AI-crazed San Francisco homebuyers find insane new currency to outbid rivals | Latest Tech News
Silicon Valley’s artificial intelligence increase is making home-buying in the notoriously costly Bay Area real estate market even more depressing.
In a viral post this week, Michael Hess, a founder at an AI-moderated research platform, shared a screenshot of a textual content message exchange with a realtor.
Hess in the exchange was notified that his bid on a home in the San Francisco neighborhood of Noe Valley didn’t go through. He appeared shocked.
A view of properties in North Beach on June 30, 2026, in San Francisco, California. Getty Images
“We asked $400k over asking??” he despatched, to which the realtor said the client paid in equity from OpenAI, one of the world’s most invaluable AI startups.
“That’s not even money,” Hess replied.
“The sellers want exposure to AGI,” or synthetic normal intelligence, the realtor, recognized only as Lily, said.
It’s unclear if the exchange was real, and The California Post reached out to Hess for remark. A pair social media customers concluded without evidence it was parody — but they acknowledged the same precise scenario exists in real life.
“You joke but this is exactly what happened to me,” wrote enterprise capitalist Ash Arora with a crying-face emoji.
The viral second illustrates Silicon Valley’s large financial windfall from the AI industry that has also unleashed a real estate increase in the more and more unaffordable Bay Area. Many in the tech industry are stock-rich but money poor, but the worth of their shares has opened alternatives.
Some listings have even overtly said they settle for AI shares as a methodology of fee, as many are keen to money in on mind-boggling numbers from two AI startups.
The OpenAI brand is displayed on a cell phone screen. NurPhoto via Getty Images
OpenAI was valued at $852 billion as of March — an astronomical increase in contrast to three years prior, when its valuation was at about $29 billion. Meanwhile, Anthropic’s valuation not too long ago reached a whopping $965 billion. Potential IPOs from the 2 might drive even more worth.
Many home sellers are taking the wager that equity in these AI corporations will only increase in worth with time.
“They trust that this company is a good company and that this company is a company that can deliver based on everything they’ve heard about it,” Ahmed Banafa, a tech skilled at San Jose State University, told ABC7.
But there can also be dangers, he famous, given shares can fall in worth.
According to Legal Clarity, any transactions with shares must require a buy settlement “that spells out the exact securities, the number of shares, and a specific date and time for the valuation.”
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