Axios, October 2025
San Jose, the capital of Silicon Valley, is using AI to tackle a variety of citizen needs, from permitting to pothole detection.
Why it matters: The city’s new initiatives could be a model for other jurisdictions, like nearby San Francisco, that are looking to leverage AI to cut red tape and optimize workflows.
Driving the news: San Jose began piloting AI software this month that serves as a “pre-check” for permitting ADU applications to ensure answers are tailored to what’s required.
- Over 90% of ADU applications in the city are returned to the customer because of missing or incomplete information, Mayor Matt Mahan told Axios.
- “There’s no reason for two human beings to go back and forth in a game of ping pong over email for weeks, if not months, when you could have an AI co-pilot … giving you that feedback in real time, as though you were speaking to a city planner,” Mahan said. “We can serve many more people with the same amount of tax dollars.”
- The AI assist involves CivCheck software; staff are still manually reviewing applications as of now. Mahan says they plan to roll out the AI co-pilot to help ADU applicants as early as next year.
