Image used with permission by copyright holderAirbnb has been giving the hotel industry a run for its money since it first exploded onto the scene nearly eight years ago, but now, it’s reigning itself in — just a little bit. In what is seen as a largely pacifying move, the San Francisco based company is cracking down on illegal rentals on its home turf, which may comprise up to 10 percent of listings in the city, and up to 17 percent of total revenue. But regardless of how much money they bring to the business, Airbnb says hosts who have transformed homes illegally into hotels (and list multiple properties) will be stopped.
“We want to continually evolve the platform so it serves the best interest of each city we’re in,” Airbnb spokesman Chris Lehane told the SF Chronicle. “This is a step in that direction, to make sure that each host has only one listing in San Francisco.”
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The San Francisco housing market, already one of the most expensive in the country, has been made all the more competitive with the prevalence of certain unsanctioned Airbnb listings, and this move by the company is a strategic attempt at preventing future, more costly repercussions.
Airbnb claims to have already removed nearly 100 “questionable” listings in San Francisco at the start of the year, and 118 in total over the course of the last year. This number, however, is expected to rise dramatically with their new crackdowns. And while the company previously refused to hand over site data to officials who wanted to investigate housing law violations, Airbnb is now taking on the role of policing itself.
Airbnb has also released a new report on its presence in San Francisco, all aimed at greater transparency to appease lawmakers. “We intend to continue removing listings that we believe are offered by hosts with multiple entire home listings or are offered by unwelcome commercial operators,” the report notes.
“We know we have more work to do and this effort is just a first step,” it continues. “This will be a learning experience. We aren’t perfect, but we are committed to learning and being a good partner with cities around the world to ensure short-term rentals do not impact the cost and availability of long-term housing.”
San Francisco won the battle, but the war on facial-recognition has just begun
San Francisco has become the first city in America to ban facial recognition. Well, kind of.
In fact, the ban -- voted on this week by the city’s Board of Supervisors -- bars only the use of facial recognition by city agencies, such as the police department. It doesn’t affect the use of facial recognition technology in locations like airports or ports, for example, or from private applications orchestrated by private companies. Oh yes, and because the San Francisco police department doesn’t currently use facial recognition technology, this ruling bans something that wasn’t actually being used. While the department tested the technology on booking photos between 2013 and 2017, it has not implemented this use-case on a permanent basis.
San Francisco could be the first city in the U.S. to ban facial recognition
San Francisco is one of the tech capitals of America, but that doesn’t mean that every kind of technology is welcome there. This week, a San Francisco lawmaker introduced legislation that could see San Fran become the first city in the United States to ban the use of facial recognition technology.
The bill, referred to as the “Stop Secret Surveillance Ordinance,” argues that the downsides of facial recognition far outstrip its benefits. It also asserts that the “technology will exacerbate racial injustice and threaten our ability to live free of continuous government monitoring.”
X CEO reveals video calls are coming to the app formerly known as Twitter
X, formerly Twitter, is to get video calling as part of ongoing efforts to turn the platform into a so-called “everything app” offering a broad range of services.
X CEO Linda Yaccarino announced the news during an interview with CNBC on Thursday.
