Technology

Tesla gets permit to ferry passengers in California, a stepping stone toward driverless taxis

The permit lays the groundwork toward a driverless taxi service. Tesla has said it will launch such a service in Austin, Texas in June.

By

Malena Carollo

• March 19, 2025

Technology

Newsom’s AI panel wants more transparency from companies and testing of models

A group of academic luminaries formed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last year is earning praise for its AI policy recommendations.

By

Khari Johnson

• March 19, 2025

Three people wearing aprons and hair sets help pour an orange-colored salad dressing into a container in the kitchen of a cafe.

Commentary

How technology can lower barriers to employment for Californians with disabilities

Californians with disabilities face barriers that can seem insurmountable when they enter the workforce. New technology can break down barriers, but businesses need better planning and training.

By Matt Cherry • March 14, 2025

Illustration of an outline of CA showing a golden microchip pattern, set against a background of pixelated blocks that show the text to Assembly Bill 1018

Technology

California has 30 new proposals to rein in AI. Trump could complicate them

President Trump is taking a very different approach to AI than the Biden administration, and it could affect how California regulates artificial intelligence.

By

Khari Johnson

• March 13, 2025

A large, illuminated sign spelling "DATA" is suspended from the ceiling, with holographic numbers, plus signs, and other symbols hanging around it. The reflective installation casts colorful light patterns. In the foreground, a blurred figure wearing a blue jacket is visible, partially obstructed by a glass surface. The scene takes place in a modern conference or exhibition space with a high ceiling and metal framework.

Technology

AI can rip you off. Here’s how California lawmakers want to stop price discrimination

AI can help businesses charge you more based on how it evaluates your personal history and desires. California lawmakers want to end that price discrimination.

By

Khari Johnson

• March 13, 2025

Capitol staffers at work on the Assembly floor on April 24, 2023. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters

Commentary

California doesn’t need DOGE, but there’s plenty of wasteful spending and bureaucracy to cut

DOGE’s aim to save taxpayers money resonates in California, where taxes soar and deficits loom. The idea of a top-to-bottom audit of every department isn’t radical — it’s overdue.

By Zac Townsend • March 12, 2025

A person with black curly hair and wearing a brown shirt leans down as they touch a piece of robotic machine.

Commentary

On-the-job robotics training propels California teen toward a career in engineering

Nikhil Kaul, a Bay area high school senior, hopes his robotics apprenticeship will help him follow in the footsteps of his parents, who are both engineers.

By

Denise Amos

• March 11, 2025

An overhead view of a person as they face and look at three vertical digital screens hung up against a wall that contain more names and case numbers at a courthouse.

Commentary

California’s list of failed tech projects just added an agency

California agencies have spent hundreds of millions on technology projects with mediocre success or failure in some cases. Chaos administering the recent bar exam is the latest example.

By

Dan Walters

• March 6, 2025

A poster with information for students on using ChatGPT, an AI platform, in English teacher Jen Roberts' class at Point Loma High School in San Diego on May 3, 2024. Photo by Adriana Heldiz, CalMatters

Commentary

Instead of policing student use of AI, California teachers need to reinvent homework

A striking gulf exists between how teachers, professors and administrators think students use generative AI in written work and how we actually use it, says a Bay Area high schooler.

By William Liang • March 5, 2025

A pixelated 8-bit style illustration in purple, pink and yellow tones that shows a student using a laptop with several icons — a medical bag, a graduation cap, an art color palette and brush, music notes, science testing tubes and a book — around her that represent different careers. Several tex bubbles can also be seen throughout the illustration. Faced with a shortage of counselors, California schools are offering AI chatbots to more students. They're offering advice on college and career options. Illustration by Adriana Heldiz, CalMatters; iStock

K-12 Education

AI chatbots can cushion the high school counselor shortage — but are they bad for students?

The more students turn to chatbots, the fewer chances they have to develop real-life relationships that can lead to jobs and later success.

By

Tara García Mathewson

• March 4, 2025