Here's what you need to know this week about artificial intelligence in the Bay Area: a San Francisco commercial real estate rally, two news licensing deals, OpenAI's new board member, funding rounds and more must-reads.

How big is the AI boom? AI companies are leasing millions of square feet, enough to fill a modern San Francisco skyscraper several times over.

Venture firms invested in an estimated 15,260 funding rounds for U.S. startups for the year, PitchBook reported. Assuming that number holds up, it would mark an increase of about 4% from the prior year. It would also be the first time the number of funding deals increased on an annual basis since 2021.

In an interview with Tucker Carlson that aired on Thursday, Balaji’s mother, Poornima Rao cast doubts over the current investigation into her son’s death and ruled out suicide

OpenAI has quietly removed language endorsing 'politically unbiased' AI from one of its recently published policy documents.

Waymo’s acceleration was all the more striking in a year that saw General Motors shut its Cruise robotaxi unit after pouring $10bn into the venture since 2016, as well as Apple abandoning its Project Titan car project.

Tech companies say “AI agents” are the next big thing in artificial intelligence after chatbots. Early versions have unresolved privacy and security flaws.

Silicon Valley startups received over half of 2024's global VC funding, hitting $90 billion out of $178 billion.

J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference is officially underway, bringing the healthcare and biopharma industries' biggest wheelers and dealers to San Francisco. | The annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference is officially underway,

Ready to pivot your career? Here are the most in demand AI roles, along with an AI-adjacent one, according to LinkedIn.