“Our most consistent work in California is bringing money into agencies through flexible repayment terms,” says Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, CEO and co-founder of Promise, a fast-growing tech company focused on the efficient distribution of government benefits.
“This new law will equip all California students with the skills and training they need to be safe, ethical and successful users of AI as it becomes more mainstream,” said the bill’s author, Assemblymember Marc Berman.
“After nearly seven years with the city already, I think I’ve got a good sense of where the challenges lie, but also, more importantly, how to get things done,” Michael Makstman said.
The Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority has developed a "dynamic risk scoring" system that uses computer simulations to assess the fire risk associated with each property.
County officials have their eyes set on an ambitious goal — to make the county carbon-neutral by 2030, starting with 25 measures centered on government operations. The effort will cost an estimated $38 million.
Surfnet, a locally owned wireless and fiber Internet provider in Santa Cruz, has secured grant funding to extend broadband access to some of the rural communities in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Sonoma County has joined a handful of counties — including Santa Cruz, San Benito and San Francisco — that have adopted a guiding blueprint for AI. Other California counties are not far behind in developing AI policies of their own.
“We’ll be able to teach firefighters what dryness does to a fire, or wind, or a change in fuel type, because we have seen so many firefighters die on fires when they don’t anticipate what the fire’s going to do,” said Jason Forthhofer, a research mechanical engineer with the U.S. Forest Service.
“What is happening in the world is this massive swell of AI technologies that are entering the classrooms, whether they like it or not,” said Suzanne DiBianca, the company’s chief impact officer and executive vice president. “We’re really trying to help the districts navigate that.”
Brian Kelly discussed the progress of construction after a slow start to the challenges that lie ahead for the ambitious rail project. Succeeding Kelly will be Ian Choudri, a senior vice president for transportation engineering firm HNTB Corp.
“I have to be honest — this isn’t really me,” said a man who looks like Larkspur-Corte Madera School District Superintendent Brett Geithman in a brief video embedded in a post to parents. “It’s my AI-generated avatar. And I can speak over 20 languages.”
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation had used the Computer Voice Stress Analyzer, or CVSA, for at least two decades despite research indicating the technology was no better at detecting deception than a coin flip.
The codes direct unsuspecting users to fraudulent websites that often attempt to masquerade as sites affiliated with government agencies or banks, according to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
“In California, where fire weather is a significant concern, this probabilistic model has a lot of promise,” said Peter Harrington, a machine learning engineer at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
The search giant and state government will each contribute tens of millions of dollars in coming years under the plan, which scuttles two bills that would have called for a data tax.
In a rare move, a group of Democratic members of Congress dipped their toes into state politics, urging Gov. Gavin Newsom to veto the marquee piece of artificial intelligence regulation in California.
The California Public Utilities Commission awarded Comcast $13.8 million in grant funding this month to expand broadband Internet access in Sutter County.
The Northern California local government had to redirect about $1 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funding. It will use the money to incentivize Internet service providers to build in the county.
Among the hundreds of bills that were scheduled for funding decisions Thursday by the powerful California State Assembly’s Appropriations Committee was a controversial plan to regulate the AI industry.
If the Justice Department pushes ahead with a plan to break up the online search giant, the most likely units for divestment are the Android operating system and the Chrome web browser, according to individuals close to the deliberations.
Four staffers have alleged in separate claims that they faced retaliation — either from their managers or City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto herself — after they highlighted problems within the office.
In June, AC Transit upgraded its previous software on Tempo buses to more advanced AI hardware and software designed to recognize lane lines, bus lanes, bus stop dimensions and bus sizes, ensuring accurate violation detection, officials said.
California began rolling out free earthquake early warning apps about five years ago. In 2024, after various improvements, a string of moderate earthquakes and wider use, the network is finally coming into its own.
The department bought six drones this year after voters approved Proposition E, which lets police use surveillance cameras and drones to pursue felony and violent misdemeanor suspects. The drones facilitated three arrests in July.
Management of ReserveCalifornia.com has been transferred to a new contractor, Texas-based Tyler Technologies, in an eight-year agreement that promises to further consolidate access to the state’s outdoor recreation areas under that single, centralized web platform.
Supporters say the ban would be the first of its kind targeting software that has allegedly played an outsized role in increasing the cost of housing — not just in notoriously expensive San Francisco, but in markets across the country.
As the feud between Gov. Gavin Newsom and entrepreneur Elon Musk heats up, the governor is saying he'll sign legislation to crack down on AI-generated political content.
