Anthropic, the AI safety company behind Claude, just leased two more office spaces in San Francisco, continuing a trend that would have seemed unthinkable three years ago: a tech company actually expanding its physical footprint in the city.

While much of downtown SF is still nursing a commercial real estate hangover from the remote-work exodus, AI firms have been quietly — and not so quietly — filling the void. Anthropic's latest expansion is one more data point suggesting that the AI boom is doing what no amount of city-subsidized "vibrancy" initiatives could: putting bodies back in office buildings and dollars back into the local economy.

Let's be clear-eyed about what this means. More leased office space means more property tax revenue, more foot traffic for struggling downtown businesses, and more high-paying jobs anchored in San Francisco rather than drifting to Austin or Miami. From a pure fiscal standpoint, this is good news for a city that has been bleeding commercial tenants.

But — and you knew there was a "but" — we've seen this movie before. San Francisco has a long and storied history of boom-and-bust cycles, and not everyone is buying the hype. As one Bay Area resident put it: "I can't wait for the inevitable bust and they're auctioning off their $5k office chairs." Fair point. The ghosts of WeWork and countless dead startups haunt every square foot of SoMa.

Another local quipped, "Why do they need offices if the AI does everything for them?" Solid question, honestly.

The smart move for San Francisco isn't to treat Anthropic and its AI peers like saviors. It's to take the windfall seriously — use the increased tax revenue to shore up the city's finances, resist the urge to blow it on bloated new programs, and build a regulatory environment that keeps these companies here when the cycle inevitably cools. The worst thing City Hall could do is what it always does: assume the good times last forever and spend accordingly.

AI companies are placing a big bet on San Francisco. The city should try not to waste it this time.