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"content": "\u003cp>Fifteen years ago, Tesla began production of its Model S sedan in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/201005210900/tesla-and-toyota-at-nummi\">shuttered auto plant\u003c/a> in Fremont.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time, the company was a fragile startup on the verge of collapse. Most major automakers didn’t even consider EVs as serious competitors in the mainstream market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, the trillion-dollar company is poised to churn out a different edge case product on the plant’s assembly lines: its humanoid robot known as Optimus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They took a factory that was one of the oldest operating auto factories in the country and turned it into the most productive auto plant in North America,” said Donovan Lazaro, Fremont’s economic development director. “I would imagine they’ll have that same fiery tenacity when it comes to rolling out Optimus.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CEO Elon Musk said Wednesday that the automaker is ending production of its Model S and X vehicles at the factory to free that part of the space to build Optimus, but overall auto production is not ending in Fremont.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s time to basically bring the Model S and X programs to an end with an honorable discharge,” Musk said on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call, “with the long-term goal of having 1 million units [a] year line of Optimus in the SX space in Fremont.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, the Fremont factory \u003ca href=\"https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2024/01/12/tesla-ups-fremont-workers-salaries.html\">employs 30,000 people\u003c/a> to build four Tesla vehicles: the S and X for now, but also the newer Models 3 and Y. The\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2012/06/22/155525142/teslas-new-electric-sedan-five-passengers-89-mpg-and-no-engine\"> Model S\u003c/a> was the first vehicle built at Tesla’s Fremont factory, but the S and X lines accounted for \u003ca href=\"https://www.wardsauto.com/news/tesla-ending-production-models-modelx-elon-musk/810837/#:~:text=Dive%20Insight:,Tesla's%20year%2Dend%20sales%20summary.\">only 3%\u003c/a> of Tesla’s global production in 2025.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12064376\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12064376\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/TeslaFremontGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1190\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/TeslaFremontGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/TeslaFremontGetty-160x95.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/TeslaFremontGetty-1536x914.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Tesla manufacturing facility on Sept. 18, 2023, in Fremont, California. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To see them sunset is a symbolic loss, but it is not expected to be much of an economic loss for the company or the region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re making big investments for an epic future,” Musk said of the switch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Musk said Tesla expects to increase headcount at the Fremont facility as it builds out robot production and “to significantly increase output.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tesla is\u003ca href=\"https://www.tesla.com/en_EU/careers/search/?query=Optimus&site=US\"> already hiring\u003c/a> for the Optimus work, and Lazaro said he believes most of the people trained in the Tesla way will stay put through the retooling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While I can’t speak with granularity to Tesla’s plans, I will just say in general we have a shortage of skilled labor in this country, especially for manufacturing and advanced manufacturing jobs,” he said. “And so I would absolutely imagine that there will be roles found in other parts of the facility for any affected workers.”[aside postID=forum_2010101883541 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/43/2021/05/GettyImages-1229894905-1020x697.jpeg']Lazaro added that a new product line will require a new supply chain, which could attract all sorts of new suppliers to the region. Tesla is also \u003ca href=\"https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2026/01/26/tesla-fremont-factory-expansion.html\">leasing additional space\u003c/a> near its existing factory to support the company’s work in AI, engineering, and, of course, robotics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fremont Mayor Raj Salwan said city officials are “delighted” by Musk’s announcement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Tesla’s Fremont facility evolving into robotics manufacturing is a vote of confidence in our workforce, supplier ecosystem, and advanced manufacturing base,” Salwan wrote to KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tesla said it plans to unveil the third generation of Optimus later this quarter, calling it the company’s first design intended for mass production, intended to be used for factory work, household tasks and caregiving. Musk said on the conference call with investors and analysts that he expects artificial intelligence to usher in an era of “sustainable abundance” in which robots do all the work and “everyone can have whatever they want.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s also said he imagines one for\u003ca href=\"https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-personal-robots-warns-terminator-style-risks-saudi-robotaxi-2025-5\"> every person on Earth\u003c/a>, all of them running Tesla software. But that may have more to do with his desire to justify his\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/11/06/nx-s1-5596440/tesla-musk-2025-trillion-dollar-compensation-vote\"> outsize Tesla pay package\u003c/a>, involving up to $1 trillion worth of Tesla stock, than his penchant for predicting the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Musk’s personal move to Texas in 2020, his decision to move \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11995900/elon-musk-says-hes-moving-spacex-x-headquarters-from-california-to-texas\">SpaceX and Tesla headquarters \u003c/a>to Austin in 2021, his \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101904725/the-extremely-hardcore-story-of-elon-musks-twitter-takeover\">takeover of Twitter\u003c/a> in 2022, his \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12071559/growing-wave-of-silicon-valley-workers-condemns-ice-as-c-suites-split-over-fear-of-trump\">support for the Trump administration\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12029281/musks-costly-cuts-x-will-doge-trump-face-similar-fallout\">leadership of DOGE\u003c/a> in 2025 have alienated many Californians. His promotion of Tesla’s controversial “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12010070/feds-investigate-tesla-after-deadly-full-self-driving-crash\">self-driving\u003c/a>” technology, despite documented accidents and safety concerns, has led to criticism and lawsuits.” The same is true for his cavalier approach to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069808/california-investigates-elon-musks-ai-company-after-avalanche-of-complaints-about-sexual-content\">complaints about xAI\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additionally, it’s not clear how many people on Earth will feel a driving need to purchase a robot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s no matter to Stephen Baiter, executive director of the East Bay Economic Development Alliance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They really are leveraging all the plentiful assets, resources, the talent and everything else that makes the Bay Area such a unique and global powerhouse,” he said. “I think their capacity to fulfill their bigger ambitions over time is realistic. What time horizon, I guess, remains to be seen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Fifteen years ago, Tesla began production of its Model S sedan in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/201005210900/tesla-and-toyota-at-nummi\">shuttered auto plant\u003c/a> in Fremont.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time, the company was a fragile startup on the verge of collapse. Most major automakers didn’t even consider EVs as serious competitors in the mainstream market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, the trillion-dollar company is poised to churn out a different edge case product on the plant’s assembly lines: its humanoid robot known as Optimus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They took a factory that was one of the oldest operating auto factories in the country and turned it into the most productive auto plant in North America,” said Donovan Lazaro, Fremont’s economic development director. “I would imagine they’ll have that same fiery tenacity when it comes to rolling out Optimus.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CEO Elon Musk said Wednesday that the automaker is ending production of its Model S and X vehicles at the factory to free that part of the space to build Optimus, but overall auto production is not ending in Fremont.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s time to basically bring the Model S and X programs to an end with an honorable discharge,” Musk said on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call, “with the long-term goal of having 1 million units [a] year line of Optimus in the SX space in Fremont.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, the Fremont factory \u003ca href=\"https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2024/01/12/tesla-ups-fremont-workers-salaries.html\">employs 30,000 people\u003c/a> to build four Tesla vehicles: the S and X for now, but also the newer Models 3 and Y. The\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2012/06/22/155525142/teslas-new-electric-sedan-five-passengers-89-mpg-and-no-engine\"> Model S\u003c/a> was the first vehicle built at Tesla’s Fremont factory, but the S and X lines accounted for \u003ca href=\"https://www.wardsauto.com/news/tesla-ending-production-models-modelx-elon-musk/810837/#:~:text=Dive%20Insight:,Tesla's%20year%2Dend%20sales%20summary.\">only 3%\u003c/a> of Tesla’s global production in 2025.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12064376\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12064376\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/TeslaFremontGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1190\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/TeslaFremontGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/TeslaFremontGetty-160x95.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/TeslaFremontGetty-1536x914.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Tesla manufacturing facility on Sept. 18, 2023, in Fremont, California. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To see them sunset is a symbolic loss, but it is not expected to be much of an economic loss for the company or the region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re making big investments for an epic future,” Musk said of the switch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Musk said Tesla expects to increase headcount at the Fremont facility as it builds out robot production and “to significantly increase output.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tesla is\u003ca href=\"https://www.tesla.com/en_EU/careers/search/?query=Optimus&site=US\"> already hiring\u003c/a> for the Optimus work, and Lazaro said he believes most of the people trained in the Tesla way will stay put through the retooling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While I can’t speak with granularity to Tesla’s plans, I will just say in general we have a shortage of skilled labor in this country, especially for manufacturing and advanced manufacturing jobs,” he said. “And so I would absolutely imagine that there will be roles found in other parts of the facility for any affected workers.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Lazaro added that a new product line will require a new supply chain, which could attract all sorts of new suppliers to the region. Tesla is also \u003ca href=\"https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2026/01/26/tesla-fremont-factory-expansion.html\">leasing additional space\u003c/a> near its existing factory to support the company’s work in AI, engineering, and, of course, robotics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fremont Mayor Raj Salwan said city officials are “delighted” by Musk’s announcement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Tesla’s Fremont facility evolving into robotics manufacturing is a vote of confidence in our workforce, supplier ecosystem, and advanced manufacturing base,” Salwan wrote to KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tesla said it plans to unveil the third generation of Optimus later this quarter, calling it the company’s first design intended for mass production, intended to be used for factory work, household tasks and caregiving. Musk said on the conference call with investors and analysts that he expects artificial intelligence to usher in an era of “sustainable abundance” in which robots do all the work and “everyone can have whatever they want.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s also said he imagines one for\u003ca href=\"https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-personal-robots-warns-terminator-style-risks-saudi-robotaxi-2025-5\"> every person on Earth\u003c/a>, all of them running Tesla software. But that may have more to do with his desire to justify his\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/11/06/nx-s1-5596440/tesla-musk-2025-trillion-dollar-compensation-vote\"> outsize Tesla pay package\u003c/a>, involving up to $1 trillion worth of Tesla stock, than his penchant for predicting the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Musk’s personal move to Texas in 2020, his decision to move \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11995900/elon-musk-says-hes-moving-spacex-x-headquarters-from-california-to-texas\">SpaceX and Tesla headquarters \u003c/a>to Austin in 2021, his \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101904725/the-extremely-hardcore-story-of-elon-musks-twitter-takeover\">takeover of Twitter\u003c/a> in 2022, his \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12071559/growing-wave-of-silicon-valley-workers-condemns-ice-as-c-suites-split-over-fear-of-trump\">support for the Trump administration\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12029281/musks-costly-cuts-x-will-doge-trump-face-similar-fallout\">leadership of DOGE\u003c/a> in 2025 have alienated many Californians. His promotion of Tesla’s controversial “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12010070/feds-investigate-tesla-after-deadly-full-self-driving-crash\">self-driving\u003c/a>” technology, despite documented accidents and safety concerns, has led to criticism and lawsuits.” The same is true for his cavalier approach to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069808/california-investigates-elon-musks-ai-company-after-avalanche-of-complaints-about-sexual-content\">complaints about xAI\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additionally, it’s not clear how many people on Earth will feel a driving need to purchase a robot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s no matter to Stephen Baiter, executive director of the East Bay Economic Development Alliance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They really are leveraging all the plentiful assets, resources, the talent and everything else that makes the Bay Area such a unique and global powerhouse,” he said. “I think their capacity to fulfill their bigger ambitions over time is realistic. What time horizon, I guess, remains to be seen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>After \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12071074/heres-what-california-leaders-said-about-latest-minneapolis-killing\">two killings in Minneapolis\u003c/a>, a group of employees at Google’s parent company added their voices this week to a growing wave of tech workers speaking out and demanding their industry condemn \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101912777/whats-the-endgame-in-dhs-brutality\">violence by federal immigration officers\u003c/a>, even as many executives who spent the past year cozying up to President Donald Trump remain silent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Alphabet Workers Union, which represents roughly 1,400 North American employees, said in a statement on Wednesday that it stands in solidarity with immigrant communities and working people “\u003ca href=\"https://www.alphabetworkersunion.org/press/alphabet-workers-union-statement-condemning-ice\">standing up to ICE terror across the country\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While President Donald Trump and parts of his administration have attempted to smear [Renee] Good and [Alex] Pretti as ‘terrorists,’ we all have seen the footage and know the truth: these citizens were executed in broad daylight while protesting mass deportation, an activity protected under the First Amendment,” the statement said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For much of the second Trump administration, however, such political speech among more progressive rank-and-file tech workers has been chilled as many Silicon Valley leaders have publicly drawn closer to the White House — and as their companies sign lucrative contracts with agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Even though I don’t directly work on the things that power things like ICE, I feel like I have to stand up and represent and be a force of good where I can,” Alphabet software engineer and AWU member Daniel Freedman said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He added that many of his colleagues fear Google might fire them for speaking out publicly as the union has. Some employees who protested Google’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11969898/protesters-outside-google-in-san-francisco-call-for-immediate-end-to-project-nimbus\">$1.2 billion contract\u003c/a> with the Israeli government and military have since been let go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12055857\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12055857 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/111215_Google-Campus_AP_CM_01.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/111215_Google-Campus_AP_CM_01.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/111215_Google-Campus_AP_CM_01-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/111215_Google-Campus_AP_CM_01-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Many more progressive rank-and-file tech workers stopped speaking out after the 2024 election as executives cozied up to Trump. For some, the recent killings in Minneapolis by federal agents mark a turning point. \u003ccite>(Jeff Chiu/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Google did not respond to KQED’s request for comment about the AWU statement. According to Freedman and reporting from Wired, Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai and other senior leaders have remained silent, even internally, about the killings in Minneapolis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s not true for every Silicon Valley c-suiter. In contrast to Pichai, for instance, Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote a \u003ca href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-28/apple-s-cook-calls-for-deescalation-after-latest-ice-shooting\">memo\u003c/a> to employees saying he’s “heartbroken” by the events in Minneapolis, but then said he “had a good conversation with the president” and spoke about a need for “deescalation,” mirroring language used by Trump.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other leaders were never friendly with Trump and don’t appear likely to start being so. Vinod Khosla, one of Silicon Valley’s most prominent venture capitalists, \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/vkhosla/status/2015647215642186008\">wrote on the social media platform X\u003c/a>, “The video was sickening to watch and the storytelling without facts or with invented fictitious facts by authorities almost unimaginable in a civilized society.”[aside postID=news_12070405 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/CloseAllTabsDataPrivacy.jpg']Former Block executive Mike Brock, who now writes the Substack \u003ca href=\"https://www.notesfromthecircus.com/?utm_source=beehiiv&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter-in-the-loop\">Notes from the Circus\u003c/a>, wrote that many tech workers stopped speaking out after the 2024 presidential election because “they understand they’ll lose their job.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the wake of the killings in Minnesota, that wary discretion is evaporating in favor of open rage and upset.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, more than 200 Silicon Valley staffers \u003ca href=\"https://iceout.tech\">published an open letter\u003c/a> urging tech leaders to use their platforms to call for ICE’s removal from U.S. cities. As of this story’s publication, the letter has roughly 1,000 signatories, including employees from Google, Amazon and TikTok — although many declined to list more than their job titles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti were a breaking point,” wrote tech executive Lisa Conn, a signatory of the \u003ca href=\"https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/rdbGCmZEBgFk1OMyCGfwHRw-kk?domain=iceout.tech\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ICEout.tech\u003c/a> letter. “And, this isn’t one corner of the industry. Signers include engineers, VPs, startup founders, and people at AI labs — many who’ve never been politically active before.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Industry watchers say there are two key factors reflected in this new agitation among Silicon Valley workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Workers know that many of them and their coworkers could be targets and/or be affected by dramatic changes to the immigration system — including the implementation of new fees and restrictions \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12058586/silicon-valley-dreams-at-risk-current-h-1bs-sidestep-trumps-100k-fee-for-now\">associated with H1B visas\u003c/a>,” UC Irvine law professor Veena Dubal wrote to KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11932363\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11932363 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/ap22234766150296-38718ea7ac763e322f50108cf25682a33d4e9fcd-scaled-e1769721170277.jpg\" alt=\"the outside of an Amazon building\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Last week, more than 200 Silicon Valley workers published an open letter urging tech leaders to use their platforms to call for ICE’s removal from U.S. cities. By publication, the letter had drawn roughly 1,000 signatures, including from employees at Google, Amazon and TikTok, though many signatories listed only their job titles. \u003ccite>(Michel Spingler/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Perhaps more importantly, it is a collective moral recognition about how their own labor may be contributing to the horrors of family separation, detention, deportation, and recent assaults on protestors,” Dubal said. “The reality is that ICE could not engage in their operations without technologies supplied to them through contracts with Palantir, Amazon, and Microsoft.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For all the energizing impact of organizing among rank-and-file employees, ICEOut.Tech and the Alphabet Workers Union both call for Silicon Valley leaders to use their political leverage, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When CEOs called the White House in October over the National Guard threat to SF, Trump backed down,” Conn wrote. “We’re asking them to use that access to do the right thing now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it’s not just the groups making those calls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>James Dyett, an executive at OpenAI, chided his peers on X over the weekend. “There is far more outrage from tech leaders over a wealth tax than masked ICE agents terrorizing communities and executing civilians in the streets,” he\u003ca href=\"https://x.com/dyett/status/2015193525273743447\"> wrote\u003c/a>, referring to California’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12070052/proposal-to-tax-billionaires-ignites-a-political-fight-in-california\">proposed tax on billionaires\u003c/a> that’s prompted some Silicon Valley tech moguls to publicly warn they’d rather leave the state than pay the tax. “Tells you what you need to know about the values of our industry.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>After \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12071074/heres-what-california-leaders-said-about-latest-minneapolis-killing\">two killings in Minneapolis\u003c/a>, a group of employees at Google’s parent company added their voices this week to a growing wave of tech workers speaking out and demanding their industry condemn \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101912777/whats-the-endgame-in-dhs-brutality\">violence by federal immigration officers\u003c/a>, even as many executives who spent the past year cozying up to President Donald Trump remain silent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Alphabet Workers Union, which represents roughly 1,400 North American employees, said in a statement on Wednesday that it stands in solidarity with immigrant communities and working people “\u003ca href=\"https://www.alphabetworkersunion.org/press/alphabet-workers-union-statement-condemning-ice\">standing up to ICE terror across the country\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While President Donald Trump and parts of his administration have attempted to smear [Renee] Good and [Alex] Pretti as ‘terrorists,’ we all have seen the footage and know the truth: these citizens were executed in broad daylight while protesting mass deportation, an activity protected under the First Amendment,” the statement said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For much of the second Trump administration, however, such political speech among more progressive rank-and-file tech workers has been chilled as many Silicon Valley leaders have publicly drawn closer to the White House — and as their companies sign lucrative contracts with agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Even though I don’t directly work on the things that power things like ICE, I feel like I have to stand up and represent and be a force of good where I can,” Alphabet software engineer and AWU member Daniel Freedman said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He added that many of his colleagues fear Google might fire them for speaking out publicly as the union has. Some employees who protested Google’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11969898/protesters-outside-google-in-san-francisco-call-for-immediate-end-to-project-nimbus\">$1.2 billion contract\u003c/a> with the Israeli government and military have since been let go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12055857\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12055857 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/111215_Google-Campus_AP_CM_01.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/111215_Google-Campus_AP_CM_01.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/111215_Google-Campus_AP_CM_01-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/111215_Google-Campus_AP_CM_01-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Many more progressive rank-and-file tech workers stopped speaking out after the 2024 election as executives cozied up to Trump. For some, the recent killings in Minneapolis by federal agents mark a turning point. \u003ccite>(Jeff Chiu/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Google did not respond to KQED’s request for comment about the AWU statement. According to Freedman and reporting from Wired, Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai and other senior leaders have remained silent, even internally, about the killings in Minneapolis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s not true for every Silicon Valley c-suiter. In contrast to Pichai, for instance, Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote a \u003ca href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-28/apple-s-cook-calls-for-deescalation-after-latest-ice-shooting\">memo\u003c/a> to employees saying he’s “heartbroken” by the events in Minneapolis, but then said he “had a good conversation with the president” and spoke about a need for “deescalation,” mirroring language used by Trump.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other leaders were never friendly with Trump and don’t appear likely to start being so. Vinod Khosla, one of Silicon Valley’s most prominent venture capitalists, \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/vkhosla/status/2015647215642186008\">wrote on the social media platform X\u003c/a>, “The video was sickening to watch and the storytelling without facts or with invented fictitious facts by authorities almost unimaginable in a civilized society.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Former Block executive Mike Brock, who now writes the Substack \u003ca href=\"https://www.notesfromthecircus.com/?utm_source=beehiiv&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter-in-the-loop\">Notes from the Circus\u003c/a>, wrote that many tech workers stopped speaking out after the 2024 presidential election because “they understand they’ll lose their job.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the wake of the killings in Minnesota, that wary discretion is evaporating in favor of open rage and upset.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, more than 200 Silicon Valley staffers \u003ca href=\"https://iceout.tech\">published an open letter\u003c/a> urging tech leaders to use their platforms to call for ICE’s removal from U.S. cities. As of this story’s publication, the letter has roughly 1,000 signatories, including employees from Google, Amazon and TikTok — although many declined to list more than their job titles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti were a breaking point,” wrote tech executive Lisa Conn, a signatory of the \u003ca href=\"https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/rdbGCmZEBgFk1OMyCGfwHRw-kk?domain=iceout.tech\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ICEout.tech\u003c/a> letter. “And, this isn’t one corner of the industry. Signers include engineers, VPs, startup founders, and people at AI labs — many who’ve never been politically active before.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Industry watchers say there are two key factors reflected in this new agitation among Silicon Valley workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Workers know that many of them and their coworkers could be targets and/or be affected by dramatic changes to the immigration system — including the implementation of new fees and restrictions \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12058586/silicon-valley-dreams-at-risk-current-h-1bs-sidestep-trumps-100k-fee-for-now\">associated with H1B visas\u003c/a>,” UC Irvine law professor Veena Dubal wrote to KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11932363\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11932363 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/ap22234766150296-38718ea7ac763e322f50108cf25682a33d4e9fcd-scaled-e1769721170277.jpg\" alt=\"the outside of an Amazon building\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Last week, more than 200 Silicon Valley workers published an open letter urging tech leaders to use their platforms to call for ICE’s removal from U.S. cities. By publication, the letter had drawn roughly 1,000 signatures, including from employees at Google, Amazon and TikTok, though many signatories listed only their job titles. \u003ccite>(Michel Spingler/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Perhaps more importantly, it is a collective moral recognition about how their own labor may be contributing to the horrors of family separation, detention, deportation, and recent assaults on protestors,” Dubal said. “The reality is that ICE could not engage in their operations without technologies supplied to them through contracts with Palantir, Amazon, and Microsoft.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For all the energizing impact of organizing among rank-and-file employees, ICEOut.Tech and the Alphabet Workers Union both call for Silicon Valley leaders to use their political leverage, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When CEOs called the White House in October over the National Guard threat to SF, Trump backed down,” Conn wrote. “We’re asking them to use that access to do the right thing now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it’s not just the groups making those calls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>James Dyett, an executive at OpenAI, chided his peers on X over the weekend. “There is far more outrage from tech leaders over a wealth tax than masked ICE agents terrorizing communities and executing civilians in the streets,” he\u003ca href=\"https://x.com/dyett/status/2015193525273743447\"> wrote\u003c/a>, referring to California’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12070052/proposal-to-tax-billionaires-ignites-a-political-fight-in-california\">proposed tax on billionaires\u003c/a> that’s prompted some Silicon Valley tech moguls to publicly warn they’d rather leave the state than pay the tax. “Tells you what you need to know about the values of our industry.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Nvidia has announced a suite of open-source AI weather forecasting systems, joining other \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/category/technology\">Big Tech players\u003c/a> hoping to establish themselves in the space as federal funding evaporates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California farmers, insurers and meteorologists alike stand to gain from adding \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/ai\">AI\u003c/a> to their weather-forecasting toolboxes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the American Meteorological Society’s\u003ca href=\"https://www.ametsoc.org/ams/meetings-events/upcoming-meetings/annual-meeting/\"> annual meeting\u003c/a> in Houston, Nvidia unveiled a new \u003ca href=\"https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/high-performance-computing/earth-2/\">NVIDIA Earth-2 “family”\u003c/a> of open models, libraries and frameworks for weather and climate AI, offering what it called “the world’s first fully open, accelerated weather AI software stack.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Santa Clara-based chipmaker described the system as “complete” for nowcasting and medium-range predictions that previously took hours on high-performance computing clusters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nvidia said the tools represent the first time AI has surpassed traditional, physics-based weather prediction models in short-term precipitation forecasting. The company added that developers across industries are already using Earth-2 to predict weather and “harness actionable insights.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/qo78lSBYi-U?si=QfwIVTE331HifdRV\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a shot across the bow at other private AI developers, including Alphabet’s Google, Microsoft and Huawei Technologies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Private-sector AI tools like Nvidia’s are welcome additions — not replacements — in a rapidly changing world, according to climate scientist Daniel Swain of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Swain said he is less concerned about the hallucinations that plague public-facing large language models than about AI weather modeling’s still unproven ability to predict edge cases based on historical data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Sometimes when it matters most — the very most extreme events that might be at the edge or outside of what we’ve seen historically — is precisely when we need the most accurate weather forecast,” Swain said. “We might not be there yet.” He added that the technology is rapidly advancing.[aside postID=news_12070850 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2234090773.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are real gains, in terms of scientific understanding as well as in prediction, and there’s need for continued caution,” said Noah Diffenbaugh, a professor and senior fellow at Stanford University’s Doerr School of Sustainability. But he struck a more cautionary note. “Other AI applications can produce inaccurate results, can produce results that are not grounded in reality. That’s a risk with these systems as well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Private developers trained their AI on a corpus of data that was largely publicly funded. While that bolsters the models’ credibility with scientists, it also raises troubling questions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For one, private developers are, by definition, concerned with profit — eventually, if not immediately. There is no guarantee they will not begin charging for access to their models.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Within a university context, we have no profit motivation at all,” Diffenbaugh said. “We’re trying to understand how the world works. And we’re doing that within our time scale, a much longer time scale (than private developers). And I think the benefit that we can bring in our work is that we’re doing that work in the context of this rigorous, patient scientific evaluation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The primary question for Swain is whether optimism about end-to-end AI models could be used by Trump administration officials to justify ceding data collection and weather modeling entirely to the private sector, even as global warming dramatically alters the climate system, particularly in California, with its complex interplay of atmospheric rivers, marine layers, Sierra snowpack, wind patterns and wildfire risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Not only are we not there yet, not only do I think we won’t be there anytime soon, I’m not sure that we will ever get to that point,” Swain said. “It’s almost a category error to assume that the success of AI-based predictive modeling means that it’s just going to completely replace that whole pipeline. That’s just fundamentally divorced from the reality of the world we live in today, and very likely to be divorced from the reality of the world that we’re going to be living in for the foreseeable future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Santa Clara-based chipmaker described the system as “complete” for nowcasting and medium-range predictions that previously took hours on high-performance computing clusters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nvidia said the tools represent the first time AI has surpassed traditional, physics-based weather prediction models in short-term precipitation forecasting. The company added that developers across industries are already using Earth-2 to predict weather and “harness actionable insights.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/qo78lSBYi-U'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/qo78lSBYi-U'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>It’s a shot across the bow at other private AI developers, including Alphabet’s Google, Microsoft and Huawei Technologies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Private-sector AI tools like Nvidia’s are welcome additions — not replacements — in a rapidly changing world, according to climate scientist Daniel Swain of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Swain said he is less concerned about the hallucinations that plague public-facing large language models than about AI weather modeling’s still unproven ability to predict edge cases based on historical data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Sometimes when it matters most — the very most extreme events that might be at the edge or outside of what we’ve seen historically — is precisely when we need the most accurate weather forecast,” Swain said. “We might not be there yet.” He added that the technology is rapidly advancing.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are real gains, in terms of scientific understanding as well as in prediction, and there’s need for continued caution,” said Noah Diffenbaugh, a professor and senior fellow at Stanford University’s Doerr School of Sustainability. But he struck a more cautionary note. “Other AI applications can produce inaccurate results, can produce results that are not grounded in reality. That’s a risk with these systems as well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Private developers trained their AI on a corpus of data that was largely publicly funded. While that bolsters the models’ credibility with scientists, it also raises troubling questions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For one, private developers are, by definition, concerned with profit — eventually, if not immediately. There is no guarantee they will not begin charging for access to their models.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Within a university context, we have no profit motivation at all,” Diffenbaugh said. “We’re trying to understand how the world works. And we’re doing that within our time scale, a much longer time scale (than private developers). And I think the benefit that we can bring in our work is that we’re doing that work in the context of this rigorous, patient scientific evaluation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The primary question for Swain is whether optimism about end-to-end AI models could be used by Trump administration officials to justify ceding data collection and weather modeling entirely to the private sector, even as global warming dramatically alters the climate system, particularly in California, with its complex interplay of atmospheric rivers, marine layers, Sierra snowpack, wind patterns and wildfire risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Not only are we not there yet, not only do I think we won’t be there anytime soon, I’m not sure that we will ever get to that point,” Swain said. “It’s almost a category error to assume that the success of AI-based predictive modeling means that it’s just going to completely replace that whole pipeline. That’s just fundamentally divorced from the reality of the world we live in today, and very likely to be divorced from the reality of the world that we’re going to be living in for the foreseeable future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Stanford Scientists Reveal Oldest Map of the Night Sky, Previously Lost to Time",
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"content": "\u003cp>A piece of thousand-year-old parchment is finally giving up its secrets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a major breakthrough this week, researchers at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11978051/unraveling-the-mysteries-of-the-universe-inside-slac\">SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory\u003c/a> in Menlo Park used X-ray beams to uncover a long-lost map of the universe — the latest in a decade-long effort to recover the work of Hipparchus, the second-century B.C. mathematician, known as the father of astronomy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ancient astronomer’s star coordinates, which represent the oldest-known attempt to catalog the entire night sky, were thought to be lost for good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, as of Tuesday, scientists with the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource — a research facility dedicated to studying the world at the atomic level — have begun looking for answers in an unlikely place: under the layers of a medieval religious text.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The goal is to recover as many of these coordinates as possible,” said Victor Gysembergh, the lead scholar on the experiment. “And this will help us answer some of the biggest questions on the birth of science.” Why did they start doing science 2,000 and more years ago? How did they get so good at it so fast? Because the coordinates we are finding are incredibly accurate for something that is done with the naked eye.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12070809\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1944px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12070809\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Photo1AliAhmad.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1944\" height=\"1458\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Photo1AliAhmad.jpg 1944w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Photo1AliAhmad-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Photo1AliAhmad-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1944px) 100vw, 1944px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dual monitors at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory show early results from a scan of the Codex Climaci Rescriptus on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026. The screen on the left displays hidden ancient Greek lettering from a star catalog in the bottom corner with religious overtext appearing above, while the screen on the right shows the physical parchment as it appears to the naked eye. \u003ccite>(Ayah Ali-Ahmad/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The manuscript, known as the Codex Climaci Rescriptus, is a palimpsest, or a page in which text has been scraped off or overwritten, according to Brian Hyland, senior curator at the Museum of the Bible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parchment was incredibly expensive in the Middle Ages — one book could require a whole herd of sheep — so monks at Saint Catherine’s Monastery, the world’s oldest continuously inhabited Christian monastery located in the Sinai Desert in Egypt, often recycled materials.[aside postID=science_1999837 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/01/CalacademyDiscovery.jpg']The monks soaked the animal-skin parchments in milk or lemon juice, scraped them with pumice stones and sprinkled them with flour to create a fresh surface for new writing, according to Uwe Bergmann, a visiting professor of X-ray science at SLAC.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In this case, the original Greek astronomical notes were erased to make way for a Syriac translation of works by St. John Climacus, a 6th-7th century monk. While the religious text is easily visible to the naked eye, the ancient coordinates for the stars and notes on Hipparchus’ work remained a series of invisible smudges for centuries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Late Tuesday, the team at SLAC began scanning 11 pages of the manuscript provided by the Museum of the Bible. By Wednesday morning, the monitors were showing line after line of ancient Greek.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The process relies on the specific chemistry of the inks used across different eras, physics Ph.D. student Minhal Gardezi said. The top layer of ink used by the monks is rich in iron, while the underlying Greek text contains a strong calcium signal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By tuning the X-ray beam, researchers can create elemental maps that separate the layers. This allows them to effectively “see” the underlying layer — without the top layer obscuring the view.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12070811\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1987px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12070811\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Photo4AliAhmad.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1987\" height=\"1490\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Photo4AliAhmad.jpg 1987w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Photo4AliAhmad-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Photo4AliAhmad-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1987px) 100vw, 1987px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Elizabeth Hayslett, a conservator from the Museum of the Bible, demonstrates the custom matting and frames used to keep 11 ancient parchment pages flat during high-speed X-ray scanning at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Menlo Park on Jan. 21, 2026. \u003ccite>(Ayah Ali-Ahmad/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>By Wednesday morning, the team had already identified the word for “Aquarius” and descriptions of “bright” stars within that constellation, Gysembergh said. The researcher said he’s been waiting four years for this experiment, which followed his earlier publications on the manuscript.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am at the peak of my excitement right now … because of this new scan that we started, line after line of text showing up in ancient Greek from the astronomical manuscript,” Gysembergh said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While multispectral imaging had previously revealed some fragments, the X-ray fluorescence technology at SLAC allows for much higher resolution. Gysembergh and his colleagues can now use these coordinates to answer fundamental questions about how ancient astronomers achieved such high precision without magnifying instruments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What the Greeks knew about our world was unbelievable,” Bergmann said. “Knowing about these great thinkers from ancient Greece, going into the most modern advanced science of today, for me, it has become really, really fascinating.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12070812\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12070812\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Photo8bylab.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1357\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Photo8bylab.jpeg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Photo8bylab-160x110.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Photo8bylab-1536x1053.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">From left, conservator Elizabeth Hayslett, scholar Victor Gysembergh and physicist Uwe Bergmann place a manuscript page into a scanning apparatus at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory on Jan. 21, 2026. The interdisciplinary team is collaborating to recover the oldest known numerical catalog of the stars. \u003ccite>(Jacqueline Ramseyer Orrell/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The technical side of the study is a massive interdisciplinary feat, according to Sam Webb, a lead scientist at SLAC. Webb built the instrumentation and experimental hutch that houses the world’s brightest X-rays.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The process involves a synchrotron, or a particle accelerator, which propels electrons to nearly the speed of light. As these electrons are “wiggled” by magnets, they shed off X-rays that are used to illuminate the manuscript, Bergmann said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bergmann said that to ensure the safety of the fragile parchment, each 10-millisecond pulse of X-ray light hits a spot the width of a human hair. Bergmann said the team is careful to keep the “dose” of radiation well below a safe limit, much like a medical X-ray.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elizabeth Hayslett, a conservator from the Museum of the Bible, spent weeks preparing the 11 folios for the journey. The pages traveled in humidity-controlled cases under a strict hand-carry policy to prevent any damage. During the scanning process, the team keeps the lights low in the experimental hutch to prevent further fading of the ink.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12070813\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12070813\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Photo9bylab.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1215\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Photo9bylab.jpeg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Photo9bylab-160x98.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Photo9bylab-1536x943.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Physicist Uwe Bergmann examines a piece of the Codex Climaci Rescriptus in a darkened hutch at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory on Jan. 21, 2026. Researchers keep ambient light low during the imaging process to protect the fragile parchment and sensitive X-ray equipment. \u003ccite>(Jacqueline Ramseyer Orrell/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>These pages are part of a larger 200-page codex. While this specific set of pages is held in Washington, D.C., other parts of the manuscript are scattered globally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond the excitement of the hunt, the findings carry significant weight for the history of science. According to Gysembergh, historians debated for years whether the Roman astronomer Ptolemy had plagiarized Hipparchus’ star catalog.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gysembergh said that by comparing the new data from the SLAC scans with Ptolemy’s preserved records, they can now prove that Ptolemy did not simply copy the work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can show that Ptolemy did indeed sometimes use Hipparchus’ data, but he also used other sources. So, that’s not plagiarism. That’s actual science,” Gysembergh said. “That’s what we still do today to combine data sources to get the best data possible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keith Knox, an imaging scientist with the Early Manuscripts Electronic Library who has worked on similar projects for 30 years, said the goal is to enhance the writing so that scholars can finally read it. Knox previously worked on the famous Archimedes Palimpsest and said that the star-map project is the latest step in a decades-long effort to recover secrets from the past.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12070814\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12070814\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-612208334.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-612208334.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-612208334-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-612208334-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Professor Judson Herrman, with colleagues Roger Easton, William Christens-Barry, and Keith Knox, looking over data from the Archimedes Palimpsest in Baltimore. \u003ccite>(Ken Cedeno via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“This is just the latest event of working on this one manuscript, trying to recover the secrets of the writing that was erased a long time ago,” Knox said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because the X-rays see through both sides of the page simultaneously, Knox and Ph.D. students use advanced data processing to statistically separate the front and back text. On some pages, there may be as many as six layers of ink to untangle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we can show how useful — and how informative — the science can be, the hope is that then more scholars who might have interesting documents, interesting artifacts, would then come to us and we can learn more about those,” chemistry Ph.D. student Sophia Vogelsang said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The next phase will involve scholars of ancient Greek, who will painstakingly translate the coordinates and descriptions to fully reconstruct the father of astronomy’s lost catalog.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"title": "Stanford Scientists Reveal Oldest Map of the Night Sky, Previously Lost to Time | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A piece of thousand-year-old parchment is finally giving up its secrets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a major breakthrough this week, researchers at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11978051/unraveling-the-mysteries-of-the-universe-inside-slac\">SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory\u003c/a> in Menlo Park used X-ray beams to uncover a long-lost map of the universe — the latest in a decade-long effort to recover the work of Hipparchus, the second-century B.C. mathematician, known as the father of astronomy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ancient astronomer’s star coordinates, which represent the oldest-known attempt to catalog the entire night sky, were thought to be lost for good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, as of Tuesday, scientists with the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource — a research facility dedicated to studying the world at the atomic level — have begun looking for answers in an unlikely place: under the layers of a medieval religious text.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The goal is to recover as many of these coordinates as possible,” said Victor Gysembergh, the lead scholar on the experiment. “And this will help us answer some of the biggest questions on the birth of science.” Why did they start doing science 2,000 and more years ago? How did they get so good at it so fast? Because the coordinates we are finding are incredibly accurate for something that is done with the naked eye.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12070809\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1944px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12070809\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Photo1AliAhmad.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1944\" height=\"1458\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Photo1AliAhmad.jpg 1944w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Photo1AliAhmad-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Photo1AliAhmad-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1944px) 100vw, 1944px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dual monitors at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory show early results from a scan of the Codex Climaci Rescriptus on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026. The screen on the left displays hidden ancient Greek lettering from a star catalog in the bottom corner with religious overtext appearing above, while the screen on the right shows the physical parchment as it appears to the naked eye. \u003ccite>(Ayah Ali-Ahmad/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The manuscript, known as the Codex Climaci Rescriptus, is a palimpsest, or a page in which text has been scraped off or overwritten, according to Brian Hyland, senior curator at the Museum of the Bible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parchment was incredibly expensive in the Middle Ages — one book could require a whole herd of sheep — so monks at Saint Catherine’s Monastery, the world’s oldest continuously inhabited Christian monastery located in the Sinai Desert in Egypt, often recycled materials.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The monks soaked the animal-skin parchments in milk or lemon juice, scraped them with pumice stones and sprinkled them with flour to create a fresh surface for new writing, according to Uwe Bergmann, a visiting professor of X-ray science at SLAC.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In this case, the original Greek astronomical notes were erased to make way for a Syriac translation of works by St. John Climacus, a 6th-7th century monk. While the religious text is easily visible to the naked eye, the ancient coordinates for the stars and notes on Hipparchus’ work remained a series of invisible smudges for centuries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Late Tuesday, the team at SLAC began scanning 11 pages of the manuscript provided by the Museum of the Bible. By Wednesday morning, the monitors were showing line after line of ancient Greek.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The process relies on the specific chemistry of the inks used across different eras, physics Ph.D. student Minhal Gardezi said. The top layer of ink used by the monks is rich in iron, while the underlying Greek text contains a strong calcium signal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By tuning the X-ray beam, researchers can create elemental maps that separate the layers. This allows them to effectively “see” the underlying layer — without the top layer obscuring the view.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12070811\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1987px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12070811\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Photo4AliAhmad.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1987\" height=\"1490\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Photo4AliAhmad.jpg 1987w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Photo4AliAhmad-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Photo4AliAhmad-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1987px) 100vw, 1987px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Elizabeth Hayslett, a conservator from the Museum of the Bible, demonstrates the custom matting and frames used to keep 11 ancient parchment pages flat during high-speed X-ray scanning at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Menlo Park on Jan. 21, 2026. \u003ccite>(Ayah Ali-Ahmad/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>By Wednesday morning, the team had already identified the word for “Aquarius” and descriptions of “bright” stars within that constellation, Gysembergh said. The researcher said he’s been waiting four years for this experiment, which followed his earlier publications on the manuscript.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am at the peak of my excitement right now … because of this new scan that we started, line after line of text showing up in ancient Greek from the astronomical manuscript,” Gysembergh said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While multispectral imaging had previously revealed some fragments, the X-ray fluorescence technology at SLAC allows for much higher resolution. Gysembergh and his colleagues can now use these coordinates to answer fundamental questions about how ancient astronomers achieved such high precision without magnifying instruments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What the Greeks knew about our world was unbelievable,” Bergmann said. “Knowing about these great thinkers from ancient Greece, going into the most modern advanced science of today, for me, it has become really, really fascinating.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12070812\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12070812\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Photo8bylab.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1357\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Photo8bylab.jpeg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Photo8bylab-160x110.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Photo8bylab-1536x1053.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">From left, conservator Elizabeth Hayslett, scholar Victor Gysembergh and physicist Uwe Bergmann place a manuscript page into a scanning apparatus at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory on Jan. 21, 2026. The interdisciplinary team is collaborating to recover the oldest known numerical catalog of the stars. \u003ccite>(Jacqueline Ramseyer Orrell/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The technical side of the study is a massive interdisciplinary feat, according to Sam Webb, a lead scientist at SLAC. Webb built the instrumentation and experimental hutch that houses the world’s brightest X-rays.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The process involves a synchrotron, or a particle accelerator, which propels electrons to nearly the speed of light. As these electrons are “wiggled” by magnets, they shed off X-rays that are used to illuminate the manuscript, Bergmann said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bergmann said that to ensure the safety of the fragile parchment, each 10-millisecond pulse of X-ray light hits a spot the width of a human hair. Bergmann said the team is careful to keep the “dose” of radiation well below a safe limit, much like a medical X-ray.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elizabeth Hayslett, a conservator from the Museum of the Bible, spent weeks preparing the 11 folios for the journey. The pages traveled in humidity-controlled cases under a strict hand-carry policy to prevent any damage. During the scanning process, the team keeps the lights low in the experimental hutch to prevent further fading of the ink.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12070813\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12070813\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Photo9bylab.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1215\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Photo9bylab.jpeg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Photo9bylab-160x98.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Photo9bylab-1536x943.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Physicist Uwe Bergmann examines a piece of the Codex Climaci Rescriptus in a darkened hutch at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory on Jan. 21, 2026. Researchers keep ambient light low during the imaging process to protect the fragile parchment and sensitive X-ray equipment. \u003ccite>(Jacqueline Ramseyer Orrell/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>These pages are part of a larger 200-page codex. While this specific set of pages is held in Washington, D.C., other parts of the manuscript are scattered globally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond the excitement of the hunt, the findings carry significant weight for the history of science. According to Gysembergh, historians debated for years whether the Roman astronomer Ptolemy had plagiarized Hipparchus’ star catalog.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gysembergh said that by comparing the new data from the SLAC scans with Ptolemy’s preserved records, they can now prove that Ptolemy did not simply copy the work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can show that Ptolemy did indeed sometimes use Hipparchus’ data, but he also used other sources. So, that’s not plagiarism. That’s actual science,” Gysembergh said. “That’s what we still do today to combine data sources to get the best data possible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keith Knox, an imaging scientist with the Early Manuscripts Electronic Library who has worked on similar projects for 30 years, said the goal is to enhance the writing so that scholars can finally read it. Knox previously worked on the famous Archimedes Palimpsest and said that the star-map project is the latest step in a decades-long effort to recover secrets from the past.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12070814\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12070814\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-612208334.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-612208334.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-612208334-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-612208334-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Professor Judson Herrman, with colleagues Roger Easton, William Christens-Barry, and Keith Knox, looking over data from the Archimedes Palimpsest in Baltimore. \u003ccite>(Ken Cedeno via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“This is just the latest event of working on this one manuscript, trying to recover the secrets of the writing that was erased a long time ago,” Knox said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because the X-rays see through both sides of the page simultaneously, Knox and Ph.D. students use advanced data processing to statistically separate the front and back text. On some pages, there may be as many as six layers of ink to untangle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we can show how useful — and how informative — the science can be, the hope is that then more scholars who might have interesting documents, interesting artifacts, would then come to us and we can learn more about those,” chemistry Ph.D. student Sophia Vogelsang said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The next phase will involve scholars of ancient Greek, who will painstakingly translate the coordinates and descriptions to fully reconstruct the father of astronomy’s lost catalog.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Three voice-activated, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/artificial-intelligence\">AI-powered\u003c/a> toys tested by Common Sense Media researchers raised concerns that they were designed to engineer emotional attachment with young children and collect private data, according to the nonprofit’s report released Thursday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The warning is the latest in a string from consumer advocates about the risks posed to children by artificial intelligence, including in the form of toys like stuffed animals or brightly colored plastic robots that act as chatbots, conversing and telling stories to children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Unlike traditional toys, these devices present a range of new harms,” Common Sense Media researchers wrote in their \u003ca href=\"https://www.commonsensemedia.org/ai-ratings/ai-toys\">report\u003c/a>, which tested the Grem, Bondu and Miko 3 toys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The children’s advocacy group recommended that parents not give AI companion toys to children 5 and younger, and it warned parents to exercise “extreme caution” even with children 6 to 13 years old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the group’s December survey of 1,004 parents of children ranging from infants to age 8, nearly half of parents have purchased or are considering purchasing these toys or similar ones for their children. The products are sold by major retailers like Walmart, Costco, Amazon and Target. One in 6 parents told Common Sense they have already purchased one, and 10% said they “definitely plan to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12070893\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2126123060-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12070893\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2126123060-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1706\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2126123060-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2126123060-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2126123060-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2126123060-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2126123060-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hyodol, the world’s first AI-based companion robot dolls, are being exhibited in the South Korean pavilion at the Mobile World Congress 2024 in Barcelona, Spain, on April 2, 2024. Created by a South Korean company, these dolls are designed to serve as social companions for the elderly and have been commercialized in several countries.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Common Sense Media is not usually in the business of saying, don’t use technology entirely,” said Robbie Torney, head of AI & digital assessments for Common Sense Media. “We really want to trust parents and empower them to make the best choices for their kids. But for under-5 children in particular, our testing showed a set of risks that are really a big developmental mismatch for where these young children are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Common Sense Media researchers tested the toys by creating child accounts for “users” ages 6 to 13, putting them through both everyday use and sensitive scenarios. Their team, including child development experts, evaluated everything from voice recognition and content accuracy to privacy practices, parental controls and whether the toys’ responses were developmentally appropriate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though the toys are marketed as educational, more than a quarter of their responses in testing weren’t child-appropriate, the Common Sense report found. They included problematic content related to drugs, sex and risky activities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our testing did show that these companies have put tremendous effort into guardrailing their chatbots,” Torney said. But “chatbots don’t understand context. They can’t make determinations about what a child actually means. If you ask about self-harm and then ask for dangerous chemicals, many of these devices will refuse the self-harm question, but won’t make the connection that dangerous chemicals might enable self-harm.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ritvik Sharma, chief growth officer at Miko, based in Mumbai, India, wrote that “child safety, privacy, and healthy development are foundational design requirements — not afterthoughts.” He also said the company was unable to reproduce the behaviors cited by Common Sense Media researchers “under normal operation,” sharing videos that showed Miko redirecting away from potentially problematic questions.[aside postID=news_12069286 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/OpenAI.jpg']“Miko’s conversational experience is powered by a proprietary, child-focused AI system developed specifically for young users, rather than adapted from general-purpose AI models,” Sharma added. “This allows us to evaluate responses for age suitability, emotional tone, and educational value before they reach a child.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, a spokesperson from Redwood-City-based Curio Interactive, which makes Grem, said the company’s toys “are designed with parent permission and control at the center.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Over a two-year beta period, we worked with approximately 2,000 families to develop a multi-tiered safety system that combines constrained conversational scope, age-appropriate design, layered filtering and refusal mechanisms, and continuous real-world monitoring, with safeguards enforced at multiple points in the interaction,” the spokesperson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Torney said parents need to ask themselves how much they trust the internet-connected companions not to cross developmentally appropriate lines into psychologically damaging territory when there’s no meaningful product safety regulation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of the characteristics of under-5 children is that they have magical thinking, and what’s sometimes referred to as animism, the belief that objects may be real. They think about them differently than older children do,” Torney said. He acknowledged magical thinking can continue into later childhood as well, “which is why we’re still encouraging that extreme caution.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Common Sense Media report comes after an \u003ca href=\"https://fairplayforkids.org/pf/aitoyadvisory\">advisory published in November\u003c/a> by the children’s advocacy group Fairplay strongly urged parents not to buy AI toys during the holiday season. The advisory was signed by more than 150 organizations, child psychiatrists and educators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some of the new AI toys react contingently to young children,” wrote UC Berkeley professor Fei Xu, who directs the Berkeley Early Learning Lab. “That is, when a child says something, the AI toy says something back; if a child waves at the AI toy, it moves. This kind of social contingency is known to be very important for early social, emotional and language development. This raises the potential issue of young children being emotionally attached to these AI toys. More research is urgently needed to study this systematically.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to be exceptionally cautious when introducing understudied technologies with young children, whose biological and emotional minds are very vulnerable,” UCSF psychiatry and pediatrics professor Dr. Nicole Bush wrote. “While AI has the capacity for tremendous benefit to society, young children’s time is better spent with trusted adults and peers, or in constructive play or learning activities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12070888\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1484px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/ai-toys-ss-5.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12070888\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/ai-toys-ss-5.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1484\" height=\"492\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/ai-toys-ss-5.png 1484w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/ai-toys-ss-5-160x53.png 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1484px) 100vw, 1484px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A chat between a Common Sense Media tester and Miko 3, an AI toy. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Common Sense Media)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Earlier this month, Common Sense Media and OpenAI announced they’re backing a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069286/openai-and-common-sense-media-partner-on-new-kids-ai-safety-ballot-measure\">consolidated effort\u003c/a> to put a measure on this November’s ballot in California that would institute AI chatbot guardrails for children. That effort is now in the signature-gathering stage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A legislative measure that Common Sense backed, covering much of the same territory, was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12059714/newsom-vetoes-most-watched-childrens-ai-bill-signs-16-others-targeting-tech\">vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom\u003c/a> at the end of last session. In his veto message, Newsom expressed concern that the bill could lead to a total ban on minors using conversational AI tools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“AI is already shaping the world, and it is imperative that adolescents learn how to safely interact with AI systems,” he wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this year, state Sen. Steve Padilla, D-San Diego, introduced \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB867\">Senate Bill 867\u003c/a>, which would establish a first-in-the-nation four-year moratorium on the sale and manufacture of toys with AI chatbots embedded in them, “until manufacturers have worked out the dangers embedded in them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to put the brakes on AI toys until they are proven safe for kids,” Padilla wrote in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Three voice-activated, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/artificial-intelligence\">AI-powered\u003c/a> toys tested by Common Sense Media researchers raised concerns that they were designed to engineer emotional attachment with young children and collect private data, according to the nonprofit’s report released Thursday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The warning is the latest in a string from consumer advocates about the risks posed to children by artificial intelligence, including in the form of toys like stuffed animals or brightly colored plastic robots that act as chatbots, conversing and telling stories to children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Unlike traditional toys, these devices present a range of new harms,” Common Sense Media researchers wrote in their \u003ca href=\"https://www.commonsensemedia.org/ai-ratings/ai-toys\">report\u003c/a>, which tested the Grem, Bondu and Miko 3 toys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The children’s advocacy group recommended that parents not give AI companion toys to children 5 and younger, and it warned parents to exercise “extreme caution” even with children 6 to 13 years old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the group’s December survey of 1,004 parents of children ranging from infants to age 8, nearly half of parents have purchased or are considering purchasing these toys or similar ones for their children. The products are sold by major retailers like Walmart, Costco, Amazon and Target. One in 6 parents told Common Sense they have already purchased one, and 10% said they “definitely plan to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12070893\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2126123060-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12070893\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2126123060-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1706\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2126123060-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2126123060-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2126123060-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2126123060-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2126123060-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hyodol, the world’s first AI-based companion robot dolls, are being exhibited in the South Korean pavilion at the Mobile World Congress 2024 in Barcelona, Spain, on April 2, 2024. Created by a South Korean company, these dolls are designed to serve as social companions for the elderly and have been commercialized in several countries.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Common Sense Media is not usually in the business of saying, don’t use technology entirely,” said Robbie Torney, head of AI & digital assessments for Common Sense Media. “We really want to trust parents and empower them to make the best choices for their kids. But for under-5 children in particular, our testing showed a set of risks that are really a big developmental mismatch for where these young children are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Common Sense Media researchers tested the toys by creating child accounts for “users” ages 6 to 13, putting them through both everyday use and sensitive scenarios. Their team, including child development experts, evaluated everything from voice recognition and content accuracy to privacy practices, parental controls and whether the toys’ responses were developmentally appropriate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though the toys are marketed as educational, more than a quarter of their responses in testing weren’t child-appropriate, the Common Sense report found. They included problematic content related to drugs, sex and risky activities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our testing did show that these companies have put tremendous effort into guardrailing their chatbots,” Torney said. But “chatbots don’t understand context. They can’t make determinations about what a child actually means. If you ask about self-harm and then ask for dangerous chemicals, many of these devices will refuse the self-harm question, but won’t make the connection that dangerous chemicals might enable self-harm.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ritvik Sharma, chief growth officer at Miko, based in Mumbai, India, wrote that “child safety, privacy, and healthy development are foundational design requirements — not afterthoughts.” He also said the company was unable to reproduce the behaviors cited by Common Sense Media researchers “under normal operation,” sharing videos that showed Miko redirecting away from potentially problematic questions.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Miko’s conversational experience is powered by a proprietary, child-focused AI system developed specifically for young users, rather than adapted from general-purpose AI models,” Sharma added. “This allows us to evaluate responses for age suitability, emotional tone, and educational value before they reach a child.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, a spokesperson from Redwood-City-based Curio Interactive, which makes Grem, said the company’s toys “are designed with parent permission and control at the center.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Over a two-year beta period, we worked with approximately 2,000 families to develop a multi-tiered safety system that combines constrained conversational scope, age-appropriate design, layered filtering and refusal mechanisms, and continuous real-world monitoring, with safeguards enforced at multiple points in the interaction,” the spokesperson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Torney said parents need to ask themselves how much they trust the internet-connected companions not to cross developmentally appropriate lines into psychologically damaging territory when there’s no meaningful product safety regulation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of the characteristics of under-5 children is that they have magical thinking, and what’s sometimes referred to as animism, the belief that objects may be real. They think about them differently than older children do,” Torney said. He acknowledged magical thinking can continue into later childhood as well, “which is why we’re still encouraging that extreme caution.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Common Sense Media report comes after an \u003ca href=\"https://fairplayforkids.org/pf/aitoyadvisory\">advisory published in November\u003c/a> by the children’s advocacy group Fairplay strongly urged parents not to buy AI toys during the holiday season. The advisory was signed by more than 150 organizations, child psychiatrists and educators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some of the new AI toys react contingently to young children,” wrote UC Berkeley professor Fei Xu, who directs the Berkeley Early Learning Lab. “That is, when a child says something, the AI toy says something back; if a child waves at the AI toy, it moves. This kind of social contingency is known to be very important for early social, emotional and language development. This raises the potential issue of young children being emotionally attached to these AI toys. More research is urgently needed to study this systematically.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to be exceptionally cautious when introducing understudied technologies with young children, whose biological and emotional minds are very vulnerable,” UCSF psychiatry and pediatrics professor Dr. Nicole Bush wrote. “While AI has the capacity for tremendous benefit to society, young children’s time is better spent with trusted adults and peers, or in constructive play or learning activities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12070888\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1484px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/ai-toys-ss-5.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12070888\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/ai-toys-ss-5.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1484\" height=\"492\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/ai-toys-ss-5.png 1484w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/ai-toys-ss-5-160x53.png 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1484px) 100vw, 1484px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A chat between a Common Sense Media tester and Miko 3, an AI toy. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Common Sense Media)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Earlier this month, Common Sense Media and OpenAI announced they’re backing a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069286/openai-and-common-sense-media-partner-on-new-kids-ai-safety-ballot-measure\">consolidated effort\u003c/a> to put a measure on this November’s ballot in California that would institute AI chatbot guardrails for children. That effort is now in the signature-gathering stage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A legislative measure that Common Sense backed, covering much of the same territory, was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12059714/newsom-vetoes-most-watched-childrens-ai-bill-signs-16-others-targeting-tech\">vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom\u003c/a> at the end of last session. In his veto message, Newsom expressed concern that the bill could lead to a total ban on minors using conversational AI tools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“AI is already shaping the world, and it is imperative that adolescents learn how to safely interact with AI systems,” he wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this year, state Sen. Steve Padilla, D-San Diego, introduced \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB867\">Senate Bill 867\u003c/a>, which would establish a first-in-the-nation four-year moratorium on the sale and manufacture of toys with AI chatbots embedded in them, “until manufacturers have worked out the dangers embedded in them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to put the brakes on AI toys until they are proven safe for kids,” Padilla wrote in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>JoseMonkey is very good at finding people. With their permission, of course.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a self-styled \u003ca href=\"https://josemonkey.com/about-me/\">“open source intelligence researcher”\u003c/a> operating on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, JoseMonkey’s specialty is pinpointing a person’s exact global location using only the non-descript video of their face, which they send him first.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His posts — \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@the_josemonkey\">most of them documenting his lighthearted digital manhunts\u003c/a> — gain hundreds of thousands of views each, with nearly 20 million total likes over five years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To do this work, JoseMonkey focuses on the background details of the videos he’s sent — like the landscape and visible street signs — and uses publicly available tools like \u003ca href=\"https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=4/38.01/-95.84\">OpenStreetMap\u003c/a>. But he only tries to “find people who ask to be found,” JoseMonkey told KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/closealltabs\">Close All Tabs\u003c/a> podcast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>JoseMonkey does this for fun — and also because of his advocacy for online privacy. When he felt like people weren’t taking his concerns about the information they were unknowingly sharing seriously, he took to TikTok for a different approach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By walking his viewers “through the process of how I could look at a seemingly mundane video that doesn’t show very much” and nonetheless deduce the exact location it was taken, “I thought that might be something that people would think was both interesting, but maybe slightly unsettling,” JoseMonkey said. “And then, they would pay attention to this idea of internet safety.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px; min-width: 325px;\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@the_josemonkey/video/7530754458112806157\" data-video-id=\"7530754458112806157\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@the_josemonkey\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@the_josemonkey?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@the_josemonkey\u003c/a> This one was tricky 😅 \u003ca title=\"geolocation\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/geolocation?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#geolocation\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"osint\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/osint?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#OSINT\u003c/a> @mastrosmom \u003ca title=\"♬ original sound - josemonkey\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-josemonkey-7530754461849996087?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">♬ original sound – josemonkey\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003cscript async src=\"https://www.tiktok.com/embed.js\">\u003c/script>\u003cbr>\n[tiktok]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oversharing online is so common that most people don’t think twice about it. Think of the most popular posts online: “Get ready with me,” apartment tours, “Come with me.” Videos like these can, even unwittingly, contain a huge amount of personal geographic information — details which could make them vulnerable to scams or even attacks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The important takeaway here is that a sufficiently motivated individual who has an attention to detail and time to spend … can find you from a video,” JoseMonkey explained. “I don’t wanna scare people by saying that, but people should know it is possible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED’s Close All Tabs spoke to JoseMonkey and other experts on how you can start the new year with privacy in mind by adjusting some of your digital habits — without overwhelming you too much.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jump to: \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#WhatshouldIthinkaboutwhenIpost\">What should I think about when I post?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#WhatarethefirststepsIcantaketowarddigitalhygiene\">What are the first steps I can take toward digital hygiene?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>How much danger might my personal privacy be in?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>You don’t need to guard yourself against every threat that exists, explained Eva Galperin, the director of cybersecurity at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The only way to really do that is to “live as a hermit on a mountain and fling all of your devices into the sea,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, Galperin said, it’s more helpful to think about what advocates like her call “threat modeling”: What you want to protect and who you want to protect it from.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12069526\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12069526 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/DataPrivacyGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/DataPrivacyGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/DataPrivacyGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/DataPrivacyGetty-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A worst-case scenario of having your digital privacy breached: Losing out financially. \u003ccite>(Rain Star/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Some of the common threat models you might consider:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Being scammed online by ransomware …\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For most people, their threat is scammers looking for money, access to their accounts or access to people who trust them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of the big problems that we have right now is that we are in a golden age of grift,” Galperin explained. And if you have a phone, email address or any way of being reached, you are “constantly getting messages from scammers and criminals.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of us feel very smart because every day we get targeted with, like, six of these things and we don’t fall for it,” she said. “But what’s really important to understand is that all a scammer needs is for you to have one bad day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A common method is ransomware, in which a scammer tricks you into downloading software that locks up your devices and holds them hostage until you pay a ransom — or in some cases, uses such software to spy on you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>… or a phishing attempt\u003c/strong>[aside postID=news_12055606 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/USImmigrationCustomsEnforcementHQGetty.jpg']Phishing entails a bad actor pretending to be someone you trust — a bank, a friend, a family member — and luring you into clicking on a link, or logging into a fake website to obtain information.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You may be able to tell you are being phished by viewing the message closely and noticing inconsistencies, like the email address being slightly wrong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A sort of indicator of a scam is a sense of urgency,” Galperin said. “‘Something is on fire,’ ‘an emergency is happening’ or ‘you could get rich if you click here in the next five minutes.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That sense of urgency is aimed at overriding your common sense,” she warned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Being tracked as someone seeking an abortion\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts worry about the digital safety of people seeking reproductive care across state borders following the overturning of Roe v. Wade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Abortion advocates have taken \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldefensefund.org/\">major steps to educate people\u003c/a> in states that severely restrict abortion on how to cover their tracks in pursuing the procedure elsewhere, including turning off their location. (Read \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12014633/how-do-i-protect-my-privacy-if-im-seeking-an-abortion\">The Markup’s thorough guide on protecting your privacy if you are seeking an abortion\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When communicating about abortion, a major way that patients and providers can protect their messages is to use an encrypted app, like \u003ca href=\"https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/categories/5592576449306-Getting-Started\">Signal\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In this case, end-to-end encryption means that your telecommunications company and the messaging platform can’t read your messages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Being threatened as a survivor of domestic abuse\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Creating a threat model for scenarios like domestic abuse is harder, often because an abuser can gain physical access to a person’s possessions, like their phone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When talking to survivors of domestic abuse who are attempting to leave an abuser, Galperin said the first thing she suggests is creating a new account — or a device — where they know their communications will be safe and private.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"WhatshouldIthinkaboutwhenIpost\">\u003c/a>How can my posts and videos reveal too much about my location?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Always review what you are posting before you post it, JoseMonkey said — even though “many people” never take this step.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They record something, and they just press send,” he said. And a person may not even realize “that there was some big thing that they forgot that they didn’t want to include,” he warns, until the post is out there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This could, for example, be a visible street sign behind you, which can be easily remedied by cropping it out or covering it with text or \u003ca href=\"https://help.instagram.com/151273688993748/\">a sticker\u003c/a> — or just rerecording the video to keep it out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11732621\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11732621 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/03/gettyimages-936083116_slide-3e70954a8411a47eae7fed29faec169c8c9a7088-e1552499753206.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">How can you protect your digital privacy online, especially when it comes to sharing details on social media? \u003ccite>(Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A more subtle aspect people may not think about? “The more you move the camera, the more information you’re going to show,” JoseMonkey said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you’re out for a walk somewhere, people can see everything around you,” he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many people record videos in their car, but “people underestimate how much you can see through the windows of your car,” JoseMonkey warned. And if the car’s mirrors or its GPS are visible, that’s more information being shared.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Be mindful of your posting history — “you may not remember that three years ago, you posted something that’s still there on your account that revealed some other bit of information,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And this could be spread across several platforms. You tweeted something on one account, you posted a picture on another, have your LinkedIn on another, and a larger picture about you is created.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Now people have all these bits and pieces of information about you,” JoseMonkey said — and you’ve potentially made it far easier for someone to find you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"WhatarethefirststepsIcantaketowarddigitalhygiene\">\u003c/a>OK, I’m convinced. What should my first steps to improve my digital safety be?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While the world of surveillance and privacy can be \u003cem>incredibly \u003c/em>overwhelming (and scary), it shouldn’t completely discourage you from adopting good practices that are attainable for anyone with a phone or computer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Consider the following checklist a form of basic digital hygiene — like washing your hands — that can help make you safer from the “kinds of threats that most people face every day,” Galperin explained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11947072\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11947072 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/RS40986_iStock-1170728885-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A close up of a woman's hands as she holds a smartphone and is swiping the screen. She wears an orange jacket.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/RS40986_iStock-1170728885-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/RS40986_iStock-1170728885-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/RS40986_iStock-1170728885-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/RS40986_iStock-1170728885-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/RS40986_iStock-1170728885-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">What are some easy digital habits you can pick up in the new year that can protect your privacy online? \u003ccite>(istock/GaudiLab)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Strengthen — and manage — your passwords — and get a password manager\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To secure your accounts, Galperin said, you should make sure:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>All of your passwords are different from one another\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The passwords are long\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Use a password manager like \u003ca href=\"https://bitwarden.com/\">Bitwarden\u003c/a> or \u003ca href=\"https://proton.me/pass\">ProtonPass\u003c/a>, a secure application that manages, stores and even creates passkeys to different websites (you may need to pay for this service, although \u003ca href=\"https://www.zdnet.com/article/apple-google-and-microsoft-offer-free-password-managers-but-should-you-use-them/\">free password managers are available too\u003c/a>)\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>“Your password manager will be unlocked with a single password,” Galperin said. “That single password again should be long and strong, and easy for you to memorize.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To make this single password easier to manage, Galperin recommends using a pass phrase instead: “Like five or six words, chosen at random.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In choosing a password manager, Galperin said that you should search the name of the application and “security incident” — to make sure the password manager you’re considering doesn’t have a history of being broken into. For example, LastPass — once one of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.wired.com/story/best-password-managers/\">more popular password managers\u003c/a> — has faced controversy for \u003ca href=\"https://krebsonsecurity.com/2025/03/feds-link-150m-cyberheist-to-2022-lastpass-hacks/\">a 2022 breach that still sees theft today\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If it has a history of being untrustworthy, don’t touch it,” she said. But “if you don’t find a bunch of security incidents, it’s probably OK or good enough.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, though, the best password manager is the “one you actually use,” and that fits your daily life, Galperin said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you spend a bunch of time getting a top-of-the-line password manager and then you only put two passwords in it, then you haven’t really done yourself a lot of good,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Install two-factor authentication\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two-factor authentication, or 2FA — also called multi-factor authentication or MFA — adds another layer of protection to your account beyond just your password. Many websites and applications encourage you to activate 2FA on your profiles, like \u003ca href=\"https://help.instagram.com/566810106808145\">Instagram\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/219576828-Setting-up-Multi-Factor-Authentication\">Discord\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/185839?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop\">Gmail\u003c/a>.[aside postID=news_12044323 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/240923-AI-IN-POLICING-MD-13_qed-1020x680.jpg']How it looks for most users: you enter your password, and then the website will send a unique code to you through SMS (a text) or to your email account, which you then enter back into the website. After that, you will have access to your account.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Galperin points out that contrary to what you might assume, getting a code through SMS is actually “the least secure way” of protecting your account — because “SMS messages are not encrypted,” and it’s “possible to intercept them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While SMS is better than nothing in most cases, Galperin recommended instead using an authenticator app, which syncs to your account and receives your code. Examples of \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-two-factor-authentication-app/\">these kinds of apps\u003c/a> include \u003ca href=\"https://duo.com/\">Duo Mobile\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/1066447\">Google Authenticator\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another layer of security could be getting a physical key: a keychain-sized flash drive that you can insert into your devices, allowing you to log in. But keep in mind, “if you break your physical key and you don’t have a backup key somewhere, you can end up locked out of your account,” Galperin said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She also doesn’t recommend using a physical key to survivors of domestic abuse, or anyone in “a situation in which you need to secure your account against somebody who has physical access to you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Pull your data from the brokers selling it\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Data brokers \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12055606/how-ice-is-using-your-data-and-what-you-can-do-about-it\">collect\u003c/a> your information and sell it through all sorts of means, including scraping from public records. These brokers can also grab personal information from tracking cookies, which can \u003ca href=\"https://socradar.io/blog/tracking-the-cookies-the-world-of-data-brokers/\">trace your browsing history and social media interactions\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can mitigate the latter by installing an extension like \u003ca href=\"https://privacybadger.org/\">Privacy Badger\u003c/a> on your web browser, Galperin said. Privacy Badger’s website states that it stops advertisers and other third-party trackers from “secretly tracking where you go and what pages you look at on the web.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Californians can also \u003ca href=\"https://privacy.ca.gov/DROP/\">now fill out a request to the state to opt out of data brokers\u003c/a>, stopping them from storing and selling personal information. Keep in mind, these requests will only \u003ca href=\"https://privacy.ca.gov/drop/how-drop-works/\">start being processed by data brokers in August\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>More digital safety resources\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://ssd.eff.org/\">Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Surveillance Self-Defense\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.eff.org/pages/tools\">Tools from the Electronic Frontier Foundation\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.privacyguides.org/en/\">Privacy Guides\u003c/a> (\u003ca href=\"https://www.privacyguides.org/es/basics/why-privacy-matters/\">Español\u003c/a>)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Cornell University’s \u003ca href=\"https://ceta.tech.cornell.edu/resources\">Clinic to End Tech Abuse\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://themarkup.org/gentle-january/2024/01/31/overwhelmed-by-digital-privacy-reset-with-these-practical-tips\">The Markup\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://zebracrossing.narwhalacademy.org/\">Zebra Crossing\u003c/a> (\u003ca href=\"https://zebracrossing.narwhalacademy.org/index-%E7%B9%81%E9%AB%94%E4%B8%AD%E6%96%87.html\">繁體中文\u003c/a>)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://digitalfirstaid.org/\">Digital First Aid Kit\u003c/a> (\u003ca href=\"https://digitalfirstaid.org/es/\">Español\u003c/a>)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://gameshotline.org/online-free-safety-guide/\">The Games and Online Harassment Hotline\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://privacyinternational.org/guides\">Privacy International\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://digitaldefensefund.org/\">Digital Defense Fund\u003c/a> (aimed at people seeking reproductive care)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.advancingjustice-aajc.org/digital-privacy-tips-abortion-seekers\">Asian Americans Advancing Justice\u003c/a> (aimed at people seeking reproductive care) (languages include \u003ca href=\"https://aajc.medium.com/%E5%A6%82%E4%BD%95%E4%BF%9D%E6%8A%A4%E8%87%AA%E5%B7%B1-%E6%B5%81%E4%BA%A7-%E5%8C%BB%E7%96%97%E9%9A%90%E7%A7%81%E6%95%B0%E5%AD%97%E5%AE%89%E5%85%A8%E6%8C%87%E5%8D%97-a5f690894c3\">简体中文\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://aajc.medium.com/paano-protektahan-ang-iyong-sarili-a6b2f743b019\">Tagalog\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://aajc.medium.com/%E0%B8%88%E0%B8%B0%E0%B8%9B%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%9B%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%95%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%A7%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%A2%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%87%E0%B9%84%E0%B8%A3-7a92019678c2\">ภาษาไทย\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://aajc.medium.com/l%C3%A0m-th%E1%BA%BF-n%C3%A0o-%C4%91%E1%BB%83-b%E1%BA%A3o-v%E1%BB%87-b%E1%BA%A3n-th%C3%A2n-4aadd977d030\">Tiếng Việt\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.advancingjustice-aajc.org/sites/default/files/Bengali_Digital%20Privacy%20One%20Pager%20_%20Designed.pdf\">বাংলা\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.advancingjustice-aajc.org/sites/default/files/Khmer_Digital%20Privacy%20One%20Pager%20_%20Designed.pdf\">ខ្មែរ\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.advancingjustice-aajc.org/sites/default/files/Korean_Digital%20Privacy%20One%20Pager%20_%20Designed.pdf\">한국어\u003c/a>.)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://maskon.zone/\">Mask On Zone\u003c/a> (aimed at people going to protests)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://activistchecklist.org/\">Digital Security Checklists for Activists\u003c/a> (aimed at people going to protests and organizers)\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>JoseMonkey is very good at finding people. With their permission, of course.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a self-styled \u003ca href=\"https://josemonkey.com/about-me/\">“open source intelligence researcher”\u003c/a> operating on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, JoseMonkey’s specialty is pinpointing a person’s exact global location using only the non-descript video of their face, which they send him first.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His posts — \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@the_josemonkey\">most of them documenting his lighthearted digital manhunts\u003c/a> — gain hundreds of thousands of views each, with nearly 20 million total likes over five years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To do this work, JoseMonkey focuses on the background details of the videos he’s sent — like the landscape and visible street signs — and uses publicly available tools like \u003ca href=\"https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=4/38.01/-95.84\">OpenStreetMap\u003c/a>. But he only tries to “find people who ask to be found,” JoseMonkey told KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/closealltabs\">Close All Tabs\u003c/a> podcast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>JoseMonkey does this for fun — and also because of his advocacy for online privacy. When he felt like people weren’t taking his concerns about the information they were unknowingly sharing seriously, he took to TikTok for a different approach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By walking his viewers “through the process of how I could look at a seemingly mundane video that doesn’t show very much” and nonetheless deduce the exact location it was taken, “I thought that might be something that people would think was both interesting, but maybe slightly unsettling,” JoseMonkey said. “And then, they would pay attention to this idea of internet safety.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px; min-width: 325px;\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@the_josemonkey/video/7530754458112806157\" data-video-id=\"7530754458112806157\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@the_josemonkey\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@the_josemonkey?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@the_josemonkey\u003c/a> This one was tricky 😅 \u003ca title=\"geolocation\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/geolocation?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#geolocation\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"osint\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/osint?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#OSINT\u003c/a> @mastrosmom \u003ca title=\"♬ original sound - josemonkey\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-josemonkey-7530754461849996087?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">♬ original sound – josemonkey\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003cscript async src=\"https://www.tiktok.com/embed.js\">\u003c/script>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oversharing online is so common that most people don’t think twice about it. Think of the most popular posts online: “Get ready with me,” apartment tours, “Come with me.” Videos like these can, even unwittingly, contain a huge amount of personal geographic information — details which could make them vulnerable to scams or even attacks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The important takeaway here is that a sufficiently motivated individual who has an attention to detail and time to spend … can find you from a video,” JoseMonkey explained. “I don’t wanna scare people by saying that, but people should know it is possible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED’s Close All Tabs spoke to JoseMonkey and other experts on how you can start the new year with privacy in mind by adjusting some of your digital habits — without overwhelming you too much.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jump to: \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#WhatshouldIthinkaboutwhenIpost\">What should I think about when I post?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#WhatarethefirststepsIcantaketowarddigitalhygiene\">What are the first steps I can take toward digital hygiene?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>How much danger might my personal privacy be in?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>You don’t need to guard yourself against every threat that exists, explained Eva Galperin, the director of cybersecurity at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The only way to really do that is to “live as a hermit on a mountain and fling all of your devices into the sea,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, Galperin said, it’s more helpful to think about what advocates like her call “threat modeling”: What you want to protect and who you want to protect it from.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12069526\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12069526 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/DataPrivacyGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/DataPrivacyGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/DataPrivacyGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/DataPrivacyGetty-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A worst-case scenario of having your digital privacy breached: Losing out financially. \u003ccite>(Rain Star/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Some of the common threat models you might consider:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Being scammed online by ransomware …\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For most people, their threat is scammers looking for money, access to their accounts or access to people who trust them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of the big problems that we have right now is that we are in a golden age of grift,” Galperin explained. And if you have a phone, email address or any way of being reached, you are “constantly getting messages from scammers and criminals.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of us feel very smart because every day we get targeted with, like, six of these things and we don’t fall for it,” she said. “But what’s really important to understand is that all a scammer needs is for you to have one bad day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A common method is ransomware, in which a scammer tricks you into downloading software that locks up your devices and holds them hostage until you pay a ransom — or in some cases, uses such software to spy on you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>… or a phishing attempt\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Phishing entails a bad actor pretending to be someone you trust — a bank, a friend, a family member — and luring you into clicking on a link, or logging into a fake website to obtain information.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You may be able to tell you are being phished by viewing the message closely and noticing inconsistencies, like the email address being slightly wrong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A sort of indicator of a scam is a sense of urgency,” Galperin said. “‘Something is on fire,’ ‘an emergency is happening’ or ‘you could get rich if you click here in the next five minutes.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That sense of urgency is aimed at overriding your common sense,” she warned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Being tracked as someone seeking an abortion\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts worry about the digital safety of people seeking reproductive care across state borders following the overturning of Roe v. Wade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Abortion advocates have taken \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldefensefund.org/\">major steps to educate people\u003c/a> in states that severely restrict abortion on how to cover their tracks in pursuing the procedure elsewhere, including turning off their location. (Read \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12014633/how-do-i-protect-my-privacy-if-im-seeking-an-abortion\">The Markup’s thorough guide on protecting your privacy if you are seeking an abortion\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When communicating about abortion, a major way that patients and providers can protect their messages is to use an encrypted app, like \u003ca href=\"https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/categories/5592576449306-Getting-Started\">Signal\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In this case, end-to-end encryption means that your telecommunications company and the messaging platform can’t read your messages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Being threatened as a survivor of domestic abuse\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Creating a threat model for scenarios like domestic abuse is harder, often because an abuser can gain physical access to a person’s possessions, like their phone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When talking to survivors of domestic abuse who are attempting to leave an abuser, Galperin said the first thing she suggests is creating a new account — or a device — where they know their communications will be safe and private.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"WhatshouldIthinkaboutwhenIpost\">\u003c/a>How can my posts and videos reveal too much about my location?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Always review what you are posting before you post it, JoseMonkey said — even though “many people” never take this step.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They record something, and they just press send,” he said. And a person may not even realize “that there was some big thing that they forgot that they didn’t want to include,” he warns, until the post is out there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This could, for example, be a visible street sign behind you, which can be easily remedied by cropping it out or covering it with text or \u003ca href=\"https://help.instagram.com/151273688993748/\">a sticker\u003c/a> — or just rerecording the video to keep it out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11732621\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11732621 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/03/gettyimages-936083116_slide-3e70954a8411a47eae7fed29faec169c8c9a7088-e1552499753206.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">How can you protect your digital privacy online, especially when it comes to sharing details on social media? \u003ccite>(Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A more subtle aspect people may not think about? “The more you move the camera, the more information you’re going to show,” JoseMonkey said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you’re out for a walk somewhere, people can see everything around you,” he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many people record videos in their car, but “people underestimate how much you can see through the windows of your car,” JoseMonkey warned. And if the car’s mirrors or its GPS are visible, that’s more information being shared.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Be mindful of your posting history — “you may not remember that three years ago, you posted something that’s still there on your account that revealed some other bit of information,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And this could be spread across several platforms. You tweeted something on one account, you posted a picture on another, have your LinkedIn on another, and a larger picture about you is created.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Now people have all these bits and pieces of information about you,” JoseMonkey said — and you’ve potentially made it far easier for someone to find you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"WhatarethefirststepsIcantaketowarddigitalhygiene\">\u003c/a>OK, I’m convinced. What should my first steps to improve my digital safety be?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While the world of surveillance and privacy can be \u003cem>incredibly \u003c/em>overwhelming (and scary), it shouldn’t completely discourage you from adopting good practices that are attainable for anyone with a phone or computer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Consider the following checklist a form of basic digital hygiene — like washing your hands — that can help make you safer from the “kinds of threats that most people face every day,” Galperin explained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11947072\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11947072 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/RS40986_iStock-1170728885-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A close up of a woman's hands as she holds a smartphone and is swiping the screen. She wears an orange jacket.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/RS40986_iStock-1170728885-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/RS40986_iStock-1170728885-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/RS40986_iStock-1170728885-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/RS40986_iStock-1170728885-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/RS40986_iStock-1170728885-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">What are some easy digital habits you can pick up in the new year that can protect your privacy online? \u003ccite>(istock/GaudiLab)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Strengthen — and manage — your passwords — and get a password manager\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To secure your accounts, Galperin said, you should make sure:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>All of your passwords are different from one another\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The passwords are long\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Use a password manager like \u003ca href=\"https://bitwarden.com/\">Bitwarden\u003c/a> or \u003ca href=\"https://proton.me/pass\">ProtonPass\u003c/a>, a secure application that manages, stores and even creates passkeys to different websites (you may need to pay for this service, although \u003ca href=\"https://www.zdnet.com/article/apple-google-and-microsoft-offer-free-password-managers-but-should-you-use-them/\">free password managers are available too\u003c/a>)\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>“Your password manager will be unlocked with a single password,” Galperin said. “That single password again should be long and strong, and easy for you to memorize.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To make this single password easier to manage, Galperin recommends using a pass phrase instead: “Like five or six words, chosen at random.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In choosing a password manager, Galperin said that you should search the name of the application and “security incident” — to make sure the password manager you’re considering doesn’t have a history of being broken into. For example, LastPass — once one of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.wired.com/story/best-password-managers/\">more popular password managers\u003c/a> — has faced controversy for \u003ca href=\"https://krebsonsecurity.com/2025/03/feds-link-150m-cyberheist-to-2022-lastpass-hacks/\">a 2022 breach that still sees theft today\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If it has a history of being untrustworthy, don’t touch it,” she said. But “if you don’t find a bunch of security incidents, it’s probably OK or good enough.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, though, the best password manager is the “one you actually use,” and that fits your daily life, Galperin said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you spend a bunch of time getting a top-of-the-line password manager and then you only put two passwords in it, then you haven’t really done yourself a lot of good,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Install two-factor authentication\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two-factor authentication, or 2FA — also called multi-factor authentication or MFA — adds another layer of protection to your account beyond just your password. Many websites and applications encourage you to activate 2FA on your profiles, like \u003ca href=\"https://help.instagram.com/566810106808145\">Instagram\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/219576828-Setting-up-Multi-Factor-Authentication\">Discord\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/185839?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop\">Gmail\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>How it looks for most users: you enter your password, and then the website will send a unique code to you through SMS (a text) or to your email account, which you then enter back into the website. After that, you will have access to your account.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Galperin points out that contrary to what you might assume, getting a code through SMS is actually “the least secure way” of protecting your account — because “SMS messages are not encrypted,” and it’s “possible to intercept them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While SMS is better than nothing in most cases, Galperin recommended instead using an authenticator app, which syncs to your account and receives your code. Examples of \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-two-factor-authentication-app/\">these kinds of apps\u003c/a> include \u003ca href=\"https://duo.com/\">Duo Mobile\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/1066447\">Google Authenticator\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another layer of security could be getting a physical key: a keychain-sized flash drive that you can insert into your devices, allowing you to log in. But keep in mind, “if you break your physical key and you don’t have a backup key somewhere, you can end up locked out of your account,” Galperin said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She also doesn’t recommend using a physical key to survivors of domestic abuse, or anyone in “a situation in which you need to secure your account against somebody who has physical access to you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Pull your data from the brokers selling it\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Data brokers \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12055606/how-ice-is-using-your-data-and-what-you-can-do-about-it\">collect\u003c/a> your information and sell it through all sorts of means, including scraping from public records. These brokers can also grab personal information from tracking cookies, which can \u003ca href=\"https://socradar.io/blog/tracking-the-cookies-the-world-of-data-brokers/\">trace your browsing history and social media interactions\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can mitigate the latter by installing an extension like \u003ca href=\"https://privacybadger.org/\">Privacy Badger\u003c/a> on your web browser, Galperin said. Privacy Badger’s website states that it stops advertisers and other third-party trackers from “secretly tracking where you go and what pages you look at on the web.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Californians can also \u003ca href=\"https://privacy.ca.gov/DROP/\">now fill out a request to the state to opt out of data brokers\u003c/a>, stopping them from storing and selling personal information. Keep in mind, these requests will only \u003ca href=\"https://privacy.ca.gov/drop/how-drop-works/\">start being processed by data brokers in August\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>More digital safety resources\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://ssd.eff.org/\">Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Surveillance Self-Defense\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.eff.org/pages/tools\">Tools from the Electronic Frontier Foundation\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.privacyguides.org/en/\">Privacy Guides\u003c/a> (\u003ca href=\"https://www.privacyguides.org/es/basics/why-privacy-matters/\">Español\u003c/a>)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Cornell University’s \u003ca href=\"https://ceta.tech.cornell.edu/resources\">Clinic to End Tech Abuse\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://themarkup.org/gentle-january/2024/01/31/overwhelmed-by-digital-privacy-reset-with-these-practical-tips\">The Markup\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://zebracrossing.narwhalacademy.org/\">Zebra Crossing\u003c/a> (\u003ca href=\"https://zebracrossing.narwhalacademy.org/index-%E7%B9%81%E9%AB%94%E4%B8%AD%E6%96%87.html\">繁體中文\u003c/a>)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://digitalfirstaid.org/\">Digital First Aid Kit\u003c/a> (\u003ca href=\"https://digitalfirstaid.org/es/\">Español\u003c/a>)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://gameshotline.org/online-free-safety-guide/\">The Games and Online Harassment Hotline\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://privacyinternational.org/guides\">Privacy International\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://digitaldefensefund.org/\">Digital Defense Fund\u003c/a> (aimed at people seeking reproductive care)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.advancingjustice-aajc.org/digital-privacy-tips-abortion-seekers\">Asian Americans Advancing Justice\u003c/a> (aimed at people seeking reproductive care) (languages include \u003ca href=\"https://aajc.medium.com/%E5%A6%82%E4%BD%95%E4%BF%9D%E6%8A%A4%E8%87%AA%E5%B7%B1-%E6%B5%81%E4%BA%A7-%E5%8C%BB%E7%96%97%E9%9A%90%E7%A7%81%E6%95%B0%E5%AD%97%E5%AE%89%E5%85%A8%E6%8C%87%E5%8D%97-a5f690894c3\">简体中文\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://aajc.medium.com/paano-protektahan-ang-iyong-sarili-a6b2f743b019\">Tagalog\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://aajc.medium.com/%E0%B8%88%E0%B8%B0%E0%B8%9B%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%9B%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%95%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%A7%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%A2%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%87%E0%B9%84%E0%B8%A3-7a92019678c2\">ภาษาไทย\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://aajc.medium.com/l%C3%A0m-th%E1%BA%BF-n%C3%A0o-%C4%91%E1%BB%83-b%E1%BA%A3o-v%E1%BB%87-b%E1%BA%A3n-th%C3%A2n-4aadd977d030\">Tiếng Việt\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.advancingjustice-aajc.org/sites/default/files/Bengali_Digital%20Privacy%20One%20Pager%20_%20Designed.pdf\">বাংলা\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.advancingjustice-aajc.org/sites/default/files/Khmer_Digital%20Privacy%20One%20Pager%20_%20Designed.pdf\">ខ្មែរ\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.advancingjustice-aajc.org/sites/default/files/Korean_Digital%20Privacy%20One%20Pager%20_%20Designed.pdf\">한국어\u003c/a>.)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://maskon.zone/\">Mask On Zone\u003c/a> (aimed at people going to protests)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://activistchecklist.org/\">Digital Security Checklists for Activists\u003c/a> (aimed at people going to protests and organizers)\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "googles-once-grand-vision-for-downtown-west-in-san-jose-still-on-hold-apparently",
"title": "Google’s Once Grand Vision for Downtown West in San José Still on Hold (Apparently)",
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"headTitle": "Google’s Once Grand Vision for Downtown West in San José Still on Hold (Apparently) | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Nearly a decade has passed since \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-jose\">San José\u003c/a> agreed to sell more than $110 million worth of land to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/google\">Google\u003c/a>, to support the tech giant’s plans to transform a flagging industrial area of downtown into a vibrant village filled with gleaming new offices, apartments, hotels, shops and parks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To date, almost none of the grand development plans — which city and business leaders praised at the time as a once-in-a-generation economic opportunity for the self-proclaimed capital of Silicon Valley — have come to fruition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Google has instead laid a thick coat of varnish, both literal and metaphorical, over portions of roughly 80 acres near Diridon Station and the SAP Center, a swath of land it dubbed Downtown West. But the Mountain View-based company has shared scant details publicly about its current timeline or strategy for the collection of land and buildings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The void has left those living, working or investing here in limbo — without a clear idea of whether a full-blown mixed-use neighborhood will materialize and unable to bank on it when making personal and business decisions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It seems, quite frankly, pretty long ago where we were promised all of this,” said Alan “Gumby” Marques, the past board president and interim CEO of the San José Downtown Association at the time of an interview in December. “As much as I would like to see that happen, I’ve kind of moved on. I don’t have any dependency on Google coming in and building the campus that they had planned.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Google declined a phone interview request from KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12001241\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12001241\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/GETTYIMAGES-1411232503-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/GETTYIMAGES-1411232503-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/GETTYIMAGES-1411232503-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/GETTYIMAGES-1411232503-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/GETTYIMAGES-1411232503-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/GETTYIMAGES-1411232503-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/GETTYIMAGES-1411232503-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Google’s Bay View campus in Mountain View on June 16, 2022. \u003ccite>(Zhang Yi/VCG via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In emailed comments, a Google spokesperson did not clearly answer questions about whether it still intends to move forward with the development plans in San José, signaling that it is still evaluating the company’s real estate needs as a whole.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company said it has already brought new social activities and gathering spaces to the long-overlooked area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Large endeavors like Downtown West can take multiple decades to complete, and can ebb and flow over the years, Google spokesperson Ryan Lamont said, adding that the company still communicates with developers to evaluate potential future work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some business advocates and residents say they still believe Google intends to eventually build out the area, noting the company hasn’t sold any of the hundreds of millions of dollars worth of land it purchased from the city and private owners.[aside postID=news_12066245 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251208-BART-SILICON-VALLEY-TOUR-MD-03-KQED.jpg']“I think at some point in time in history, they plan on following through,” said Walter Wilson, a co-founder of the Minority Business Consortium and longtime civil rights advocate. His organization was part of a now-inactive group that provided input to Google about its plans for the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was really going. And then all of a sudden it just didn’t,” Wilson said of the development momentum. “I’ve talked to some people at Google, and they say that this is a process that they’re still committed to. It’s not a matter of if, but when.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What’s clear to anyone familiar with the area is that the project has been pushed far beyond its original timeline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San José City Council agreed to sell Google nearly a dozen acres of land in 2018, and the company later indicated some of the first buildings could be completed as soon as 2023 or 2024.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Colorful renderings presented by the company featured an “urban destination” touting more than 7 million square feet of office space, and at least 4,000 new homes in an area in desperate need of housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It also envisioned 500,000 square feet of mixed uses, such as retail shops, cultural and art spaces and hotels, along with 15 acres of parks and plazas. Between 2022 and 2024, the company demolished older structures, including the remnants of an old hardware store and a longtime \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/08/01/farewell-to-pattys-inn-a-san-jose-bar-with-character/\">neighborhood bar called Patty’s Inn\u003c/a> that slung beer and other beverages for nearly 90 years, to make way for what was to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But with the lack of any new construction following those demolition efforts, some people have lost hope for a drastically reshaped neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12069845\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12069845\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-01-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign for proposed development in front of San José Diridon Station in San José on Dec. 8, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“To be honest, I’m not counting on it, you know?” said Jay Meduri, the owner of Poor House Bistro, a Cajun- and Italian-inspired restaurant that operated for years on the corner of Barack Obama Boulevard and San Fernando Street, before he sold the site to Google.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company helped him relocate the restaurant to a new location in Little Italy in 2022, where he formally reopened in 2023 after operating temporarily out of food trucks and cloud kitchens. He said most of the people he used to communicate with at Google have moved on or been laid off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meduri said he has no hard feelings toward Google, but he does get a bit wistful sometimes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have to say it’s bittersweet when I drive by there every day, and I used to see where we were located and now that’s completely dug out and getting leveled out. And then Patty’s Inn, which was across the street and kind of a historic staple to San José — now they have containers,” he said.[aside postID=news_12068653 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/IMG_6335.jpg']“Who knows when Google Downtown West is going to be completed. But hopefully it’s while I’m still operating the restaurant and can enjoy all these visions that I saw of making this Downtown West a hopping spot, right? So, it remains to be seen when that’s gonna happen or if it happens,” Meduri said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the lack of action, project supporters, including current and former city officials and business boosters, say they’re confident Google is still committed to the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Congressman Sam Liccardo, who spearheaded San José’s deals with Google when he was mayor from 2015 through 2022, said the city has already gained “enormous benefit” from the tech giant’s presence and its land-buying spree, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/09/16/google-village-downtown-san-jose-property-value-jump-real-estate-tech/\">some estimates\u003c/a> have pegged at several hundred million dollars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The properties the company bought have significantly increased in assessed value, boosting the tax base for the city and county. Google also donated $12.5 million to nonprofits and community-serving organizations and programs, out of a plan to eventually pour $200 million into such efforts, and is bringing in new tenants to give life to the area, Liccardo said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A whole host of things [are] bringing people into a part of downtown where a few years ago, you could shoot a cannon down the street and not hit anybody,” Liccardo said. “You’re now starting to see activity and that will make, obviously, that part of the downtown much more attractive for future office tenants.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"mceTemp\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12069848\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12069848\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-04-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-04-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-04-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-04-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The former Kearny Pattern Works and Foundry in San José on Dec. 8, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Google, through a subcontractor, has boosted what it calls the Creekside area with the recent opening of a beer garden run by local favorite Hapa’s Brewing Company. It has also repurposed a parking lot where Patty’s Inn once stood for events centered around food trucks, including art, fitness, cultural gatherings and hockey watch parties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Preservation Action Council of San José, which pushes for historic preservation, education and appreciation in the city, is opening a rummage and reuse hub soon in a former warehouse, and has plans for a racket sport facility where Poor House Bistro once stood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Liccardo said it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Google is not putting shovels in the ground for new offices in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which upended work culture and contributed to massive office space vacancies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the end of the third quarter of 2025, national vacancy rates were nearly 19%, according to\u003ca href=\"https://www.cbre.com/insights/figures/silicon-valley-office-snapshot-q3-2025\"> commercial real estate firm CBRE\u003c/a>. While the Silicon Valley office market was about 17%, in San José’s downtown core, it was 32%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12069846\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12069846\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-02-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-02-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Templo La Hermosa is boarded up and behind a chain link fence in San José on Dec. 8, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Google has tried to do something and ran headfirst into a global pandemic. And like virtually every other entity that planned to build offices or office expansion, they put the brakes on their plan. And I expect those brakes will be in place for several years,” Liccardo said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Liccardo said he thinks Google is “going to act like any landowner would at a time of great economic uncertainty,” and may simply sit on the land until it’s clear they need more office space. “And that’s certainly not now, and it’s probably not going to be next year either,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the potential expansion of the artificial intelligence-driven economy could push Google’s original development plans into reality, it’s also possible the company may need to “reimagine” uses for the land to skew more toward housing, Liccardo said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bert Weaver, a board member of the Delmas Park Neighborhood Association, representing residents whose homes abut Google’s planned village, said he thinks the company has been a good neighbor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said the company listened to input from residents and local organizations, maintains and secures the parking lots and buildings it owns, and puts on events at the Creekside area that are “very well attended.” Even if the development has stalled for now, Weaver said he’s “cautiously optimistic” the plans will eventually shape up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12069857\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12069857\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-16-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-16-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-16-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-16-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign for Creekside San José in front of the lot where the Poor House stood in San José on Dec. 8, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I mean, I hear occasional comments from neighbors that ‘No, Google is never going to come here,’ and all that. But I really don’t feel that way. And a number of my friends, a number of leaders of our group, feel the same way, that one day they will. As business improves, things will begin to happen,” Weaver said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said the neighborhood association leaders had a meeting with a Google representative in October, where no timelines were shared, but the company “sort of tried to assuage our fears and remind us that the bad rumors are not necessarily true, but, you know, they’re still there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Hannah Coffee, a cafe across from SAP Center, customers are mostly neighborhood residents and people who work nearby at local businesses or for the San José Sharks, according to Andrew Harms, a manager at the shop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harms said that since he moved to the area about three years ago, he has heard a lot about the Google development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12069859\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12069859\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-19-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-19-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-19-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-19-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign on a fence commemorating the Stephen’s Meat Products sign in San José on Dec. 8, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The privatization of any amount of space here is always, I think, a concerning thing to people, whether or not it affects their day-to-day lives, because it’ll change the landscape of the city forever, potentially,” Harms said. When the project was moving through the city approval process years ago, many residents and community organizations expressed concerns about gentrification and whether the development would benefit some while hurting others. But more jobs, housing, liveliness and gathering spaces would be a net benefit for the area, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, the lack of substantial progress on the plans has been noticeable, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s strange to hand the golden keys, so to speak, to Google and have them do basically nothing with the space,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jen Baker, San José’s director of economic development, who came to the city last summer from the Pacific Northwest, sees the area with fresh eyes. She expressed optimism about the potential of not only Downtown West, but the broader 250-acre Diridon Station area, where the city has envisioned millions more square feet of office space and up to 12,000 homes, including Google’s original plans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12069860\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12069860\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-21-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-21-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-21-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-21-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">One of three Victorian-era homes on W. Julian Street in San José now owned by Google that could eventually be relocated as part of the company’s development plans for the area on Dec. 8, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s really a unique and amazing site and space. How many West Coast cities have potentially developable acreage that is in downtown or downtown adjacent to really accomplish a major vision?” Baker said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pandemic’s effects on the economy and office markets have meant that projects didn’t move at the pace many were hoping for, Baker said, but she sees “an amazing canvas of opportunity” there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I realize that the timeline for people is not what was anticipated,” Baker said, “but I’m very bullish that something amazing will be realized.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"title": "Google’s Once Grand Vision for Downtown West in San José Still on Hold (Apparently) | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Nearly a decade has passed since \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-jose\">San José\u003c/a> agreed to sell more than $110 million worth of land to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/google\">Google\u003c/a>, to support the tech giant’s plans to transform a flagging industrial area of downtown into a vibrant village filled with gleaming new offices, apartments, hotels, shops and parks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To date, almost none of the grand development plans — which city and business leaders praised at the time as a once-in-a-generation economic opportunity for the self-proclaimed capital of Silicon Valley — have come to fruition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Google has instead laid a thick coat of varnish, both literal and metaphorical, over portions of roughly 80 acres near Diridon Station and the SAP Center, a swath of land it dubbed Downtown West. But the Mountain View-based company has shared scant details publicly about its current timeline or strategy for the collection of land and buildings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The void has left those living, working or investing here in limbo — without a clear idea of whether a full-blown mixed-use neighborhood will materialize and unable to bank on it when making personal and business decisions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It seems, quite frankly, pretty long ago where we were promised all of this,” said Alan “Gumby” Marques, the past board president and interim CEO of the San José Downtown Association at the time of an interview in December. “As much as I would like to see that happen, I’ve kind of moved on. I don’t have any dependency on Google coming in and building the campus that they had planned.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Google declined a phone interview request from KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12001241\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12001241\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/GETTYIMAGES-1411232503-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/GETTYIMAGES-1411232503-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/GETTYIMAGES-1411232503-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/GETTYIMAGES-1411232503-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/GETTYIMAGES-1411232503-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/GETTYIMAGES-1411232503-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/GETTYIMAGES-1411232503-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Google’s Bay View campus in Mountain View on June 16, 2022. \u003ccite>(Zhang Yi/VCG via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In emailed comments, a Google spokesperson did not clearly answer questions about whether it still intends to move forward with the development plans in San José, signaling that it is still evaluating the company’s real estate needs as a whole.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company said it has already brought new social activities and gathering spaces to the long-overlooked area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Large endeavors like Downtown West can take multiple decades to complete, and can ebb and flow over the years, Google spokesperson Ryan Lamont said, adding that the company still communicates with developers to evaluate potential future work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some business advocates and residents say they still believe Google intends to eventually build out the area, noting the company hasn’t sold any of the hundreds of millions of dollars worth of land it purchased from the city and private owners.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I think at some point in time in history, they plan on following through,” said Walter Wilson, a co-founder of the Minority Business Consortium and longtime civil rights advocate. His organization was part of a now-inactive group that provided input to Google about its plans for the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was really going. And then all of a sudden it just didn’t,” Wilson said of the development momentum. “I’ve talked to some people at Google, and they say that this is a process that they’re still committed to. It’s not a matter of if, but when.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What’s clear to anyone familiar with the area is that the project has been pushed far beyond its original timeline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San José City Council agreed to sell Google nearly a dozen acres of land in 2018, and the company later indicated some of the first buildings could be completed as soon as 2023 or 2024.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Colorful renderings presented by the company featured an “urban destination” touting more than 7 million square feet of office space, and at least 4,000 new homes in an area in desperate need of housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It also envisioned 500,000 square feet of mixed uses, such as retail shops, cultural and art spaces and hotels, along with 15 acres of parks and plazas. Between 2022 and 2024, the company demolished older structures, including the remnants of an old hardware store and a longtime \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/08/01/farewell-to-pattys-inn-a-san-jose-bar-with-character/\">neighborhood bar called Patty’s Inn\u003c/a> that slung beer and other beverages for nearly 90 years, to make way for what was to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But with the lack of any new construction following those demolition efforts, some people have lost hope for a drastically reshaped neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12069845\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12069845\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-01-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign for proposed development in front of San José Diridon Station in San José on Dec. 8, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“To be honest, I’m not counting on it, you know?” said Jay Meduri, the owner of Poor House Bistro, a Cajun- and Italian-inspired restaurant that operated for years on the corner of Barack Obama Boulevard and San Fernando Street, before he sold the site to Google.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company helped him relocate the restaurant to a new location in Little Italy in 2022, where he formally reopened in 2023 after operating temporarily out of food trucks and cloud kitchens. He said most of the people he used to communicate with at Google have moved on or been laid off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meduri said he has no hard feelings toward Google, but he does get a bit wistful sometimes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have to say it’s bittersweet when I drive by there every day, and I used to see where we were located and now that’s completely dug out and getting leveled out. And then Patty’s Inn, which was across the street and kind of a historic staple to San José — now they have containers,” he said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Who knows when Google Downtown West is going to be completed. But hopefully it’s while I’m still operating the restaurant and can enjoy all these visions that I saw of making this Downtown West a hopping spot, right? So, it remains to be seen when that’s gonna happen or if it happens,” Meduri said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the lack of action, project supporters, including current and former city officials and business boosters, say they’re confident Google is still committed to the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Congressman Sam Liccardo, who spearheaded San José’s deals with Google when he was mayor from 2015 through 2022, said the city has already gained “enormous benefit” from the tech giant’s presence and its land-buying spree, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/09/16/google-village-downtown-san-jose-property-value-jump-real-estate-tech/\">some estimates\u003c/a> have pegged at several hundred million dollars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The properties the company bought have significantly increased in assessed value, boosting the tax base for the city and county. Google also donated $12.5 million to nonprofits and community-serving organizations and programs, out of a plan to eventually pour $200 million into such efforts, and is bringing in new tenants to give life to the area, Liccardo said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A whole host of things [are] bringing people into a part of downtown where a few years ago, you could shoot a cannon down the street and not hit anybody,” Liccardo said. “You’re now starting to see activity and that will make, obviously, that part of the downtown much more attractive for future office tenants.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"mceTemp\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12069848\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12069848\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-04-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-04-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-04-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-04-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The former Kearny Pattern Works and Foundry in San José on Dec. 8, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Google, through a subcontractor, has boosted what it calls the Creekside area with the recent opening of a beer garden run by local favorite Hapa’s Brewing Company. It has also repurposed a parking lot where Patty’s Inn once stood for events centered around food trucks, including art, fitness, cultural gatherings and hockey watch parties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Preservation Action Council of San José, which pushes for historic preservation, education and appreciation in the city, is opening a rummage and reuse hub soon in a former warehouse, and has plans for a racket sport facility where Poor House Bistro once stood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Liccardo said it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Google is not putting shovels in the ground for new offices in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which upended work culture and contributed to massive office space vacancies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the end of the third quarter of 2025, national vacancy rates were nearly 19%, according to\u003ca href=\"https://www.cbre.com/insights/figures/silicon-valley-office-snapshot-q3-2025\"> commercial real estate firm CBRE\u003c/a>. While the Silicon Valley office market was about 17%, in San José’s downtown core, it was 32%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12069846\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12069846\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-02-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-02-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Templo La Hermosa is boarded up and behind a chain link fence in San José on Dec. 8, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Google has tried to do something and ran headfirst into a global pandemic. And like virtually every other entity that planned to build offices or office expansion, they put the brakes on their plan. And I expect those brakes will be in place for several years,” Liccardo said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Liccardo said he thinks Google is “going to act like any landowner would at a time of great economic uncertainty,” and may simply sit on the land until it’s clear they need more office space. “And that’s certainly not now, and it’s probably not going to be next year either,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the potential expansion of the artificial intelligence-driven economy could push Google’s original development plans into reality, it’s also possible the company may need to “reimagine” uses for the land to skew more toward housing, Liccardo said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bert Weaver, a board member of the Delmas Park Neighborhood Association, representing residents whose homes abut Google’s planned village, said he thinks the company has been a good neighbor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said the company listened to input from residents and local organizations, maintains and secures the parking lots and buildings it owns, and puts on events at the Creekside area that are “very well attended.” Even if the development has stalled for now, Weaver said he’s “cautiously optimistic” the plans will eventually shape up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12069857\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12069857\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-16-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-16-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-16-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-16-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign for Creekside San José in front of the lot where the Poor House stood in San José on Dec. 8, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I mean, I hear occasional comments from neighbors that ‘No, Google is never going to come here,’ and all that. But I really don’t feel that way. And a number of my friends, a number of leaders of our group, feel the same way, that one day they will. As business improves, things will begin to happen,” Weaver said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said the neighborhood association leaders had a meeting with a Google representative in October, where no timelines were shared, but the company “sort of tried to assuage our fears and remind us that the bad rumors are not necessarily true, but, you know, they’re still there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Hannah Coffee, a cafe across from SAP Center, customers are mostly neighborhood residents and people who work nearby at local businesses or for the San José Sharks, according to Andrew Harms, a manager at the shop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harms said that since he moved to the area about three years ago, he has heard a lot about the Google development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12069859\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12069859\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-19-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-19-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-19-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-19-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign on a fence commemorating the Stephen’s Meat Products sign in San José on Dec. 8, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The privatization of any amount of space here is always, I think, a concerning thing to people, whether or not it affects their day-to-day lives, because it’ll change the landscape of the city forever, potentially,” Harms said. When the project was moving through the city approval process years ago, many residents and community organizations expressed concerns about gentrification and whether the development would benefit some while hurting others. But more jobs, housing, liveliness and gathering spaces would be a net benefit for the area, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, the lack of substantial progress on the plans has been noticeable, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s strange to hand the golden keys, so to speak, to Google and have them do basically nothing with the space,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jen Baker, San José’s director of economic development, who came to the city last summer from the Pacific Northwest, sees the area with fresh eyes. She expressed optimism about the potential of not only Downtown West, but the broader 250-acre Diridon Station area, where the city has envisioned millions more square feet of office space and up to 12,000 homes, including Google’s original plans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12069860\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12069860\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-21-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-21-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-21-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-21-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">One of three Victorian-era homes on W. Julian Street in San José now owned by Google that could eventually be relocated as part of the company’s development plans for the area on Dec. 8, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s really a unique and amazing site and space. How many West Coast cities have potentially developable acreage that is in downtown or downtown adjacent to really accomplish a major vision?” Baker said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pandemic’s effects on the economy and office markets have meant that projects didn’t move at the pace many were hoping for, Baker said, but she sees “an amazing canvas of opportunity” there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I realize that the timeline for people is not what was anticipated,” Baker said, “but I’m very bullish that something amazing will be realized.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Santa Cruz the First in California to Terminate Its Contract With Flock Safety",
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"content": "\u003cp>Santa Cruz has terminated its contract with Flock Safety, the automated license plate reader operator, over data privacy concerns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Santa Cruz City Council voted 6-1 on Tuesday to terminate the city’s contract with Flock, citing reports that the city’s data has been accessed by out-of-state agencies, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12066989/california-cities-double-down-on-license-plate-readers-as-federal-surveillance-grows?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">at a time\u003c/a> when the Trump administration is pursuing an increasingly aggressive immigration enforcement agenda.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For us, the threat to our civil liberties was greater than any benefit we could get from the flawed product,” said Mayor Fred Keeley, who voted against the Flock contract in 2024.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re not interested, as they continue to develop their product, to be an experiment for a system which appears to have enormously big holes in it that they discover every day and try to patch to fix,” he said, adding he doesn’t fault the Santa Cruz Police Department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC5003726529\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003cbr>\n \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last November, Santa Cruz police\u003ca href=\"https://www.santacruzsentinel.com/2025/11/18/santa-cruz-pauses-participation-in-flocks-statewide-sharing-portal/\"> Chief Bernie Escalante confirmed\u003c/a> the city’s Flock data had been accessed by out-of-state agencies, prompting city officials to \u003ca href=\"https://lookout.co/city-of-santa-cruz-pauses-statewide-license-plate-data-sharing-citing-flock-safetys-violation-of-california-law/story\">temporarily limit\u003c/a> outside agencies’ access to the city’s license plate reader data and to review its agreement with Flock.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California for 10 years has prohibited the sharing of license plate data out of state. Ten years!” said Peter Gelblum, chair of the ACLU’s Santa Cruz County Chapter, told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12066350\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1760px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12066350\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/flock-camera-6936dca8e38fe.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1760\" height=\"1084\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/flock-camera-6936dca8e38fe.jpg 1760w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/flock-camera-6936dca8e38fe-160x99.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/flock-camera-6936dca8e38fe-1536x946.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1760px) 100vw, 1760px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Flock camera at Fashion Valley Mall cast in silhouette on Oct. 27, 2025. \u003ccite>(Scott Rodd/KPBS)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>According to Gelblum and other civil liberties advocates, Santa Cruz is the first city in California to end its Flock contract. He credited the Trump administration’s immigration policies for dialing up the sense of urgency in the sanctuary city, as well as data compiled by the recently formed grassroots group \u003ca href=\"https://www.gettheflockout.org\">Get the Flock Out\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They laid out a case that included the finding that, between June and October 2025, state agencies\u003ca href=\"https://lookout.co/anti-flock-group-finds-that-state-agencies-accessed-scpd-camera-data-thousands-of-times-on-feds-behalf-since-mid-2024/story\"> accessed Santa Cruz camera data roughly 4,000 times\u003c/a> on behalf of federal law enforcement, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, in violation of California’s SB 34.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under SB 34, California law enforcement agencies are required to adopt detailed usage and privacy policies governing license plate reader data, restrict access to authorized purposes, and regularly audit searches to prevent misuse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And yet, the typical standard Flock contract, which the agencies in Santa Cruz County all signed, enables nationwide sharing, and nationwide sharing was going on the entire time,” Gelblum said.[aside postID=news_12066989 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251210-License-Plate-Readers-01-KQED.jpg']A Flock spokesman told KQED the company has always been willing to comply with requests from law enforcement agencies to shut down outside access to data, to ensure compliance with state and local laws.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trevor Chandler, director of public affairs for Flock, said the company is committed to honoring the values of every community, so that their civil liberty concerns “don’t have to come at the expense of community safety. All of those tools to customize sharing … can be customized at any moment, for any reason, by any city.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though precise tallies differ, civil liberties advocates say roughly 30 municipalities nationwide have recently canceled their contracts with Flock. But Chandler said Flock doesn’t feel threatened by the increased scrutiny.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We saw Oakland put their program on pause, then \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12066989/california-cities-double-down-on-license-plate-readers-as-federal-surveillance-grows\">went on to reauthorize it\u003c/a>. We saw San Diego put their program on pause, customized safety features, then reauthorized it. So if the conversation with Santa Cruz comes back, we’re happy to have that conversation,” Chandler said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Santa Cruz first signed its contract with Flock in 2024, and it was scheduled to expire on March 27. Tuesday’s vote allows the city to terminate the agreement with 30 days’ notice, or Feb. 12 at the earliest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Santa Cruz got it right,” Sarah Hamid, director of strategic campaigns with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, wrote KQED. “Santa Cruz joins nearly two dozen jurisdictions in 2025 that canceled or rejected Flock contracts by exercising procurement power — local democracy’s most underutilized tool. These communities recognized that Flock’s surveillance risks are difficult to adequately mitigate through policy alone, and chose instead to invest in public safety approaches that don’t require mass surveillance infrastructure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Santa Cruz City Council voted to terminate its contract with Flock Safety, the license plate reader company that has come under scrutiny for its data collection and sharing practices.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Santa Cruz has terminated its contract with Flock Safety, the automated license plate reader operator, over data privacy concerns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Santa Cruz City Council voted 6-1 on Tuesday to terminate the city’s contract with Flock, citing reports that the city’s data has been accessed by out-of-state agencies, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12066989/california-cities-double-down-on-license-plate-readers-as-federal-surveillance-grows?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">at a time\u003c/a> when the Trump administration is pursuing an increasingly aggressive immigration enforcement agenda.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For us, the threat to our civil liberties was greater than any benefit we could get from the flawed product,” said Mayor Fred Keeley, who voted against the Flock contract in 2024.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re not interested, as they continue to develop their product, to be an experiment for a system which appears to have enormously big holes in it that they discover every day and try to patch to fix,” he said, adding he doesn’t fault the Santa Cruz Police Department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC5003726529\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003cbr>\n \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last November, Santa Cruz police\u003ca href=\"https://www.santacruzsentinel.com/2025/11/18/santa-cruz-pauses-participation-in-flocks-statewide-sharing-portal/\"> Chief Bernie Escalante confirmed\u003c/a> the city’s Flock data had been accessed by out-of-state agencies, prompting city officials to \u003ca href=\"https://lookout.co/city-of-santa-cruz-pauses-statewide-license-plate-data-sharing-citing-flock-safetys-violation-of-california-law/story\">temporarily limit\u003c/a> outside agencies’ access to the city’s license plate reader data and to review its agreement with Flock.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California for 10 years has prohibited the sharing of license plate data out of state. Ten years!” said Peter Gelblum, chair of the ACLU’s Santa Cruz County Chapter, told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12066350\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1760px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12066350\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/flock-camera-6936dca8e38fe.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1760\" height=\"1084\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/flock-camera-6936dca8e38fe.jpg 1760w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/flock-camera-6936dca8e38fe-160x99.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/flock-camera-6936dca8e38fe-1536x946.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1760px) 100vw, 1760px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Flock camera at Fashion Valley Mall cast in silhouette on Oct. 27, 2025. \u003ccite>(Scott Rodd/KPBS)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>According to Gelblum and other civil liberties advocates, Santa Cruz is the first city in California to end its Flock contract. He credited the Trump administration’s immigration policies for dialing up the sense of urgency in the sanctuary city, as well as data compiled by the recently formed grassroots group \u003ca href=\"https://www.gettheflockout.org\">Get the Flock Out\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They laid out a case that included the finding that, between June and October 2025, state agencies\u003ca href=\"https://lookout.co/anti-flock-group-finds-that-state-agencies-accessed-scpd-camera-data-thousands-of-times-on-feds-behalf-since-mid-2024/story\"> accessed Santa Cruz camera data roughly 4,000 times\u003c/a> on behalf of federal law enforcement, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, in violation of California’s SB 34.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under SB 34, California law enforcement agencies are required to adopt detailed usage and privacy policies governing license plate reader data, restrict access to authorized purposes, and regularly audit searches to prevent misuse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And yet, the typical standard Flock contract, which the agencies in Santa Cruz County all signed, enables nationwide sharing, and nationwide sharing was going on the entire time,” Gelblum said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>A Flock spokesman told KQED the company has always been willing to comply with requests from law enforcement agencies to shut down outside access to data, to ensure compliance with state and local laws.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trevor Chandler, director of public affairs for Flock, said the company is committed to honoring the values of every community, so that their civil liberty concerns “don’t have to come at the expense of community safety. All of those tools to customize sharing … can be customized at any moment, for any reason, by any city.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though precise tallies differ, civil liberties advocates say roughly 30 municipalities nationwide have recently canceled their contracts with Flock. But Chandler said Flock doesn’t feel threatened by the increased scrutiny.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We saw Oakland put their program on pause, then \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12066989/california-cities-double-down-on-license-plate-readers-as-federal-surveillance-grows\">went on to reauthorize it\u003c/a>. We saw San Diego put their program on pause, customized safety features, then reauthorized it. So if the conversation with Santa Cruz comes back, we’re happy to have that conversation,” Chandler said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Santa Cruz first signed its contract with Flock in 2024, and it was scheduled to expire on March 27. Tuesday’s vote allows the city to terminate the agreement with 30 days’ notice, or Feb. 12 at the earliest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Santa Cruz got it right,” Sarah Hamid, director of strategic campaigns with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, wrote KQED. “Santa Cruz joins nearly two dozen jurisdictions in 2025 that canceled or rejected Flock contracts by exercising procurement power — local democracy’s most underutilized tool. These communities recognized that Flock’s surveillance risks are difficult to adequately mitigate through policy alone, and chose instead to invest in public safety approaches that don’t require mass surveillance infrastructure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "california-investigates-elon-musks-ai-company-after-avalanche-of-complaints-about-sexual-content",
"title": "California Investigates Elon Musk’s AI Company After ‘Avalanche’ of Complaints About Sexual Content",
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"headTitle": "California Investigates Elon Musk’s AI Company After ‘Avalanche’ of Complaints About Sexual Content | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003c!-- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ -->\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California Attorney General \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/rob-bonta\">Rob Bonta\u003c/a> today announced an investigation into how and whether Elon Musk’s X and xAI broke the law in the past few weeks by enabling the spread of naked or sexual imagery without consent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>xAI \u003ca href=\"https://www.wsj.com/tech/xai-grok-child-sexualized-photos-59cabffe?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AWEtsqeXFpqFQcrxsO5WTkfUv06n_yUF6SLsaiidykNtXuu99sfcWdIeGHE6&gaa_ts=6967eaf6&gaa_sig=Xo5Vee-O05o95LbH9S5pemMTlPI6DdA5iZKEj5SEbQPtBBwZQuX9-vC1SF3WvpfVZT6YyP8zLGAprQ5MlwHhpQ%3D%3D\">reportedly\u003c/a> updated its Grok artificial intelligence tool last month to allow image editing. Users on the social media platform X, which is connected to the tool, began using Grok to remove clothing in pictures of women and children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The avalanche of reports detailing the non-consensual sexually explicit material that xAI has produced and posted online in recent weeks is shocking,” Bonta \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-launches-investigation-xai-grok-over-undressed-sexual-ai\">said in a written statement\u003c/a>. “This material, which depicts women and children in nude and sexually explicit situations, has been used to harass people across the internet. I urge xAI to take immediate action to ensure this goes no further.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bonta urged Californians who want to report depictions of them or their children undressed or commiting sexual acts to visit \u003ca href=\"http://oag.ca.gov/report\">oag.ca.gov/report\u003c/a>. In an emailed response, xAI did not address questions about the investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Research \u003ca href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-07/musk-s-grok-ai-generated-thousands-of-undressed-images-per-hour-on-x?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc2Nzc5MDk4NywiZXhwIjoxNzY4Mzk1Nzg3LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUOEhRS0hLR0lGUE8wMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJGRUIzODlCNUI2ODI0RTY0QjY5MENEODE1RTBDREZGRCJ9.3B4JWnmqmXFC3DOqhs11h99g5gNzi4j_poKAHLuWdrY&leadSource=uverify%20wall\">obtained by Bloomberg\u003c/a> found that X now produces more non-consensual naked or sexual imagery than any other website online. In a posting on X, Musk promised “consequences” for people who made illegal content with the tool. On Friday, Grok limited image editing to paying subscribers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One potential route for Bonta to prosecute xAI is a law that \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2025/10/13/governor-newsom-signs-bills-to-further-strengthen-californias-leadership-in-protecting-children-online/\">went into effect\u003c/a> just two weeks ago \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab621\">creating legal liability for the creation and distribution\u003c/a> of “deepfake” pornography.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12013478\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12013478\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241107-ATTORNEYGENERALBONTA-09-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241107-ATTORNEYGENERALBONTA-09-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241107-ATTORNEYGENERALBONTA-09-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241107-ATTORNEYGENERALBONTA-09-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241107-ATTORNEYGENERALBONTA-09-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241107-ATTORNEYGENERALBONTA-09-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241107-ATTORNEYGENERALBONTA-09-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Attorney General Rob Bonta speaks with KQED politics reporters Marisa Lagos and Scott Shafer for Political Breakdown at the KQED offices in San Francisco on Nov. 7, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>X and xAI appear to be violating the provisions of that law, known as AB 621, said Sam Dordulian, who previously worked in the sex crimes unit of the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office but today works in private practice as a lawyer for people in cases involving deepfakes or revenge porn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, author of the law, told CalMatters in a statement last week that she reached out to prosecutors, including the attorney general’s office and the city attorney of San Francisco, to remind them that they can act under the law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What’s happening on X, Bauer-Kahan said, is what AB 621 was designed to address.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Real women are having their images manipulated without consent, and the psychological and reputational harm is devastating,” the San Ramon Democrat said in an emailed statement. “Underage children are having their images used to create child sexual abuse material, and these websites are knowingly facilitating it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A global concern\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Bonta’s inquiry also comes shortly after a \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/cagovernor/status/2011489740026232891\">call for an investigation\u003c/a> by Gov. Gavin Newsom, backlash from regulators in the European Union and India and bans on X in Malaysia, Indonesia, and potentially the United Kingdom. As Grok app downloads \u003ca href=\"https://sherwood.news/tech/grok-has-been-climbing-apple-and-googles-app-store-rankings-amid-calls-to/\">rise in Apple and Google app store\u003c/a>s, lawmakers and advocates are calling for the smartphone makers to prohibit the application.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Why Grok created the feature the way it did and how it will respond to the controversy around it is unclear, and answers may not be forthcoming, since \u003ca href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-07/musk-s-grok-ai-generated-thousands-of-undressed-images-per-hour-on-x?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc2Nzc5MDk4NywiZXhwIjoxNzY4Mzk1Nzg3LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUOEhRS0hLR0lGUE8wMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJGRUIzODlCNUI2ODI0RTY0QjY5MENEODE1RTBDREZGRCJ9.3B4JWnmqmXFC3DOqhs11h99g5gNzi4j_poKAHLuWdrY&leadSource=uverify%20wall\">an analysis recently concluded\u003c/a> that it’s the least transparent of major AI systems available today. xAI did not address questions about the investigation from CalMatters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Evidence of concrete harm from deepfakes is piling up. In 2024, the FBI warned that the use of \u003ca href=\"https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/nashville/news/sextortion-a-growing-threat-targeting-minors\">deepfake tools to extort young people is a growing problem\u003c/a> that has led to instances of self-harm and suicide. Multiple audits have found that \u003ca href=\"https://www.techpolicy.press/laion-and-the-challenges-of-preventing-ai-generated-csam/\">child sexual abuse material is inside the training data of AI models\u003c/a>, making them capable of generating vulgar photos. A \u003ca href=\"https://cdt.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/FINAL-UPDATED-CDT-2024-NCII-Polling-Slide-Deck.pdf\">2024 Center for Democracy and Technology survey\u003c/a> found that 15% of high school students have heard of or seen sexually explicit imagery of someone they know at school in the past year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The investigation announced today is the latest action by the attorney general to push AI companies to keep kids safe. Late last year, Bonta endorsed a bill that would have prevented chatbots that talk about self-harm and engage in sexually explicit conversations from interacting with people under 18.[aside postID=news_12064374 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/TeslaFremontGetty.jpg']He also joined attorneys general from 44 other states in sending a letter that questions why companies like Meta and OpenAI allow their chatbots to have sexually inappropriate conversations with minors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California has passed roughly half a dozen laws since 2019 to protect people from deepfakes. The \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab621\">new law by Bauer-Kahan\u003c/a> amends and strengthens a 2019 law, most significantly by allowing district attorneys to bring cases against companies that “recklessly aid and abet” the distribution of deepfakes without the consent of the person depicted nude or committing sexual acts. That means the average person can ask the attorney general or the district attorney where they live to file a case on their behalf. It also increases the maximum amount that a judge can award a person from $150,000 to $250,000. Under the law, a public prosecutor is not required to prove that an individual depicted in an AI-generated nude or sexual image suffered actual harm to bring a case to court. Websites that refuse to comply within 30 days can face penalties of $25,000 per violation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to those measures, two 2024 laws (\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202320240ab1831\">AB 1831\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202320240sb1381?slug=CA_202320240SB1381\">SB 1381\u003c/a>) expand the state’s definition of child pornography to make possession or distribution of artificially-generated child sexual abuse material illegal. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202320240sb981\">Another required\u003c/a> social media platforms to give people an easy way to request the immediate removal of a deepfake, and defines the posting of such material as a form of digital identity theft. A California law limiting the use of deepfakes in elections was signed into law last year, but was \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/05/elon-musk-x-court-win-california-deepfake-law-00494936\">struck down by a federal judge last summer\u003c/a> following a lawsuit by X and Elon Musk.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Future reforms\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Every new state law helps give lawyers like Dordulian a new avenue to address harmful uses of deepfakes, but he said more needs to be done to help people protect themselves. He said his clients face challenges proving violation of existing laws since they require distribution of explicit materials, for example, with a messaging app or social media platform, for protections to kick in. In his experience, people who use nudify apps typically know each other, so distribution doesn’t always take place, and if it does, it can be hard to prove.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, he said, he has a client who works as a nanny who alleges that the father of the kids she takes care of made images of her using photos she posted on Instagram. The nanny found the images on his iPad. This discovery was disturbing for her and caused her emotional trauma, but since he can’t use deepfake laws, he has to sue on the basis of negligence or emotional distress, and laws that were never created to address deepfakes. Similarly, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cnbc.com/2025/09/27/nudify-ai-generated-deepfake-fbi.html\">victims told CNBC last year\u003c/a> that the distinction between creating and distributing deepfakes left a gap in the law in a number of U.S. states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The law needs to keep up with what’s really happening on the ground and what women are experiencing, which is just the simple act of creation itself is the problem,” Dordulian said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12069820\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12069820\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2255688657.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2255688657.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2255688657-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2255688657-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An iPhone screen displays the Grok logo on the Grok AI app on January 11, 2026. \u003ccite>(Anna Barclay/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>California is at the forefront of passing laws to protect people from deepfakes, but existing law isn’t meeting the moment, said Jennifer Gibson, cofounder and director of \u003ca href=\"https://psst.org/\">Psst\u003c/a>, a group created a little over a year ago that provides pro bono legal services to tech and AI workers interested in whistleblowing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2025/12/new-ai-regulation/\">California law that went into effect Jan. 1\u003c/a> protects whistleblowers inside AI companies but only if they work on catastrophic risk that can kill more than 50 people or cause more than $1 billion in damages. If the law protected people who work on deepfakes, former X employees who \u003ca href=\"https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-grok-explicit-content-data-annotation-2025-9?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email\">detailed witnessing Grok generating illegal sexually explicit material last year to Business Insider\u003c/a> would, Gibson said, have had protections if they shared the information with authorities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There needs to be a lot more protection for exactly this kind of scenario in which an insider sees that this is foreseeable, knows that this is going to happen, and they need somewhere to go to report to both to keep the company accountable and protect the public.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2026/01/california-investigates-deepfakes-elon-musk-company/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Attorney General Rob Bonta said his office is looking into whether a new AI image editing tool from Elon Musk’s company violates California law.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c!-- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ -->\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California Attorney General \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/rob-bonta\">Rob Bonta\u003c/a> today announced an investigation into how and whether Elon Musk’s X and xAI broke the law in the past few weeks by enabling the spread of naked or sexual imagery without consent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>xAI \u003ca href=\"https://www.wsj.com/tech/xai-grok-child-sexualized-photos-59cabffe?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AWEtsqeXFpqFQcrxsO5WTkfUv06n_yUF6SLsaiidykNtXuu99sfcWdIeGHE6&gaa_ts=6967eaf6&gaa_sig=Xo5Vee-O05o95LbH9S5pemMTlPI6DdA5iZKEj5SEbQPtBBwZQuX9-vC1SF3WvpfVZT6YyP8zLGAprQ5MlwHhpQ%3D%3D\">reportedly\u003c/a> updated its Grok artificial intelligence tool last month to allow image editing. Users on the social media platform X, which is connected to the tool, began using Grok to remove clothing in pictures of women and children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The avalanche of reports detailing the non-consensual sexually explicit material that xAI has produced and posted online in recent weeks is shocking,” Bonta \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-launches-investigation-xai-grok-over-undressed-sexual-ai\">said in a written statement\u003c/a>. “This material, which depicts women and children in nude and sexually explicit situations, has been used to harass people across the internet. I urge xAI to take immediate action to ensure this goes no further.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bonta urged Californians who want to report depictions of them or their children undressed or commiting sexual acts to visit \u003ca href=\"http://oag.ca.gov/report\">oag.ca.gov/report\u003c/a>. In an emailed response, xAI did not address questions about the investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Research \u003ca href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-07/musk-s-grok-ai-generated-thousands-of-undressed-images-per-hour-on-x?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc2Nzc5MDk4NywiZXhwIjoxNzY4Mzk1Nzg3LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUOEhRS0hLR0lGUE8wMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJGRUIzODlCNUI2ODI0RTY0QjY5MENEODE1RTBDREZGRCJ9.3B4JWnmqmXFC3DOqhs11h99g5gNzi4j_poKAHLuWdrY&leadSource=uverify%20wall\">obtained by Bloomberg\u003c/a> found that X now produces more non-consensual naked or sexual imagery than any other website online. In a posting on X, Musk promised “consequences” for people who made illegal content with the tool. On Friday, Grok limited image editing to paying subscribers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One potential route for Bonta to prosecute xAI is a law that \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2025/10/13/governor-newsom-signs-bills-to-further-strengthen-californias-leadership-in-protecting-children-online/\">went into effect\u003c/a> just two weeks ago \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab621\">creating legal liability for the creation and distribution\u003c/a> of “deepfake” pornography.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12013478\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12013478\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241107-ATTORNEYGENERALBONTA-09-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241107-ATTORNEYGENERALBONTA-09-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241107-ATTORNEYGENERALBONTA-09-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241107-ATTORNEYGENERALBONTA-09-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241107-ATTORNEYGENERALBONTA-09-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241107-ATTORNEYGENERALBONTA-09-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241107-ATTORNEYGENERALBONTA-09-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Attorney General Rob Bonta speaks with KQED politics reporters Marisa Lagos and Scott Shafer for Political Breakdown at the KQED offices in San Francisco on Nov. 7, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>X and xAI appear to be violating the provisions of that law, known as AB 621, said Sam Dordulian, who previously worked in the sex crimes unit of the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office but today works in private practice as a lawyer for people in cases involving deepfakes or revenge porn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, author of the law, told CalMatters in a statement last week that she reached out to prosecutors, including the attorney general’s office and the city attorney of San Francisco, to remind them that they can act under the law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What’s happening on X, Bauer-Kahan said, is what AB 621 was designed to address.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Real women are having their images manipulated without consent, and the psychological and reputational harm is devastating,” the San Ramon Democrat said in an emailed statement. “Underage children are having their images used to create child sexual abuse material, and these websites are knowingly facilitating it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A global concern\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Bonta’s inquiry also comes shortly after a \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/cagovernor/status/2011489740026232891\">call for an investigation\u003c/a> by Gov. Gavin Newsom, backlash from regulators in the European Union and India and bans on X in Malaysia, Indonesia, and potentially the United Kingdom. As Grok app downloads \u003ca href=\"https://sherwood.news/tech/grok-has-been-climbing-apple-and-googles-app-store-rankings-amid-calls-to/\">rise in Apple and Google app store\u003c/a>s, lawmakers and advocates are calling for the smartphone makers to prohibit the application.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Why Grok created the feature the way it did and how it will respond to the controversy around it is unclear, and answers may not be forthcoming, since \u003ca href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-07/musk-s-grok-ai-generated-thousands-of-undressed-images-per-hour-on-x?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc2Nzc5MDk4NywiZXhwIjoxNzY4Mzk1Nzg3LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUOEhRS0hLR0lGUE8wMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJGRUIzODlCNUI2ODI0RTY0QjY5MENEODE1RTBDREZGRCJ9.3B4JWnmqmXFC3DOqhs11h99g5gNzi4j_poKAHLuWdrY&leadSource=uverify%20wall\">an analysis recently concluded\u003c/a> that it’s the least transparent of major AI systems available today. xAI did not address questions about the investigation from CalMatters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Evidence of concrete harm from deepfakes is piling up. In 2024, the FBI warned that the use of \u003ca href=\"https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/nashville/news/sextortion-a-growing-threat-targeting-minors\">deepfake tools to extort young people is a growing problem\u003c/a> that has led to instances of self-harm and suicide. Multiple audits have found that \u003ca href=\"https://www.techpolicy.press/laion-and-the-challenges-of-preventing-ai-generated-csam/\">child sexual abuse material is inside the training data of AI models\u003c/a>, making them capable of generating vulgar photos. A \u003ca href=\"https://cdt.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/FINAL-UPDATED-CDT-2024-NCII-Polling-Slide-Deck.pdf\">2024 Center for Democracy and Technology survey\u003c/a> found that 15% of high school students have heard of or seen sexually explicit imagery of someone they know at school in the past year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The investigation announced today is the latest action by the attorney general to push AI companies to keep kids safe. Late last year, Bonta endorsed a bill that would have prevented chatbots that talk about self-harm and engage in sexually explicit conversations from interacting with people under 18.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>He also joined attorneys general from 44 other states in sending a letter that questions why companies like Meta and OpenAI allow their chatbots to have sexually inappropriate conversations with minors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California has passed roughly half a dozen laws since 2019 to protect people from deepfakes. The \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab621\">new law by Bauer-Kahan\u003c/a> amends and strengthens a 2019 law, most significantly by allowing district attorneys to bring cases against companies that “recklessly aid and abet” the distribution of deepfakes without the consent of the person depicted nude or committing sexual acts. That means the average person can ask the attorney general or the district attorney where they live to file a case on their behalf. It also increases the maximum amount that a judge can award a person from $150,000 to $250,000. Under the law, a public prosecutor is not required to prove that an individual depicted in an AI-generated nude or sexual image suffered actual harm to bring a case to court. Websites that refuse to comply within 30 days can face penalties of $25,000 per violation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to those measures, two 2024 laws (\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202320240ab1831\">AB 1831\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202320240sb1381?slug=CA_202320240SB1381\">SB 1381\u003c/a>) expand the state’s definition of child pornography to make possession or distribution of artificially-generated child sexual abuse material illegal. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202320240sb981\">Another required\u003c/a> social media platforms to give people an easy way to request the immediate removal of a deepfake, and defines the posting of such material as a form of digital identity theft. A California law limiting the use of deepfakes in elections was signed into law last year, but was \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/05/elon-musk-x-court-win-california-deepfake-law-00494936\">struck down by a federal judge last summer\u003c/a> following a lawsuit by X and Elon Musk.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Future reforms\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Every new state law helps give lawyers like Dordulian a new avenue to address harmful uses of deepfakes, but he said more needs to be done to help people protect themselves. He said his clients face challenges proving violation of existing laws since they require distribution of explicit materials, for example, with a messaging app or social media platform, for protections to kick in. In his experience, people who use nudify apps typically know each other, so distribution doesn’t always take place, and if it does, it can be hard to prove.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, he said, he has a client who works as a nanny who alleges that the father of the kids she takes care of made images of her using photos she posted on Instagram. The nanny found the images on his iPad. This discovery was disturbing for her and caused her emotional trauma, but since he can’t use deepfake laws, he has to sue on the basis of negligence or emotional distress, and laws that were never created to address deepfakes. Similarly, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cnbc.com/2025/09/27/nudify-ai-generated-deepfake-fbi.html\">victims told CNBC last year\u003c/a> that the distinction between creating and distributing deepfakes left a gap in the law in a number of U.S. states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The law needs to keep up with what’s really happening on the ground and what women are experiencing, which is just the simple act of creation itself is the problem,” Dordulian said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12069820\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12069820\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2255688657.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2255688657.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2255688657-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2255688657-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An iPhone screen displays the Grok logo on the Grok AI app on January 11, 2026. \u003ccite>(Anna Barclay/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>California is at the forefront of passing laws to protect people from deepfakes, but existing law isn’t meeting the moment, said Jennifer Gibson, cofounder and director of \u003ca href=\"https://psst.org/\">Psst\u003c/a>, a group created a little over a year ago that provides pro bono legal services to tech and AI workers interested in whistleblowing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2025/12/new-ai-regulation/\">California law that went into effect Jan. 1\u003c/a> protects whistleblowers inside AI companies but only if they work on catastrophic risk that can kill more than 50 people or cause more than $1 billion in damages. If the law protected people who work on deepfakes, former X employees who \u003ca href=\"https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-grok-explicit-content-data-annotation-2025-9?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email\">detailed witnessing Grok generating illegal sexually explicit material last year to Business Insider\u003c/a> would, Gibson said, have had protections if they shared the information with authorities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There needs to be a lot more protection for exactly this kind of scenario in which an insider sees that this is foreseeable, knows that this is going to happen, and they need somewhere to go to report to both to keep the company accountable and protect the public.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2026/01/california-investigates-deepfakes-elon-musk-company/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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},
"closealltabs": {
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"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
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"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 9
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"meta": {
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},
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"id": "fresh-air",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"hidden-brain": {
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"source": "NPR"
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
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"hyphenacion": {
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"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"order": 15
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"jerrybrown": {
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"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
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"order": 18
},
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"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
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"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
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},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
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"source": "American Public Media"
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"masters-of-scale": {
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"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
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},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
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"meta": {
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"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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},
"morning-edition": {
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"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
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"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
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},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/otm",
"meta": {
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"source": "wnyc"
},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia"
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},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
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"info": "Analysis, background reports and updates from the PBS NewsHour putting today's news in context.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PBS-News-Hour-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pbs-newshour-full-show/id394432287?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/PBS-NewsHour---Full-Show-p425698/",
"rss": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/feeds/rss/podcasts/show"
}
},
"perspectives": {
"id": "perspectives",
"title": "Perspectives",
"tagline": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991",
"info": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/perspectives/",
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"order": 14
},
"link": "/perspectives",
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"planet-money": {
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"title": "Planet Money",
"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
"airtime": "SUN 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/planetmoney.jpg",
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"meta": {
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},
"link": "/radio/program/planet-money",
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