Marc Benioff pitches robo-cops to help fight crime in San Francisco | Latest Tech News
Salesforce boss Marc Benioff is pitching AI-powered “robo-cops” to help stamp out crime in San Francisco — just days after beautiful town’s political leaders by backing President Trump’s call to ship in the National Guard.
The billionaire tech mogul, still heading off fallout from his political U-turn, took the stage at his company’s Dreamforce convention this week and floated the concept that humanoid robots might in the future patrol the streets where he once wished troopers.
“Do you see this as, that you’d be selling these to SFPD?” Benioff requested Brett Adcock, CEO of San Jose robotics firm Figure AI, as the pair watched a demo on Wednesday of a so-called “synthetic human” cleansing a front room.
Salesforce boss Marc Benioff is pitching AI-powered “robo-cops” to help stamp out crime in San Francisco. Anadolu via Getty Images
““And saying [to the police], ‘Look, you’re down 500 or 1,000 officers. I can offer you robots to do some of these jobs, even if they’re not armed or not militaristic.’ Is that a role that you see them playing in cities?” Benioff said.
Adcock, who has bragged that his company is “building a new species,” dodged the query, insisting his company received’t construct machines for “military or defense applications.”
Benioff pushed again — then quipped that “Google also used to say that, by the way.”
If robots develop into “self-replicating,” he told Adcock on stage at Dreamforce on Wednesday, they will “choose on their own” what they need to do, including: “Why are you deciding for them?”
Adcock, wanting more and more uneasy, assured the group that Figure’s machines received’t be used for hurt.
“It’s just not interesting for us,” he said.
The uneasy laughter in the room urged the viewers wasn’t sure if Benioff was joking, according to SFGATE.
The billionaire tech mogul floated the concept that humanoid robots might in the future patrol the streets of San Francisco. Figure
The exchange got here just days after a New York Times interview in which Benioff, once one of town’s most liberal benefactors, declared that he “fully support[ed]” Trump and said he was “all for” deploying the National Guard to San Francisco to fight crime.
“We don’t have enough cops, so if they can be cops, I’m all for it,” Benioff told the Times.
The comment landed like a drone strike in a metropolis where the president’s title is never uttered aloud.
Mayor Daniel Lurie and District Attorney Brooke Jenkins slammed the concept, noting that crime in San Francisco has plunged to a 70-year low.
“To see tear gas and all the things that are happening — we don’t want that chaos here,” Jenkins said.
“Our job is to maintain order, and the public trusts us to get that job done.”
San Francisco political leaders have been outraged at the suggestion that town needed National Guard troops to fight crime. Anadolu via Getty Images
Benioff later softened his stance, saying his focus was merely on security as he ready to host 45,000 guests at his company’s three-day tech convention called Dreamforce — and pledged $1 million to the SFPD for hiring bonuses.
But instead of steering clear of controversy, he steered straight into sci-fi, musing onstage about robots that might exchange human cops totally.
“It’s definitely out of step and out of touch with what most San Franciscans would want,” San Francisco City Supervisor Myrna Melgar told the Times after Benioff’s earlier remarks about supporting a National Guard deployment in town.
San Francisco leaders have touted a citywide discount in crime. Bloomberg via Getty Images
“You can’t support San Francisco and want to see us invaded,” Assemblyman Matt Haney, a Democrat, told the Times.
“It’s one thing to wrongly support Trump’s misguided economic policies. It’s quite another to support a direct assault and occupation of our city.”
Even as he confronted blowback, Benioff has dismissed critics, insisting San Francisco’s largest downside is just too few officers — human or in any other case.
The Post has sought remark from Benioff.
Trump has considerably elevated National Guard deployments to major cities, focusing on those led by Democratic mayors, claiming the motion is critical to fight crime and shield federal services.
These deployments have prompted legal challenges and sparked political controversies, with critics labeling the strategy a harmful overreach, while some Republican-led states have welcomed federal assist.
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