Kevin Truong

San Francisco

Business Editor at The San Francisco Standard

I'm the business editor @SFStandard. You can reach me at [email protected]. DMs open and off the record.

Articles

Here is where Waymo has suspended service in San Francisco

2 weeks ago | sfstandard.com | Kevin Truong |Rya Jetha

A map created by a tech worker has revealed the extent of San Francisco’s no-Waymo zone, instituted by the robotaxi company amid large-scale protests and the torching of five of its vehicles in Los Angeles. San Francisco engineer and Waymo user Riley Walz undertook a largely manual process to draw the map, using drop-off points to find the borders of the areas listed as inaccessible on the company’s app.
San Francisco is getting its own versions of The Las Vegas Sphere

2 weeks ago | sfstandard.com | Kevin Truong

The multibillion-dollar effort to turn the Dogpatch’s aging Pier 70 into a neighborhood of offices, homes, and parks has been largely stalled as onetime anchor tenant Google has pulled out and the development environment has cratered. But owner Brookfield Properties has a new answer for what to do with the space in the meantime. It plans to install a series of geodesic domes, characterized as a “multi-sensory playground,” that can host concerts, art shows, and other events.
Rumors of potential ICE raids at SF restaurants cause fear, anxiety

2 weeks ago | sfstandard.com | Lauren Saria |Kevin Truong |Sara Deseran

Want breaking Bay Area food news delivered to your inbox? Sign up here to receive Off Menu, where you’ll find restaurant news, gossip, tips, and hot takes every week. As activists took to the streets Monday to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportations, rumors of impending raids quickly spread through San Francisco’s restaurant community, causing at least one high-profile spot to temporarily close and owners of others to consider doing the same.
HBO’s ‘Mountainhead’ is a scathing parody of tech culture

3 weeks ago | sfstandard.com | Emily Dreyfuss |Rya Jetha |Kevin Truong

If you’ve ever been to a networking event in SoMa and found yourself cornered by a coder who hasn’t outgrown their Ayn Rand phase, you’ll immediately recognize the characters in HBO’s new techdoomsday satire “Mountainhead.”In the Bay Area, a grown-up case of infectious Randianism seems to spread seasonally — and no one is too bothered.
SF's most beautiful hidden gem buildings, according to top architects

3 weeks ago | sfstandard.com | Kevin Truong

Recommendations are a dime a dozen, but in Pro Tips, we go directly to the source, asking experts for their professional opinions on the city’s best cultural offerings. Although San Francisco architecture is perhaps best known for its collection of Victorians and Edwardians — the Painted Ladies being the preeminent example of the two mixed — the city’s rich history and unique geography have inspired a variety of styles.
It’s been a whole year. What’s going on with Anchor Steam?

4 weeks ago | sfstandard.com | Kevin Truong |Astrid Kane

Through fencing at the old Anchor Brewing taproom in Potrero Hill, passersby can spot a branded, baby-blue, 1940s-era GMC truck at one end of a lot overgrown with weeds. Since July 2023, when Japanese beer giant Sapporo vacated the complex, both the monolithic off-white Art Deco headquarters at 1705 Mariposa St. and the taproom across the street have remained idle.
OpenAI acquires Jony Ive's AI device startup in $6.5B deal

1 month ago | sfstandard.com | Kevin Truong

OpenAI is paying $6.5 billion to acquire io Products, a startup from legendary iPhone designer Jony Ive that bills itself as creating the next-generation device that shapes how users interact with AI. Ive will join OpenAI with his 50-person team to design and build hardware for AI interfaces. “What it means to use technology can change in a profound way.
Fancy coffee machine maker Fellow crushed by Trump tariff chaos

1 month ago | sfstandard.com | Kevin Truong

The new rules for navigating global trade chaos? Keep calm, be flexible, and download Truth Social. Jake Miller knew it was bad when his company was forced to sign up for Truth Social. The CEO and founder of Fellow, a locally grown business that makes high-end coffee products (think: sleek gooseneck kettles and precision scales), had mercifully been able to stay out of social media trolling and focus on building his company.
Inside the strike that nearly tore Urban Ore apart

1 month ago | sfstandard.com | Kevin Truong

A 40-day long strike at Urban Ore put the business on the brink and escalated tension at the company. | Source: Jungho Kim for The StandardDriving into Urban Ore’s parking lot last weekend, it was hard to miss the hand-painted “20% off Everything” sign hanging over the main entrance. It was still harder to miss the group of protesters posted up out front.
Empty SF office tower sells for $113M in largest deal this year

2 months ago | sfstandard.com | Kevin Truong

The new owners want to renovate the vacant property to cash in on the AI wave. A 25-story SoMa office tower adjacent to the eastern end of Salesforce Park has been sold for $113 million. A partnership between San Francisco developer DivcoWest and investor Blackstone Real Estate purchased the vacant 420,000-square-foot property at 300 Howard St. (formerly known as 199 Fremont) with plans to upgrade it to attract AI tenants.