硅谷科技公司长期以来一直在加州的住房可负担性危机中扮演角色。
The tech companies of Silicon Valley have long played a role in California’s affordability crisis.
如今，它们正试图在即将到来的中期选举中成为解决方案的一部分。
Now, they’re trying to be part of the solution in the upcoming midterms.
钱包缩水尤其令加州选民担忧。汽油和杂货价格在全国名列前茅，而旧金山及其他地区的住房成本和驱逐率在人工智能热潮中急剧上升。领先的人工智能公司预计将进行首次公开募股，这将使这座城市对购房者来说更加昂贵。
Dwindling pocketbooks are of particular concern for California voters. Gas and grocery prices are some of the highest nationwide, while housing costs and eviction rates have exploded in San Francisco and elsewhere amid the AI boom. Potential IPOs from leading AI companies are expected to make the city even more expensive for homebuyers.
主要科技公司现在正捐出数百万美元，支持旨在降低加州居民住房和交通开支的选举倡议。这一捐款尤其引人注目，因为该行业常被指责加剧了该州的收入差距。
Major tech companies are now contributing millions of dollars to support California ballot initiatives aimed at lowering residents’ housing and transportation expenses. The giving is particularly notable coming from an industry that has often been blamed for exacerbating income disparities in the state.
推动可负担性议程对硅谷来说是不二之选，Abundant SF（一个推动更多住房建设的公民组织）政治主任托德·大卫表示。“当科技公司在财政上支持可负担性措施时，……良好的政治、良好的政策和良好的公共关系都达成了一致，”大卫对《加州解码》表示。
Boosting the affordability agenda is a no-brainer for Silicon Valley, said Todd David, political director of Abundant SF — a civic organization that pushes for more housing. “When tech companies are being financially supportive of affordability measures, … good politics, good policy and good PR all line up,” David told California Decoded.
科技行业尤其支持第1号提案——一项将允许加州出售112.5亿美元债券，用于资助首付援助、多户租赁住房和其他可负担住房计划的选举措施，竞选申报文件显示。
The tech industry has been particularly supportive of Proposition 1 — a ballot measure that would enable California to sell $11.25 billion in bonds to fund down-payment assistance, multifamily rentals and other affordable housing programs, a review of campaign filings show.
Anthropic上个月首次涉足加州选举倡议，向第1号提案竞选活动捐款50万美元。“作为一家在旧金山创立并总部设立的公司，我们对该地区的基础设施和宜居性有着真正的利害关系，”Anthropic的一位发言人在一份声明中表示。
Anthropic made one of its first forays into California ballot initiatives last month by contributing $500,000 to the campaign for Proposition 1. “As a company started and headquartered in San Francisco, we have a genuine stake in the region’s infrastructure and livability,” an Anthropic spokesperson said in a statement.
Airbnb也为第1号提案慷慨捐款100万美元，Meta捐款95万美元，OpenAI则捐款50万美元。
Airbnb has also ponied up heavily for Prop. 1 with $1 million, while Meta gave $950,000 and OpenAI cut a check for $500,000.
一位OpenAI发言人表示，该公司“致力于成为一个好邻居”。在选票的其他部分，谷歌向第2号提案捐赠了15万美元，该提案将确保在经济衰退期间为基本服务提供资金。“过去25年，加利福尼亚一直是谷歌的家园，我们很自豪能够支持让该州对每个人更具可负担性的措施，并帮助为教育和医疗保健等基本服务保障未来资金，”公司政府事务和公共政策主管安东尼·波塔尼诺对《加州解码》表示。
An OpenAI spokesperson said the company is “committed to being a good neighbor.”Elsewhere on the ballot, Google gave $150,000 toward Proposition 2, which would secure funding for essential services during economic downturns. “California has been Google’s home for the last 25 years, and we’re proud to support measures that will make the state more affordable for everyone and help secure future funding for essential services like education and health care,” Anthony Portantino, the company’s director of government affairs and public policy, told California Decoded.
科技公司也一直热衷于资助旧金山湾区的地方选票措施。他们尤其支持由旧金山市长丹尼尔·卢里倡导的措施，卢里曾警告称，部分受到人工智能淘金热加剧的“租金紧急情况”正在恶化。其中一项措施旨在将城市向其可负担住房信托基金的支付额度提高一倍以上，获得了OpenAI提供的25万美元支持。
Tech companies have also been keen to subsidize local Bay Area ballot measures. Their support has come in particular for those championed by San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, who has warned of a “rent emergency” exacerbated in part by the AI gold rush. One of those measures, which would more than double the city’s payments to its affordable housing trust fund, received $250,000 in support from OpenAI.
卢里还成立了一个推动第H号提案的委员会，该提案将制定一项新的房产税，以帮助为该市的市政交通局提供资金。该委员会分别获得了OpenAI、Anthropic、区块链公司Ripple以及由Airbnb主导的委员会各50万美元的支持。
Lurie has also established a committee promoting Proposition H, which would enact a new property tax to help fund the city’s Municipal Transportation Agency. The committee has received $500,000 each from OpenAI, Anthropic, the blockchain company Ripple and a committee helmed by Airbnb.
另一项旨在通过提高销售税为湾区公共交通提供资金的地区性措施，正在获得科技捐助者的意外之财，包括来自Uber的10万美元、来自亚马逊的5万美元、来自谷歌的15万美元以及来自Anthropic的25万美元。当地运营商警告称，如果该措施未能通过，服务超过600万加利福尼亚人的湾区快速交通（BART）、旧金山市政铁路（Muni）和Caltrain可能面临严重削减和中断。
Another regional measure to raise sales taxes for Bay Area public transit funding is enjoying a windfall from tech donors, including $100,000 from Uber, $50,000 from Amazon, $150,000 from Google and $250,000 from Anthropic. Local operators have warned that Bay Area Rapid Transit, San Francisco’s Muni and Caltrain — serving more than 6 million Californians — could suffer serious cuts and disruptions if it isn’t passed.
虽然对叫车巨头来说，置身事外或试图击败支持公共交通的提议似乎更合理，但Uber却采取了相反的做法。“Uber通过将人们连接到车站并在公共交通不可用时填补空白，帮助扩大公共交通的覆盖范围，”Uber发言人在一份声明中表示。“当公共交通取得成功时，整个旧金山湾区都将受益，这就是我们支持确保其未来的努力的原因。”向可负担性议程投入资金可能不仅仅是硅谷的政治和公关举动。
While it would have made sense for the ride-share giant to stay on the sidelines or try to defeat a measure supporting public transit, Uber played the reverse. “Uber helps extend the reach of public transit by connecting people to stations and filling gaps when transit isn’t available,” an Uber spokesperson said in a statement. “When public transit succeeds, the entire Bay area benefits and that’s why we’re supporting efforts to secure its future.”Throwing cash at the affordability agenda might not be a solely political and PR move for Silicon Valley.
根据加州YIMBY传播总监马修·刘易斯的说法，高昂的家庭成本使得即使提供高薪，主要科技公司也难以吸引顶尖科技人才来到旧金山湾区。资金较少的初创公司在说服初级员工搬迁方面面临更大困难，而如果教师、护士和维修工人被进一步挤出该地区，硅谷将无法正常运作。
According to California YIMBY Communications Director Matthew Lewis, exorbitant household costs makes attracting top tech talent to the Bay Area a struggle for major tech companies, even with high salary offers. Startups with less funding have an even harder time convincing entry-level employees to make the move, and Silicon Valley won’t function if teachers, nurses and maintenance workers are further priced out of the area.
“这对收入谱底层的人来说是残酷的，但当你也在考虑那些在其他地方本来会很富裕的人——他们说，‘这笔钱不足以让我证明搬过去是合理的’——你就会明白情况有多糟，”刘易斯对《加州解码》说道。
“It’s brutal to the people at the bottom of the income spectrum, but when you’re also looking at people who would otherwise be rich anywhere else on the planet — and they’re saying, ‘That’s not enough money for me to justify moving’ — you get a sense of how bad it is,” Lewis told California Decoded.