Salesforce investing $15B to keep San Francisco ‘World’s AI Capital’

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Salesforce announced on Monday that the tech company will invest $15 billion into San Francisco over the next five years.

Billionaire Marc Benioff’s company said the hefty investment will “reinforce the city’s status as the world’s AI capital” by supporting a new Artificial Intelligence Incubator Hub on Salesforce’s San Francisco campus, growing the AI ecosystem with “workforce development and training,” and helping companies transform into “Agentic Enterprises.”

Salesforce defines an agentic enterprise as “a business where human employees and AI agents work together in a seamless, collaborative ecosystem.”

The $15-billion investment was announced on the eve of the Dreamforce conference in downtown San Francisco. Salesforce’s annual conference is pitching itself this year as “the world’s largest AI event.”

“San Francisco is a city of innovation, talent, and vision,” said Benioff, CEO of Salesforce. “This $15 billion investment reflects our deep commitment to our hometown — advancing AI innovation, creating jobs, and helping companies and our communities thrive in this incredible new era. As we welcome nearly 50,000 people, and millions more online to Dreamforce, we’re investing in the future of San Francisco and leading the next great technology transformation — where humans and AI work together to drive productivity, growth, and meaningful change.”

Benioff’s high praise of the city follows less-than-flattering comments he made last week to the New York Times. In the interview, he voiced support for President Donald Trump sending National Guard troops to San Francisco. Benioff told the NY Times, “We don’t have enough cops. If they can be cops, I’m all for it.”

Dreamforce will begin on Tuesday, bringing tech titans and 50,000 visitors to downtown. Events will be held from October 14-16.

Speakers will include Google & Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, and OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap, and Benioff. Celebrity speakers include actors Jesse Eisenberg, Rob Lowe, and Matthew McConaughey.

Salesforce is San Francisco’s largest private employer.

A Salesforce spokesperson said the company is on the cutting-edge of AI tech. Benioff’s company “started as an idea to deliver an online customer relationship management service in 1999 to help salespeople track leads. (Today it) has grown into a more than 76,000-employee company that has redefined enterprise software — from pioneering the cloud to leading the next wave of AI,” the spokesperson wrote.

Speaking to The Logan Bartlett Show last month, Benioff said the use of AI agents had enabled him to “rebalance” his company’s workforce headcount by trimming 4,000 jobs. Benioff called the first eight months of 2025, during which an estimated 10,000 jobs were lost to AI, “eight of the most exciting months of my career.”