AI rent pricing banned in Berkeley; council blames algorithms for inflating housing costs

by Kiley Russell, Bay City News March 19, 2025March 18, 2025

The Berkeley City Council has voted to ban rent pricing technology that uses artificial intelligence, saying the tools are being used to unfairly manipulate the rental market and drive prices up.

The new ordinance approved at the council’s March 11 meeting prevents landlords from using so-called “rent-pricing algorithms” that are allegedly used in price-fixing schemes.

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Kiley Russell, Bay City News

Kiley Russell writes primarily for Local News Matters on issues related to equity and the environment. A Bay Area native, he has lived most of his life in Oakland. He studied journalism at San Francisco State University, worked for the Associated Press and the former Contra Costa Times, among other outlets. He has covered everything from state legislatures, local governments, federal and state courts, crime, growth and development, political campaigns of various stripes, wildfires and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

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