Salesforce to Invest $15B in San Francisco for AI Development

Salesforce recently announced an investment of $15B (over five years) in San Francisco’s AI development as the CRM giant looks to strengthen its position against the competition. 

Marc Benioff has pledged billions around the world, including $6B in the UK, $2.5B in Australia, and $1B each in Mexico and Singapore. But Salesforce’s $15B investment in its home city of San Francisco is on an entirely different scale – a clear statement of intent to drive technological innovation and create new jobs in the heart of the AI revolution, while also keeping its flagship conference – Dreamforce – in the city.

Invest… or Fall Behind 

We’ve often compared today’s AI race in big tech to the space race of the 1960s. Companies like Salesforce, ServiceNow, Oracle, and Microsoft are racing to develop the most advanced AI systems. And this modern version of the “moon landing” is building a fully autonomous and trustworthy enterprise AI platform that can run complex business operations with less need for human input.

While Salesforce has done well in its acceleration efforts – $15B is a significant next step – it’s fair to say that its competitors may have a slight financial edge at the moment. 

Salesforce’s investment comes in the wake of Oracle’s humongous growth forecast figures. The company has forecast approximately $455B from remaining performance obligations (RPO) in Q1 FY26, which is a 359% jump year-on-year. 

Oracle’s figures have dominated headlines over the last month or so, highlighting the accelerating pace of AI investment across the tech sector. So, for Salesforce, this is both a defensive and an offensive play that keeps the company at the forefront of enterprise software, as it can’t afford to lag in AI infrastructure, research, development, and talent.

The $15B investment will reportedly fund a new AI Incubator Hub on its San Francisco campus and create thousands of local jobs, signaling a long-term commitment to both innovation and the city itself. It also reiterates the company’s ambition to turn words into action and have production-ready AI systems over the next five years.

On social media platform X, Benioff described how Salesforce is“doubling down” on its home city to build something sustainable for the future.

Final Thoughts 

Investing such a large sum puts Salesforce in a significantly stronger position with AI. Still, the challenge is steep. To keep pace with competitors, Salesforce will need to harness its reputation for trust and governance into visible AI leadership.

As Benioff puts it, this investment is about helping “companies and communities thrive”. The next five years will reveal whether that vision translates into Salesforce leading the AI race.

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