👻 Friday has arrived and with it, a longing to ghost our responsibilities until Monday.

🌤️ Today's weather: Mostly sunny with highs in the mid-60s, lows around 50.

🚔 Situational awareness: SFPD will be stepping up DUI enforcement tonight from 7pm to 3am as part of a citywide operation targeting impaired drivers.

🎧 Sounds like: "High Enough" by K Flay, who plays tonight at Bottom of the Hill. More on that below!

Today’s newsletter is 947 words — a 3.5-minute read.

Bottom of the Hill isn't going anywhere after all. The Potrero Hill rock club, which announced plans to close at the end of 2026, has found a new owner who intends to keep the venue open, Coyote Media reports.

Why it matters: The news is a rare bright spot for the city's struggling independent music scene, which has seen longtime venues shutter amid rising costs, changing nightlife habits and growing competition from corporate promoters.

Driving the news: Michele Bronson, a biotech executive and longtime patron of the club, has purchased the business and plans to reopen it next year, per Coyote Media.

• The current three owners will retain ownership of the building and lease the venue to Bronson.
• Bronson said she plans to preserve the club's independent identity, continue booking local musicians and retain as much of its existing staff as possible.

Between the lines: The club will temporarily close for at least a month after its New Year's Eve farewell show to make improvements to the kitchen and bar before reopening under new management.

The big picture: Since opening in 1991, Bottom of the Hill has helped launch the careers of artists including Green Day, Oasis and the White Stripes, while giving hundreds of local bands a stage.

Catch up quick: The longtime owners initially planned to shut down after 35 years, citing mounting operating costs and the challenges of running an independent venue.

• An outpouring of support from musicians and fans prompted them to reconsider, ultimately choosing Bronson from dozens of interested buyers because of her longtime connection to the venue, love of independent music and commitment to preserving its identity.

The bottom line: For a city that's lost too many beloved music venues, this is one encore worth celebrating.

• The original owners may be stepping away, but Bottom of the Hill's next chapter is just getting started.

Tell a music lover

Major U.S. banks are detecting unauthorized third-party AI agents operating inside customer accounts, with some agents attempting to take actions that appear to be independent of user instructions, sources tell Axios.

Why it matters: AI agents are becoming a nightmare for America's banks, making their way into banking systems faster than financial institutions can respond, Axios' Madison Mills reported yesterday.

• The difficulty in distinguishing between a human and an unauthorized bot is forcing banks to block the technology and rapidly rewrite their terms of service.

Driving the news: Banks including Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and others are racing to contain agent risks. Some are aware of unauthorized access, people familiar with the issue said.

• These are generally situations when an agent or AI assistant accesses a human's account with the user's permission and login credentials. Even if permitted by the user, this goes against the guidelines of most banks requiring that humans log in to their own accounts.
• This presents significant security risks: Banking executives fear the steps agents with login access might take, especially if a user has granted purchase authority or the ability to shift funds.

What they're saying: Bank executives described the situation as horrifying, with one official saying the industry has grave concerns about agents gaining access to customer accounts and taking steps that could affect user finances.

State of play: The concerns are at the root of the decision by several banks to restrict third-party AI agent access, the people said.

What's next: Most banks have authorized or are moving in the direction of allowing read-only access, which should allow agents to see customer financial information without taking action.

💭 Nadia's thought bubble: I think we've officially reached the point where reality is scarier than any horror movie Hollywood could come up with.

Full story

A 71-year-old man was fatally struck on I- 80 yesterday by a Tesla whose driver said the vehicle was operating in full self-driving mode. (SF Chronicle)

✉️ Former Rep. Nancy Pelosi was among more than three dozen lawmakers nationwide whose offices received suspicious letters containing white powder. Preliminary tests found the substance was not hazardous. (SF Standard)

🏗️ San Francisco has approved plans to convert the historic 901 Market St. office building into housing, marking one of the city's first of such conversions. (SF Business Times)

🗳️ State Sen. Scott Wiener is leading Supervisor Connie Chan in polling in the race to replace Pelosi, though the six-point gap falls within the survey's margin of error. (SF Standard)

🚧 Brace for traffic: A stretch of westbound I-80 from 5th to 15th streets will close from 11pm tonight until 6am Monday for roadwork. (NBC Bay Area)

✈️ United Airlines is adding nonstop flights between San Francisco and Charleston beginning next March. (WCBD)

From a street name change to a multibillion-dollar power struggle, San Francisco gave us plenty to talk about this week.

• But how closely were you paying attention?

👏 Shoutout to last week's perfect quiz scorers: Brad K., Emily K., C.I., Lauren S., Craig M., and Tyler M.!

👉 Take our weekly news quiz to find out. Find it here.

💀 Nadia is reading about tech bros and why no one wants to date them.

This newsletter was edited by Geoff Ziezulewicz.