🪩 It's Thursday. We're entering our weekend soft launch.

🌧️ Today's weather: Chance of rain showers, with a high of 64.

💼 Love where you work? Axios is partnering with Top Workplaces San Francisco on this year's list. Nominate your employer here. We'll announce the winner on June 13.

🎧 Sounds like: "Night Shift" by Lucy Dacus.

Today’s newsletter is 891 words — a 3.5-minute read.

Small businesses in California are embracing AI, but how they're using it and what they're willing to spend varies, according to Goldman Sachs data exclusively shared with Axios.

The big picture: Companies nationwide, big and small, are figuring out how best to incorporate AI into their workforces and what that means for productivity.

Zoom in: A survey of 95 California small business owners who graduated from or participated in Goldman Sachs' 10,000 Small Businesses program found 93% use AI in their workplaces.

• Of those using AI, 27% say they've fully integrated it into their operations, while 49% are actively using it in some areas and 24% are still experimenting.
• The most common uses for California small businesses were for productivity (taking notes, writing emails and documenting processes) and generating written marketing content, both at 62%.
• Use for strategy and business development followed at 61%.

Zoom out: Business owners across the country have various reasons for using AI.

• Nationwide, 86% of the 2,474 small business owners surveyed say they use AI, with productivity (66%) and generating written marketing content (64%) among the most common uses.
• In Texas, 71% of surveyed AI users say they use it for generating written marketing content, while 64% use it for productivity.

By the numbers: Spending habits are also pretty variable.

• In California, 68% of surveyed businesses using AI spend $100 or less per month, while 32% spend more than $100.
• About 14% of California respondents using AI said they don't pay for it at all.

Stunning stat: For all the talk about AI's explosive growth in the enterprise, Goldman's data shows that 73% of the small businesses surveyed nationwide are spending $100 or less per month on AI.

The bottom line: AI is becoming more integrated into the workplace, but why businesses use it, and what they're willing to spend, are not always the same.

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San Franciscans who rely on public transit instead of owning a car could save more than $18,400 a year — the most of any major U.S. city, according to a new report from the American Public Transportation Association.

By the numbers: That's roughly $1,536 a month back in your pocket.

• San Francisco edged out New York City, where residents could save an estimated $18,394 annually, followed by Boston at $17,521.
• Nationwide, households could save an average of $14,130 a year by taking transit instead of owning an additional vehicle.

Between the lines: The estimates account for the costs of owning a car, including gas, insurance, maintenance and parking, compared with the price of a monthly transit pass.

Yes, but: Those savings assume you're giving up a car altogether, not just taking Muni or BART a few extra times a week.

• The findings come as Muni faces a $307 million budget deficit and San Francisco voters consider a November ballot measure to help keep the system running.

🚧 San Francisco is proposing to rename Cesar Chavez Street to "Las Campesinas" in honor of women farmworkers amid efforts to remove the labor leader's name following allegations of sexual abuse. (Mission Local)

💊 San Francisco has recorded its first overdose death linked to MGM-15, a powerful kratom-derived synthetic opioid sold in gas stations and smoke shops that can be up to 50 times stronger than morphine. (SF Standard)

🚔 Federal immigration authorities are defending the arrest of a 51-year-old Salvadoran man detained by masked ICE agents in SoMa this week who had previously been deported and convicted of voluntary manslaughter.

• The operation went viral and sparked outrage over the agents' tactics. (KRON 4)

⚡ PG&E says San Francisco would have to pay $22.5 billion to take over its electrical grid, far exceeding the city's $3.4 billion valuation as officials explore creating a publicly owned utility. (SF Standard)

It wouldn't be Halloween without a few frights on the big screen. Whether you're in the mood for a good scare, something campy or a little nostalgia, there's something for everyone.

🍿 Here are four screenings to catch before Halloween:

🧙 Tuesday, Oct. 27: "The Craft" gets a drag makeover at the Roxie, complete with live performances at 9:15pm.

👻 Thursday, Oct. 29: Catch the horror classic "The Exorcist" on 35mm film at the Balboa Theatre at 7:30pm.

🌲 Thursday, Oct. 29: Get lost in the woods with "The Blair Witch Project" at the Roxie at 9pm.

🎃 Saturday, Oct. 31: Start Halloween morning with a free screening of "Labyrinth" at the 4 Star Theatre at 10am.

❓Saturday, Oct. 31: The Balboa Theater at 4:30pm is hosting a Halloween Mystery Marathon featuring four horror classics, but there's a catch: You won't know what you're watching until each film is announced in the theater.

What's next: Find more spooky screenings here.

🐑 Nadia is thinking about dressing up as a sacrificial lamb for Halloween this year.

This newsletter was edited by Geoff Ziezulewicz, whose favorite horror film shall always be "Halloween 3: Season of the Witch." So bad it's good.