California

‘Game on’: LA ramps up tech ahead of major sporting events

The city is set to host the World Cup, Super Bowl, Olympics and Paralympics in the coming years, and it is looking to AI to help improve its services.

California rolls out AI-powered ID verification for benefits

The state’s Employment Development Department now evaluates an applicant’s device and whether their IP address is domestic or foreign, all part of analyzing different signs of risk.

OpenAI just cut a deal with California. Critics say it’s full of holes

OpenAI is converting to a for-profit and settling an investigation by California’s attorney general. Experts and advocates have concerns.

New California law forces chatbots to protect kids’ mental health

California Gov. Gavin Newsom approved mandatory monitoring and reminders when kids use chatbots. Child advocates backed a different bill.

GIS data helps California utility prepare for increasing wildfire threats

In southern California, where water can be hard to come by, one utility is increasingly relying on GIS data to proactively prepare critical resources to combat wildfires.

Newsom just vetoed a bill to regulate license plate readers — even as fresh evidence of misuse emerges

The measure would have required regular purges of license plate databases and regularly audited how automated readers are used.

Google wasn't against this privacy bill, officially. Behind the scenes, it orchestrated opposition

Google organized business owners against California legislation to force its Chrome web browser to safeguard personal data.

California, New York could become first states to enact laws aiming to prevent catastrophic AI harm

The bills aim to define frontier AI models and regulate the developers that make them.

California cities turn to AI to streamline permitting

Lancaster and San Jose both said they would use the technology to make it easier and faster to get a building permit by pre-screening and validating applications.

Three bills would protect California workers from AI management, but will costs stand in the way?

Three bills before the California Legislature would govern how companies use AI in employment decisions, but they may be in jeopardy because of costs.

Free AI training comes to California colleges — but at what cost?

California education leaders are striking deals with tech companies to provide students with opportunities to learn AI.

Should Lyft and Uber charge more if your battery is low? California may soon ban that

California lawmakers are backing a bill to ban rideshare services from using customers' information like a cellphone’s battery life, model and geolocation data to set different prices.

Why cities are turning to AI for property assessments

The technology can identify flaws or damage to infrastructure more efficiently than humans, which experts say can help streamline efforts to improve housing conditions and availability in communities.

California's fire protection agency made an AI chatbot. Don't ask it about evacuation orders

The bot fails at some basic questions about fires. Cal Fire says it is working on fixes.

California colleges spend millions to catch plagiarism and AI. Is the faulty tech worth it?

Colleges and universities renew Turnitin subscriptions year after year even though its flawed detectors are expensive and require students to let the company keep their papers forever.

Santa Monica, California, revamps procurement ‘bottleneck’

The city has turned to Glass to run a new e-commerce platform that allows staff to make quicker purchases, keep track of contracts and maintain more transparency into the process.

California to get new planned supercomputer

The latest public-private sector collaboration between the Department of Energy, NVIDIA and Dell brings the new Doudna supercomputer to Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory to pursue advancements across emerging tech and scientific fields.

California Forever’s planned Bay Area city faces many regulatory hurdles. Can it succeed?

The CEO of the billionaire-backed company believes the plan for a new 400,000-person city near San Francisco can triumph, despite California’s restrictive environmental regulations and local pushback.

California v Colorado: How two states leading AI legislation are approaching it differently

Lawmakers and Gov. Jared Polis made Colorado first in the nation to pass a comprehensive AI regulation law. The other leading state, California, has taken an alternative, incremental approach.

California regulator weakens AI rules, giving Big Tech more leeway to track you

Pressure from the governor preceded the AI regulation retreat. Big tech gets more leeway to help make decisions or target ads.