California News

Big Tech Wants AI to Be Regulated. Why Do They Oppose a California AI Bill?

California legislators are set to vote on a bill as soon as this week that would broadly regulate how artificial intelligence is developed and deployed in California even as a number of tech giants have voiced broad opposition. Here is …

Alphabet’s Waymo Robotaxi Unit Doubles Its Paid Rides In Three Months

Alphabet’s Waymo said on Tuesday it had doubled its paid rides to 100,000 per week in just over three months as the autonomous ride-hailing firm expanded its areas of service and allowed more people to ride its robotaxis. Waymo’s expansion …

California Pot Farmers Feel the Heat from Low Pricing, Wildfires

Small-scale cannabis farmers in California are calling it quits, crushed by crop damage from devastating wildfires and sliding prices, and industry experts expect the exodus to continue near-term in the largest pot market in the United States. Unlike for traditional …

California Commissioner Invites Input on Final Phase of Wildfire Modeling Regulation

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has invited public input as he begins the final phase of approving a “first of its kind” catastrophe modeling and ratemaking regulation that “will help restore options for all Californians and prepare for the reality …

Wildfires Are Growing Under Climate Change, and Their Smoke Threatens Farmworkers

As wildfires scorched swaths of land in the wine country of Sonoma County in 2020, sending ash flying and choking the air with smoke, Maria Salinas harvested grapes. Her saliva turned black from inhaling the toxins, until one day she …

Californians Facing Higher Rent Because of Rising Insurance Rates

Like single-family homeowners in California, landlords are facing higher insurance premiums, too. And they’re passing along some of those costs to their tenants. Many insurance companies have stopped writing policies in the state because of increased wildfire risks, but that’s …

Tesla’s California Car Registrations Fall for Third Straight Quarter

Registrations of Tesla cars in California fell 24% in the April to June period, marking the third consecutive quarter that the company posted a sales drop in its key market, indicating mounting challenges for the EV maker, according to industry …

Intense Heat Expected to Challenge Records in Pacific Northwest Over Weekend

Intense heat that has been baking parts of the interior Western U.S. is expected to expand into the Pacific Northwest in the coming days, raising the risk of heat-related illnesses and new wildfires, according to an AccuWeather media advisory. Forecasts …

California Needs a Million EV Charging Stations — But That’s ‘Unlikely’ and ‘Unrealistic’

California will have to build public charging stations at an unprecedented — and some experts say unrealistic — pace to meet the needs of the 7 million electric cars expected on its roads in less than seven years. The sheer …

Deaths, Injuries, Billions of Dollars Are Costs of Extreme Heat in California

A blistering California heat wave over the past weeks and through the Fourth of July holiday could be topped off by the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth. That kind of extreme heat has led to more deaths than wildfires …