“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.
Like its predecessor, the Black Hawk, the Fire Hawk comes standard with low cockpit lighting, rendering it capable of flying and attacking fires after the sun has gone down.
Legislative analysts noted that while AI has potential for many benefits — from advances in medicine and climate science to improved wildfire forecasting and clean power development — it also poses significant risks.
The Judicial Council of California says about 177,000 people have filed MyCitations requests to cut their fines by an average of $277, totaling about $49 million in reductions.
“Ed” the chatbot has been unplugged entirely in the wake of the apparent financial collapse of Boston-based AllHere Education, the company that provided the technology.
The attack was detected Friday and doesn’t appear to be related to the CrowdStrike software update that paralyzed Windows computers around the world and affected governments, airlines and other agencies last week, court officials said
A new lawsuit says the city has ignored its law that requires elected official approval for facial recognition use for at least four years, allowing officers to use whatever surveillance techniques they choose.
The trade group Chamber for Progress, which represents tech giants like Meta, Google and X, is urging Gov. Gavin Newsom to kill bills that would add new financial liability rules and limit the use of addictive algorithms.
“Switching to a .gov domain provides further assurance to the public that the information found on our website is official, trusted information,” said Yolo County’s chief technology officer, Lee Gerney.
The police department plans to install drones strategically — docked on roofs in central, east and west Elk Grove — so that they can be deployed quickly to respond to 911 calls.
The deal could be worth as much as $23 billion, according to sources close to the talks, and would be the largest tech deal so far for Google’s parent company.
Despite security concerns voiced by one supervisor, the county's Board of Supervisors voted this week to approve a contract with Dominion Voting Systems for new voting machines and technology.
