California state Sen. Aisha Wahab has proposed legislation that would combine all of the transit agencies that oversee public transit in the nine-county Bay Area into one in hopes of more seamless service. Would it work?
Last year the FCC sought to crack down on what it called illegal telemarketing calls coming from overseas, pressuring Internet telecommunications companies to stop the traffic or face fines and penalties.
The impact might have been greater if economic development officials had been more successful in their dream of making the Sacramento region a tech jobs hub, one analyst said.
Besides Google, other tech companies also are planning Bay Area layoffs: Block and Unity Technology have decided to slash scores of jobs in San Francisco.
The call-routing problems, which have plagued the 988 system since it began operating in July 2022, would be fixed if a bill by U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, which would use a new technology called geo-routing, is passed by Congress and signed into law.
Dodd’s bill comes as California lawmakers returned to work in Sacramento for the start of an election-year session dominated not only by AI uses and concerns but also by the state’s significant well of budgetary red ink, an estimated $68 billion.
Renesas Electronics, Western Digital, Thermo Fisher Scientific and Talis Biomedical disclosed decisions to conduct employment reductions affecting their workers in the Bay Area.
Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan said she sees part of her role as the new chair of the Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee as assessing existing laws — such as those banning child pornography, protecting intellectual property and prohibiting discrimination — and ensuring that they will apply to artificial intelligence.
“I realized my students have to have something to talk about in interviews with companies, and be able to talk about AI,” said San Jose State professor Ahmed Banafa.
The university will hire seven faculty members in the Department of Computer Science, focusing on AI and quantum computing as part of the new initiative.
Assembly Bill 205 has rural Shasta County in a dust-up with the state, which was cemented last month with a lawsuit filed by county officials that challenges the California Energy Commission’s jurisdiction over the Fountain Wind Project, a nearly $500 million proposal that calls for 48 wind turbines to be built.
California’s Privacy Protection Agency has shared draft rules on how companies using automated decision-making tools — including those powered by artificial intelligence — can use consumers’ information.
The University of California already uses the program on some campuses but a more comprehensive acquisition of licenses is expected to drive value and integration.
The plans reflect a change in location by the company in question, Sparkz, and would require a transfer for two multimillion-dollar grants the company received from the California Energy Commission.
The county’s transition to a new property tax system earlier this year has come with unexpected delays. Now, officials are looking to combine offices to assist county property owners through backlogs.
The city will spend about $3.5 million in fiscal 2024 on hardware, software and connectivity; $1.5 million for installation and maintenance over the life of the contract; and $100,000 to replace LED lights. The network will cost about $2 million annually over the remaining fiscal years.
Police say the cameras have enabled over 200 arrests in connection with nearly 700 criminal offenses, meaning that most arrests were connected to multiple crimes, including carjackings and homicides.
For years, Bitwise had been the tech darling of the Central Valley, promising leaders to transform the region’s economy, revitalize downtowns and make workers competitive with digital skills. It all collapsed on Memorial Day, when the company furloughed all 900 of its employees.
The city now needs to trudge through another set of hearings, this time focused on technical specifics such as which vendor could service the readers, and what format to use when storing digital images.
It was the third round of cuts at the tech giant since September, with layoffs previously hitting the Google News and recruiting teams. Last month, parent company Alphabet’s Waymo division also had its third round of layoffs this year.
Automatic license plate readers are generally affixed to traffic signals or on top of police cars and collect information uploaded to databases that include some law enforcement agencies. Advocates say the system can provide leads for police investigating crime.
Since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, technology has helped the state’s judicial system broaden access for defendants and litigants, says California’s chief justice, Patricia Guerrero.
“San Jose Police Department has solved multiple crimes, including robberies, hit and runs, home invasions, stolen vehicles, and more using this technology,” Mayor Matt Mahan said in a statement.
Sheriff’s spokesperson Carrie Braun said the agency suspended its IT connection with the district attorney’s office and was conducting a forensic analysis to determine whether sheriff’s computers were compromised.
Time magazine has recognized California’s use of an AI smoke-detection tool, developed in partnership between the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and UC San Diego’s ALERTCalifornia network.
“A quick reversal of this trend appears unlikely with much of the tech sector slowing hiring plans, the service sector experiencing labor force constraints, and manufacturing and construction both facing headwinds from high interest rates,” one analyst said.
