English Bulldog Puppies for Sale in San Jose, CA

OpenAI said Tuesday it would restructure as a for-profit company in a way that addresses concerns from California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who signed off on the transformation.

But details of the move could revive worries that San Francisco-based OpenAI is misusing charitable tax exemptions, experts and advocates told CalMatters. The ChatGPT maker is putting its nonprofit arm nominally in control of the for-profit entity, but there are numerous ways the for-profit company could end up calling the shots, these people said.

There are also important, unanswered questions about the safeguards that are supposed to keep that from happening.

Under the restructuring, the newly-formed OpenAI Foundation will hold about 26 percent of OpenAI’s valuation, a share amounting to $130 billion, instantly making it one of the most well-endowed philanthropic organizations in the world. Microsoft, company employees, and other investors will hold the rest.

The controlling nonprofit foundation can appoint members of the for-profit board of directors and, through a special committee, step in to address AI safety concerns. The company also pledged to remain in California.

OpenAI did not respond to a CalMatters request for additional details about potential safeguards to preserve the independence of the OpenAI Foundation.

OpenAI’s plans came under scrutiny in California because Bonta, along with Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings, wanted to ensure the company stayed true to the mission laid out in its charter when the organization was founded as a nonprofit a decade ago to make artificial intelligence that benefits humanity. The company had pledged all “assets are irrevocably dedicated” to this purpose.

OpenAI has faced criticism for a wide range of impacts on society. In August, the parents of California teenager Adam Raine alleged in a lawsuit that ChatGPT coached him on how to commit suicide. The company put restrictions on its generative AI video app Sora 2 after depictions of Martin Luther King Jr were criticized as disrespectful. Lawmakers in California have also moved to mitigate rising power consumption and proliferation of data centers driven by ChatGPT and similar tools. At the same time, the company has helped drive an AI boom that has seen Big Tech companies surge money into state tax coffers.

Bonta and Jennings have both now signed agreements with OpenAI blessing its new structure.

“We will be keeping a close eye on OpenAI to ensure ongoing adherence to its charitable mission and the protection of the safety of all Californians,” Bonta wrote.

Robert Bartlett, a professor of law and business at Stanford Law School, has studied and worked in the venture capital ecosystem for three decades. He said OpenAI’s start as a nonprofit was unusual and related to its unique mission around artificial intelligence. But it found being a nonprofit restrictive, making it difficult to raise capital and compensate its employees with equity in the company. Its restructuring should pave the way for an eventual initial public offering.

Bartlett said the new arrangement that the nonprofit, a minority stakeholder, will have oversight of the public benefit corporation is also unusual. He said the deal envisions a “pretty active role” for the nonprofit’s safety committee, which will include the right to control safety procedures and halt the release of AI models made by the corporation. OpenAI previously named four members of the safety committee on its website and has said all current members of the non-profit board will serve on the for-profit board, with some as observers.

But not knowing exactly how much overlap there might be between the boards of the nonprofit and the corporation is a big question, as is the ultimate composition of the committee, Bartlett said.

“We’ll have to see what happens, who’s on the committee, how active (they are), and their relationship to OpenAI,” Bartlett said. “Will (the structure) be meaningful and consistent with the AG’s focus on safety?”

Steven Adler previously led a product safety team at OpenAI. On Tuesday he published an op-ed in the New York Times that argues that the company can’t be trusted when they say they can safely deploy erotica chatbots in part because it has a history of ignoring risks.

He told CalMatters that under the restructure that he thinks the nonprofit’s safety committee needs more independence to operate effectively. “I hope that a truly independent body will do a better job of protecting the organization’s mission than one that feels any pull toward profits,” he said.

OpenAI’s restructuring drew ire from Eyes On OpenAI, a coalition of more than 60 California nonprofit organizations who have argued for more than a year that attorneys general should force the company to transfer its assets to an independent nonprofit entity. The precedent for this approach comes from Blue Cross of California, which started as a nonprofit. Following a transfer of assets to a for-profit subsidiary in the 1990s, that organization gave more than $3 billion in stock to two foundations.

San Francisco Foundation chief Impact Officer Judith Bell, a member of the Eyes on OpenAI coalition, said the deal could set a precedent for startups to evade taxes, and is also concerned that under the restructuring the same people can serve on boards of directors for the for-profit and the nonprofit.

“There’s a bazillion conflicts of interest here,” she said, adding that those conflicts are particularly worrisome given the broad potential harms the foundation needs to keep an eye on, including how the tech impacts children, the economy, the workplace, and society.

The deal speaks to the tremendous influence of a corporation to push forward a deal, said Orson Aguilar, director of the advocacy nonprofit LatinoProsperity and a member of the Eyes On OpenAI coalition.

He believes OpenAI lost its way when key executives realized they could make an enormous amount of money for themselves. Members of the nonprofit board, meanwhile, variously quit and lost influence after some of them attempted to oust CEO Sam Altman in 2023.

“The nonprofit continues to operate under the influence of the for-profit it supposedly oversees and that’s been our biggest objection and nothing today tells us that anything meaningful has changed that,” he said.

Khari Johnson and Levi Sumagaysay are reporters with CalMatters.

What you need to know: After months of negotiations, the City of San Jose has agreed to collaborate with Caltrans to address unsheltered homelessness within its city limits.

SAN JOSE — California announced today that the City of San Jose has entered into an agreement with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to help clear encampments that migrate onto state rights-of-way in the city. San Jose is joining 21 other cities that have already signed such agreements.

“Living in dangerous and unsanitary encampments should never be someone’s only option. In California, we’ve built systems of care — real alternatives that get people indoors and connected to treatment, housing, and stability.

“I’m glad to see San Jose stepping up with the state to reduce unsheltered homelessness and address encampments in the city. As a former mayor myself, I get how tough local management can be — but this is what partnership looks like – the city and state rolling up their sleeves to support this community together.”

Governor Gavin Newsom

The agreement streamlines the process of clearing encampments that have migrated onto state rights-of-way within San Jose city limits by authorizing the city to conduct removal operations directly. It requires San Jose to conduct encampment cleanups and maintenance activities in a manner aligned with state and local policies. And it requires specific reporting and accountability to ensure that eligible costs reimbursed by the state are tracked and used effectively and transparently.

Cleanup operations will continue to prioritize encampments that pose health and safety risks, such as those located near active traffic lanes, confined spaces, unstable structures, or areas where unhoused individuals face a heightened risk of injury. Under the agreement, San Jose maintenance and landscape crews will be responsible for removing litter, debris, weeds, and resolving encampments in designated state right-of-way areas. Similar agreements have already been established between Caltrans and the cities of San Francisco and San Diego.

These agreements add to work that has been underway since 2021 by the state, with Caltrans having removed more than 19,000 encampments on state right-of-way and collected approximately 354,000 cubic yards of litter and debris. From July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, Caltrans removed 115 encampments in the City of San Jose — an increase of more than 50 percent from the previous fiscal year — and collected 9,200 cubic yards of debris.

Since 2019, through the Department of Housing and Community Development, the state has provided the City of San Jose $482.6 million to create new housing, which includes $126.8 million to specifically assist San Jose in addressing homelessness. California has also provided the County of Santa Clara with $246.7 million, which includes projects benefiting the City of San Jose.

The collaboration is a hallmark of Governor Newsom’s work with local governments, including through the State Action for Facilitation of Encampments (SAFE) Task Force — established to urgently address encampments and accelerate access to care and services. Although San Jose informed the state it was unable to provide required services to assist with the task force, since August, SAFE has executed removal operations in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Anaheim and Fresno, marshaling state agencies and local partners to remove unsafe encampments and deliver social services, health care, substance use support and temporary and longer-term housing options.

Strategies that work

Governor Newsom is the first Governor to make addressing homelessness – an issue decades in the making – a top priority. Since taking office in 2019, the Governor has created unprecedented policy and structural changes in state government to help California better address its housing and homelessness crises, including additional and unprecedented support for local governments, stronger accountability and enforcement, transformational changes to mental health services and state government, and groundbreaking reforms to create more housing, faster than ever before.

Bay Area restaurants are stepping up to provide meals to families affected by the ongoing federal government shutdown and the looming loss of food stamps.

Tony & Alba’s Pizza & Pasta in San Jose is offering free meals to children and a 25% discount to parents until the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is funded. While the program, known as CalFresh in California, allows struggling families to buy food, the Trump administration has said no food aid will go out starting Saturday. Roughly 2 million of the state’s 5.5 million recipients are children, according to state data.

Tony & Alba’s customer Carlos Renteria, a single parent with six kids, said providing food to the community is a huge help. Customer Linda Gonzalez appreciates it as well.

“People are in need right now,” Gonzalez told San José Spotlight. “The owners are really nice people and they’re always giving. They even give to the homeless.”

Diana Vallorz, who owns Tony & Alba’s with her husband Al, said she knows what it feels like to depend on others for assistance. When she was young, her father was hospitalized for three months, leaving her mother, who spoke limited English, to raise four children on her own. She said providing children with a meal consisting of pizza or pasta, carrots, fruit and milk or juice will make them feel like somebody cares.

“There are many, many children that are having to go through this right now,” she told San José Spotlight, referring to the food benefit freeze. “Their parents are working, and they need that extra help, but now that extra help is gone.”

After the Italian restaurant posted on social media about the free meals, other restaurants throughout the Bay Area followed, including the Shrimp’n Ain’t Eazy food truck in East San Jose, Monster Pho in Oakland and Al Pastor Papi in San Francisco. Starting Nov. 1, Shrimp’n Ain’t Eazy is providing a free chicken garlic rice burrito and a drink for children. Al Pastor Papi is contributing a free burrito and Monster Pho beef, chicken or vegetarian pho.

Monster Pho owner Tee Tran said his family depended on government support and food banks when they emigrated from Vietnam. Now he donates meals to homeless people and older adults.

“I understand what it’s like to not have food on the table,” he told San José Spotlight. “So, when I saw (Tony & Alba’s) do it … I didn’t even think twice about it. Even though restaurants have a hard time right now, when we hear about kids not getting enough food to eat, we just want to help.”

Tony & Alba’s plan to take their offer of free and discounted meals a step further. Al Vallorz said in early November he plans to contact local schools to share a list of restaurants offering free food to children. He’s also compiling the list to share on his restaurant’s website.

He said community contributions help support the restaurant’s ongoing charity program “Random Acts of Pizza,” which includes giving gift certificates to churches to distribute and providing farmworkers with socks. The program has roots in the pandemic, when the restaurant delivered free pizza to older adults.

“Our business succeeds because of the community. So, it’s our responsibility to give back,” he told San José Spotlight.

“They’re wondering, ‘What are we going to do? We have these kids that we have to feed,'” she said. “They were just appreciative knowing that we are thinking about them. It makes me feel good that like I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing. I feel like my father … would be happy about this.”

Contact Lorraine Gabbert at lorrainegabbertsjspotlight@gmail.com.

SAN JOSÉ, CA — The Housing Action Coalition, joined by SPUR, San José YIMBY, and Abundant Housing LA, praised the San José City Council this week for directing staff to study allowing six-story apartment buildings with a single staircase, a move advocates say could unlock thousands of new homes while maintaining strict safety standards.

The policy, introduced by Mayor Matt Mahan and Councilmembers Pamela Campos, Anthony Tordillos, David Cohen, and Michael Mulcahy, positions San José among the first cities in California to explore Seattle’s single-stair model. The council approved the proposal with support from Mahan, Campos, Tordillos, Cohen, Mulcahy, Kamei, Candelas, Casey, and Foley.

“We can’t say we want more housing while layering on new processes that make it harder to build,” said Mayor Mahan. “Construction costs in California are already among the highest in the nation — driven by some of the most extensive, overly-complicated regulations anywhere. We should be focused on removing unnecessary barriers so we can build more homes faster, safely and affordably.”

Assemblymember Alex Lee, who authored AB 835 in 2023, called the move an example of “proven common sense solutions.” “My home city of San José can show what cities across the world understand: that we can build beautiful, affordable, infill urban housing that doesn’t need massive lots,” Lee said.

Ali Sapirman, Advocacy and Policy Manager at the Housing Action Coalition, said the decision showed “the kind of evidence-driven innovation California needs.” Sapirman added, “San José’s leadership on single-stair reform sends a clear signal: we can make housing safer and more attainable, without unnecessary barriers.”

Single-stair buildings are a standard design in cities like Seattle, Copenhagen, and Tokyo, allowing for light-filled, naturally ventilated housing at moderate heights. Research from the Pew Charitable Trusts and decades of Seattle data show no difference in fire-safety outcomes between single- and double-stair buildings when sprinklers, fire-rated materials, and pressurized stairwells are used.

“As a Councilmember, I’m working to make it easier and less costly to build homes across San José,” said Councilmember Tordillos. “Single-stair housing—widely used across Europe and Asia, and now gaining momentum in cities and states across the U.S.—can help unlock new infill housing, lower construction costs, and give more families the stability to stay and thrive right here in San José.”

Councilmember Cohen called the measure “a simple but consequential policy.” “By exploring innovative, proven models like the single-stair design, San José is demonstrating that we can build more sustainably and efficiently without compromising safety,” he said. “I’m proud to support this evidence-based step toward a more livable San José.”

Councilmember Campos emphasized the need for affordability and dignity in housing. “Every person in San José deserves to live with dignity and in a place they can afford. Unfortunately, every day, San José families make significant compromises to find housing here, including living in overcrowded and substandard conditions,” Campos said. “My colleagues and I are proud to propose that the City use the same safe building standards already in place in major cities—like Seattle and New York—to make housing more affordable here at home.”

Supporters said adopting single-stair construction would help fill the “missing middle” of housing—the smaller apartment buildings and courtyard housing that fit between duplexes and high-rise towers. For small lots, double-stair requirements often make projects physically or financially impossible.

“Seattle has had a single-stair policy since 1977,” said San José YIMBY. “In California, building new homes is far too expensive and requiring multiple staircases is one of the reasons why. Eliminating onerous requirements is one of the ways we can make it cheaper and faster to meet our community’s need for new homes.”

SPUR, an urban policy think tank, added, “Single-stair building design is allowed in other countries and some American cities such as New York City and Seattle and is essential to make infill housing development—particularly on small and often odd-shaped lots—effective. San José can ensure fire safety standards for tenants, reduce the cost of residential development, and increase housing production by adopting this change and we commend Mayor Mahan and city council members for bringing this item forward.”

Alex Shoor, Executive Director of Catalyze Silicon Valley, said the reform was one of many tools needed to combat the housing crisis. “Throughout California, we are fighting the figurative fire of a housing crisis continuing to rage and spread. We must extinguish it. That requires a lot of methods using different tools in our toolbelt. Reforming how buildings are built is a key method,” Shoor said. “Greater flexibility to develop buildings using single-stair construction is a promising tool. Fortunately, it is already employed across the world and the U.S. San José’s policy can learn from these models as we study our own, one that protects the balance between cost savings, speed, and safety.”

“In LA County, Culver City recently voted unanimously to legalize single-stair buildings up to six stories,” said Scott Epstein, Director of Policy and Research with Abundant Housing LA. “We’re excited that San José is on the cusp of doing the same! This simple change is pivotal to unlocking small-scale, beautiful, and livable buildings in cities across the state.”

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A massive fire broke out at Alum Rock park in San Jose, California on Thursday. The blaze prompted evacuation warnings from authorities. The California Fire Santa Clara Unit and San Jose Fire Department said they were responding to the five-acre fire that broke out near Penitencia Creek Road.

Multiple air and ground resources are enroute, authorities said. The initial post from the Santa Clara unit said firefighters were responding to a Tier 1 vegetation fire ‘approximately the size of three football fields’. While Park Rangers evacuated the area, people were urged to avoid the spot even as air support was called in.

In further updates, the San Jose Fire Department noted that it had been raised to a Tier 2 ‘with multiple off-road-capable Type 6 Engines en route’. They noted that the rate of spread was increasing due to wind picking up but no structures were threatened at this time.

A further update said thatr reponse was upgraded to Tier 3. The map of where the fire was burning was shared by them as well.

Visuals of the blaze began to do the rounds on social media. One person on Facebook wrote “There is a fire in Alum Rock Park. It’s spreading fast!!”

The video showed thick smoke rising as the fire appeared to cover a large area.

Another person shared images where a lot of smoke could be seen from what appeared to be a residential area. “Does anybody out there know with this big fire up in the East hills is located at? Maybe East above Alum Rock Park??,” they asked on Facebook.

Another page on the platform said about the blaze “Pretty large fire up at Alum Rock Park and Penitencia Creek - you’ll see and smell the smoke. Keep all involved in your good thoughts.”

A person who claimed to have gone for a hike to the park spoke about the evaucations that took place. “Went to hike in Alum Rock but there's a fire & park is closed & they are evacuating it . 3:15 pm,” they wrote.

Founded in 1872, this is one of California's oldest municipal parks. It is nestled within the Alum Rock Canyon in the foothills of the Diablo Range and spans 720 acres.