The instrument that makes it possible, known as an interrogator, enables seismic researchers to effectively hijack fiber-optic cables for use as thousands of seismometers.
The interrogator’s level of detail could also help seismologists identify smaller, “hidden” fault lines and fractures in buildings and bridges that might be at risk during a large quake.
LinkedIn, Chegg and Hewlett Packard Enterprise have disclosed their intentions to reduce staffing in the Bay Area.
Employers added 1,600 tech jobs in the South Bay but slashed 1,200 tech positions in the East Bay and chopped 400 tech jobs in the San Francisco-San Mateo metro area.
The puny increase in net tech hiring in the Bay Area was a reminder that rather than being the primary engine for Bay Area employment, the tech industry has become a drag on the region's job market.
During a tight budget year, lawmakers are reckoning with the need to improve the technology that government uses, which largely involves IT projects developed by contractors, while having to save dollars elsewhere.
Criminals using stolen identities and web crawlers gain admission through the state's online system, CCCApply, and then fraudulently apply for financial aid.
The layoffs include 82 software engineers, technical program management workers, product management engineers and one product marketing manager in Mountain View as well as three software engineering workers in Santa Clara.
Next steps include upgrading the city’s MyWaterSD web portal, making it easier for customers to change their address and giving delinquent customers a chance to pay their debt off slowly.
The State Bar has petitioned the court to adjust hundreds of test scores due to technical problems, and the court is demanding answers from the State Bar about how and why it used AI to develop exam questions.
County staff was directed to complete the pending analysis in time for supervisors to consider adding new requirements to the $1 billion information technology contract that is coming up for renewal later this year.
"Housing is very challenged in San Jose, [but] data centers are not," said Andrew Jacobson, vice president of U.S. development for Westbank. "When you couple those together, you have viable projects."
The setbacks for the tech industry suggest that this powerful engine of the Bay Area economy has become a drag on a regional employment sector whose hiring used to hum at a robust pace.
The satellites will be funded using $100 million from the state’s cap-and-trade program, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom. Planet Labs owns the satellites, and the state will share the information for research and educational purposes.
While city councilmembers said the new cameras would protect the public, several residents argued against specific camera locations and posed concerns that the federal government might try to use camera data to crack down on protestors, immigrants or others.
“Silicon Valley has entered a state of uncertainty and flux,” said Russell Hancock, president of Joint Venture Silicon Valley, a San Jose-based think tank. “It’s driven employers to focus on efficiency and sustainable profits.”
Representatives for Cal OES said the state can send out alerts on behalf of counties, but it relies on local governments to provide the information about which areas should receive the alert and what it should say.
“The message has been very clear that the city wants to work together with businesses to revitalize downtown, to invest in great conferences, to bring people here and see the city,” said Patrick Wendell, co-founder and vice president of engineering at Databricks.
“We’re the tech capital of the country, and yet we’re unable to buy the software that makes it possible for us to function in the 21st century,” said Supervisor Bilal Mahmood.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has announced a new digital democracy initiative to connect residents with government officials in times of disaster and allow them to express their concerns.
The cameras are powered by artificial intelligence from the California-based software company Hayden AI. Evidence of violations, including video, photos and location data, is intended to be reviewed by the city before citations are mailed.
Sheriff Jeff Dirkse wants his department to leave a regional joint-powers authority and use an Oracle computer-aided dispatch system in an expanded Ceres dispatch center.
The 2,086 layoffs of Bay Area tech workers that have been disclosed over the first five weeks of 2025 are already approaching the totals for each of the last two quarters.
The adjustment was relatively painless for the dozens of California prosecutors’ offices that already use a case management system that offers the race-redaction technology.
“The market is becoming more competitive,” Michelle Johnston Holthaus, one of the company’s interim co-CEOs, told analysts. “We’re using it as motivation to up our game even more.”
The AI platform will include research, professional development and teaching tools and will be available to the entire CSU community at no cost. ChatGPT, one of the most popular generative AI tools, will also work with CSU to deploy ChatGPT Edu.
