FILE: Baker Beach with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background in San Francisco. The Republican National Committee released a campaign ad Tuesday saying rising crime rates would force San Francisco to close under a second term for Joe Biden.

Takako Hatayama-Phillips/Getty Images

The Republican National Committee on Tuesday released a campaign ad that used artificial intelligence to generate images of a dystopian future should President Joe Biden be re-elected next year. San Francisco was mentioned in the ad.

The ad begins with a question: “What if the weakest president we’ve ever had was re-elected?” It then launches into a series of images — all generated by AI, an RNC spokesman told Axios — depicting fictional scenarios, each accompanied by a fake newscast. It is claimed that China would invade Taiwan, that financial markets would go into free fall after the closure of 500 regional banks, and that the country’s southern border would be overrun by a mob of “80,000 illegals”.

It also claims officials in San Francisco are “shutting down” the city over “escalating crime and the fentanyl crisis.” The AI ​​imagery shown for this segment includes the Golden Gate Bridge, soldiers lining the city streets, and a man with multiple facial tattoos smoking a cigarette.

NEW: @Axios with a first look at RNC’s video response to Biden

It’s also the committee’s first video to be 100% generated by AI software to create images that look and feel real (in this case, an imaginary dystopian view of Biden’s future wins)… pic.twitter .com/S9qH0MXINc

— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) April 25, 2023

To be honest, the ad is very strange – especially considering its forecast for San Francisco.

Discussions about crime have dominated local politics following the killing of Cash App founder Bob Lee and the bludgeoning of a city fire commissioner earlier this month, but recently released information on both incidents has challenged the initially dominant narrative. Last week, state Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that the California Highway Patrol and California National Guard would be assisting the San Francisco Police Department in fighting the city’s fentanyl crisis. But the notion that officials would actually “shut down” the city — it’s unclear what that really means — would be hard to imagine even in the worst of circumstances, especially considering cities in GOP-controlled states tend to have higher rates of violent crime .

The use of AI imagery in the ad says at least something about what political struggles might look like in the years to come. It’s the first of likely many political ads to be created using new technologies like AI image generators and voice bots.

The ad was released in response to this week’s announcement that Biden would be seeking a second term, a move that has been anticipated for months after Democrats made historic gains in last year’s midterm elections.

Alec Regimbal is a political reporter at SFGATE. He graduated from Western Washington University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. A Washington state native, Alec previously wrote for the Yakima Herald-Republic and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. He also spent two years as a political adviser in the Washington State Legislature.

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From Nov 9 through the end of January, san francisco transforms into a citywide gallery of art. The 10th annual Illuminate SF celebrates San Francisco’s vibrant art scene and one of the country’s most extensive permanent collections of light art. In just a decade, Illuminate SF has grown from six to 62 permanent and temporary light art installations created by a diverse array of renowned local and international artists. san francisco will shine even brighter this festive season with luminous installations complementing the city’s dazzling holiday lights.

SAN FRANCISCO, october 20, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — San Francisco’s Neighborhoods will transform into a luminous gallery of art at night during the holiday season for the 10th annual Illuminate SF Festival of Light. Presented by San Francisco Travel Association and 5 M in collaboration with local civic, arts and cultural partners, the 2022/2023 Illuminate SF festival runs from Nov 9 through the end of January and celebrates San Francisco’s vibrant art scene.

Inspired by the debut of Leo Villareal’s The Bay Lights, San Francisco Travel launched the festival in 2013 to brighten the longest nights of the year. Illuminate SF has grown since its inception from six to 62 temporary and permanent eco-friendly light art installations created by a diverse array of acclaimed international and local artists, including Olaf Eliasson, Jenny Holzer, Daniel Libeskind, Jorge Pardo and Jerry van Eyck, along with San Francisco Bay-based Jim Campbell, Johanna Grawunder, Dorka Keehn other Brian Goggins.

Illuminate SF light art installations can be experienced across the city from the Embarcadero to the Inner Sunset, North Beach to Bayview, and while flying in or out of san francisco International Airport (SFO). The works come to life at dusk, turning evenings into an illuminating adventure, especially when combined with exploring San Francisco’s world-class restaurants, nightlife, cultural events and holiday activations.

“There is nothing like celebrating the festive season in San Francisco’s captivating glow,” said San Francisco Travel President and CEO Joe D’Alessandro. “The city has one of the country’s most extensive collections of light art, and this holiday season Illuminate SF will be even bigger and brighter. And in keeping with San Francisco’s ethos of inclusivity and accessibility, nearly 80% of the light art installations are free for visitors and residents to enjoy.”

“We are thrilled to be the presenting sponsor for this year’s Illuminate SF and to showcase our majestic wind baffles that light The Parks at 5 M,” said Christie Donnelly, Director of Development for Brookfield Properties. “The Illuminate SF lighted art tour starts at 5 M and is quintessentially san franciscouniting community through arts, culture and experience.”

Spectacular New Additions to the Illuminate SF Festival of Light
The Wind-Baffles: The iconic wind baffle structures that anchor The Parks at 5 Ma new, vibrant community connected to the surrounding fabric of San Francisco’s SOMA District by a cohesive network of public spaces, are the brainchild of Jerry van Eyck, founder of !melk, an award-winning urban design and landscape architecture firm. Built to mitigate wind, the baffles or “wind breakers” are artfully illuminated from the outside and complemented with a soft glow that radiates through the perforations in the upper zones. Though made from steel, a material associated with heaviness and industry, the baffles are often referred to as “flowers” for their stem and leaf-like design elements. Come nightfall they transform into breathtaking sculptures and suddenly seem to float.

Helical Trace: A permanent installation inside the new LUMA Hotel in Mission Bay, Helical Trace is local artist Jim Campbell’s latest contribution to San Francisco’s Light Art Trail. The dynamic light installation can be seen from the street through the lobby’s floor-to-ceiling three-story windows. The prolific artist who installed Day for Night atop the Salesforce Tower created this striking installation that looks different from every angle and uses the reflection of the windows to amplify its movement. At a distance, the helix form gives the illusion of water across light. The figures within climb an infinite stretch of waterfall, allowing Campbell to create delight out of physical struggle.

Franchise Freedom: Immersive Arts Alliance will bring the acclaimed aerial light performance Franchise Freedom to san francisco for five nights beginning Jan 12. Created by internationally renowned Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta of DRIFT, Franchise Freedom is comprised of 600 illuminated drones that will fly from Treasure Island over the San Francisco Bay towards the Embarcadero, allowing visibility along the shorelines in san francisco, Sausalito, Emeryville other Berkeley. Based on a biological algorithm from over 10 years of research into starlings’ flight behavior, Franchise Freedom stretches boundaries between nature and technology and generates an impactful social connection.

Lucy in the Sky: One of two new light art installations joining the City’s extensive Civic Arts Collection, Erwin Redls Lucy in the Sky is a landmark artwork in the city’s new Central Subway (first opening for weekend service on Nov 19). Located in the Union Square/Market Street Station, the immersive installation is comprised of over 500 translucent 10 x 10-inch light panels, each containing an array of color LEDs. The panels are suspended along the entire length of the concourse level’s ceiling, spanning nearly 670 feet. Installed in a diamond-shaped pattern, the light panels are computer programmed to slowly change color and display simple patterns, creating a kaleidoscopic experience.

Untitled: Along the Van Ness Bus Rapid Transit (VN-BRT) Geary Street Station’s north and southbound boarding platforms, Jorge Pardos lighting sculpture brings a pop of whimsical light and color. Comprised of painted steel, fiberglass, acrylic and LED light fixtures, Untitled is playful and sophisticated with engaging use of color, form, movement, space and light.

Peace in the Middle East: Taravat Talepas and’s Peace in the Middle East returns as a permanent installation in the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts’ Grand Lobby. Hung from the ceiling, this intricate neon artwork (featuring the word “peace” in Farsi “صلح”) explores the cultural taboos that reflect on gender and political authority through Talepasand’s lens as an Iranian-American woman.

Lantern Stories: san francisco: This public art installation of 29 illustrated lanterns by award-winning interdisciplinary artist Yu-Wen Wu illuminates San Francisco Chinatown’s history, culture and community. Creating a luminous canopy on the 600 block of Grant Avenue, the lanterns relate the long and fraught history and legacy of Chinese immigration in the US They feature images of Bruce Lee, Amy Tanjournalist Helen Ziapioneer restaurateur Cecilia Chang and others. Many highlight the arts, calligraphy, music and performance, as well as the community’s strong commitment to education, entrepreneurship and social justice.

GLOW: Discover the Art of Light: The Exploratorium is bringing back its popular – GLOW: Discover the Art of Light from Nov. 17 through Jan. 29, 2023, with six artists illuminating Pier 15 with light sculptures big and small. In gallery 3, Jen Lewin’s The Last Ocean is an expansive landscape of interactive platforms that illuminate to resemble a glowing ice field. Created from reclaimed ocean plastic, the platform’s five-sided pieces form a beautiful geometric tessellation — a repeating pattern of flat shapes with no gaps.

In the Black Box, Anila Quayyam Agha’s All the Flowers are For Me is inspired by Islamic textiles, architecture, and floral motifs. A single beacon of light glows from within a suspended steel cube, producing immersive patterns that ripple and change as visitors move through the space. Similarly, Agha’s Teardrop (after Robert Irvin) interweaves delicate, traditional Islamic decorative geometric patterns and architecture with modern materials. The work is inspired by jaalis (intricate, carved screens), which cast moving shadows as the sun rises and falls.

Entangled Attraction and Raylights, a pair of installations by Resonance Studio artists Sally Weber other Craig Newswanger, immerse visitors in trails of light in motion. Entangled Attraction features 100 pinpoints of light that appear to orbit around each other when viewed from afar, while Raylights produces ever-changing, mandala-like light patterns synchronized to ambient sounds.

Let’s Glow SF: Downtown San Francisco will again boast the largest holiday projecting mapping event in the US with the return of Let’s Glow SF. Running Dec 2 to 11the nightly journey of light and color will feature stunning whimsical, abstract, and naturalistic winter-themed works by local and international artists projected onto four iconic buildings.

Click here for a complete list of 2022/2023 Illuminate SF Light Art Installations.

Find detailed information on the #IlluminateSF festival, installations and artists, plus downloadable light art maps at http://www.illuminatesf.com.

5 M
5 M is a new, vibrant mixed-use destination in the heart of san francisco located at the intersection of 5th and Mission streets. Developed by Brookfield Properties, named “Developer of the Year” by the San Francisco Business Times in 2021, the four-acre parcel was previously home to parking lots and underutilized buildings. Now, it has been transformed into a lively community for locals and visitors alike.

Connected to the surrounding fabric of the SOMA District by a cohesive network of public spaces, 5 M is anchored by a vibrant and dynamic urban park designed by !melk, an award-winning urban design and landscape architecture firm. The park offers outdoor performance space with year-round programming and special events centered around celebrating the arts, neighborhood culture and youth. The buildings located at 5 M include The George, a 20-story sustainably designed luxury apartment building and 415 Natoma, a 25-story state-of-the-art office tower offering sweeping views of the city. Additionally, two historic buildings were restored; the Camelline Building that is earmarked for retail and nonprofit uses and the Dempster Building, which Brookfield Properties donated to CAST (Community Arts Stabilization Trust) for arts and cultural uses.

SAN FRANCISCO TRAVEL ASSOCIATION
The San Francisco Travel Association is the official destination marketing organization for the City and County of san francisco. tourism is San Francisco’s largest industry. More than 26 million people visited the destination in 2019, spending $9.6 billion. More than 86,000 jobs are supported by tourism in san francisco.

For information on reservations, activities and more, visit w http://www.sftravel.com. Follow SF Travel on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Please use hashtags #sftravel and #AlwaysSF.

SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
SFO is excited to welcome travelers back to the skies with an airport experience featuring seamless access, thoughtful amenities, sustainable design and inspiring artwork and exhibits.

For up-to-the-minute departure and arrival information, airport maps and details on shopping, dining, cultural exhibitions, ground transportation, masks and COVID-related protocols and more, visit https://www.flysfo.com/. Follow us on twitter.com/flysfo and facebook.com/flysfo.

United Airlines is the preferred airline of the San Francisco Travel Association.

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Note to editors:

Media Contact

Lori LincolnSan Francisco Travel Association, 4152272603, lori@sftravel.com

SOURCE San Francisco Travel Association

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The mixed-use Potrero Power Station project, a waterfront urban development in San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighborhood, officially broke ground.

This project is located in a historic industrial area and provides for the revitalization of the decommissioned Potrero power plant, which was first built at the end of the 19th century. This development will open up much of the city’s central waterfront for the first time in 150 years. A new 29-acre mixed-use neighborhood with supposedly sustainable features will be created, accommodating 2,600 residents, 1.6 million square feet of work space, 100,000 square feet of storefronts and seven acres of green space. These include restaurants, hotels, cafes and childcare facilities, among others.

The development reportedly delivers over $ 860 million in community benefits, including hundreds of affordable housing, heritage protection, public infrastructure, and the expansion of Dogpatch’s streetscape. The original structures of the power plant will be preserved, including station A, the chimney structure and the power plant block 3, which was one of the oldest power plants still in operation in California at the time the plant was closed. The neighborhood will also prioritize active and public transportation, and all buildings are expected to meet or exceed LEED Gold standards.

In the heart of the area, Foster + Partners designed two residential mixed-use buildings with affordable residential units.

Armstrong Yakubu, Senior Partner at Foster + Partners, said: “This project is a unique opportunity to revitalize a former industrial district and to breathe new life into this part of San Francisco. Our proposals will deliver much-needed homes guided by a people, sustainability and community-borne design approach rooted in the site’s rich history. It is our goal to give Dogpatch an ideal urban framework in order to create a lively, healthy and integrative living and working community of the 21st century. “

Inspired by the traditional courtyards and alleys of the district, the buildings are grouped around a central, ground-level open space, lined with local shops and local supplies. Pedestrian and cycle paths lead through these spaces and create new connections with the environment. The lower floors of the buildings house several common social rooms and co-working areas, which are a focus of activity throughout the day.

The design is based on a series of interconnected two-story elements within a modular organizational grid that allows both spatial and programmatic flexibility. The buildings combine to form a dynamic arrangement of step blocks. In addition, the apartments have been carefully designed to maximize fresh air, natural light and access to the leafy terraces throughout the property. The new district park is visually and physically connected to the garden roof terraces with a view of the water.

The Potrero Power Station mixed-use project was unanimously approved by the San Francisco Planning Commission and the city’s board of directors early last year. Developer Associate Capital bought the property for $ 86 million in 2016, and Perkins and Will oversaw the development master plan. The project will be built in six phases and has an estimated duration of 16 years.

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