San Francisco rolls out AI assistant to 30,000 staff

San Francisco has begun the first phase of a citywide deployment of Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat, making the AI assistant tool available to around 30,000 employees. The rollout marks one of the largest public sector uses of generative AI in a local government setting.

Daniel Lurie, Mayor of San Francisco, said the move was designed to help staff across departments spend less time on paperwork and more time serving residents.

“We’re putting that innovation to work with Microsoft Copilot Chat–allowing City Hall to better deliver for our residents,” he said. “San Francisco is setting the standard for how local government can responsibly do the same.”

The AI assistant, powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4o and hosted on Microsoft’s secure Government Community Cloud, will support tasks such as drafting reports, analysing data and summarising documents. It will be available under the city’s existing Microsoft licence at no additional cost.

According to the city, the tool will be used by a broad range of public servants, including nurses and social workers, to free up time for direct service delivery. Chris Barry of Microsoft said the aim was to reduce administrative burdens and unlock more time for “deeper, more meaningful work”.

The Department of Technology will lead a five-week training programme to prepare staff for using the tool, including live workshops and office hours. In parallel, the city will partner with nonprofit organisation InnovateUS to offer courses on responsible AI use in the public sector.

Beth Simone Noveck of InnovateUS said the initiative was about giving professionals “the AI skills and tools to improve people’s lives”, describing the rollout as part of a wider effort to build a more responsive and efficient government.

The launch follows a six-month pilot involving over 2,000 staff, who reported productivity gains of up to five hours per week. Between September and February, more than 3,000 employees took part in related training.

The city’s new generative AI guidelines, updated on 8 July, include provisions to ensure transparency, privacy, and accountability. Department-submitted AI inventories will be published publicly on the DataSF platform from mid-July.

Michael Makstman, San Francisco’s Chief Information Officer, said the rollout was not just about talking innovation, but implementing it “responsibly and at scale”. Carmen Chu, City Administrator, described the approach as a way to give staff a space to experiment and learn as the technology evolves.

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