San Francisco Deploys Microsoft Copilot AI for 30,000 City Workers

San Francisco is implementing Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat, powered by OpenAI's GPT-4o, to provide AI tools to nearly 30,000 city employees, including nurses and social workers, aiming to streamline administrative tasks and improve service efficiency. This rollout follows a successful six-month pilot involving over 2,000 workers, which reported productivity gains of up to five hours per week and improvements in handling services like multilingual translation and responding to resident needs. The AI deployment is part of San Francisco's broader strategy to maintain its status as a global AI innovation leader, leveraging the city's concentration of AI companies and partnerships with Silicon Valley firms. The city will offer a five-week training program in collaboration with Microsoft, alongside courses on responsible AI use provided through a nonprofit, InnovateUS. Updated Generative AI Guidelines, including an AI Transparency Ordinance, ensure data security, fact-checking, and public awareness of AI's role in city government. This initiative marks one of the largest generative AI adoptions by a local government in the U.S., with no additional cost to the city under its existing Microsoft license.