Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin’s relationship with tech is about as strong as a dial-up internet connection.
He has taxed Uber and Lyft rides. He has clashed with billionaire angel investors. He has urged regulators to kick e-scooters off sidewalks. He engaged in “legislative guerilla warfare” against Waymo. Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan was so enraged by Peskin’s policies he once tweeted that the supervisor should “die slow.”
In a new interview, however, Peskin struck a more conciliatory tone toward the industry he has so often butted heads with.
“I think San Francisco should actually embrace tech,” Peskin said.
Peskin’s remarks came in a wide-ranging interview with The Standard, media partner ABC7, and Kara Swisher, author and host of the “On with Kara Swisher” podcast. The journalists interviewed major mayoral candidates about the issues facing the city, like crime, homelessness, the economy, tourism, and downtown recovery.
The divisions between the tech sector and other residents over displacement should be addressed by creating an “International Center for Tech Diplomacy,” Peskin said, which would convene diplomats, civic leaders, and private-sector actors to research and negotiate the ethical development of emerging technologies across the world. Efforts to bridge divides shouldn’t prevent city regulations of robotaxis, he added.
“It doesn’t mean that we abdicate our responsibility as a government,” he said. But tech should be embraced because of “the jobs that it brings, the change it creates.”
When the interviewers pushed him on his positions on regulating driverless rideshares like Waymo, Peskin said he had never ridden in one.
Swisher asked, “Would you do it?”
“I would,” Peskin answered.
He also touched on his plans to tackle city corruption, defended his record on housing and small business, and addressed his recovery from alcohol abuse.
Watch more: