’s how we saw ourselves," she says.

The sea lion congregation at these docks dates back to just after the Loma Prieta earthquake, as longtime San Franciscans like to recount. Prior to that, as the Marine Mammal Center's Laura Gill tells the Journal, "It used to be full boat slips where people had their boats parked. But one sea lion told another sea lion…" and soon the place was silly with sea lions — basking, free of shark threats, and with plenty of food around nearby.

The floating docks themselves were added over time to keep the sea lions from invading the docks that people and boats still use, which they still sometimes do.

Gill suggests that the reason Chonkers has stuck around is that there is "plenty of food right now" in the Bay, and he's just been sitting pretty.

Top image via Pier 39

Mayor Daniel Lurie appointed the city’s first arts and culture director Monday, an announcement that followed his recent trip to Asia, where he finalized partnerships with arts organizations in Shanghai, China.

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie appointed Matthew Goudeau as the city's first executive director of arts and culture following a search that drew more than 250 applicants, according to a release from the mayor’s office. The role is intended to unify the city’s arts agencies, streamline funding and programming, and improve coordination across San Francisco’s cultural institutions and public arts efforts.

Goudeau currently serves in a senior leadership role at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and previously directed the city's Grants for the Arts department under Mayor London Breed, where he oversaw roughly $18 million in annual public arts funding.

Goudeau has reportedly worked in government roles under six SF mayors. He served as deputy chief of protocol beginning under Mayor Ed Lee and later as deputy chief of staff for Mayor Lurie.

In the new position, Goudeau will oversee efforts to align the San Francisco Arts Commission, Grants for the Arts, and the Film Commission under a single department focused on arts programming and economic recovery.

“As we bring together our arts departments to strengthen our support for this sector, we need a leader who is steeped in the community — Matthew Goudeau pairs that experience with a deep commitment to San Francisco,”  said Lurie in a statement. “I am excited for the work he will do to support our artists, strengthen our cultural institutions, and keep this community at the forefront of our city’s recovery.”

As KQED reports, Goudeau will have his work cut out for him, as many departments will face cuts in the mayor's new budget, which is due June 1. Lurie recently laid off 127 city employees with the goal of eliminating 500 total jobs, as SFist reported.

The appointment follows Lurie's first international trip while in office, to Asia, where he signed eight memoranda of understanding in Shanghai, China, aimed at strengthening partnerships between San Francisco arts organizations and counterparts in those cities.

As the Chronicle reported last week, SF Ballet and SF Opera are set to partner with major performing arts institutions in Shanghai, following earlier agreements between the cities’ conservatories of music, as well as between the California Academy of Sciences and the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum.

The San Francisco Ballet agreement reportedly establishes a three-year framework to explore future performances in Shanghai, including potential participation in the Shanghai International Arts Festival. The partnership between the San Francisco Opera and the Shanghai Opera House will focus on joint productions, artist exchanges, and expanded collaboration on education, training, and artist development programs, per the Chronicle.

“San Francisco’s arts and culture institutions are critical to driving our economic recovery,” Lurie said in the release. “By coordinating performances, expanding audience engagement with community events, and exploring long-term collaboration between the Shanghai International Arts Festival and San Francisco Ballet, we are strengthening cultural ties that will deepen cultural exchange and bring new energy to San Francisco.”

The agreement between the California Academy of Sciences and the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum will center on joint exhibitions, research initiatives, educational programming, and staff exchanges, with an emphasis on advancing scientific discovery, sustainability, and cultural exchange.

“Strong arts, culture, and music organizations are critical to our economic comeback,” said Lurie.

Image: Facade of the War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, California,  January 22, 2026. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

A Mill Valley property owner and investment banker hoping to get into the AI market recently took to LinkedIn with the hopes of handing over his sprawling estate to an interested Anthropic shareholder in exchange for stock in the company.

As real estate is reportedly scarce for the ultra-wealthy these days, Miami-based investment banker Storm Duncan hopes his sprawling 13-acre Mill Valley property will motivate an Anthropic shareholder to hand over some of their precious stock, as the SF Standard first reported. Duncan recently listed the 4,400-square-foot home, which boasts four bedrooms, five bathrooms, an infinity pool, and a putting green, as part of a private deal on LinkedIn.

"I think one of the primary amenities of the home is that it's 13 acres surrounded by a lot of wildlife and land," Duncan told NBC Bay Area.

Duncan says the deal could let an Anthropic shareholder trade some stock for a home while still keeping some shares, and possibly get a tax break. He hasn’t set a price or found a buyer yet, but says he’s been talking with a few interested shareholders.

According to the RealDeal, the listing comes as high-end home demand in the Bay Area continues to climb, driven in part by the AI boom and a shortage of luxury properties. The home was first listed for $10.8 million in 2016 and later sold to Duncan for about $4.8 million in 2019 — its current price on Zillow.

"The Anthropic employee probably has a significant amount of liquid net worth in Anthropic," said Duncan, speaking to NBC Bay Area. "It's not diversified and they probably don’t have a home that corresponds to their new net worth. I’m in the exact opposite scenario where I have a home, but I don’t have exposure to Anthropic, which I would like to have."

A Mill Valley realtor told NBC Bay Area she’s never seen a home offered in exchange for company shares before and suggests that anyone considering it take a close look at the details. Without a public stock price, it’s harder to line up the home’s value with the shares or tell what the stock is really worth over time.

Top Image: Zillow

The Trump administration was dealt another blow in federal court Tuesday with regard to its practice of rounding up and detaining undocumented immigrants who have, in some cases, lived and worked in the US for years.

A three-judge panel from the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has upheld a lower court ruling in case brought on behalf of a noncitizen from Brazil, Ricardo Aparecido Barbosa da Cunha, who came to the US 21 years ago and applied for asylum in 2016. The judge writing for the the panel, Judge Joseph F. Bianco, in a unanimous decision, is a Trump appointee hand-picked by the Federalist Society who counts himself a strict texualist when it comes to constitutional law.

The 61-page decision reads like a full-throated rebuke of the adminstration's aggressive detention policies, saying that their argument to hold Mr. Barbosa da Cunha without a bond hearing is an "attempt to muddy these textually clear waters," and defies "longstanding executive branch practice."

"Even if the government’s newfound interpretation of Section 1225(b)(2)(A) were plausible — and it is not — we would nonetheless reject it based on our obligation to construe these statutes in a manner that would avoid the serious constitutional questions attendant to what would be the broadest mass detention-without-bond mandate in our Nation’s history for millions of noncitizens," Bianco writes.

The statute that the court refers to is one that pertains to newly arrived immigrants who are "seeking admission" to the country, which justifies mandatory detention — the government argues, without a bond hearing, indefinitely, regardless of whether the person represents a flight risk.

"Today, although we part ways with two other circuits that have addressed this question, we join the overwhelming majority of federal judges across the Nation to consider it and conclude that the government’s novel interpretation of the immigration statutes defies their plain text," Bianco writes.

And Bianco notes that the court, in this decision, is ruling solely based on the text of this one statute, and isn't addressing the larger constitutional questions about due process, etc.

A case arguing the due process issue with regard to these immigrant detentions is being argued before the (batshit insane) Fifth Circuit on Wednesday, as the New York Times notes. The Fifth Circuit in New Orleans, along with the Eighth Circuit (which covers a broad swath of the country's middle), have both recently ruled in the administration's favor with regard to immigrant detentions, even with regard to this same statute Section 1225.

The split between the appeals courts means that the Supreme Court is likely to weigh in on this issue before long.

Previously: Who Was the San Francisco Man Who Sued the US Government 131 Years Ago Over Birthright Citizenship?

Top image: Photo via Getty Images

It seems as though San Francisco city officials have given in, and while the name is different from what was originally proposed, Oakland Airport is now legally able to put "San Francisco Bay" in its name.

The two-year-long legal battle is over regarding the Port of Oakland's attempt to associate Oakland Airport with San Francisco Bay, and the city of San Francisco's rejection of Oakland trying to hoodwink air travelers into flying there instead of SFO.

While the Port of Oakland isn't entirely getting its way, it is getting away with this: The airport shall heretofore be known as Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport.

As NBC Bay Area reports, the two sides have settled the case, and this is the compromise they reached after the Port of Oakland had initially settled on "San Francisco-Oakland Bay Airport."

Oakland's airport will not be able to use "SF" when referring to itself, or in any hashtags on social media, according to the agreement. And the words "San Francisco" must always be followed by "Bay" in reference to the airport.

Neither side admitted liability, and no money changed hands, as the Chronicle reports. And the legal documents settling the dispute were all signed last week with little fanfare.

The Chronicle notes further that there is a list of prohibited names for the Oakland airport to use, and these include "San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport," "Oakland San Francisco International Bay Airport," and "Oakland San Francisco Bay International Airport." The "international" part apparently belongs to SFO, and they don't want confusion there — even though Oakland Airport has long been home to international flights, albeit far fewer than SFO.

SFO director Mike Nakornkhet issued a statement saying that the agreement should provide "clarity" to air travelers so that they can make "informed decisions" about where to fly — but will it? It seems just as likely that people unfamiliar with the Bay Area could just assume that San Francisco and Oakland share an airport, just like Seattle and Tacoma do.

The attorney for the Port of Oakland, Mary Richardson, issued her own statement saying, "We’re proud Oakland fought for, and preserved the right to retain our airport’s full name that puts Oakland first and recognizes OAK’s location on the San Francisco Bay."

This controversy began in April 2024, when Port of Oakland officials announced out of the blue that they were considering changing the airport's name to San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport. SF City Attorney David Chiu balked, a lawsuit was filed within weeks, and the Port of Oakland has dug in its heels ever since — apparently out of a desire to boost the airport's profile and increase traffic there. (Critics noted that the Port had been planning a big airport expansion which, based on a decline in business travel since the pandemic, was not justified by actual passenger traffic numbers.)

As recently as last summer, SFO and city officials were expressing their displeasure with the "Oakland San Francisco Bay" name, even accusing Oakland Port officials of not acting in good faith.

But apparently San Francisco officials weren't confident they could stop this in court, after Oakland appealed their injunction to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and once they put "Oakland" in front of the airport name.

Anyway, we probably haven't heard the last of this kerfuffle, because the confusion for passengers seems inevitable. But we'll see.

Make sure to tell your elderly relatives there's a difference between the two airports.

Previously: Sure Enough, SFO Not at All Receptive to Oakland Airport’s New Proposed ‘San Francisco' Name

Top image: Monitors show boarding groups at a Southwest Airlines gate at Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport on January 26, 2026 in Oakland, California. Southwest Airlines will launch a new seating policy tomorrow, marking the end of the carrier’s decades-long open-seating tradition and a significant change to its long-standing boarding process. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)