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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A landmark state law written by \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/bay-area\">Bay Area\u003c/a> lawmakers aimed at helping people identify content that’s been generated by artificial intelligence will go into effect Saturday. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The law requires AI companies to ensure that their images and videos contain embedded, difficult-to-remove data about how the image was made — often referred to as “provenance.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Starting Aug. 2, anyone will be able to put an image, video or audio file into a \u003ca href=\"https://c2pa.org/\">content verifier\u003c/a>, like one from the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity, and determine whether or not it is AI-generated, state Sen. Josh Becker, D-Menlo Park, told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1568\" height=\"1045\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/062923_Artificial_Intelligence_AI_REUTERS_CM_02-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12031242\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/062923_Artificial_Intelligence_AI_REUTERS_CM_02-copy.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/062923_Artificial_Intelligence_AI_REUTERS_CM_02-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/062923_Artificial_Intelligence_AI_REUTERS_CM_02-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/062923_Artificial_Intelligence_AI_REUTERS_CM_02-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/062923_Artificial_Intelligence_AI_REUTERS_CM_02-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Technology leaders attend a generative artificial intelligence meeting in San Francisco on June 29, 2023. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“While AI has some benefits, we’ve seen AI content used for election misinformation for scams and abusive deepfakes,” Becker said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The new law Becker co-authored along with Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, and Rick Chavez Zbur, D-Los Angeles, will make it easier for everyday people to see what’s real and what’s fabricated. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The next phase kicks in on Jan. 1, 2027, and will require large online platforms to give users a way to view that previously stored information and figure out whether or not the content that they’re seeing is AI-generated. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>By 2028, phones and cameras produced in California will be required to store this provenance information as soon as an image is captured.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The law — which originally passed in 2024 — has taken nearly three years to go into effect. According to Becker, figuring out how to operationalize these policies can often be a barrier to regulation. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Becker said that the lawmakers coordinated closely with the European Union throughout the process. The new law will go into effect on the same day as the \u003ca href=\"https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/commission-starts-enforcing-ai-act-rules-and-new-transparency-requirements-2-august\">European Union’s new AI\u003c/a> Act. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>While this law will immediately impact generative AI companies, \u003ca href=\"https://dispatch.starlinglab.org/p/decoding-the-california-ai-transparency\">experts\u003c/a> in the space are keeping an eye on the requirements for online platforms and believe that, if enforced, it “will no doubt have a larger effect on our information economy,” Stephen Sharp Queener, academic researcher with Starling Lab, wrote in a post on Substack. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Becker will hold a press conference in Sacramento on Aug. 3 to share more details about the new legislation. \u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Elon Musk’s AI Company Asks San José to Halt Lawsuit Over Deepfake Abuse",
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"headTitle": "Elon Musk’s AI Company Asks San José to Halt Lawsuit Over Deepfake Abuse | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>A federal judge in San José will decide whether to halt a proposed class action lawsuit accusing Elon Musk’s AI company of creating non-consensual, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12091964/nearly-half-of-teens-report-seeing-ai-sexual-content-bay-area-leaders-want-to-shut-it-down\">sexually explicit deepfakes\u003c/a>, as the company seeks to transfer the case to Texas. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>xAI, which Musk folded into SpaceX in February and rebranded as SpaceXAI in July, also asked \u003ca href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72185111/doe-v-xai-corp/?filed_after=&filed_before=&entry_gte=&entry_lte=&order_by=desc\">Judge P. Casey Pitts\u003c/a> on Thursday to pause the federal civil suit during related criminal proceedings under federal law.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The suit comes as California Attorney General Rob Bonta and European regulators have also \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069808/california-investigates-elon-musks-ai-company-after-avalanche-of-complaints-about-sexual-content\">launched investigations\u003c/a> into whether the platform’s generated sexual images violate local laws.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>One plaintiff, a South Carolina woman, said she posted a fully clothed photo of herself to the social media platform X on Jan. 2 and discovered the next day that Grok, xAI’s chatbot, had used it to generate an image of her and posted the result publicly, \u003ca href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.463184/gov.uscourts.cand.463184.28.0.pdf\">according to court filings\u003c/a>. She reported it to X in an attempt to have it taken down.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RobBontaTrumpGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12058864\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RobBontaTrumpGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RobBontaTrumpGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RobBontaTrumpGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">California Attorney General Rob Bonta is briefed by members of his Civil Rights Enforcement Section on litigation challenging the Trump administration at his offices in downtown Los Angeles, California, on March 11, 2025. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The four plaintiffs are suing under pseudonyms. Musk is not named as a defendant. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Grok was integrated into X in December 2024, initially for premium subscribers, who could tag @grok in a post asking it to edit an image and get the result posted publicly in reply. Plaintiffs say users \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069808/california-investigates-elon-musks-ai-company-after-avalanche-of-complaints-about-sexual-content\">quickly began prompting it\u003c/a> with instructions like “Remove her clothes.” A year later, in December 2025, image generation opened to all X users. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Plaintiffs’ lawyers say around that time, Grok began generating and disseminating hundreds of thousands of increasingly explicit images of women and minors. xAI restricted the feature again on Jan. 8.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Three plaintiffs who use X said they were harmed in the first five days of January, according to court filings. Ohio Doe posted a photo Jan. 1 and said Grok created and publicly posted at least six altered images of her over the next two days. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>New Jersey Doe posted a shirtless photo Jan. 4, and he discovered two altered images the following day. Each reported the images to X. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The fourth plaintiff, South Carolina Roe, is not alleged to be an X user. She was told on Feb. 26 that her father had been arrested on charges related to possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material, according to xAI’s motion. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The court records stated she alleged her father used Grok to alter images of her as a minor to make it appear they “had just consummated a sexual act.” The images were not shared on X. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>X has directed users to sue it in northern Texas since November 2024, a district that doesn’t include Bastrop, where the company is headquartered. Fort Worth’s small federal bench includes U.S. Judge Reed O’Connor, who has presided over two Musk-related suits and whose 2023 disclosure showed Tesla stock, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/10/16/g-s1-28620/texas-judge-elon-musk-x-case-tesla-shares\">NPR\u003c/a>; X didn’t answer requests for comment when asked why it chose those courts.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Eric Goldman, a law professor at Santa Clara University, said companies usually seek to file a case where their facilities are, he said, and X did not. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Basically they’re doing a form of judge shopping,” Goldman said. “They think that the judges in that particular district are more likely to go in their favor.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>xAI said the three X users clicked a “Got it” button on the update notice, twice each and kept using their accounts through June, which the terms treat as consent. It notes that three judges in this district have already enforced X’s Texas clause.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Attorneys from legal firm Berger Montague said the company failed to show that the plaintiffs agreed to the user terms, including revised terms changed in the middle of the lawsuit. They claimed xAI produced no screenshot of either sign-up screen and never specified which plaintiff saw which.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2255688657.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12069820\" 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-element-caption\">An iPhone screen displays the Grok logo on the Grok AI app on Jan. 11, 2026. (Anna Barclay/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>They note New Jersey Doe created his account in March 2009, when the version of the terms then in effect contained no clause binding users to future revisions. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>While terms and agreements may seem like an innocuous thing for users to click through, Goldman said updating terms has become a major unresolved question in internet law.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Courts are “inconsistent on this issue,” he said. Whether users are bound to terms of service often turns on design, he said: “The details of how the user interface appears matter a ton.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The judge also rejected xAI’s motion to overturn an earlier order allowing the use of pseudonyms in the case. \u003ca href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.463184/gov.uscourts.cand.463184.57.0.pdf\">Two days \u003c/a>before the hearing, plaintiffs asked Pitts to close the courtroom for any argument that would reveal a plaintiff’s identity or discuss sealed exhibits.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This case is not about just Grok or X as a tool, this is about the whole industry,” said Ahmed Banafa, an engineering professor at San José State University. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the four plaintiffs win and force xAI to change its practices or its algorithm, he said, competitors will take notice: “It could be a landmark for the safety of AI.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The suit comes as California Attorney General Rob Bonta and European regulators have also \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069808/california-investigates-elon-musks-ai-company-after-avalanche-of-complaints-about-sexual-content\">launched investigations\u003c/a> into whether the platform’s generated sexual images violate local laws.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>One plaintiff, a South Carolina woman, said she posted a fully clothed photo of herself to the social media platform X on Jan. 2 and discovered the next day that Grok, xAI’s chatbot, had used it to generate an image of her and posted the result publicly, \u003ca href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.463184/gov.uscourts.cand.463184.28.0.pdf\">according to court filings\u003c/a>. She reported it to X in an attempt to have it taken down.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Grok was integrated into X in December 2024, initially for premium subscribers, who could tag @grok in a post asking it to edit an image and get the result posted publicly in reply. Plaintiffs say users \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069808/california-investigates-elon-musks-ai-company-after-avalanche-of-complaints-about-sexual-content\">quickly began prompting it\u003c/a> with instructions like “Remove her clothes.” A year later, in December 2025, image generation opened to all X users. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Plaintiffs’ lawyers say around that time, Grok began generating and disseminating hundreds of thousands of increasingly explicit images of women and minors. xAI restricted the feature again on Jan. 8.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Three plaintiffs who use X said they were harmed in the first five days of January, according to court filings. Ohio Doe posted a photo Jan. 1 and said Grok created and publicly posted at least six altered images of her over the next two days. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>New Jersey Doe posted a shirtless photo Jan. 4, and he discovered two altered images the following day. Each reported the images to X. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The fourth plaintiff, South Carolina Roe, is not alleged to be an X user. She was told on Feb. 26 that her father had been arrested on charges related to possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material, according to xAI’s motion. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The court records stated she alleged her father used Grok to alter images of her as a minor to make it appear they “had just consummated a sexual act.” The images were not shared on X. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>X has directed users to sue it in northern Texas since November 2024, a district that doesn’t include Bastrop, where the company is headquartered. Fort Worth’s small federal bench includes U.S. Judge Reed O’Connor, who has presided over two Musk-related suits and whose 2023 disclosure showed Tesla stock, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/10/16/g-s1-28620/texas-judge-elon-musk-x-case-tesla-shares\">NPR\u003c/a>; X didn’t answer requests for comment when asked why it chose those courts.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Basically they’re doing a form of judge shopping,” Goldman said. “They think that the judges in that particular district are more likely to go in their favor.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>xAI said the three X users clicked a “Got it” button on the update notice, twice each and kept using their accounts through June, which the terms treat as consent. It notes that three judges in this district have already enforced X’s Texas clause.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Attorneys from legal firm Berger Montague said the company failed to show that the plaintiffs agreed to the user terms, including revised terms changed in the middle of the lawsuit. They claimed xAI produced no screenshot of either sign-up screen and never specified which plaintiff saw which.\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Four people who say Grok generated sexualized images of them without consent are fighting to keep their case in California and to keep their names out of it.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A federal judge in San José will decide whether to halt a proposed class action lawsuit accusing Elon Musk’s AI company of creating non-consensual, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12091964/nearly-half-of-teens-report-seeing-ai-sexual-content-bay-area-leaders-want-to-shut-it-down\">sexually explicit deepfakes\u003c/a>, as the company seeks to transfer the case to Texas. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>xAI, which Musk folded into SpaceX in February and rebranded as SpaceXAI in July, also asked \u003ca href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72185111/doe-v-xai-corp/?filed_after=&filed_before=&entry_gte=&entry_lte=&order_by=desc\">Judge P. Casey Pitts\u003c/a> on Thursday to pause the federal civil suit during related criminal proceedings under federal law.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The suit comes as California Attorney General Rob Bonta and European regulators have also \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069808/california-investigates-elon-musks-ai-company-after-avalanche-of-complaints-about-sexual-content\">launched investigations\u003c/a> into whether the platform’s generated sexual images violate local laws.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>One plaintiff, a South Carolina woman, said she posted a fully clothed photo of herself to the social media platform X on Jan. 2 and discovered the next day that Grok, xAI’s chatbot, had used it to generate an image of her and posted the result publicly, \u003ca href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.463184/gov.uscourts.cand.463184.28.0.pdf\">according to court filings\u003c/a>. She reported it to X in an attempt to have it taken down.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RobBontaTrumpGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12058864\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RobBontaTrumpGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RobBontaTrumpGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RobBontaTrumpGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">California Attorney General Rob Bonta is briefed by members of his Civil Rights Enforcement Section on litigation challenging the Trump administration at his offices in downtown Los Angeles, California, on March 11, 2025. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The four plaintiffs are suing under pseudonyms. Musk is not named as a defendant. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Grok was integrated into X in December 2024, initially for premium subscribers, who could tag @grok in a post asking it to edit an image and get the result posted publicly in reply. Plaintiffs say users \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069808/california-investigates-elon-musks-ai-company-after-avalanche-of-complaints-about-sexual-content\">quickly began prompting it\u003c/a> with instructions like “Remove her clothes.” A year later, in December 2025, image generation opened to all X users. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Plaintiffs’ lawyers say around that time, Grok began generating and disseminating hundreds of thousands of increasingly explicit images of women and minors. xAI restricted the feature again on Jan. 8.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Three plaintiffs who use X said they were harmed in the first five days of January, according to court filings. Ohio Doe posted a photo Jan. 1 and said Grok created and publicly posted at least six altered images of her over the next two days. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>New Jersey Doe posted a shirtless photo Jan. 4, and he discovered two altered images the following day. Each reported the images to X. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The fourth plaintiff, South Carolina Roe, is not alleged to be an X user. She was told on Feb. 26 that her father had been arrested on charges related to possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material, according to xAI’s motion. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The court records stated she alleged her father used Grok to alter images of her as a minor to make it appear they “had just consummated a sexual act.” The images were not shared on X. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>X has directed users to sue it in northern Texas since November 2024, a district that doesn’t include Bastrop, where the company is headquartered. Fort Worth’s small federal bench includes U.S. Judge Reed O’Connor, who has presided over two Musk-related suits and whose 2023 disclosure showed Tesla stock, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/10/16/g-s1-28620/texas-judge-elon-musk-x-case-tesla-shares\">NPR\u003c/a>; X didn’t answer requests for comment when asked why it chose those courts.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Eric Goldman, a law professor at Santa Clara University, said companies usually seek to file a case where their facilities are, he said, and X did not. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Basically they’re doing a form of judge shopping,” Goldman said. “They think that the judges in that particular district are more likely to go in their favor.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>xAI said the three X users clicked a “Got it” button on the update notice, twice each and kept using their accounts through June, which the terms treat as consent. It notes that three judges in this district have already enforced X’s Texas clause.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Attorneys from legal firm Berger Montague said the company failed to show that the plaintiffs agreed to the user terms, including revised terms changed in the middle of the lawsuit. They claimed xAI produced no screenshot of either sign-up screen and never specified which plaintiff saw which.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2255688657.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12069820\" 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-element-caption\">An iPhone screen displays the Grok logo on the Grok AI app on Jan. 11, 2026. (Anna Barclay/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>They note New Jersey Doe created his account in March 2009, when the version of the terms then in effect contained no clause binding users to future revisions. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>While terms and agreements may seem like an innocuous thing for users to click through, Goldman said updating terms has become a major unresolved question in internet law.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Courts are “inconsistent on this issue,” he said. Whether users are bound to terms of service often turns on design, he said: “The details of how the user interface appears matter a ton.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The judge also rejected xAI’s motion to overturn an earlier order allowing the use of pseudonyms in the case. \u003ca href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.463184/gov.uscourts.cand.463184.57.0.pdf\">Two days \u003c/a>before the hearing, plaintiffs asked Pitts to close the courtroom for any argument that would reveal a plaintiff’s identity or discuss sealed exhibits.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This case is not about just Grok or X as a tool, this is about the whole industry,” said Ahmed Banafa, an engineering professor at San José State University. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the four plaintiffs win and force xAI to change its practices or its algorithm, he said, competitors will take notice: “It could be a landmark for the safety of AI.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "staff-of-san-francisco-based-wikipedia-demand-union-recognition-raise-concerns-over-ai",
"title": "Staff at the San Francisco-Based Foundation Behind Wikipedia Demand Union Recognition",
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"headTitle": "Staff at the San Francisco-Based Foundation Behind Wikipedia Demand Union Recognition | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Workers at the Wikimedia Foundation — the San Francisco-based foundation that hosts \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/wikipedia\">Wikipedia\u003c/a> — demanded voluntary recognition of their union, Wiki Workers United U.S., on Monday. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The staff who run the platform say they want a stronger voice in their workplace, better job protections and an end to common practices that make life “precarious for everyday workers,” according to Jeremy Bernick, one of the union organizers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>They gave the foundation until Friday to respond to their request for recognition. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Wikipedia, the world’s largest encyclopedia, hosts roughly \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-00074-1\">65 million entries\u003c/a> in \u003ca href=\"https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedias\">364 languages\u003c/a>. It is considered a backbone of the internet — boasting an average of 508 million views per day for the past decade, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/01/13/wikipedia-at-25-what-the-data-tells-us/#how-many-people-visit-wikipedia\">Pew Research Center\u003c/a>. While Wikipedia is the nonprofit’s largest and most well-known project, the Wikimedia Foundation, which did not respond to requests for comment, supports over a dozen related “sister” projects. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/WikipediaGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12092438\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/WikipediaGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/WikipediaGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/WikipediaGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Wikipedia homepage on March 11, 2011. (SD619/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bernick said that this campaign is the workers’ third attempt at unionizing and the farthest they’ve gotten in the process.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think there is a lot of fear right now,” Bernick said — highlighting the Trump administration’s attacks on public media, the cost of living crisis and concerns about artificial intelligence as some of the factors driving more staff toward unionization. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As employers make decisions about how and when to integrate AI, Bernick wants to see “workers in the loop.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Without our say, these systems are not really effective,” Bernick said. “A lot of the time they can make our work less impactful or more strenuous.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A press release from the Communications Workers of America — Wiki Workers United’s parent union — also said that “recent events at the Wikimedia Foundation have drastically escalated worker concerns regarding transparency, trust, the organization’s future, and leadership’s commitment to the free knowledge movement.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In May, the foundation disbanded the Community Tech team, the bridge between the foundation and the volunteers who update the articles. The decision sparked major backlash, in part, because the team was largely composed of union members, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wiki_Workers_United_solidarity\">petition\u003c/a> written by Wikipedia editors with 1,190 signatures.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Wikipedia editors are a group of nearly \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-00074-1\">280,000 volunteers\u003c/a> who write and edit the articles. The petition states that the undersigned editors, who have cumulatively made over 17,582,148 edits, according to the page, will strike in support of the union if called. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This demand for recognition comes after the U.K. chapter of Wiki Workers United made a similar request of the foundation last month, according to the press release. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The union hopes to be a sign that it’s OK for tech workers to ask for protections, Bernick said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You don’t have to accept the status quo,” Bernick said. “We see having a union as sort of a basic right.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The staff who run the platform say they want a stronger voice in their workplace, better job protections and an end to common practices that make life “precarious for everyday workers,” according to Jeremy Bernick, one of the union organizers. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Wikipedia, the world’s largest encyclopedia, hosts roughly \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-00074-1\">65 million entries\u003c/a> in \u003ca href=\"https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedias\">364 languages\u003c/a>. It is considered a backbone of the internet — boasting an average of 508 million views per day for the past decade, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/01/13/wikipedia-at-25-what-the-data-tells-us/#how-many-people-visit-wikipedia\">Pew Research Center\u003c/a>. While Wikipedia is the nonprofit’s largest and most well-known project, the Wikimedia Foundation, which did not respond to requests for comment, supports over a dozen related “sister” projects. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I think there is a lot of fear right now,” Bernick said — highlighting the Trump administration’s attacks on public media, the cost of living crisis and concerns about artificial intelligence as some of the factors driving more staff toward unionization. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Without our say, these systems are not really effective,” Bernick said. “A lot of the time they can make our work less impactful or more strenuous.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>A press release from the Communications Workers of America — Wiki Workers United’s parent union — also said that “recent events at the Wikimedia Foundation have drastically escalated worker concerns regarding transparency, trust, the organization’s future, and leadership’s commitment to the free knowledge movement.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In May, the foundation disbanded the Community Tech team, the bridge between the foundation and the volunteers who update the articles. The decision sparked major backlash, in part, because the team was largely composed of union members, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wiki_Workers_United_solidarity\">petition\u003c/a> written by Wikipedia editors with 1,190 signatures.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>This demand for recognition comes after the U.K. chapter of Wiki Workers United made a similar request of the foundation last month, according to the press release. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The union hopes to be a sign that it’s OK for tech workers to ask for protections, Bernick said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“You don’t have to accept the status quo,” Bernick said. “We see having a union as sort of a basic right.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think there is a lot of fear right now,” Bernick said — highlighting the Trump administration’s attacks on public media, the cost of living crisis and concerns about artificial intelligence as some of the factors driving more staff toward unionization. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As employers make decisions about how and when to integrate AI, Bernick wants to see “workers in the loop.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Without our say, these systems are not really effective,” Bernick said. “A lot of the time they can make our work less impactful or more strenuous.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A press release from the Communications Workers of America — Wiki Workers United’s parent union — also said that “recent events at the Wikimedia Foundation have drastically escalated worker concerns regarding transparency, trust, the organization’s future, and leadership’s commitment to the free knowledge movement.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In May, the foundation disbanded the Community Tech team, the bridge between the foundation and the volunteers who update the articles. The decision sparked major backlash, in part, because the team was largely composed of union members, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wiki_Workers_United_solidarity\">petition\u003c/a> written by Wikipedia editors with 1,190 signatures.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Wikipedia editors are a group of nearly \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-00074-1\">280,000 volunteers\u003c/a> who write and edit the articles. The petition states that the undersigned editors, who have cumulatively made over 17,582,148 edits, according to the page, will strike in support of the union if called. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This demand for recognition comes after the U.K. chapter of Wiki Workers United made a similar request of the foundation last month, according to the press release. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The union hopes to be a sign that it’s OK for tech workers to ask for protections, Bernick said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You don’t have to accept the status quo,” Bernick said. “We see having a union as sort of a basic right.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "how-openais-models-escaped-their-sandbox-and-slipped-past-californias-ai-law",
"title": "How OpenAI’s Models Escaped Their Sandbox and Slipped Past California's AI Law",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/open-ai\">OpenAI\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://openai.com/index/hugging-face-model-evaluation-security-incident/\"> this week said\u003c/a> more than one of its models — three, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-23/openai-models-lurked-in-hugging-face-system-for-hours-undetected?srnd=homepage-americas\">\u003cem>Bloomberg\u003c/em>\u003c/a> — attacked Hugging Face, a popular repository for open-source AI tools — marking one of the first publicly disclosed cases of frontier AI models autonomously cyberattacking another company. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The disclosure came days after Hugging Face \u003ca href=\"https://huggingface.co/blog/security-incident-july-2026\">revealed\u003c/a> it was breached in a hack by a “malicious dataset,” which intruded into the AI company’s software to run code. The campaign executed a flurry of more than 17,000 automated actions in a matter of hours, the post said. It’s still unclear if Hugging Face customer or partner data was taken. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This matches the ‘agentic attacker’ scenario the industry has been forecasting,” Hugging Face wrote on July 16.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>OpenAI said an investigation showed the incident was driven by a combination of models — “including GPT‑5.6 Sol and an even more capable pre-release model.” The company said it’s working with Hugging Face to produce a more thorough report of what happened.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/AP24134775174210-scaled-e1770337042768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11985952\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The OpenAI logo is seen on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen displaying output from ChatGPT, March 21, 2023, in Boston, Massachusetts. (Michael Dwyer/Associated Press)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>OpenAI’s announcement came one day after the San Francisco-based frontier AI developer disclosed a separate incident in which it paused another pre-release model that had escaped what the industry calls “a sandbox” — an isolated environment with no path to the open internet, except for a single internal service that fetches software packages — and \u003ca href=\"https://www.wired.com/story/openai-models-escaped-containment-and-hacked-huggingface/\">posted\u003c/a> to GitHub. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last April, a researcher challenged an early version of Anthropic’s Mythos model to break out of an isolated system and message back. Mythos did, and then \u003ca href=\"https://www.mondaymomentum.io/p/the-ai-that-broke-out-of-its-cage\">went further\u003c/a>, building a multistep process to reach the wider internet. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>California’s \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB53\">frontier AI law\u003c/a>, the first of its kind in the country, obliges the largest developers to tell the state about critical safety incidents, but only ones that kill or injure someone or that cause catastrophic harm.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It expressly excludes the kind of safety evaluation OpenAI was running when its models got loose. Which leaves a question nobody in Sacramento or Washington can answer: how often have frontier models in development gone rogue at companies that decided not to mention it? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This was one of the topics I was focused on when I worked at OpenAI: what happens when AI models become good enough to reward-hack their way through the infrastructure they use to accomplish their objectives?” Ariel Herbert-Voss, OpenAI’s first security hire, wrote KQED. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s a really difficult problem to defend against and is one of the reasons I left to start my own company,” Herbert-Voss, now the founder of an automated offensive cybersecurity company called RunSybil, said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s a really remarkable and, I think, fair to say scary event,“ said Nathan Calvin, general counsel at safety advocate EncodeAI. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Scientists and AI researchers have warned for years of the possibility that AI systems could go rogue and do unpredictable and unintended things. AI developers commonly test safety with so-called “\u003ca href=\"https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/cyberpedia/what-is-ai-red-teaming\">red teams\u003c/a>” that try to break or trick machine learning models, like chatbots, to find hidden flaws. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-1849294862.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12092368\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-1849294862.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-1849294862-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-1849294862-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Hugging Face logo is seen displayed on a mobile phone screen with the AI revolution symbol in the background. (Idrees Abbas/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“In certain circumstances, AI will try to break out of their sandboxes or otherwise do things that were not what the creator intended,” Calvin said. “But this really is the first very big example of that happening, at scale, with a really highly capable AI model in a way that actually harmed a third party.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>According to OpenAI’s account, the company was running an internal evaluation designed to measure how good its models are at hacking. To get a true reading, OpenAI deliberately switched off the safety filters that normally stop its models from carrying out cyberattacks.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The models were confined to a so-called “sandbox,” an isolated environment with no route to the open internet except OpenAI’s one internal service that fetches software libraries from public repositories. The models found a previously unknown flaw in that service, exploited it, escalated their privileges and moved from machine to machine inside OpenAI’s research network until they reached one with internet access. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Once the models broke out onto the open internet, according to OpenAI, they reasoned that Hugging Face might be storing the answers to the test they were trying to pass. Hugging Face’s credentials and production database aren’t on the public internet any more than a bank’s vault sits on a sidewalk, but the models broke into Hugging Face using stolen credentials, among other things.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/111623_Sam-Altman_AP_CM_01.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12062600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/111623_Sam-Altman_AP_CM_01.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/111623_Sam-Altman_AP_CM_01-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/111623_Sam-Altman_AP_CM_01-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">OpenAI restructured to a for-profit company in a move tied to an agreement with California Attorney General Rob Bonta. Company CEO Sam Altman participates in a discussion in San Francisco on Nov. 16, 2023. (Photo by Eric Risberg, AP Photo)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In short: The models were told to hack. They were not told to leave the building or to break into another company’s servers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hugging Face detected the intrusion and shut it down on its own, days before OpenAI connected the attack to its own testing. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s quite mind-blowing that all of this happened autonomously!“ Hugging Face Chief Executive Clement Delangue wrote on social media platform \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/ClementDelangue/status/2079670308156645882\">X\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In its blog post, OpenAI wrote, “This incident points to the need to further strengthen our model’s alignment, cyber protections during evaluation time and monitoring during internal testing.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Future of Life Institute — a nonprofit which issues a biannual risk assessment of nine leading AI companies — recently warned that many of the companies building frontier models are quietly walking back safety commitments. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>According to the group’s \u003ca href=\"https://futureoflife.org/ai-safety-index-summer-2026/\">most recent\u003c/a> AI Safety Index, Anthropic, OpenAI, Google DeepMind and Meta all weakened or abandoned promises to pause development if certain red lines were approached, even while publicly suggesting they were amenable. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/GettyImages-2159671948-scaled-e1781542152687.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12058035\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Close-up of phone screen displaying Anthropic Claude, a Large Language Model (LLM) powered generative artificial intelligence chatbot in Lafayette, California, on June 27, 2024. (Smith Collection/Gado via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In an email, KQED asked Hamza Chaudhry, who leads AI and national security work at Future of Life, to imagine it was not OpenAI’s software gone rogue but a foreign state, intentionally executing an unauthorized intrusion into a private company’s production infrastructure, exploiting cybersecurity vulnerabilities, stealing live credentials and accessing a production database. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We would likely call this a dangerous act of cyber-espionage,” he wrote — a likely criminal violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which “would draw a threat group designation and eventually an indictment or sanctions.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>OpenAI did not respond to KQED’s request for comment, but a spokesperson told \u003cem>Bloomberg \u003c/em>the company communicated with law enforcement and other government authorities about the incident.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The fact that Google DeepMind, Meta, Mistral, xAI and Chinese AI model developers haven’t revealed similar events doesn’t necessarily mean they haven’t happened. OpenAI and Anthropic are the only two frontier model developers that have publicly disclosed containment failures. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There is no mandatory public disclosure regime in force, like the one in California that requires \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11992954/cybersecurity-expert-shares-tips-for-dublin-based-patelco-credit-union-customers-after-ransomware-attack\">hacked companies to reveal\u003c/a> there’s been a data breach.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12036125\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Meta, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and Threads logos are screened on a mobile phone on Jan. 25, 2025. (Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Congressional candidate and state Sen. Scott Wiener wrote two AI frontier model safety bills. Gov. Gavin Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12007323/can-california-still-lead-on-ai-regulation-following-newsoms-veto-of-ai-safety-bill\">vetoed\u003c/a> Wiener’s first effort, arguing in his \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/SB-1047-Veto-Message.pdf\">veto message\u003c/a> that “By focusing only on the most expensive and large-scale models, SB 1047 establishes a regulatory framework that could give the public a false sense of security about controlling this fast-moving technology.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The next year, Newsom signed Wiener’s second at-bat, but only after the bill was softened to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12058013/newsom-signs-california-ai-transparency-bill-tailored-to-meet-tech-industry-tastes\">overcome industry pushback\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB53\">law\u003c/a>, which took effect Jan. 1, requires developers of the most powerful AI models to notify the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services of any “critical safety incident“ within 15 days of discovering it — which is not the same as reporting the incident to the public. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Wiener told KQED he still thinks the law is strong. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We worked very hard with the governor to produce a bill that is meaningful and impactful, and that he would sign,“ he said, adding he doesn’t consider the work done, because AI continues to evolve at a rapid pace. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-SFCongressionalCandidateForum-13-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12069061\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-SFCongressionalCandidateForum-13-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-SFCongressionalCandidateForum-13-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-SFCongressionalCandidateForum-13-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">State Sen. Scott Wiener, a candidate for California’s 11th Congressional District, participates in a forum with other candidates at UC Law San Francisco on Jan. 7, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>AI, he said, is “likely the most powerful technology in human history, and we need to make sure that we are both understanding the risks and taking them seriously, so that we can get ahead of them.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Calvin likened the Hugging Face hack to the cyclospora outbreak linked to, but not confirmed as originating from, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12091770/california-based-taylor-farms-recalls-lettuce-shipped-to-27-states-over-cyclospora-risk\">Taylor Farms\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That California-based company has said it’s removing its lettuce indefinitely while the FDA investigation continues. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And OpenAI is like, ‘Maybe it’ll happen again. Maybe it’ll get worse. We don’t really know,“ Calvin said. “Your AI, again, hacked out of its box and hacked into another company, and you’re saying that you don’t know how to stop it from doing that again? That seems pretty nuts,” Calvin said.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/open-ai\">OpenAI\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://openai.com/index/hugging-face-model-evaluation-security-incident/\"> this week said\u003c/a> more than one of its models — three, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-23/openai-models-lurked-in-hugging-face-system-for-hours-undetected?srnd=homepage-americas\">\u003cem>Bloomberg\u003c/em>\u003c/a> — attacked Hugging Face, a popular repository for open-source AI tools — marking one of the first publicly disclosed cases of frontier AI models autonomously cyberattacking another company. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/open-ai\">OpenAI\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://openai.com/index/hugging-face-model-evaluation-security-incident/\"> this week said\u003c/a> more than one of its models — three, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-23/openai-models-lurked-in-hugging-face-system-for-hours-undetected?srnd=homepage-americas\">\u003cem>Bloomberg\u003c/em>\u003c/a> — attacked Hugging Face, a popular repository for open-source AI tools — marking one of the first publicly disclosed cases of frontier AI models autonomously cyberattacking another company. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The disclosure came days after Hugging Face \u003ca href=\"https://huggingface.co/blog/security-incident-july-2026\">revealed\u003c/a> it was breached in a hack by a “malicious dataset,” which intruded into the AI company’s software to run code. The campaign executed a flurry of more than 17,000 automated actions in a matter of hours, the post said. It’s still unclear if Hugging Face customer or partner data was taken. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The disclosure came days after Hugging Face \u003ca href=\"https://huggingface.co/blog/security-incident-july-2026\">revealed\u003c/a> it was breached in a hack by a “malicious dataset,” which intruded into the AI company’s software to run code. The campaign executed a flurry of more than 17,000 automated actions in a matter of hours, the post said. It’s still unclear if Hugging Face customer or partner data was taken. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“This matches the ‘agentic attacker’ scenario the industry has been forecasting,” Hugging Face wrote on July 16.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“This matches the ‘agentic attacker’ scenario the industry has been forecasting,” Hugging Face wrote on July 16.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>OpenAI said an investigation showed the incident was driven by a combination of models — “including GPT‑5.6 Sol and an even more capable pre-release model.” The company said it’s working with Hugging Face to produce a more thorough report of what happened.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>OpenAI said an investigation showed the incident was driven by a combination of models — “including GPT‑5.6 Sol and an even more capable pre-release model.” The company said it’s working with Hugging Face to produce a more thorough report of what happened.\u003c/p>\n"
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/AP24134775174210-scaled-e1770337042768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11985952\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The OpenAI logo is seen on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen displaying output from ChatGPT, March 21, 2023, in Boston, Massachusetts. \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>OpenAI’s announcement came one day after the San Francisco-based frontier AI developer disclosed a separate incident in which it paused another pre-release model that had escaped what the industry calls “a sandbox” — an isolated environment with no path to the open internet, except for a single internal service that fetches software packages — and \u003ca href=\"https://www.wired.com/story/openai-models-escaped-containment-and-hacked-huggingface/\">posted\u003c/a> to GitHub. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>OpenAI’s announcement came one day after the San Francisco-based frontier AI developer disclosed a separate incident in which it paused another pre-release model that had escaped what the industry calls “a sandbox” — an isolated environment with no path to the open internet, except for a single internal service that fetches software packages — and \u003ca href=\"https://www.wired.com/story/openai-models-escaped-containment-and-hacked-huggingface/\">posted\u003c/a> to GitHub. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Last April, a researcher challenged an early version of Anthropic’s Mythos model to break out of an isolated system and message back. Mythos did, and then \u003ca href=\"https://www.mondaymomentum.io/p/the-ai-that-broke-out-of-its-cage\">went further\u003c/a>, building a multistep process to reach the wider internet. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Last April, a researcher challenged an early version of Anthropic’s Mythos model to break out of an isolated system and message back. Mythos did, and then \u003ca href=\"https://www.mondaymomentum.io/p/the-ai-that-broke-out-of-its-cage\">went further\u003c/a>, building a multistep process to reach the wider internet. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>California’s \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB53\">frontier AI law\u003c/a>, the first of its kind in the country, obliges the largest developers to tell the state about critical safety incidents, but only ones that kill or injure someone or that cause catastrophic harm.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>It expressly excludes the kind of safety evaluation OpenAI was running when its models got loose. Which leaves a question nobody in Sacramento or Washington can answer: how often have frontier models in development gone rogue at companies that decided not to mention it? \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“This was one of the topics I was focused on when I worked at OpenAI: what happens when AI models become good enough to reward-hack their way through the infrastructure they use to accomplish their objectives?” Ariel Herbert-Voss, OpenAI’s first security hire, wrote KQED. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It’s a really difficult problem to defend against and is one of the reasons I left to start my own company,” Herbert-Voss, now the founder of an automated offensive cybersecurity company called RunSybil, said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It’s a really remarkable and, I think, fair to say scary event,“ said Nathan Calvin, general counsel at safety advocate EncodeAI. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Scientists and AI researchers have warned for years of the possibility that AI systems could go rogue and do unpredictable and unintended things. AI developers commonly test safety with so-called “\u003ca href=\"https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/cyberpedia/what-is-ai-red-teaming\">red teams\u003c/a>” that try to break or trick machine learning models, like chatbots, to find hidden flaws. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Scientists and AI researchers have warned for years of the possibility that AI systems could go rogue and do unpredictable and unintended things. AI developers commonly test safety with so-called “\u003ca href=\"https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/cyberpedia/what-is-ai-red-teaming\">red teams\u003c/a>” that try to break or trick machine learning models, like chatbots, to find hidden flaws. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-1849294862.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12092368\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-1849294862.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-1849294862-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-1849294862-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Hugging Face logo is seen displayed on a mobile phone screen with the AI revolution symbol in the background. \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-1849294862.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12092368\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Hugging Face logo is seen displayed on a mobile phone screen with the AI revolution symbol in the background. \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“In certain circumstances, AI will try to break out of their sandboxes or otherwise do things that were not what the creator intended,” Calvin said. “But this really is the first very big example of that happening, at scale, with a really highly capable AI model in a way that actually harmed a third party.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“In certain circumstances, AI will try to break out of their sandboxes or otherwise do things that were not what the creator intended,” Calvin said. “But this really is the first very big example of that happening, at scale, with a really highly capable AI model in a way that actually harmed a third party.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/paragraph",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>According to OpenAI’s account, the company was running an internal evaluation designed to measure how good its models are at hacking. To get a true reading, OpenAI deliberately switched off the safety filters that normally stop its models from carrying out cyberattacks.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>According to OpenAI’s account, the company was running an internal evaluation designed to measure how good its models are at hacking. To get a true reading, OpenAI deliberately switched off the safety filters that normally stop its models from carrying out cyberattacks.\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/paragraph",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The models were confined to a so-called “sandbox,” an isolated environment with no route to the open internet except OpenAI’s one internal service that fetches software libraries from public repositories. The models found a previously unknown flaw in that service, exploited it, escalated their privileges and moved from machine to machine inside OpenAI’s research network until they reached one with internet access. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>The models were confined to a so-called “sandbox,” an isolated environment with no route to the open internet except OpenAI’s one internal service that fetches software libraries from public repositories. The models found a previously unknown flaw in that service, exploited it, escalated their privileges and moved from machine to machine inside OpenAI’s research network until they reached one with internet access. \u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/paragraph",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Once the models broke out onto the open internet, according to OpenAI, they reasoned that Hugging Face might be storing the answers to the test they were trying to pass. Hugging Face’s credentials and production database aren’t on the public internet any more than a bank’s vault sits on a sidewalk, but the models broke into Hugging Face using stolen credentials, among other things.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Once the models broke out onto the open internet, according to OpenAI, they reasoned that Hugging Face might be storing the answers to the test they were trying to pass. Hugging Face’s credentials and production database aren’t on the public internet any more than a bank’s vault sits on a sidewalk, but the models broke into Hugging Face using stolen credentials, among other things.\u003c/p>\n"
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"imageCredit": "Photo by Eric Risberg, AP Photo",
"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/111623_Sam-Altman_AP_CM_01.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/111623_Sam-Altman_AP_CM_01-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/111623_Sam-Altman_AP_CM_01-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/111623_Sam-Altman_AP_CM_01.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12062600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/111623_Sam-Altman_AP_CM_01.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/111623_Sam-Altman_AP_CM_01-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/111623_Sam-Altman_AP_CM_01-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">OpenAI restructured to a for-profit company in a move tied to an agreement with California Attorney General Rob Bonta. Company CEO Sam Altman participates in a discussion in San Francisco on Nov. 16, 2023.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/111623_Sam-Altman_AP_CM_01.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12062600\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">OpenAI restructured to a for-profit company in a move tied to an agreement with California Attorney General Rob Bonta. Company CEO Sam Altman participates in a discussion in San Francisco on Nov. 16, 2023.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"blockName": "core/paragraph",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In short: The models were told to hack. They were not told to leave the building or to break into another company’s servers.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>In short: The models were told to hack. They were not told to leave the building or to break into another company’s servers.\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/paragraph",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Hugging Face detected the intrusion and shut it down on its own, days before OpenAI connected the attack to its own testing. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Hugging Face detected the intrusion and shut it down on its own, days before OpenAI connected the attack to its own testing. \u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/paragraph",
"attrs": [],
"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It’s quite mind-blowing that all of this happened autonomously!“ Hugging Face Chief Executive Clement Delangue wrote on social media platform \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/ClementDelangue/status/2079670308156645882\">X\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>“It’s quite mind-blowing that all of this happened autonomously!“ Hugging Face Chief Executive Clement Delangue wrote on social media platform \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/ClementDelangue/status/2079670308156645882\">X\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/paragraph",
"attrs": [],
"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In its blog post, OpenAI wrote, “This incident points to the need to further strengthen our model’s alignment, cyber protections during evaluation time and monitoring during internal testing.”\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>In its blog post, OpenAI wrote, “This incident points to the need to further strengthen our model’s alignment, cyber protections during evaluation time and monitoring during internal testing.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/paragraph",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Future of Life Institute — a nonprofit which issues a biannual risk assessment of nine leading AI companies — recently warned that many of the companies building frontier models are quietly walking back safety commitments. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>The Future of Life Institute — a nonprofit which issues a biannual risk assessment of nine leading AI companies — recently warned that many of the companies building frontier models are quietly walking back safety commitments. \u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/paragraph",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>According to the group’s \u003ca href=\"https://futureoflife.org/ai-safety-index-summer-2026/\">most recent\u003c/a> AI Safety Index, Anthropic, OpenAI, Google DeepMind and Meta all weakened or abandoned promises to pause development if certain red lines were approached, even while publicly suggesting they were amenable. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>According to the group’s \u003ca href=\"https://futureoflife.org/ai-safety-index-summer-2026/\">most recent\u003c/a> AI Safety Index, Anthropic, OpenAI, Google DeepMind and Meta all weakened or abandoned promises to pause development if certain red lines were approached, even while publicly suggesting they were amenable. \u003c/p>\n"
],
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/GettyImages-2159671948-scaled-e1781542152687.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12058035\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Close-up of phone screen displaying Anthropic Claude, a Large Language Model (LLM) powered generative artificial intelligence chatbot in Lafayette, California, on June 27, 2024. \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/GettyImages-2159671948-scaled-e1781542152687.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12058035\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Close-up of phone screen displaying Anthropic Claude, a Large Language Model (LLM) powered generative artificial intelligence chatbot in Lafayette, California, on June 27, 2024. \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"blockName": "core/paragraph",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In an email, KQED asked Hamza Chaudhry, who leads AI and national security work at Future of Life, to imagine it was not OpenAI’s software gone rogue but a foreign state, intentionally executing an unauthorized intrusion into a private company’s production infrastructure, exploiting cybersecurity vulnerabilities, stealing live credentials and accessing a production database. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>In an email, KQED asked Hamza Chaudhry, who leads AI and national security work at Future of Life, to imagine it was not OpenAI’s software gone rogue but a foreign state, intentionally executing an unauthorized intrusion into a private company’s production infrastructure, exploiting cybersecurity vulnerabilities, stealing live credentials and accessing a production database. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We would likely call this a dangerous act of cyber-espionage,” he wrote — a likely criminal violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which “would draw a threat group designation and eventually an indictment or sanctions.”\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>“We would likely call this a dangerous act of cyber-espionage,” he wrote — a likely criminal violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which “would draw a threat group designation and eventually an indictment or sanctions.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/paragraph",
"attrs": [],
"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>OpenAI did not respond to KQED’s request for comment, but a spokesperson told \u003cem>Bloomberg \u003c/em>the company communicated with law enforcement and other government authorities about the incident.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>OpenAI did not respond to KQED’s request for comment, but a spokesperson told \u003cem>Bloomberg \u003c/em>the company communicated with law enforcement and other government authorities about the incident.\u003c/p>\n"
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{
"blockName": "core/paragraph",
"attrs": [],
"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The fact that Google DeepMind, Meta, Mistral, xAI and Chinese AI model developers haven’t revealed similar events doesn’t necessarily mean they haven’t happened. OpenAI and Anthropic are the only two frontier model developers that have publicly disclosed containment failures. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>The fact that Google DeepMind, Meta, Mistral, xAI and Chinese AI model developers haven’t revealed similar events doesn’t necessarily mean they haven’t happened. OpenAI and Anthropic are the only two frontier model developers that have publicly disclosed containment failures. \u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/paragraph",
"attrs": [],
"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>There is no mandatory public disclosure regime in force, like the one in California that requires \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11992954/cybersecurity-expert-shares-tips-for-dublin-based-patelco-credit-union-customers-after-ransomware-attack\">hacked companies to reveal\u003c/a> there’s been a data breach.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>There is no mandatory public disclosure regime in force, like the one in California that requires \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11992954/cybersecurity-expert-shares-tips-for-dublin-based-patelco-credit-union-customers-after-ransomware-attack\">hacked companies to reveal\u003c/a> there’s been a data breach.\u003c/p>\n"
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"id": 12036125,
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"imageCredit": "Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images",
"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w",
"sizes": "(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12036125\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Meta, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and Threads logos are screened on a mobile phone on Jan. 25, 2025. \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12036125\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Meta, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and Threads logos are screened on a mobile phone on Jan. 25, 2025. \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Congressional candidate and state Sen. Scott Wiener wrote two AI frontier model safety bills. Gov. Gavin Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12007323/can-california-still-lead-on-ai-regulation-following-newsoms-veto-of-ai-safety-bill\">vetoed\u003c/a> Wiener’s first effort, arguing in his \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/SB-1047-Veto-Message.pdf\">veto message\u003c/a> that “By focusing only on the most expensive and large-scale models, SB 1047 establishes a regulatory framework that could give the public a false sense of security about controlling this fast-moving technology.” \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Congressional candidate and state Sen. Scott Wiener wrote two AI frontier model safety bills. Gov. Gavin Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12007323/can-california-still-lead-on-ai-regulation-following-newsoms-veto-of-ai-safety-bill\">vetoed\u003c/a> Wiener’s first effort, arguing in his \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/SB-1047-Veto-Message.pdf\">veto message\u003c/a> that “By focusing only on the most expensive and large-scale models, SB 1047 establishes a regulatory framework that could give the public a false sense of security about controlling this fast-moving technology.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The next year, Newsom signed Wiener’s second at-bat, but only after the bill was softened to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12058013/newsom-signs-california-ai-transparency-bill-tailored-to-meet-tech-industry-tastes\">overcome industry pushback\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>The next year, Newsom signed Wiener’s second at-bat, but only after the bill was softened to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12058013/newsom-signs-california-ai-transparency-bill-tailored-to-meet-tech-industry-tastes\">overcome industry pushback\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n"
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"attrs": [],
"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB53\">law\u003c/a>, which took effect Jan. 1, requires developers of the most powerful AI models to notify the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services of any “critical safety incident“ within 15 days of discovering it — which is not the same as reporting the incident to the public. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB53\">law\u003c/a>, which took effect Jan. 1, requires developers of the most powerful AI models to notify the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services of any “critical safety incident“ within 15 days of discovering it — which is not the same as reporting the incident to the public. \u003c/p>\n"
],
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{
"blockName": "core/paragraph",
"attrs": [],
"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Wiener told KQED he still thinks the law is strong. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Wiener told KQED he still thinks the law is strong. \u003c/p>\n"
],
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"blockName": "core/paragraph",
"attrs": [],
"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We worked very hard with the governor to produce a bill that is meaningful and impactful, and that he would sign,“ he said, adding he doesn’t consider the work done, because AI continues to evolve at a rapid pace. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>“We worked very hard with the governor to produce a bill that is meaningful and impactful, and that he would sign,“ he said, adding he doesn’t consider the work done, because AI continues to evolve at a rapid pace. \u003c/p>\n"
],
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"attrs": {
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"imageCredit": "Beth LaBerge/KQED",
"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-SFCongressionalCandidateForum-13-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-SFCongressionalCandidateForum-13-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-SFCongressionalCandidateForum-13-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w",
"sizes": "(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-SFCongressionalCandidateForum-13-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12069061\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-SFCongressionalCandidateForum-13-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-SFCongressionalCandidateForum-13-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-SFCongressionalCandidateForum-13-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">State Sen. Scott Wiener, a candidate for California’s 11th Congressional District, participates in a forum with other candidates at UC Law San Francisco on Jan. 7, 2026.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-SFCongressionalCandidateForum-13-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12069061\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">State Sen. Scott Wiener, a candidate for California’s 11th Congressional District, participates in a forum with other candidates at UC Law San Francisco on Jan. 7, 2026.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>AI, he said, is “likely the most powerful technology in human history, and we need to make sure that we are both understanding the risks and taking them seriously, so that we can get ahead of them.” \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>AI, he said, is “likely the most powerful technology in human history, and we need to make sure that we are both understanding the risks and taking them seriously, so that we can get ahead of them.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"attrs": [],
"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Calvin likened the Hugging Face hack to the cyclospora outbreak linked to, but not confirmed as originating from, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12091770/california-based-taylor-farms-recalls-lettuce-shipped-to-27-states-over-cyclospora-risk\">Taylor Farms\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Calvin likened the Hugging Face hack to the cyclospora outbreak linked to, but not confirmed as originating from, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12091770/california-based-taylor-farms-recalls-lettuce-shipped-to-27-states-over-cyclospora-risk\">Taylor Farms\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n"
],
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"blockName": "core/paragraph",
"attrs": [],
"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>That California-based company has said it’s removing its lettuce indefinitely while the FDA investigation continues. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>That California-based company has said it’s removing its lettuce indefinitely while the FDA investigation continues. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“And OpenAI is like, ‘Maybe it’ll happen again. Maybe it’ll get worse. We don’t really know,“ Calvin said. “Your AI, again, hacked out of its box and hacked into another company, and you’re saying that you don’t know how to stop it from doing that again? That seems pretty nuts,” Calvin said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/open-ai\">OpenAI\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://openai.com/index/hugging-face-model-evaluation-security-incident/\"> this week said\u003c/a> more than one of its models — three, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-23/openai-models-lurked-in-hugging-face-system-for-hours-undetected?srnd=homepage-americas\">\u003cem>Bloomberg\u003c/em>\u003c/a> — attacked Hugging Face, a popular repository for open-source AI tools — marking one of the first publicly disclosed cases of frontier AI models autonomously cyberattacking another company. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The disclosure came days after Hugging Face \u003ca href=\"https://huggingface.co/blog/security-incident-july-2026\">revealed\u003c/a> it was breached in a hack by a “malicious dataset,” which intruded into the AI company’s software to run code. The campaign executed a flurry of more than 17,000 automated actions in a matter of hours, the post said. It’s still unclear if Hugging Face customer or partner data was taken. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This matches the ‘agentic attacker’ scenario the industry has been forecasting,” Hugging Face wrote on July 16.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>OpenAI said an investigation showed the incident was driven by a combination of models — “including GPT‑5.6 Sol and an even more capable pre-release model.” The company said it’s working with Hugging Face to produce a more thorough report of what happened.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/AP24134775174210-scaled-e1770337042768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11985952\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The OpenAI logo is seen on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen displaying output from ChatGPT, March 21, 2023, in Boston, Massachusetts. (Michael Dwyer/Associated Press)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>OpenAI’s announcement came one day after the San Francisco-based frontier AI developer disclosed a separate incident in which it paused another pre-release model that had escaped what the industry calls “a sandbox” — an isolated environment with no path to the open internet, except for a single internal service that fetches software packages — and \u003ca href=\"https://www.wired.com/story/openai-models-escaped-containment-and-hacked-huggingface/\">posted\u003c/a> to GitHub. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last April, a researcher challenged an early version of Anthropic’s Mythos model to break out of an isolated system and message back. Mythos did, and then \u003ca href=\"https://www.mondaymomentum.io/p/the-ai-that-broke-out-of-its-cage\">went further\u003c/a>, building a multistep process to reach the wider internet. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>California’s \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB53\">frontier AI law\u003c/a>, the first of its kind in the country, obliges the largest developers to tell the state about critical safety incidents, but only ones that kill or injure someone or that cause catastrophic harm.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It expressly excludes the kind of safety evaluation OpenAI was running when its models got loose. Which leaves a question nobody in Sacramento or Washington can answer: how often have frontier models in development gone rogue at companies that decided not to mention it? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This was one of the topics I was focused on when I worked at OpenAI: what happens when AI models become good enough to reward-hack their way through the infrastructure they use to accomplish their objectives?” Ariel Herbert-Voss, OpenAI’s first security hire, wrote KQED. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s a really difficult problem to defend against and is one of the reasons I left to start my own company,” Herbert-Voss, now the founder of an automated offensive cybersecurity company called RunSybil, said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s a really remarkable and, I think, fair to say scary event,“ said Nathan Calvin, general counsel at safety advocate EncodeAI. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Scientists and AI researchers have warned for years of the possibility that AI systems could go rogue and do unpredictable and unintended things. AI developers commonly test safety with so-called “\u003ca href=\"https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/cyberpedia/what-is-ai-red-teaming\">red teams\u003c/a>” that try to break or trick machine learning models, like chatbots, to find hidden flaws. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-1849294862.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12092368\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-1849294862.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-1849294862-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/GettyImages-1849294862-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Hugging Face logo is seen displayed on a mobile phone screen with the AI revolution symbol in the background. (Idrees Abbas/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“In certain circumstances, AI will try to break out of their sandboxes or otherwise do things that were not what the creator intended,” Calvin said. “But this really is the first very big example of that happening, at scale, with a really highly capable AI model in a way that actually harmed a third party.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>According to OpenAI’s account, the company was running an internal evaluation designed to measure how good its models are at hacking. To get a true reading, OpenAI deliberately switched off the safety filters that normally stop its models from carrying out cyberattacks.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The models were confined to a so-called “sandbox,” an isolated environment with no route to the open internet except OpenAI’s one internal service that fetches software libraries from public repositories. The models found a previously unknown flaw in that service, exploited it, escalated their privileges and moved from machine to machine inside OpenAI’s research network until they reached one with internet access. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Once the models broke out onto the open internet, according to OpenAI, they reasoned that Hugging Face might be storing the answers to the test they were trying to pass. Hugging Face’s credentials and production database aren’t on the public internet any more than a bank’s vault sits on a sidewalk, but the models broke into Hugging Face using stolen credentials, among other things.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/111623_Sam-Altman_AP_CM_01.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12062600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/111623_Sam-Altman_AP_CM_01.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/111623_Sam-Altman_AP_CM_01-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/111623_Sam-Altman_AP_CM_01-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">OpenAI restructured to a for-profit company in a move tied to an agreement with California Attorney General Rob Bonta. Company CEO Sam Altman participates in a discussion in San Francisco on Nov. 16, 2023. (Photo by Eric Risberg, AP Photo)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In short: The models were told to hack. They were not told to leave the building or to break into another company’s servers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hugging Face detected the intrusion and shut it down on its own, days before OpenAI connected the attack to its own testing. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s quite mind-blowing that all of this happened autonomously!“ Hugging Face Chief Executive Clement Delangue wrote on social media platform \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/ClementDelangue/status/2079670308156645882\">X\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In its blog post, OpenAI wrote, “This incident points to the need to further strengthen our model’s alignment, cyber protections during evaluation time and monitoring during internal testing.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Future of Life Institute — a nonprofit which issues a biannual risk assessment of nine leading AI companies — recently warned that many of the companies building frontier models are quietly walking back safety commitments. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>According to the group’s \u003ca href=\"https://futureoflife.org/ai-safety-index-summer-2026/\">most recent\u003c/a> AI Safety Index, Anthropic, OpenAI, Google DeepMind and Meta all weakened or abandoned promises to pause development if certain red lines were approached, even while publicly suggesting they were amenable. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/GettyImages-2159671948-scaled-e1781542152687.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12058035\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Close-up of phone screen displaying Anthropic Claude, a Large Language Model (LLM) powered generative artificial intelligence chatbot in Lafayette, California, on June 27, 2024. (Smith Collection/Gado via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In an email, KQED asked Hamza Chaudhry, who leads AI and national security work at Future of Life, to imagine it was not OpenAI’s software gone rogue but a foreign state, intentionally executing an unauthorized intrusion into a private company’s production infrastructure, exploiting cybersecurity vulnerabilities, stealing live credentials and accessing a production database. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We would likely call this a dangerous act of cyber-espionage,” he wrote — a likely criminal violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which “would draw a threat group designation and eventually an indictment or sanctions.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>OpenAI did not respond to KQED’s request for comment, but a spokesperson told \u003cem>Bloomberg \u003c/em>the company communicated with law enforcement and other government authorities about the incident.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The fact that Google DeepMind, Meta, Mistral, xAI and Chinese AI model developers haven’t revealed similar events doesn’t necessarily mean they haven’t happened. OpenAI and Anthropic are the only two frontier model developers that have publicly disclosed containment failures. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There is no mandatory public disclosure regime in force, like the one in California that requires \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11992954/cybersecurity-expert-shares-tips-for-dublin-based-patelco-credit-union-customers-after-ransomware-attack\">hacked companies to reveal\u003c/a> there’s been a data breach.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12036125\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Meta, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and Threads logos are screened on a mobile phone on Jan. 25, 2025. (Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Congressional candidate and state Sen. Scott Wiener wrote two AI frontier model safety bills. Gov. Gavin Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12007323/can-california-still-lead-on-ai-regulation-following-newsoms-veto-of-ai-safety-bill\">vetoed\u003c/a> Wiener’s first effort, arguing in his \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/SB-1047-Veto-Message.pdf\">veto message\u003c/a> that “By focusing only on the most expensive and large-scale models, SB 1047 establishes a regulatory framework that could give the public a false sense of security about controlling this fast-moving technology.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The next year, Newsom signed Wiener’s second at-bat, but only after the bill was softened to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12058013/newsom-signs-california-ai-transparency-bill-tailored-to-meet-tech-industry-tastes\">overcome industry pushback\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB53\">law\u003c/a>, which took effect Jan. 1, requires developers of the most powerful AI models to notify the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services of any “critical safety incident“ within 15 days of discovering it — which is not the same as reporting the incident to the public. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Wiener told KQED he still thinks the law is strong. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We worked very hard with the governor to produce a bill that is meaningful and impactful, and that he would sign,“ he said, adding he doesn’t consider the work done, because AI continues to evolve at a rapid pace. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-SFCongressionalCandidateForum-13-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12069061\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-SFCongressionalCandidateForum-13-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-SFCongressionalCandidateForum-13-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260107-SFCongressionalCandidateForum-13-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">State Sen. Scott Wiener, a candidate for California’s 11th Congressional District, participates in a forum with other candidates at UC Law San Francisco on Jan. 7, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>AI, he said, is “likely the most powerful technology in human history, and we need to make sure that we are both understanding the risks and taking them seriously, so that we can get ahead of them.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Calvin likened the Hugging Face hack to the cyclospora outbreak linked to, but not confirmed as originating from, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12091770/california-based-taylor-farms-recalls-lettuce-shipped-to-27-states-over-cyclospora-risk\">Taylor Farms\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That California-based company has said it’s removing its lettuce indefinitely while the FDA investigation continues. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And OpenAI is like, ‘Maybe it’ll happen again. Maybe it’ll get worse. We don’t really know,“ Calvin said. “Your AI, again, hacked out of its box and hacked into another company, and you’re saying that you don’t know how to stop it from doing that again? That seems pretty nuts,” Calvin said.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "nearly-half-of-teens-report-seeing-ai-sexual-content-bay-area-leaders-want-to-shut-it-down",
"title": "Nearly Half of Teens Report Seeing AI Sexual Content. Bay Area Leaders Want to Shut It Down",
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"headTitle": "Nearly Half of Teens Report Seeing AI Sexual Content. Bay Area Leaders Want to Shut It Down | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Sexualized images generated by artificial intelligence have flooded kids’ screens. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/bay-area\">Bay Area \u003c/a>lawmakers are racing to crack down on sites and apps that make this possible. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A new \u003ca href=\"https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/teens-and-explicit-deepfakes-in-the-age-of-ai\">report\u003c/a> from Common Sense Media, a leading nonprofit researching child safety online, found that 44% of teens have seen sexual content they believe to be AI-generated — and that nearly a quarter of those who’ve seen it say they’ve seen content of themselves or of their peers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>State Sen. Josh Becker, D-Menlo Park, said the report confirms what lawmakers have been warning about for years. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Artificial intelligence is making it easier than ever to create fake images that are explicit images of real people, and too often young people are the victims,” Becker said on Tuesday. “It’s taken something that may have happened before — cyberbullying — and just put it on steroids.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The study followed up on the organization’s 2023 report about online pornography’s impact on teens. Its authors surveyed 1,314 teens in the U.S. and held focus groups to contextualize the numbers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1020\" height=\"765\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS47488_IMG_5843-qut-1020x765.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11862704\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS47488_IMG_5843-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS47488_IMG_5843-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS47488_IMG_5843-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS47488_IMG_5843-qut-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS47488_IMG_5843-qut-1832x1374.jpg 1832w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS47488_IMG_5843-qut-1376x1032.jpg 1376w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS47488_IMG_5843-qut-1044x783.jpg 1044w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS47488_IMG_5843-qut-632x474.jpg 632w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS47488_IMG_5843-qut-536x402.jpg 536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS47488_IMG_5843-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1020px) 100vw, 1020px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">State Sen. Josh Becker speaks to reporters at the Cesar Chavez Ravenswood Middle School in East Palo Alto on March 1, 2021. (Courtesy of Voler Strategic Advisors)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>They found that 67% of teens feared being depicted in deepfakes — extremely realistic images, videos or audio clips showing something that never happened — without their consent. One teen surveyed in the report said that “everyone should have at least a small degree of worry because it’s so easy [to make it], so accessible, and it also feels pushed.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts say that generative AI has made it easier than ever to create deepfakes. While big platforms generally have safety features to prevent making them sexually explicit, they do not \u003ca href=\"https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c802ldjdklzo\">always\u003c/a> work, according to reporting from the BBC. Many users will turn instead to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12000310/san-francisco-takes-on-makers-ai-generated-deepfake-pornography-landmark-lawsuit\">smaller, anonymous\u003c/a> apps and websites to generate the content.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“AI has made a severe form of sexual harassment easy enough for almost any kid with a phone to carry out,” said Jim Steyer, CEO of Common Sense Media.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Kids can be targeted by deepfakes as early as elementary school, and especially in middle school and high school, said Emma Le, the head of operations at the Center for Gender Equitable AI, a youth-led organization addressing gender based harms caused by emerging technologies. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Le said that most deepfakes target women and that they have “huge consequences on girls’ mental health,” causing some to leave school, experience depression and contemplate self-harm. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>More and more teens are scaling back their online activity to protect themselves from being deepfaked, according to Steyer. Le also said that deepfakes are linked to an increase in gender-based harassment that’s driving women and girls away from online platforms — a key public sphere for many. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Girls are withdrawing from the public eye,” Le said. “That’s going to have huge consequences in the future for women’s rights, women’s empowerment.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Surveyed teens reported seeing this explicit AI content across platforms including, but not limited to, TikTok, Instagram and X. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>While teens may see the content on big platforms, San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said that small, often anonymous and sometimes international companies are the ones that produce so-called “nudify” tools — AI-driven apps and websites that allow users to make sexually explicit deepfakes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Because you can’t determine which website or app generated an image, “victims often have no recourse,” Chiu said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Once the images are distributed, you can’t control where they go,” Chiu said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Le emphasized that because the images cannot be completely scrubbed, victims of these crimes can worry about the images popping up again, especially if they have a job in the public eye. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/TeenagersMetaSocialMediaGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12084574\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/TeenagersMetaSocialMediaGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/TeenagersMetaSocialMediaGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/TeenagersMetaSocialMediaGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A 14-year-old boy holds an iPhone with various social media and messaging apps on Feb. 23, 2026. (Anna Barclay/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Lawmakers at every level are working to tackle this issue. Last year, Congress passed the \u003ca href=\"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/146\">Take It Down Act\u003c/a> — prohibiting the nonconsensual publication of explicit images and requiring online platforms to establish reporting systems and remove the images promptly. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Becker said that California has been “leading the nation” with legislation updated “for this new AI age.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Over the past few years, the state passed laws banning \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069808/california-investigates-elon-musks-ai-company-after-avalanche-of-complaints-about-sexual-content\">deepfake revenge porn\u003c/a> — and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12000310/san-francisco-takes-on-makers-ai-generated-deepfake-pornography-landmark-lawsuit\">AI-generated child porn\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Becker described legislating in this space as a “cat and mouse game” and said that lawmakers are “going to have to keep working to make sure our laws can keep up.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In San Francisco, Chiu is already using these laws to hold Silicon Valley companies to account. Last week, Chiu sent Google and Apple cease-and-desist letters asking them to take down 13 apps that were being used to target women and girls. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It shouldn’t be on us to tell large technology companies that their app stores are being used to continue to victimize millions of women and girls around the globe,” Chiu said. “We are asking these companies to be proactive in preventing this abuse in the future.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A Google spokesperson said that all five apps referenced in Chiu’s letter have been suspended. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“When violations are reported to us, we investigate and take swift action, which in the case of these apps has included suspending hundreds of violating apps and restricting related search terms like ‘nudify’ on our store,” the company said in a statement. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A spokesperson for Apple said that “‘Nudification’ apps are against our App Review Guidelines and we aggressively work to identify and remove apps — as well as the developer accounts behind them — that attempt to evade our processes and policies.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Steyer urged more action from both the tech industry and from American lawmakers, but also emphasized the importance of talking to kids about this content. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“As a parent or a grandparent, this is sort of your worst nightmare, but you gotta talk to your kids about it … because it’s real. The numbers speak for themselves,” Steyer said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/teens-and-explicit-deepfakes-in-the-age-of-ai\">report\u003c/a> contains advice for parents, schools and policymakers dealing with this content and these conversations.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>A new \u003ca href=\"https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/teens-and-explicit-deepfakes-in-the-age-of-ai\">report\u003c/a> from Common Sense Media, a leading nonprofit researching child safety online, found that 44% of teens have seen sexual content they believe to be AI-generated — and that nearly a quarter of those who’ve seen it say they’ve seen content of themselves or of their peers.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>State Sen. Josh Becker, D-Menlo Park, said the report confirms what lawmakers have been warning about for years. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Artificial intelligence is making it easier than ever to create fake images that are explicit images of real people, and too often young people are the victims,” Becker said on Tuesday. “It’s taken something that may have happened before — cyberbullying — and just put it on steroids.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The study followed up on the organization’s 2023 report about online pornography’s impact on teens. Its authors surveyed 1,314 teens in the U.S. and held focus groups to contextualize the numbers. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The study followed up on the organization’s 2023 report about online pornography’s impact on teens. Its authors surveyed 1,314 teens in the U.S. and held focus groups to contextualize the numbers. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS47488_IMG_5843-qut-1020x765.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11862704\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS47488_IMG_5843-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS47488_IMG_5843-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS47488_IMG_5843-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS47488_IMG_5843-qut-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS47488_IMG_5843-qut-1832x1374.jpg 1832w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS47488_IMG_5843-qut-1376x1032.jpg 1376w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS47488_IMG_5843-qut-1044x783.jpg 1044w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS47488_IMG_5843-qut-632x474.jpg 632w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS47488_IMG_5843-qut-536x402.jpg 536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS47488_IMG_5843-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">State Sen. Josh Becker speaks to reporters at the Cesar Chavez Ravenswood Middle School in East Palo Alto on March 1, 2021. \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>They found that 67% of teens feared being depicted in deepfakes — extremely realistic images, videos or audio clips showing something that never happened — without their consent. One teen surveyed in the report said that “everyone should have at least a small degree of worry because it’s so easy [to make it], so accessible, and it also feels pushed.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>They found that 67% of teens feared being depicted in deepfakes — extremely realistic images, videos or audio clips showing something that never happened — without their consent. One teen surveyed in the report said that “everyone should have at least a small degree of worry because it’s so easy [to make it], so accessible, and it also feels pushed.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Experts say that generative AI has made it easier than ever to create deepfakes. While big platforms generally have safety features to prevent making them sexually explicit, they do not \u003ca href=\"https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c802ldjdklzo\">always\u003c/a> work, according to reporting from the BBC. Many users will turn instead to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12000310/san-francisco-takes-on-makers-ai-generated-deepfake-pornography-landmark-lawsuit\">smaller, anonymous\u003c/a> apps and websites to generate the content.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Experts say that generative AI has made it easier than ever to create deepfakes. While big platforms generally have safety features to prevent making them sexually explicit, they do not \u003ca href=\"https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c802ldjdklzo\">always\u003c/a> work, according to reporting from the BBC. Many users will turn instead to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12000310/san-francisco-takes-on-makers-ai-generated-deepfake-pornography-landmark-lawsuit\">smaller, anonymous\u003c/a> apps and websites to generate the content.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“AI has made a severe form of sexual harassment easy enough for almost any kid with a phone to carry out,” said Jim Steyer, CEO of Common Sense Media.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Kids can be targeted by deepfakes as early as elementary school, and especially in middle school and high school, said Emma Le, the head of operations at the Center for Gender Equitable AI, a youth-led organization addressing gender based harms caused by emerging technologies. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Le said that most deepfakes target women and that they have “huge consequences on girls’ mental health,” causing some to leave school, experience depression and contemplate self-harm. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>More and more teens are scaling back their online activity to protect themselves from being deepfaked, according to Steyer. Le also said that deepfakes are linked to an increase in gender-based harassment that’s driving women and girls away from online platforms — a key public sphere for many. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Girls are withdrawing from the public eye,” Le said. “That’s going to have huge consequences in the future for women’s rights, women’s empowerment.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Surveyed teens reported seeing this explicit AI content across platforms including, but not limited to, TikTok, Instagram and X. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Surveyed teens reported seeing this explicit AI content across platforms including, but not limited to, TikTok, Instagram and X. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>While teens may see the content on big platforms, San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said that small, often anonymous and sometimes international companies are the ones that produce so-called “nudify” tools — AI-driven apps and websites that allow users to make sexually explicit deepfakes. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>While teens may see the content on big platforms, San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said that small, often anonymous and sometimes international companies are the ones that produce so-called “nudify” tools — AI-driven apps and websites that allow users to make sexually explicit deepfakes. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Because you can’t determine which website or app generated an image, “victims often have no recourse,” Chiu said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Because you can’t determine which website or app generated an image, “victims often have no recourse,” Chiu said. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Once the images are distributed, you can’t control where they go,” Chiu said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Le emphasized that because the images cannot be completely scrubbed, victims of these crimes can worry about the images popping up again, especially if they have a job in the public eye. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Lawmakers at every level are working to tackle this issue. Last year, Congress passed the \u003ca href=\"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/146\">Take It Down Act\u003c/a> — prohibiting the nonconsensual publication of explicit images and requiring online platforms to establish reporting systems and remove the images promptly. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Becker said that California has been “leading the nation” with legislation updated “for this new AI age.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Over the past few years, the state passed laws banning \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069808/california-investigates-elon-musks-ai-company-after-avalanche-of-complaints-about-sexual-content\">deepfake revenge porn\u003c/a> — and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12000310/san-francisco-takes-on-makers-ai-generated-deepfake-pornography-landmark-lawsuit\">AI-generated child porn\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Becker described legislating in this space as a “cat and mouse game” and said that lawmakers are “going to have to keep working to make sure our laws can keep up.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In San Francisco, Chiu is already using these laws to hold Silicon Valley companies to account. Last week, Chiu sent Google and Apple cease-and-desist letters asking them to take down 13 apps that were being used to target women and girls. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It shouldn’t be on us to tell large technology companies that their app stores are being used to continue to victimize millions of women and girls around the globe,” Chiu said. “We are asking these companies to be proactive in preventing this abuse in the future.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>A Google spokesperson said that all five apps referenced in Chiu’s letter have been suspended. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“When violations are reported to us, we investigate and take swift action, which in the case of these apps has included suspending hundreds of violating apps and restricting related search terms like ‘nudify’ on our store,” the company said in a statement. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>A spokesperson for Apple said that “‘Nudification’ apps are against our App Review Guidelines and we aggressively work to identify and remove apps — as well as the developer accounts behind them — that attempt to evade our processes and policies.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Steyer urged more action from both the tech industry and from American lawmakers, but also emphasized the importance of talking to kids about this content. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“As a parent or a grandparent, this is sort of your worst nightmare, but you gotta talk to your kids about it … because it’s real. The numbers speak for themselves,” Steyer said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/teens-and-explicit-deepfakes-in-the-age-of-ai\">report\u003c/a> contains advice for parents, schools and policymakers dealing with this content and these conversations.\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Sexualized images generated by artificial intelligence have flooded kids’ screens. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/bay-area\">Bay Area \u003c/a>lawmakers are racing to crack down on sites and apps that make this possible. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A new \u003ca href=\"https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/teens-and-explicit-deepfakes-in-the-age-of-ai\">report\u003c/a> from Common Sense Media, a leading nonprofit researching child safety online, found that 44% of teens have seen sexual content they believe to be AI-generated — and that nearly a quarter of those who’ve seen it say they’ve seen content of themselves or of their peers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>State Sen. Josh Becker, D-Menlo Park, said the report confirms what lawmakers have been warning about for years. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Artificial intelligence is making it easier than ever to create fake images that are explicit images of real people, and too often young people are the victims,” Becker said on Tuesday. “It’s taken something that may have happened before — cyberbullying — and just put it on steroids.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The study followed up on the organization’s 2023 report about online pornography’s impact on teens. Its authors surveyed 1,314 teens in the U.S. and held focus groups to contextualize the numbers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1020\" height=\"765\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS47488_IMG_5843-qut-1020x765.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11862704\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS47488_IMG_5843-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS47488_IMG_5843-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS47488_IMG_5843-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS47488_IMG_5843-qut-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS47488_IMG_5843-qut-1832x1374.jpg 1832w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS47488_IMG_5843-qut-1376x1032.jpg 1376w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS47488_IMG_5843-qut-1044x783.jpg 1044w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS47488_IMG_5843-qut-632x474.jpg 632w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS47488_IMG_5843-qut-536x402.jpg 536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS47488_IMG_5843-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1020px) 100vw, 1020px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">State Sen. Josh Becker speaks to reporters at the Cesar Chavez Ravenswood Middle School in East Palo Alto on March 1, 2021. (Courtesy of Voler Strategic Advisors)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>They found that 67% of teens feared being depicted in deepfakes — extremely realistic images, videos or audio clips showing something that never happened — without their consent. One teen surveyed in the report said that “everyone should have at least a small degree of worry because it’s so easy [to make it], so accessible, and it also feels pushed.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts say that generative AI has made it easier than ever to create deepfakes. While big platforms generally have safety features to prevent making them sexually explicit, they do not \u003ca href=\"https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c802ldjdklzo\">always\u003c/a> work, according to reporting from the BBC. Many users will turn instead to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12000310/san-francisco-takes-on-makers-ai-generated-deepfake-pornography-landmark-lawsuit\">smaller, anonymous\u003c/a> apps and websites to generate the content.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“AI has made a severe form of sexual harassment easy enough for almost any kid with a phone to carry out,” said Jim Steyer, CEO of Common Sense Media.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Kids can be targeted by deepfakes as early as elementary school, and especially in middle school and high school, said Emma Le, the head of operations at the Center for Gender Equitable AI, a youth-led organization addressing gender based harms caused by emerging technologies. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Le said that most deepfakes target women and that they have “huge consequences on girls’ mental health,” causing some to leave school, experience depression and contemplate self-harm. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>More and more teens are scaling back their online activity to protect themselves from being deepfaked, according to Steyer. Le also said that deepfakes are linked to an increase in gender-based harassment that’s driving women and girls away from online platforms — a key public sphere for many. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Girls are withdrawing from the public eye,” Le said. “That’s going to have huge consequences in the future for women’s rights, women’s empowerment.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Surveyed teens reported seeing this explicit AI content across platforms including, but not limited to, TikTok, Instagram and X. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>While teens may see the content on big platforms, San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said that small, often anonymous and sometimes international companies are the ones that produce so-called “nudify” tools — AI-driven apps and websites that allow users to make sexually explicit deepfakes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Because you can’t determine which website or app generated an image, “victims often have no recourse,” Chiu said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Once the images are distributed, you can’t control where they go,” Chiu said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Le emphasized that because the images cannot be completely scrubbed, victims of these crimes can worry about the images popping up again, especially if they have a job in the public eye. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/TeenagersMetaSocialMediaGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12084574\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/TeenagersMetaSocialMediaGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/TeenagersMetaSocialMediaGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/TeenagersMetaSocialMediaGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A 14-year-old boy holds an iPhone with various social media and messaging apps on Feb. 23, 2026. (Anna Barclay/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Lawmakers at every level are working to tackle this issue. Last year, Congress passed the \u003ca href=\"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/146\">Take It Down Act\u003c/a> — prohibiting the nonconsensual publication of explicit images and requiring online platforms to establish reporting systems and remove the images promptly. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Becker said that California has been “leading the nation” with legislation updated “for this new AI age.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Over the past few years, the state passed laws banning \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069808/california-investigates-elon-musks-ai-company-after-avalanche-of-complaints-about-sexual-content\">deepfake revenge porn\u003c/a> — and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12000310/san-francisco-takes-on-makers-ai-generated-deepfake-pornography-landmark-lawsuit\">AI-generated child porn\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Becker described legislating in this space as a “cat and mouse game” and said that lawmakers are “going to have to keep working to make sure our laws can keep up.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In San Francisco, Chiu is already using these laws to hold Silicon Valley companies to account. Last week, Chiu sent Google and Apple cease-and-desist letters asking them to take down 13 apps that were being used to target women and girls. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It shouldn’t be on us to tell large technology companies that their app stores are being used to continue to victimize millions of women and girls around the globe,” Chiu said. “We are asking these companies to be proactive in preventing this abuse in the future.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A Google spokesperson said that all five apps referenced in Chiu’s letter have been suspended. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“When violations are reported to us, we investigate and take swift action, which in the case of these apps has included suspending hundreds of violating apps and restricting related search terms like ‘nudify’ on our store,” the company said in a statement. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A spokesperson for Apple said that “‘Nudification’ apps are against our App Review Guidelines and we aggressively work to identify and remove apps — as well as the developer accounts behind them — that attempt to evade our processes and policies.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Steyer urged more action from both the tech industry and from American lawmakers, but also emphasized the importance of talking to kids about this content. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“As a parent or a grandparent, this is sort of your worst nightmare, but you gotta talk to your kids about it … because it’s real. The numbers speak for themselves,” Steyer said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Everyone seems to have an opinion about AI, but what about those who will likely be affected most — recent graduates?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This cohort of grads is unique. They remember what classrooms were like before the emergence of ChatGPT in 2022, and have seen how it transformed the education world seemingly overnight. Today, we hear from three recent graduates in the Bay Area about their thoughts on AI, how it affected their education, and how they feel about their futures. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This week, we’re sharing a recent \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12085502/three-recent-graduates-share-their-thoughts-on-ai\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">episode\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> from KQED podcast \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/thebay\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Bay\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> — a show that takes an in-depth look at stories from across the SF Bay Area.\u003c/span>\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=KQINC2030502225\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Want to give us feedback on the show? Shoot us an email at \u003ca href=\"mailto:CloseAllTabs@KQED.org\">CloseAllTabs@KQED.org\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Follow us on\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/closealltabspod/\"> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Instagram\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@closealltabs\"> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">TikTok\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Hello! Do you like these deep dives? Do you want more? Then please rate and review Close All Tabs on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show! And tell your friends! Post about it! On Instagram, Bluesky, X, Discord, Reddit, the comments of whatever random recipe blog you start arguments in … basically, it would be a huge help to get the word out. Ok, let’s get to the show.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hey, it’s Morgan. So, Close All Tabs is on vacation this week. Shocking, I know! We do log off sometimes. Or at least, we try to. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But don’t worry — we still have an episode for you today. On Close All Tabs, we’re always talking about AI … from the way data centers are changing local communities, to the drama that industry billionaires are getting themselves into. About a year ago, we dove into how some teachers are dealing with the AI boom in their classrooms. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Today, we’re gonna hear the other side of that story, from young people who’ve been in the thick of it, but don’t always get to share their perspective. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Our friends at The Bay, another KQED podcast, spoke to a few recent college graduates about AI. This is a unique cohort of students: they remember what classrooms were like before ChatGPT, and they’ve seen how much it’s changed learning. They spoke to The Bay about how AI affected their college experience, and how they feel about entering the workforce in such rapidly changing industries. What are they really thinking about their futures? What’s on their minds?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Alright, here’s Three Recent Graduates Share Their Thoughts on AI, from \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Bay\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Alan Montecillo:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I’m Alan Montecillo, in for Erika Cruz Guevara, and welcome to The Bay. Local news to keep you rooted. I graduated from college 13 years ago, and I gotta be honest, no disrespect, but I don’t remember who the commencement speaker was or what they talked about. Most graduation speeches have the same themes. Some message about hope. Thanking your friends and family, the importance of following your passion, and perhaps a call to change the world for the better. But this graduation season has felt a little different.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gloria Caulfield:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The rise of artificial intelligence is the next industrial revolution.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Alan Montecillo:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> There have been several videos of students booing commencement speakers when they mention AI. These videos have gone viral.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eric Schmidt:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Time magazine selected its person of the year for 2025. And it was this time, it was the architects of artificial intelligence. Interesting.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Scott Borschetta:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> AI is rewriting production as we sit here. I know it, deal with it. Like I said, it’s a tool. Hey, like I said. You can hear me now or you can pay me later.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Alan Montecillo:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Today’s college graduates were in school when ChatGPT was first released in late 2022. They’ve seen it change their classrooms. Today, three recent graduates in the Bay Area tell us how they really feel about AI and about their futures.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ellena Simentel: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My name is Ellena Simentel. I graduated with my master’s in kinesiology from San Francisco State.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kinesiology is the study of muscle movement. It’s very interdisciplinary, so there’s kind of a lot of different aspects in the field. So we do like sports psychology. You can go into physical therapy, athletic training, occupational therapy. I wanted to be a physical therapist. I’ve been to a little bit more recently. So I did focus mostly on like muscle physiology classes and that types of things. But now I think I wanna go more into a little bit more of the psychological motivational side, either doing some kind of city planning that has to do with getting people moving, or maybe even working for some type of nonprofit like Girls on the Run or things that get people active.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So even in undergrad we take our core class which is like one of the classes that teaches you like how to read and write in the field of kinesiology and that type of thing and midway through the semester I want to say this was like 2023. Our professor had actually changed the entire course of the class to focus on AI because it had like kind of just come out and she was like you And all of us at that point were kind of like, oh, you know, like, it’ll come and go, it is what it is. But what’s funny sitting back and looking at it now, it’s like, I feel like she really changed the class for a reason. I think it helped a lot of us just kind of get a grasp on what is AI, how to use it, the advantages maybe and some of the disadvantages. And so I obviously only took that class once, but I hope that they continue to do that for that class.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s good to have immediate feedback, right? That’s, I think, one of the biggest advantages as a student. You don’t have to wait for your professor. It’s very individualized and you can really use it to fix specific things in your writing, for example, like writing essays. I think it’s a great tool to make you sound professional, help fix your grammar, maybe help you with the formatting. Um, the problem and the drawback is just sometimes it takes over your thinking. You it’s, it’s very easy to just put something in and be like, okay, now write me an essay, but there’s no thought that goes into that. There’s no critical thinking that goes in to that. Um, and at the end of the day, like it’s kind of taking away from the learning itself.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m definitely less worried than other fields. I think there’s some careers in kinesiology, like if you wanted to be an athletic trainer or maybe like a personal trainer, there’s definitely a chance that AI could swoop in and take some of your clients. You can ask for a workout routine on ChatGPT so easily. However, The motivational aspect that comes with kinesiology and sports psychology that we learn with our degree I think is more helpful than talking to something online and just kind of having that like one-on-one human support is a lot more personalized. For example, like I worked in the athletic training department for a little bit and you can feel the difference in muscle when like a muscle is tense and you can kind with tell. What it needs, AI is not gonna be hands-on like that. And so having that human interaction in this field specifically is really helpful.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I will say though that there’s just so much negativity around it and it’s kind of hard to take yourself out of the online discourse. My friend works out in this athletic studio with some of these tech guys and they talk the pros and the cons and like how people are being let go and and you know But at the same time, maybe there’s some jobs that AI should take over. Do people really need to be coding all day every day sitting on a computer? Maybe there’s things that humans shouldn’t be doing, like computer work all day. Maybe we need to go back outside.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m looking forward to seeing what’s out there, right? I live in San Francisco currently and I can’t really see myself. Moving away anytime soon. I think there’s just so much to experience and so many people to meet. Global pandemic, like I was in college, I was taking like 20 units a semester. Every semester I was summer classes, winter classes, and I really chased the academic route. I just turned 24 and I have my master’s and I don’t think a lot of people can say that. And so I think now kind of like finding what it is exactly that I want to do with it and kind of just getting more experience in the field is really exciting to me.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ada He: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My name is Ada He, and I’m currently a fourth year student at UC San Diego set to graduate on June 14th. My hometown is San Jose in the Bay Area, and I’m currently studying cognitive science with a specialization in machine learning and neural computation.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So just to boil down to simple terms, it’s basically the study of intelligence, and it’s super duper relevant for machine learning, understanding these computational models of intelligence. The reason that I chose it and specifically the machine learning and neural computation track was because I think in high school I knew that I was curious about technology but I was also curious about more so the neuroscience and psychology side of things. And so I think I was kind of struck by this idea of like what is intelligence, how can we model it computationally and I think at the time even then there were starting to be like these buzzwords around ML and like AI and how this is going to be the next big thing of the future.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And so… Very practical future-oriented parents were like, you, our child, should definitely study something related to technology. And I was like, well, I’m not quite sure, so let me pick this broader major that has to do with technology, but also kind of has to do more with like the philosophy and the psychology and like the ethics of what these systems are.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think when I first started in college, basically the only place that I was hearing about machine learning, artificial intelligence as a whole was through theory in my coursework. But I think all of it was very much creative and like human driven. I think where I really started hearing about these AI tools that were in mass production was during my second year of college. So I think in that time, that was when ChatGPT was sort of like released to Apollo can never start using it and it became like the big thing. And suddenly it felt like everyone was talking about chatgbc like, oh hey, it’s pretty smart, it can do all these things. In my third year of college then, like after the summer when we came back to school, then it was taking off and everyone was using it in their classes, everyone’s like asking it questions, and they were using it to code in my programming classes, they were asking it for essay advice, and then I think that was when I started to think like wait, isn’t that an academic integrity violation and then so is AI just being used to like help us cheat now? Started out in this very humanistic direction, right?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was using AI as a tool to investigate these hypotheses and to see if I could get it to predict the patterns that I could predict. They were supposed to be these helpful tools that would help us diagnose bigger problems that were facing people. I’ve heard of applications of AI to chart patterns of climate change. So in my head, I just thought AI and ML had so much potential to be used for good. With ChatGPT, I know it’s like- There’s so much progress now going on in the area of large language models that I wonder if the other areas of AI and other use cases are being neglected. This seems like all research is funneling into how these large language models can help us replace white collar jobs. And I’m like, when did that become the focus of artificial intelligence and machine learning?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think I’ve been searching for a full-time job since January. As a student who is looking for a white collar job, it’s been very very very distressing to hear all the discourse that AI is meant to replace the work that I’ve spent four years studying. I think I honestly lost track by half to have applied for more than 300 jobs at this point. Just knowing that like the odds of getting a job are so slim even if you do get a callback and then seeing the number of callbacks I’m getting compared to the number applications I put out, that is kind of insane to me.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I do have summer jobs lined up. I’m currently like a student employee at the UC San Diego library. And I think like I’ve been really fortunate to have that environment because working for the web team there feels very meaningful since the work we do is like all done by hand. We have a very intentional design approach and the goal of all the work that I put out there is to serve the student body.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So I think everything that I’ve made there has made me like feel good and I don’t like feel as much like moral confusion when I think about continuing that work this summer. But that rule runs until September, so I know that I have wiggle rooms trying to figure things out somewhat.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Every generation has faced its demons and maybe the world of AI slop these like powerfully generative tools are kind of one of the demons that my generation has to face in the sense that we have to figure out where it fits into our lives and where it fits into workflows without compromising our morals because they might be here to stay. And then we also have to figure out how to deal with them in our daily, day-to-day work, because that’s probably gonna be an inseparable part of it, whether we like it or not.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Aaron Kim: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My name is Aaron Kim. I graduated from UC Berkeley with a major in political science. I came in through the community college route and I started community college in 2019. So I had a couple of years to see like at least in community college, like what higher education was like before AI, then it dropped. And then I saw everyone kind of like scrambling to react to it. It was really interesting watching the different ways professors would try to handle it. Some of them just had like a no AI policy. Others had like a, you have to use AI policy. My gosh, yeah. I remember really early on, there was a professor that told me that like, or that told the class that don’t use AI. I can tell if you use AI because it’ll take your essay, put it in ChatGPT and ask it if it wrote it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s been a bit of a consensus that’s settled around AI, where professors just kind of understood that it’s here. So they got more specific on how we’re supposed to use it. So they’re like, oh, you can use it as a writing assistant. You can use as to help start your research, but don’t use it a source and don’t make it do all your writing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But I know some people that are really hardline against it, I kind of agree with them for the most part. Like I think that AI especially, it’s not very sustainable. I feel like it’s sometimes people over-rely on it, which I’ve seen a lot. But I’ve also seen it level the playing field, especially for like ESL speakers. Sometimes I’ll see people who are like in higher education and they’re like not speaking English as a first language I I remember before AI they were excuse my language, but they were basically just shit out of luck. They were gonna be judged the same as like a native English speaker and like sometimes like it just like people were not nice about it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, I’m like a first-gen college student, so I I just kind of went to college because I don’t know, I didn’t really know why I was going. I just did it. I’m not one of those people that was like, oh yeah, I’m gonna be a doctor or a lawyer or a dentist. I ended up doing a lot of stuff in the union world and the labor world and like the community organizing world, which is why I think AI has affected me a little less personally, like a little less directly because none of the jobs that I was really looking for are really AI exposed as much.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Luckily I’m one of these people, but I do think the implementation of AI in the economy has like, I’ve received a lot of the downwind effects. I think a lot tasks are having AI implemented into it. And because of that, I think there’s just less need for a lot of entry level positions that existed in the past. My friends and I joke about it being a “nepo economy” right now, because there’s just like, nobody’s getting jobs through applications, at least not a lot. It’s just all like, you have to know somebody and that’s how you’re getting jobs. I’m still trying to really figure out what direction I want to go for that. But right now I’m just like trying to find something in social impact, you know, nonprofits or unions, um, which is just because that’s like, you know, where my heart was at during college. And that’s where a lot of my experience was at. But yeah, at this point, I think I just kind of have to try to keep an open mind.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I just don’t really think this sort of like innovation is really helping most people in a way that’s really substantial. Like I feel like, yeah, it’s like making things more convenient for a lot of us in like really minor ways, but I just feel like, like, was this all necessary? But it’s like here and we can’t like press, there’s no undo button for things like this, so I guess I just kind of have to adapt. Luckily, in terms of my personal career trajectory, it still feels pretty peripheral. Because a lot of the organizations I’m interested in working for are concerned with working people-centered kind of policies, I think mass, uncritical, enthusiastic adoption of AI is just something that hopefully a lot them just wouldn’t do. Like how would you feel if you’re like working and your union rep is like a chat GPT, like an iPad on the like a little thing that rolls around and tries to get you to sign union cards, right? Like that’s kind of something that AI can never take away. It’s like, because of so much of organizing job or so much organizing is based on building trust human to human, you know? And that’s just something AI can ever do…I hope!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Alan Montecillo: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That was Ellena Simentel, Ada He, and Aaron Kim. This episode was cut down and edited by me, and producer Jessica Kariisa. It was also produced by Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Additional support from Pauline Bartoloni. Music courtesy of Audio Network. Support for The Bay is provided in part by the Osher Production Fund. Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by The Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, San Francisco-Northern California Local.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you want to get in touch with us at The Bay, send us an email at TheBay@KQED.org.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Bay is a production of KQED Public Media in San Francisco. You can help power our show by becoming a member at \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/donate\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">KQED.org/donate\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. I’m Alan Montecillo, in for Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Thanks for listening.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hey! It’s Morgan again. You can listen to more of The Bay wherever you get your podcasts! We’ll be back next week with a brand new episode of Close All Tabs. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Everyone seems to have an opinion about AI, but what about those who will likely be affected most — recent graduates?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This cohort of grads is unique. They remember what classrooms were like before the emergence of ChatGPT in 2022, and have seen how it transformed the education world seemingly overnight. Today, we hear from three recent graduates in the Bay Area about their thoughts on AI, how it affected their education, and how they feel about their futures. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This week, we’re sharing a recent \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12085502/three-recent-graduates-share-their-thoughts-on-ai\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">episode\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> from KQED podcast \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/thebay\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Bay\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> — a show that takes an in-depth look at stories from across the SF Bay Area.\u003c/span>\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=KQINC2030502225\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Want to give us feedback on the show? Shoot us an email at \u003ca href=\"mailto:CloseAllTabs@KQED.org\">CloseAllTabs@KQED.org\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Follow us on\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/closealltabspod/\"> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Instagram\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@closealltabs\"> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">TikTok\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-content post-body\">\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Hello! Do you like these deep dives? Do you want more? Then please rate and review Close All Tabs on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show! And tell your friends! Post about it! On Instagram, Bluesky, X, Discord, Reddit, the comments of whatever random recipe blog you start arguments in … basically, it would be a huge help to get the word out. Ok, let’s get to the show.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hey, it’s Morgan. So, Close All Tabs is on vacation this week. Shocking, I know! We do log off sometimes. Or at least, we try to. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But don’t worry — we still have an episode for you today. On Close All Tabs, we’re always talking about AI … from the way data centers are changing local communities, to the drama that industry billionaires are getting themselves into. About a year ago, we dove into how some teachers are dealing with the AI boom in their classrooms. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Today, we’re gonna hear the other side of that story, from young people who’ve been in the thick of it, but don’t always get to share their perspective. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Our friends at The Bay, another KQED podcast, spoke to a few recent college graduates about AI. This is a unique cohort of students: they remember what classrooms were like before ChatGPT, and they’ve seen how much it’s changed learning. They spoke to The Bay about how AI affected their college experience, and how they feel about entering the workforce in such rapidly changing industries. What are they really thinking about their futures? What’s on their minds?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Alright, here’s Three Recent Graduates Share Their Thoughts on AI, from \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Bay\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Alan Montecillo:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I’m Alan Montecillo, in for Erika Cruz Guevara, and welcome to The Bay. Local news to keep you rooted. I graduated from college 13 years ago, and I gotta be honest, no disrespect, but I don’t remember who the commencement speaker was or what they talked about. Most graduation speeches have the same themes. Some message about hope. Thanking your friends and family, the importance of following your passion, and perhaps a call to change the world for the better. But this graduation season has felt a little different.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gloria Caulfield:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The rise of artificial intelligence is the next industrial revolution.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Alan Montecillo:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> There have been several videos of students booing commencement speakers when they mention AI. These videos have gone viral.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eric Schmidt:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Time magazine selected its person of the year for 2025. And it was this time, it was the architects of artificial intelligence. Interesting.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Scott Borschetta:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> AI is rewriting production as we sit here. I know it, deal with it. Like I said, it’s a tool. Hey, like I said. You can hear me now or you can pay me later.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Alan Montecillo:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Today’s college graduates were in school when ChatGPT was first released in late 2022. They’ve seen it change their classrooms. Today, three recent graduates in the Bay Area tell us how they really feel about AI and about their futures.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ellena Simentel: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My name is Ellena Simentel. I graduated with my master’s in kinesiology from San Francisco State.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kinesiology is the study of muscle movement. It’s very interdisciplinary, so there’s kind of a lot of different aspects in the field. So we do like sports psychology. You can go into physical therapy, athletic training, occupational therapy. I wanted to be a physical therapist. I’ve been to a little bit more recently. So I did focus mostly on like muscle physiology classes and that types of things. But now I think I wanna go more into a little bit more of the psychological motivational side, either doing some kind of city planning that has to do with getting people moving, or maybe even working for some type of nonprofit like Girls on the Run or things that get people active.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So even in undergrad we take our core class which is like one of the classes that teaches you like how to read and write in the field of kinesiology and that type of thing and midway through the semester I want to say this was like 2023. Our professor had actually changed the entire course of the class to focus on AI because it had like kind of just come out and she was like you And all of us at that point were kind of like, oh, you know, like, it’ll come and go, it is what it is. But what’s funny sitting back and looking at it now, it’s like, I feel like she really changed the class for a reason. I think it helped a lot of us just kind of get a grasp on what is AI, how to use it, the advantages maybe and some of the disadvantages. And so I obviously only took that class once, but I hope that they continue to do that for that class.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s good to have immediate feedback, right? That’s, I think, one of the biggest advantages as a student. You don’t have to wait for your professor. It’s very individualized and you can really use it to fix specific things in your writing, for example, like writing essays. I think it’s a great tool to make you sound professional, help fix your grammar, maybe help you with the formatting. Um, the problem and the drawback is just sometimes it takes over your thinking. You it’s, it’s very easy to just put something in and be like, okay, now write me an essay, but there’s no thought that goes into that. There’s no critical thinking that goes in to that. Um, and at the end of the day, like it’s kind of taking away from the learning itself.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m definitely less worried than other fields. I think there’s some careers in kinesiology, like if you wanted to be an athletic trainer or maybe like a personal trainer, there’s definitely a chance that AI could swoop in and take some of your clients. You can ask for a workout routine on ChatGPT so easily. However, The motivational aspect that comes with kinesiology and sports psychology that we learn with our degree I think is more helpful than talking to something online and just kind of having that like one-on-one human support is a lot more personalized. For example, like I worked in the athletic training department for a little bit and you can feel the difference in muscle when like a muscle is tense and you can kind with tell. What it needs, AI is not gonna be hands-on like that. And so having that human interaction in this field specifically is really helpful.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I will say though that there’s just so much negativity around it and it’s kind of hard to take yourself out of the online discourse. My friend works out in this athletic studio with some of these tech guys and they talk the pros and the cons and like how people are being let go and and you know But at the same time, maybe there’s some jobs that AI should take over. Do people really need to be coding all day every day sitting on a computer? Maybe there’s things that humans shouldn’t be doing, like computer work all day. Maybe we need to go back outside.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m looking forward to seeing what’s out there, right? I live in San Francisco currently and I can’t really see myself. Moving away anytime soon. I think there’s just so much to experience and so many people to meet. Global pandemic, like I was in college, I was taking like 20 units a semester. Every semester I was summer classes, winter classes, and I really chased the academic route. I just turned 24 and I have my master’s and I don’t think a lot of people can say that. And so I think now kind of like finding what it is exactly that I want to do with it and kind of just getting more experience in the field is really exciting to me.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ada He: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My name is Ada He, and I’m currently a fourth year student at UC San Diego set to graduate on June 14th. My hometown is San Jose in the Bay Area, and I’m currently studying cognitive science with a specialization in machine learning and neural computation.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So just to boil down to simple terms, it’s basically the study of intelligence, and it’s super duper relevant for machine learning, understanding these computational models of intelligence. The reason that I chose it and specifically the machine learning and neural computation track was because I think in high school I knew that I was curious about technology but I was also curious about more so the neuroscience and psychology side of things. And so I think I was kind of struck by this idea of like what is intelligence, how can we model it computationally and I think at the time even then there were starting to be like these buzzwords around ML and like AI and how this is going to be the next big thing of the future.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And so… Very practical future-oriented parents were like, you, our child, should definitely study something related to technology. And I was like, well, I’m not quite sure, so let me pick this broader major that has to do with technology, but also kind of has to do more with like the philosophy and the psychology and like the ethics of what these systems are.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think when I first started in college, basically the only place that I was hearing about machine learning, artificial intelligence as a whole was through theory in my coursework. But I think all of it was very much creative and like human driven. I think where I really started hearing about these AI tools that were in mass production was during my second year of college. So I think in that time, that was when ChatGPT was sort of like released to Apollo can never start using it and it became like the big thing. And suddenly it felt like everyone was talking about chatgbc like, oh hey, it’s pretty smart, it can do all these things. In my third year of college then, like after the summer when we came back to school, then it was taking off and everyone was using it in their classes, everyone’s like asking it questions, and they were using it to code in my programming classes, they were asking it for essay advice, and then I think that was when I started to think like wait, isn’t that an academic integrity violation and then so is AI just being used to like help us cheat now? Started out in this very humanistic direction, right?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was using AI as a tool to investigate these hypotheses and to see if I could get it to predict the patterns that I could predict. They were supposed to be these helpful tools that would help us diagnose bigger problems that were facing people. I’ve heard of applications of AI to chart patterns of climate change. So in my head, I just thought AI and ML had so much potential to be used for good. With ChatGPT, I know it’s like- There’s so much progress now going on in the area of large language models that I wonder if the other areas of AI and other use cases are being neglected. This seems like all research is funneling into how these large language models can help us replace white collar jobs. And I’m like, when did that become the focus of artificial intelligence and machine learning?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think I’ve been searching for a full-time job since January. As a student who is looking for a white collar job, it’s been very very very distressing to hear all the discourse that AI is meant to replace the work that I’ve spent four years studying. I think I honestly lost track by half to have applied for more than 300 jobs at this point. Just knowing that like the odds of getting a job are so slim even if you do get a callback and then seeing the number of callbacks I’m getting compared to the number applications I put out, that is kind of insane to me.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I do have summer jobs lined up. I’m currently like a student employee at the UC San Diego library. And I think like I’ve been really fortunate to have that environment because working for the web team there feels very meaningful since the work we do is like all done by hand. We have a very intentional design approach and the goal of all the work that I put out there is to serve the student body.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So I think everything that I’ve made there has made me like feel good and I don’t like feel as much like moral confusion when I think about continuing that work this summer. But that rule runs until September, so I know that I have wiggle rooms trying to figure things out somewhat.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Every generation has faced its demons and maybe the world of AI slop these like powerfully generative tools are kind of one of the demons that my generation has to face in the sense that we have to figure out where it fits into our lives and where it fits into workflows without compromising our morals because they might be here to stay. And then we also have to figure out how to deal with them in our daily, day-to-day work, because that’s probably gonna be an inseparable part of it, whether we like it or not.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Aaron Kim: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My name is Aaron Kim. I graduated from UC Berkeley with a major in political science. I came in through the community college route and I started community college in 2019. So I had a couple of years to see like at least in community college, like what higher education was like before AI, then it dropped. And then I saw everyone kind of like scrambling to react to it. It was really interesting watching the different ways professors would try to handle it. Some of them just had like a no AI policy. Others had like a, you have to use AI policy. My gosh, yeah. I remember really early on, there was a professor that told me that like, or that told the class that don’t use AI. I can tell if you use AI because it’ll take your essay, put it in ChatGPT and ask it if it wrote it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s been a bit of a consensus that’s settled around AI, where professors just kind of understood that it’s here. So they got more specific on how we’re supposed to use it. So they’re like, oh, you can use it as a writing assistant. You can use as to help start your research, but don’t use it a source and don’t make it do all your writing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But I know some people that are really hardline against it, I kind of agree with them for the most part. Like I think that AI especially, it’s not very sustainable. I feel like it’s sometimes people over-rely on it, which I’ve seen a lot. But I’ve also seen it level the playing field, especially for like ESL speakers. Sometimes I’ll see people who are like in higher education and they’re like not speaking English as a first language I I remember before AI they were excuse my language, but they were basically just shit out of luck. They were gonna be judged the same as like a native English speaker and like sometimes like it just like people were not nice about it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, I’m like a first-gen college student, so I I just kind of went to college because I don’t know, I didn’t really know why I was going. I just did it. I’m not one of those people that was like, oh yeah, I’m gonna be a doctor or a lawyer or a dentist. I ended up doing a lot of stuff in the union world and the labor world and like the community organizing world, which is why I think AI has affected me a little less personally, like a little less directly because none of the jobs that I was really looking for are really AI exposed as much.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Luckily I’m one of these people, but I do think the implementation of AI in the economy has like, I’ve received a lot of the downwind effects. I think a lot tasks are having AI implemented into it. And because of that, I think there’s just less need for a lot of entry level positions that existed in the past. My friends and I joke about it being a “nepo economy” right now, because there’s just like, nobody’s getting jobs through applications, at least not a lot. It’s just all like, you have to know somebody and that’s how you’re getting jobs. I’m still trying to really figure out what direction I want to go for that. But right now I’m just like trying to find something in social impact, you know, nonprofits or unions, um, which is just because that’s like, you know, where my heart was at during college. And that’s where a lot of my experience was at. But yeah, at this point, I think I just kind of have to try to keep an open mind.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I just don’t really think this sort of like innovation is really helping most people in a way that’s really substantial. Like I feel like, yeah, it’s like making things more convenient for a lot of us in like really minor ways, but I just feel like, like, was this all necessary? But it’s like here and we can’t like press, there’s no undo button for things like this, so I guess I just kind of have to adapt. Luckily, in terms of my personal career trajectory, it still feels pretty peripheral. Because a lot of the organizations I’m interested in working for are concerned with working people-centered kind of policies, I think mass, uncritical, enthusiastic adoption of AI is just something that hopefully a lot them just wouldn’t do. Like how would you feel if you’re like working and your union rep is like a chat GPT, like an iPad on the like a little thing that rolls around and tries to get you to sign union cards, right? Like that’s kind of something that AI can never take away. It’s like, because of so much of organizing job or so much organizing is based on building trust human to human, you know? And that’s just something AI can ever do…I hope!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Alan Montecillo: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That was Ellena Simentel, Ada He, and Aaron Kim. This episode was cut down and edited by me, and producer Jessica Kariisa. It was also produced by Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Additional support from Pauline Bartoloni. Music courtesy of Audio Network. Support for The Bay is provided in part by the Osher Production Fund. Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by The Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, San Francisco-Northern California Local.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you want to get in touch with us at The Bay, send us an email at TheBay@KQED.org.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Bay is a production of KQED Public Media in San Francisco. You can help power our show by becoming a member at \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/donate\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">KQED.org/donate\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. I’m Alan Montecillo, in for Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Thanks for listening.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hey! It’s Morgan again. You can listen to more of The Bay wherever you get your podcasts! We’ll be back next week with a brand new episode of Close All Tabs. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>"
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"slug": "california-admits-using-high-risk-ai-including-systems-it-failed-to-report-last-year",
"title": "California Admits Using High-Risk AI — Including Systems It Failed to Report Last Year",
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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>A year ago, California officials had to report under a new state law how they used automated systems to make important decisions about people’s lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They said they never did — a startling answer for a number of reasons, sources \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2025/05/california-somehow-finds-no-ai-risks/\">told \u003cem>CalMatters\u003c/em> at the time\u003c/a>, including that there were several prominent examples to the contrary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, the state has issued a more expansive answer: It is currently using six automated systems to make consequential decisions about the lives of Californians.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The systems are used to do things like:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Predict whether incarcerated people will reoffend\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Evaluate whether unemployment claims are fraudulent\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Remotely administer exams for California State University students\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Detect when college students use generative AI to write assignments\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>That’s according to a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/High-Risk-ADS-Report-for-Program-Year-2025.pdf\">report released Friday\u003c/a> by the state’s technology department. The report is required \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202320240ab302\">under a 2023 law mandating that\u003c/a> that state agencies annually disclose their use of “high-risk automated decision systems,” which the law defines as systems “used to assist or replace human discretionary decisions that have a legal or similarly significant effect, including decisions that materially impact access to, or approval for, housing or accommodations, education, employment, credit, healthcare, and criminal justice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The law was pushed by civil rights, privacy and civil liberties groups concerned about harms from AI-like systems. Numerous such systems have been shown to produce results biased against marginalized groups, including those used for \u003ca href=\"https://venturebeat.com/technology/examsofts-remote-bar-exam-sparks-privacy-and-facial-recognition-concerns\">high-stakes testing\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.propublica.org/article/machine-bias-risk-assessments-in-criminal-sentencing\">predicting recidivism\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"https://themarkup.org/machine-learning/2023/08/14/ai-detection-tools-falsely-accuse-international-students-of-cheating\">detecting AI-generated texts\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12058035\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12058035 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/GettyImages-2159671948-scaled-e1781542152687.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Anthropic’s AI model, Claude, a Large Language Model (LLM) is displayed on an iPhone in Lafayette, California, on June 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Smith Collection/Gado via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2025/05/california-somehow-finds-no-ai-risks/\">\u003cem>CalMatters\u003c/em> flagged last year’s report\u003c/a> as surprising, noting that the state corrections department had reported using software to predict post-release behavior and that the employment department used a fraud detection system that paused benefits for 600,000 Californians between Christmas and New Year’s in 2020, \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4542\">according to a Legislative Analyst’s Office report\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though the report names six high-risk systems in use today, state agencies have used some for several years now. Those include COMPAS, which has been used by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to assign recidivism scores to inmates for at \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/research/wp-content/uploads/sites/174/2023/06/Recidivism-Report-for-Offenders-Released-in-FY-2011-12.pdf\">least a decade\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The technology department said in the report that it found more systems for its report this year because it evaluated responses from state agencies more thoroughly, including by meeting with agencies and questioning them about their systems.[aside postID=news_12087201 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/CollegeGraduationGetty.jpg']In addition to the six high-risk systems, the department’s report disclosed an additional six systems initially flagged as high risk but later determined not to be. One was AI used for legislative bill analysis by the California Department of Finance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report also notes two high-risk systems that are not currently in use: the Department of Cannabis Control is developing artificial intelligence to analyze whether marijuana packaging violates a law against appealing to children, and California State University discontinued use of a language model for reviewing job applications.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Results of the second annual survey come after cities like San José and San Francisco released their first AI inventories in recent months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They also come at a time when California-based AI companies like Anthropic and OpenAI are going public and seeking government contracts. Americans are \u003ca href=\"https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/03/12/key-findings-about-how-americans-view-artificial-intelligence/\">split on whether they trust AI\u003c/a>, and surveys last year by \u003ca href=\"https://techequity.us/press_release/californians-are-more-concerned-than-excited-by-ai/\">TechEquity\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2025/10/carnegie-california-ai-survey\">Carnegie California found\u003c/a> that the majority of Californians want safety over innovation. A Gallup poll to evaluate the opinions of Americans found similar results.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb1248\">Senate Bill 1248\u003c/a>, a bill that would have prohibited state employees from using automated decision systems as the sole basis for decision-making, was killed last month in the state’s \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/05/suspense-file-senate-assembly/\">rapid-fire appropriations process\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What’s missing\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While the newly released report shares more information than last year’s, several questions remain about the state’s use of artificial intelligence and other automated systems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report does not include generative AI pilot projects underway with support from the governor’s office to do things like help businesses file taxes, support state employees who work on homelessness and an AI assistant named Poppy that uses language models like Anthropic’s Claude to do things like draft documents, research policy, or build custom AI tools, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.genai.ca.gov/poppy/\">a state website\u003c/a>. The website says that 67 state departments provided input during the pilot phase, and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.genai.ca.gov/poppy/\">statewide rollout of Poppy begins next month\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11989313\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11989313\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GettyImages-2155035557-scaled-e1760733694503.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The OpenAI ChatGPT logo. \u003ccite>(Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/05/25/nx-s1-5772820/artificial-intelligence-education-technology-california-state-university\">California State University contract\u003c/a> with OpenAI to provide a version of ChatGPT is also not mentioned, though surveys of AI use in educational settings have found that \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2026/02/ai-images-scandalized-a-california-elementary-school-now-the-state-is-pushing-new-safeguards/\">the technology can do more harm than good\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 2023 law mandating the annual high-risk systems report excludes reporting by a number of state agencies, including the judicial branch and the University of California college system. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2026/05/ai-los-angeles-riverside-courts/\">Reporting by \u003cem>CalMatters\u003c/em> last month\u003c/a> found that a majority of the roughly 60 courts that operate statewide have adopted generative AI use policies. Courts in Los Angeles and Riverside counties have \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2026/05/ai-los-angeles-riverside-courts/\">begun testing\u003c/a> an AI tool to act as a clerk, drafting orders and producing research memos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>CalMatters\u003c/em> is compiling an inventory of automated decision-making systems in use by state and local agencies throughout California in order to provide transparency into how governments are using decision-making systems and AI. Know about an AI system in use by a state or local agency? Email \u003ca href=\"mailto:khari@calmatters.org\">khari@calmatters.org\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/06/california-admits-government-ai-risk-after-denying/\">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>\n",
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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>A year ago, California officials had to report under a new state law how they used automated systems to make important decisions about people’s lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They said they never did — a startling answer for a number of reasons, sources \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2025/05/california-somehow-finds-no-ai-risks/\">told \u003cem>CalMatters\u003c/em> at the time\u003c/a>, including that there were several prominent examples to the contrary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, the state has issued a more expansive answer: It is currently using six automated systems to make consequential decisions about the lives of Californians.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The systems are used to do things like:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Predict whether incarcerated people will reoffend\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Evaluate whether unemployment claims are fraudulent\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Remotely administer exams for California State University students\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Detect when college students use generative AI to write assignments\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>That’s according to a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/High-Risk-ADS-Report-for-Program-Year-2025.pdf\">report released Friday\u003c/a> by the state’s technology department. The report is required \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202320240ab302\">under a 2023 law mandating that\u003c/a> that state agencies annually disclose their use of “high-risk automated decision systems,” which the law defines as systems “used to assist or replace human discretionary decisions that have a legal or similarly significant effect, including decisions that materially impact access to, or approval for, housing or accommodations, education, employment, credit, healthcare, and criminal justice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The law was pushed by civil rights, privacy and civil liberties groups concerned about harms from AI-like systems. Numerous such systems have been shown to produce results biased against marginalized groups, including those used for \u003ca href=\"https://venturebeat.com/technology/examsofts-remote-bar-exam-sparks-privacy-and-facial-recognition-concerns\">high-stakes testing\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.propublica.org/article/machine-bias-risk-assessments-in-criminal-sentencing\">predicting recidivism\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"https://themarkup.org/machine-learning/2023/08/14/ai-detection-tools-falsely-accuse-international-students-of-cheating\">detecting AI-generated texts\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12058035\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12058035 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/GettyImages-2159671948-scaled-e1781542152687.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Anthropic’s AI model, Claude, a Large Language Model (LLM) is displayed on an iPhone in Lafayette, California, on June 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Smith Collection/Gado via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2025/05/california-somehow-finds-no-ai-risks/\">\u003cem>CalMatters\u003c/em> flagged last year’s report\u003c/a> as surprising, noting that the state corrections department had reported using software to predict post-release behavior and that the employment department used a fraud detection system that paused benefits for 600,000 Californians between Christmas and New Year’s in 2020, \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4542\">according to a Legislative Analyst’s Office report\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though the report names six high-risk systems in use today, state agencies have used some for several years now. Those include COMPAS, which has been used by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to assign recidivism scores to inmates for at \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/research/wp-content/uploads/sites/174/2023/06/Recidivism-Report-for-Offenders-Released-in-FY-2011-12.pdf\">least a decade\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The technology department said in the report that it found more systems for its report this year because it evaluated responses from state agencies more thoroughly, including by meeting with agencies and questioning them about their systems.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In addition to the six high-risk systems, the department’s report disclosed an additional six systems initially flagged as high risk but later determined not to be. One was AI used for legislative bill analysis by the California Department of Finance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report also notes two high-risk systems that are not currently in use: the Department of Cannabis Control is developing artificial intelligence to analyze whether marijuana packaging violates a law against appealing to children, and California State University discontinued use of a language model for reviewing job applications.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Results of the second annual survey come after cities like San José and San Francisco released their first AI inventories in recent months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They also come at a time when California-based AI companies like Anthropic and OpenAI are going public and seeking government contracts. Americans are \u003ca href=\"https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/03/12/key-findings-about-how-americans-view-artificial-intelligence/\">split on whether they trust AI\u003c/a>, and surveys last year by \u003ca href=\"https://techequity.us/press_release/californians-are-more-concerned-than-excited-by-ai/\">TechEquity\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2025/10/carnegie-california-ai-survey\">Carnegie California found\u003c/a> that the majority of Californians want safety over innovation. A Gallup poll to evaluate the opinions of Americans found similar results.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb1248\">Senate Bill 1248\u003c/a>, a bill that would have prohibited state employees from using automated decision systems as the sole basis for decision-making, was killed last month in the state’s \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/05/suspense-file-senate-assembly/\">rapid-fire appropriations process\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What’s missing\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While the newly released report shares more information than last year’s, several questions remain about the state’s use of artificial intelligence and other automated systems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report does not include generative AI pilot projects underway with support from the governor’s office to do things like help businesses file taxes, support state employees who work on homelessness and an AI assistant named Poppy that uses language models like Anthropic’s Claude to do things like draft documents, research policy, or build custom AI tools, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.genai.ca.gov/poppy/\">a state website\u003c/a>. The website says that 67 state departments provided input during the pilot phase, and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.genai.ca.gov/poppy/\">statewide rollout of Poppy begins next month\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11989313\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11989313\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GettyImages-2155035557-scaled-e1760733694503.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The OpenAI ChatGPT logo. \u003ccite>(Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/05/25/nx-s1-5772820/artificial-intelligence-education-technology-california-state-university\">California State University contract\u003c/a> with OpenAI to provide a version of ChatGPT is also not mentioned, though surveys of AI use in educational settings have found that \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2026/02/ai-images-scandalized-a-california-elementary-school-now-the-state-is-pushing-new-safeguards/\">the technology can do more harm than good\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 2023 law mandating the annual high-risk systems report excludes reporting by a number of state agencies, including the judicial branch and the University of California college system. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2026/05/ai-los-angeles-riverside-courts/\">Reporting by \u003cem>CalMatters\u003c/em> last month\u003c/a> found that a majority of the roughly 60 courts that operate statewide have adopted generative AI use policies. Courts in Los Angeles and Riverside counties have \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2026/05/ai-los-angeles-riverside-courts/\">begun testing\u003c/a> an AI tool to act as a clerk, drafting orders and producing research memos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>CalMatters\u003c/em> is compiling an inventory of automated decision-making systems in use by state and local agencies throughout California in order to provide transparency into how governments are using decision-making systems and AI. Know about an AI system in use by a state or local agency? Email \u003ca href=\"mailto:khari@calmatters.org\">khari@calmatters.org\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/06/california-admits-government-ai-risk-after-denying/\">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>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "what-do-californias-recent-college-grads-think-about-ai",
"title": "What Do California’s Recent College Grads Think About AI?",
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"headTitle": "What Do California’s Recent College Grads Think About AI? | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>As college graduates throw off their caps and move on to their next life chapter, one topic is surely on their minds: Has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/artificial-intelligence\">artificial intelligence\u003c/a> made their skills irrelevant? And what does an entry-level job even look like anymore?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the past month, graduates across the country have\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/05/20/nx-s1-5822419/ai-colleges-commencement-booing\"> booed and jeered\u003c/a> college commencement speakers at the very mention of AI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s no surprise. Recent polling suggests the technology weighs heavily on the minds of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12079472/stanford-study-ai-experts-are-optimistic-about-ai-the-rest-of-us-not-so-much\">those already in the job market\u003c/a> and those who seek to \u003ca href=\"https://news.gallup.com/poll/704087/college-students-weigh-impact-majors-careers.aspx\">join it\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several college graduates from around the state spoke with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/californiareportmagazine\">\u003cem>The California Report Magazine\u003c/em>\u003c/a> about how they’re navigating the unpredictable economy, and how AI factors into their job search. The testimonies below have been edited for brevity and clarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12087236\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12087236\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GisselleUlloa-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GisselleUlloa-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GisselleUlloa-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GisselleUlloa-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GisselleUlloa-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gisselle Ulloa poses with her diploma from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Ulloa, who plans to be a teacher, said she witnessed the impact of AI on her middle-schoolers in the classroom. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Gisselle Ulloa)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Gisselle Ulloa\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>School:\u003c/strong> California State Polytechnic University, Pomona\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Major:\u003c/strong> Liberal Studies\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What are your plans after graduation? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I plan to be a teacher in the near future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How does AI affect you? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a recent graduate, it is intimidating to apply to jobs and fail to meet the criteria of artificial intelligence. There’ve been occasions where I feel … the employer is not even going to gaze at my resume. Of course, jobs don’t come easily, and you have to earn your position. But it’s really difficult to learn to satisfy an algorithm instead of a person.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With my experience tutoring, I saw the effects of AI, social media and electronics in the classroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I worked with middle schoolers last year. Seeing my students struggle to write paragraphs with a pencil or solve math problems [with] ChatGPT was discouraging. It put into perspective the amount of work needed from teachers and staff to get students to where they need to be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Teachers can only do so much. As an aspiring educator, [AI] is a really pivotal tool, and I’m sure it works for bigger things, [like] social media and technology. But I fear it’s going to impact classrooms negatively in the years to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Camalah Saleh\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>School:\u003c/strong> California State University, Fresno\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Major:\u003c/strong> Political Science and Communication\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What are your plans after graduation?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I go to China at the end of August to earn a master’s in Global Affairs as a Schwarzman Scholar at Tsinghua University. My goal is to connect international affairs and global affairs to immigration because I want to be an immigration attorney and work on refugee and asylum cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12087227\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12087227\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/CamalahSaleh.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/CamalahSaleh.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/CamalahSaleh-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/CamalahSaleh-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Camalah Saleh smiles after graduating from California State University, Fresno. She said she initially tried to ignore ChatGPT but realized AI is not going anywhere. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Camalah Saleh)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How does AI affect you?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When ChatGPT first came out, everyone was talking about it, and I didn’t know what it was. I ignored it. I’m in a field where you need to critically write and be a critical thinker, and it can’t just do your work for you. Then, I realized [AI] is not going away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ve looked at the way it’s going to impact my career. To see lawyers using it is really worrisome because … there’s a lot of ethical concerns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But I need to pay attention to how it’s going to advance. And people need to be literate in AI so that they can analyze what is and is not made by AI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12087237\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12087237\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/MichelleYang-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/MichelleYang-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/MichelleYang-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/MichelleYang-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/MichelleYang-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Michelle Yang poses with her diploma at Oracle Park in San Francisco. She said the threat of AI taking over peoples’ jobs is “pretty scary.” \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Michelle Yang)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Michelle Yang\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>School:\u003c/strong> San Francisco State University\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Major:\u003c/strong> Marketing\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What are your plans after graduation? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I want to go into event [planning]. Hopefully, within the music industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How does AI affect you?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With most jobs that include administration and planning, AI definitely has or could have the potential to take over certain skills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But with events, it’s a very in-person, human interaction type of industry. So, that’s not something I’m worried about.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Graduating college right now, it’s pretty scary with this threat of AI taking over. We spent so much time in school figuring out what we want to do after college.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I can decide not to use AI within my life. But as society progresses, especially in San Francisco, AI [will] become more incorporated into society, [and] there might not be a choice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Michelle Yang is a Live Events intern at KQED. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Amelia Zai\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>School:\u003c/strong> UCLA (incoming senior)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Major:\u003c/strong> Mechanical Engineering\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What are your plans after graduation?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ll probably start applying [for entry-level jobs] in the fall. I already know that even without AI, the job market is really difficult.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12087221\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12087221\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Amelia_Zai.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"853\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Amelia_Zai.jpeg 1280w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Amelia_Zai-160x107.jpeg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Amelia Zai \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Amelia Zai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How do you feel about AI?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m the president of the AI Robotics and Ethics Society at the University of California, Los Angeles. A lot of students here are aware of how AI is reshaping the world. They see it in the news; they’re seeing it in their classes; they use AI to help them understand assignments. I do that too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During every discussion, it’s inevitable that the question of whether AI will replace roles in some field comes up. I think it’s less of a competition between AI and people, and more of a competition between people who use AI and people who don’t know how to use AI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because I know that AI is such a powerful tool, I’m trying to use that to my advantage and integrate it into my workflow to make myself a more efficient thinker. It’s the responsibility of universities to ensure that their graduates are competitive. And one way to achieve that goal is to integrate AI.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Aaron Kim\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>School:\u003c/strong> UC Berkeley\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Major:\u003c/strong> Political Science\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Career path: \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Labor/Union Organizing\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How does AI affect you? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Luckily, in terms of my personal career trajectory, it still feels pretty peripheral. I ended up doing a lot of stuff in the union/labor world, so AI affects me less. None of the jobs that I was looking for are AI-exposed as much.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A lot of the organizations I’m interested in are concerned with progressive issues and working people. How would you feel if your union rep is ChatGPT and tries to get you to sign union cards? That’s something AI can never take away. Because so much of organizing is based on building trust, human to human.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>As college graduates throw off their caps and move on to their next life chapter, one topic is surely on their minds: Has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/artificial-intelligence\">artificial intelligence\u003c/a> made their skills irrelevant? And what does an entry-level job even look like anymore?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the past month, graduates across the country have\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/05/20/nx-s1-5822419/ai-colleges-commencement-booing\"> booed and jeered\u003c/a> college commencement speakers at the very mention of AI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s no surprise. Recent polling suggests the technology weighs heavily on the minds of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12079472/stanford-study-ai-experts-are-optimistic-about-ai-the-rest-of-us-not-so-much\">those already in the job market\u003c/a> and those who seek to \u003ca href=\"https://news.gallup.com/poll/704087/college-students-weigh-impact-majors-careers.aspx\">join it\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several college graduates from around the state spoke with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/californiareportmagazine\">\u003cem>The California Report Magazine\u003c/em>\u003c/a> about how they’re navigating the unpredictable economy, and how AI factors into their job search. The testimonies below have been edited for brevity and clarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12087236\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12087236\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GisselleUlloa-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GisselleUlloa-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GisselleUlloa-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GisselleUlloa-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GisselleUlloa-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gisselle Ulloa poses with her diploma from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Ulloa, who plans to be a teacher, said she witnessed the impact of AI on her middle-schoolers in the classroom. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Gisselle Ulloa)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Gisselle Ulloa\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>School:\u003c/strong> California State Polytechnic University, Pomona\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Major:\u003c/strong> Liberal Studies\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What are your plans after graduation? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I plan to be a teacher in the near future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How does AI affect you? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a recent graduate, it is intimidating to apply to jobs and fail to meet the criteria of artificial intelligence. There’ve been occasions where I feel … the employer is not even going to gaze at my resume. Of course, jobs don’t come easily, and you have to earn your position. But it’s really difficult to learn to satisfy an algorithm instead of a person.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With my experience tutoring, I saw the effects of AI, social media and electronics in the classroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I worked with middle schoolers last year. Seeing my students struggle to write paragraphs with a pencil or solve math problems [with] ChatGPT was discouraging. It put into perspective the amount of work needed from teachers and staff to get students to where they need to be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Teachers can only do so much. As an aspiring educator, [AI] is a really pivotal tool, and I’m sure it works for bigger things, [like] social media and technology. But I fear it’s going to impact classrooms negatively in the years to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Camalah Saleh\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>School:\u003c/strong> California State University, Fresno\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Major:\u003c/strong> Political Science and Communication\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What are your plans after graduation?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I go to China at the end of August to earn a master’s in Global Affairs as a Schwarzman Scholar at Tsinghua University. My goal is to connect international affairs and global affairs to immigration because I want to be an immigration attorney and work on refugee and asylum cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12087227\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12087227\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/CamalahSaleh.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/CamalahSaleh.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/CamalahSaleh-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/CamalahSaleh-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Camalah Saleh smiles after graduating from California State University, Fresno. She said she initially tried to ignore ChatGPT but realized AI is not going anywhere. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Camalah Saleh)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How does AI affect you?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When ChatGPT first came out, everyone was talking about it, and I didn’t know what it was. I ignored it. I’m in a field where you need to critically write and be a critical thinker, and it can’t just do your work for you. Then, I realized [AI] is not going away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ve looked at the way it’s going to impact my career. To see lawyers using it is really worrisome because … there’s a lot of ethical concerns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But I need to pay attention to how it’s going to advance. And people need to be literate in AI so that they can analyze what is and is not made by AI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12087237\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12087237\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/MichelleYang-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/MichelleYang-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/MichelleYang-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/MichelleYang-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/MichelleYang-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Michelle Yang poses with her diploma at Oracle Park in San Francisco. She said the threat of AI taking over peoples’ jobs is “pretty scary.” \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Michelle Yang)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Michelle Yang\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>School:\u003c/strong> San Francisco State University\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Major:\u003c/strong> Marketing\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What are your plans after graduation? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I want to go into event [planning]. Hopefully, within the music industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How does AI affect you?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With most jobs that include administration and planning, AI definitely has or could have the potential to take over certain skills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But with events, it’s a very in-person, human interaction type of industry. So, that’s not something I’m worried about.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Graduating college right now, it’s pretty scary with this threat of AI taking over. We spent so much time in school figuring out what we want to do after college.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I can decide not to use AI within my life. But as society progresses, especially in San Francisco, AI [will] become more incorporated into society, [and] there might not be a choice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Michelle Yang is a Live Events intern at KQED. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Amelia Zai\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>School:\u003c/strong> UCLA (incoming senior)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Major:\u003c/strong> Mechanical Engineering\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What are your plans after graduation?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ll probably start applying [for entry-level jobs] in the fall. I already know that even without AI, the job market is really difficult.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12087221\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12087221\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Amelia_Zai.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"853\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Amelia_Zai.jpeg 1280w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/Amelia_Zai-160x107.jpeg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Amelia Zai \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Amelia Zai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How do you feel about AI?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m the president of the AI Robotics and Ethics Society at the University of California, Los Angeles. A lot of students here are aware of how AI is reshaping the world. They see it in the news; they’re seeing it in their classes; they use AI to help them understand assignments. I do that too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During every discussion, it’s inevitable that the question of whether AI will replace roles in some field comes up. I think it’s less of a competition between AI and people, and more of a competition between people who use AI and people who don’t know how to use AI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because I know that AI is such a powerful tool, I’m trying to use that to my advantage and integrate it into my workflow to make myself a more efficient thinker. It’s the responsibility of universities to ensure that their graduates are competitive. And one way to achieve that goal is to integrate AI.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Aaron Kim\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>School:\u003c/strong> UC Berkeley\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Major:\u003c/strong> Political Science\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Career path: \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Labor/Union Organizing\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How does AI affect you? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Luckily, in terms of my personal career trajectory, it still feels pretty peripheral. I ended up doing a lot of stuff in the union/labor world, so AI affects me less. None of the jobs that I was looking for are AI-exposed as much.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A lot of the organizations I’m interested in are concerned with progressive issues and working people. How would you feel if your union rep is ChatGPT and tries to get you to sign union cards? That’s something AI can never take away. Because so much of organizing is based on building trust, human to human.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "musk-v-altman-was-peak-silicon-valley-theatrics",
"title": "Musk v. Altman Was Peak Silicon Valley Theatrics",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For three weeks, all eyes were on a salacious courtroom drama unfolding in Oakland, California. The Musk v. Altman trial had everything you’d expect from a favorite soap opera: Backstabbing? Check! Secret diary entries? Check! Pleading text messages? Check! And two billionaire buddies turned rivals duking it out over who did or did not steal a charity. Morgan and KQED’s Rachael Myrow explore the trial highlights, outcome and the big question: what was it all for?\u003c/span>\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=KQINC1712425236\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guest:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/rachael-myrow\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rachael Myrow\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, senior editor, Silicon Valley News Desk at KQED\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Further Reading/Listening:\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12084062/federal-court-rules-against-elon-musk-in-his-bitter-feud-with-sam-altman\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Federal Court Rules Against Elon Musk in His Bitter Feud With Sam Altman\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> — Katie DeBenedetti and Rachael Myrow, \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">KQED\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.wired.com/story/fancy-butt-pillows-musk-v-altman-trial/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Everyone at the Musk v. Altman Trial Is Using Fancy Butt Cushions\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> — Paresh Dave, \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">WIRED\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/932464/musk-v-altman-proved-that-ai-is-led-by-the-wrong-people\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Musk v. Altman proved that AI is led by the wrong people\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> — Hayden Field, \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Verge\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/04/13/sam-altman-may-control-our-future-can-he-be-trusted\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sam Altman May Control Our Future—Can He Be Trusted?\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> — Ronan Farrow and Andrew Marantz, \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The New Yorker\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/05/20/nx-s1-5822419/ai-colleges-commencement-booing\">Advice for 2026 commencement speakers: Don’t bring up AI\u003c/a> — Jude Joffe-Block and Michelle Aslam, \u003ci>NPR\u003c/i>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Want to give us feedback on the show? Shoot us an email at \u003ca href=\"mailto:CloseAllTabs@KQED.org\">CloseAllTabs@KQED.org\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Follow us on\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/closealltabspod/\"> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Instagram\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@closealltabs\"> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">TikTok\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung, Host: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hello Tabbers! Tabbies? Tabhive? We’re workshopping this. Ok? \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Anyway, if you’re in the Close All Tabs fandom, and you want more of these deep dives, then please rate and review the show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you’re listening to this! Post about it! Follow us on Instagram! Tag us! Basically, it would be a huge help to get the word out. Ok, let’s get to the show.\u003c/span>\u003cb>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The tech world has been buzzing over one of the juiciest legal showdowns in Silicon Valley: Musk v. Altman. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Basically, Elon Musk, of Tesla and Twitter infamy, accused OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, and its leadership of betraying the company’s nonprofit roots. He alleged that instead of sticking to the original mission, which was to build safe artificial general intelligence for the benefit of all of humanity, the company chased profits over AI safety. He says they “stole a charity.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">On the other side: Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI who co-founded the company with Musk. Once upon a time, they were actually buddies. But today? They’re bitter rivals. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For three weeks, tech billionaires, their legal counsel, their personal security guards, and a throng of journalists packed into a courtroom in Oakland, California. This was a real “who’s who” of the AI industry. The six billionaires who took the stand have a collective net worth of around $850 billion dollars. That’s more than the GDP of most countries. And what did the uber wealthy bring for a long day at court? The hottest accessory in downtown Oakland: Fancy butt cushions. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Record scratch]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow, Guest:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> You know, I have to admit, I was not looking, uh, anywhere in the vicinity of their butts, so I did not see these butt cushions, uh, that I read about in Wired. But, um, I, I did see some more, you know, sober, uh, sensible butt cushions that the lawyers were using.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is Rachael Myrow, she’s the Silicon Valley tech editor at KQED, and she covered the case, trekking out for the grueling 12 days of trial. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And I really should have come up with one of my own because we were in that court, courtroom from 8am in the morning to 2 in the afternoon most days.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This trial was one of the courtroom dramas of the decade. Rachael said it was like \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Silicon Valley\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, the HBO show, meets a telenovela. Before it even started, Musk got so catty online that the judge threatened him with a gag order.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He went on X on the eve of the trial, popping off about Scam Altman until Judge Gonzalez Rogers dressed him down in front of the court.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s just the start of this gossip feast. We’re talking backstabbing! Personal diary entries read aloud! Secret affairs! Over 20 witnesses airing out everyone’s dirty laundry. And after all of that, the jury sided with OpenAI. So does this count as a crushing blow to Elon Musk?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Musk operates like President Trump. He sues for all sorts of reasons, and he also counts a win differently than normal people would count a win.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And he doesn’t need to win in the courtroom to win in other ways. Because nobody walked out of this trial looking great, especially not Sam Altman.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The historical record now shows a group of extraordinarily entitled people, mostly men, scrambling to be the tip of the spear for the AI revolution. Uh, I think the benefit of humanity never had anything to do with it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At the end of the day, nobody really won here. We’re going to get into that and open a few tabs about the trial, the drama leading up to it, the great billionaire AI industry reckoning and what this really means for the rest of us plebeians. Ready?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is Close All Tabs. I’m Morgan Sung, tech journalist and your chronically online friend, here to open as many browser tabs as it takes to help you understand how the digital world affects our real lives. Let’s get into it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ok, let’s open our first tab: Sam Altman, Elon Musk relationship timeline \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">K-dramas, telenovelas, any CW show, pick your poison. At its core, this scenario is a soap opera classic. Two besties have a falling out, struggle for power, and forgetting what they once meant to each other become embroiled in a years-long feud, hell bent on taking the other down. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I don’t know if they ever were friends. But also I wouldn’t say that they were frenemies, and again, this is just from my experience of the trial, \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ok, maybe that was a little bit of fanfiction. But we can’t write off their tech bromance entirely. After all, during the trial, Altman testified under oath that Musk used to show him memes on his phone. That’s pretty intimate, if you ask me. And years before that, they were two very rich guys who shared a dream.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Elon Musk in particular, uh, was very worried about the thought that artificial general intelligence, which is to say AI that surpasses human intelligence, uh, could, uh, come to the hands of one powerful player first, and then they would have, I don’t know, world domination within their grasp. So he got together with Sam Altman of Y Combinator fame or infamy, however you see it, \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Y Combinator is the startup accelerator that launched Reddit, Airbnb, DoorDash, Dropbox, Stripe, Coinbase, the list goes on. Sam Altman was part of the inaugural cohort. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And the two of them cooked up this nonprofit with a charitable mission. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They launched OpenAI in 2015, as a nonprofit artificial intelligence research company. In the first blog post, the company wrote: “Our goal is to advance digital intelligence in the way that is most likely to benefit humanity as a whole, unconstrained by a need to generate financial return. Since our research is free from financial obligations, we can better focus on a positive human impact.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But it doesn’t take long before they realize that if this is gonna be a thing, if this is gonna compete with Google, and whoever else might come along they were gonna need way more money than they were pulling in at the time.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So Elon Musk was spending millions, but they were probably gonna need billions. They started talking about setting up a for-profit division. And it wasn’t long before they realized in this conversation, collectively, that Elon wanted to be in charge of it, in control of it. And you can tell this because, you know, mounds of discovery, personal texts and email chains and personal journal entries made it abundantly clear that Musk was thinking close to the beginning like, ‘I know what I’ll do. We’ll fold this new this for-profit version of OpenAI into Tesla, where I can work on AGI in secret.’\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Well, Sam Altman and the other OpenAI principal co-founders weren’t down for that. Musk walked away in 2018. OpenAI launched ChatGPT in 2022. A year later, Musk announced his own AI startup, xAI, which eventually launched Grok. Musk has boasted about how Grok is not trained to be “woke”, unlike competitors like ChatGPT. OpenAI, meanwhile, has become the belle of the Silicon Valley ball, nabbing billions of dollars of investment from Microsoft. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And at a certain point, it becomes clear that the OpenAI nonprofit is really a shell of its former self. Right? Like, it’s all of the IP, all of the intellectual property has shifted, uh, from the nonprofit to the for-profit, all of the talent…I think it was kind of sitting there employee-free until very recently, and money was put into it. It’s now estimated to be worth about 200 billion, with a B, dollars. But what has this nonprofit been up to? Precious little. Precious little. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And so at some point, Musk decides to sue and to say, ‘Wait a second, you know, um, this is a bait and switch…they’ve abandoned the mission that we cooked up originally and, I want recompense. I want Altman and others, stripped from the board, stripped from their leadership positions. I want, something like $150 billion shifted from the for-profit to the nonprofit.’ But of course, if you’re OpenAI, your attitude is like, ‘Whoa, this is clearly vindictive.’ You know, you didn’t get what you want, that’s why you walked away with your toys and your money, and, uh, you know, we’re gonna see you in court.’\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> This legal showdown has been simmering for years. Between filing in early 2024 and finally walking into the courtroom for his testimony last month, Musk has: filed a motion accusing OpenAI and Microsoft of being a monopoly, led a group of investors in an attempt to buy OpenAI, threatened to sue Apple for giving OpenAI preferential treatment in the App Store, and has gotten into multiple online spats with Altman. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It was 100% clear there’s no love lost, uh, between you know, the principals. You know, what I like to say is, like, nobody has clean hands in this situation.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> So what exactly happened at this trial? Let’s open another new tab: Musk v. Altman \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> On one side you’ve got Elon Musk. You know, he didn’t come to be the wealthiest person on Earth by accident, right? Uh, even if he may not have been the person to start many of the companies he now owns and controls, uh, he took them into the stratosphere, quite literally in the case of SpaceX.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He’s very good at doing that, but he’s also well known to be mercurial, to have a kind of Jekyll and Hyde personality, to push other people to the breaking point.\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And, um, he’s gonna make decisions that, uh, he doesn’t expect to be countermanded on in the slightest. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Then you have somebody like Sam Altman, and, uh, I’ll tell you, it wasn’t any accident that The New Yorker came out with a scandalous profile of Sam Altman on the eve of the trial that basically, uh, described him as a compulsive pathological liar, and all of that came out in the trial too. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Let’s go through a few highlights from this trial. It got pretty juicy when Shivon Zillis took the stand. She’s a venture capitalist and machine learning expert who started working at OpenAI when it launched, and later joined the board of directors. She’s also the mother of four of Musk’s fourteen children. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In her testimony, she said that their relationship started with a “one-off” at a corporate off-site. When she decided to start a family on her own, Musk offered to be her platonic sperm donor. Their relationship grew, and now, they’re romantic partners. She told the OpenAI board about her relationship with Musk only after Business Insider started reporting on it. According to other testimony, many board members wanted to remove her, but decided to let her stay to, “keep the Elon conflict under control.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I think for many people who are not familiar with Silicon Valley shenanigans, going back decades, not, this is not new to AI, um, it’s not just neutral characters on the board. It’s a very insular world. It’s on the level of incest, I would say. And so I, for one, was not shocked to discover that Elon Musk had a, again, like a consigliere on the board making decisions. She seemed to be there in many ways, um, serving as a go-between, between Sam and Elon, helping to smooth over conversations, helping to, to help them reach points of agreement when that was possible, and at the very least, have clarity on what the other side was thinking when that was not. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Something else that also g- kind of struck me about not just Zelis’s testimony, but also the other women who had roles in this period of time at OpenAI that was under discussion, is how much even the smartest women were only number twos, number threes, ancillary characters in a drama that starred men. This is all about men, primarily white men, with a tremendous sense of entitlement.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And then there are these salacious journal entries. So, Greg Brockman is the president of OpenAI, and today, he has a 30 billion dollar stake in the company. But he wasn’t always so ludicrously wealthy. During the trial, pages of his personal diary from nearly 10 years ago were read out loud. And what he wrote seems to bolster Musk’s argument that they were all in it for the money, not necessarily for the good of humanity. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Word to the wise, be aware that if you get sued, they’re gonna come looking for this stuff. You know? Like, when he’s, when he’s writing to himself, “What will take me to $1 billion?” it was pretty clear that it sounded like he was interested in becoming rich. You have a guy who was personally ambitious. Um, is that illegal? I don’t know if it’s illegal. It certainly didn’t look good. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The funny thing here about Zelis, and it’s kind of in parallel to, to Brockman, is that, you know, Zelis was taking notes. And also a lot of Zelis’ emails and texts document how early Musk knew that people were talking about a, uh, a for-profit, that Musk himself was talking about a for-profit form of OpenAI. So this kind of ate away at the argument that he was shocked, shocked to discover that self-enrichment had become such a powerful motivator for his colleagues.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Another standout from the trial: texts between Sam Altman and former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati from the night that the OpenAI board voted to fire Altman as CEO. He was reinstated after over 90% of OpenAI employees threatened to quit and work for Microsoft. That in between time period is known as “The Blip.” And the exchanges from the night it started were read in court, and have since gone viral — immediately embedded in the lexicon of internet reaction memes.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rachael and I are going to do a dramatic reading of the texts \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I think I wanna be Mira. Or wait a moment. No, I wanna be Sam. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> You wanna be Sam? Okay. Okay.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow as Sam Altman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Can you indicate directionally good or bad? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Message sent whoosh]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung as Mira Murati: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Directionally very bad. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Message sent whoosh]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow as Sam Altman \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Can I come in? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Message sent whoosh]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung as Mira Murati: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They don’t want you to.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Message sent whoosh]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow as Sam Altman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What do you want to make it better? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Message sent whoosh]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m still willing to just walk away if that helps. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Message sent whoosh]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If they are ramped up for crazy lawsuits against me, then I’m not sure what… \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Message sent whoosh]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Can you please tell them I just wanna resolve this however, \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Message sent whoosh]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">and would like to join?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Message sent whoosh]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung as Mira Murati: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They’re convinced about their decision.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Message sent whoosh]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow as Sam Altman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> For me to be fired or some new thing? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Message sent whoosh]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung as Mira Murati: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes, for you to be gone. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Message sent whoosh]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow as Sam Altman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay. Then can I come in and talk about a path forward with them? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Message sent whoosh]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Can you ask why they’ve been saying all weekend they wanted me back?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Message sent whoosh]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow as Sam Altman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Still don’t want me? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Message sent whoosh]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung as Mira Murati: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They don’t want you\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I mean, these read, these read like the kinds of texts that you would send during a really brutal breakup, like when you’re like, ‘Oh, my friend sees my ex in, in public. Can you please go talk to them?’ You know? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Yeah.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What do they reveal about the power struggle at OpenAI though?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> There was an attempted coup, essentially, precisely because of Sam Altman’s, uh, alleged managerial misbehavior, pitting different people against each other with different stories.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Another OpenAI board member, Helen Toner, shed light on this in her deposition. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Helen Toner basically said that Altman lied about what kind of safety reviews were done about, uh, models of ChatGPT that were released, that he ultimately cleared for release, and which, you know, she could say really wasn’t about AI safety, It was about this, you know, lack of trust in the communication. Microsoft, uh, CEO Satya Nadella, at one point he characterized the entire blip as amateur hour. Uh, these naive board members thinking that they could, you know, hold Sam Altman accountable, uh, for, for lying to them. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Right. I mean, Brockman and Altman were both throwing around some pretty wild accusations about why Musk really wanted control of OpenAI. Um, Brockman said that he wanted to raise massive amounts of money to build a colony on Mars. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Um, Sam Altman claimed that Musk was planning to pass OpenAI down to his children when he died, like succession style. But I mean, everyone’s dirty laundry was aired out in that courtroom. Like, no one came out with clean hands, including Sam Altman. So what did the witnesses say about him and his character? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh my goodness. There were so many people who described him as a liar to the extent that when finally he was directly questioned about being a liar, uh, and he didn’t answer the question directly, it just made him look more like a liar. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There were so many people who talked about his lack of, uh, trustworthiness. Sam Altman on the witness stand for hours being asked why he’s such a big liar. His former chief scientist, his former chief technology officer, two former board members, all testifying under oath that Altman exhibited a consistent pattern of dishonesty.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That is now in the public record forever.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">all of these guys come off as self-serving and, and, uh, backstabbing and oily. I wouldn’t wanna meet any of them in a dark alley or on the other side of a business deal. You know, like, they’re obviously not out for the benefit of humanity. But then we knew that. Didn’t we know that? I think we knew that. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After all that, mountains of evidence, hours of testimony, brutal days spent on those cold, hard, unforgiving courtroom benches, unless you had a fancy butt cushion, the ending of this trial was kind of anticlimactic. It took the jury just two hours to come to a unanimous decision. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The jury decided that Musk simply waited too long to sue. California has statutes of limitations. So you can’t just sit on your claims forever.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, in the end nothing happened! But that doesn’t mean the trial was for nothing. What’s the real outcome here? What did this courtroom drama really reveal? After the break, a new tab. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But first, we wanted to remind you that Close All Tabs depends on listeners like you to keep us going. You can support us by becoming a member at donate.kqed.org/podcasts. Ok, after the break? We’re leaving the courtroom, and going back to the real world. Stick around.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> We’re back! Let’s open one last tab: Musk v. Altman outcome.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So the jury rejected Musk’s case this week. But it’s important to note that they didn’t make that decision based on the legal merit of his case, just that it was too late for Musk to pursue it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And the jury found that Musk knew or should have known what was happening at OpenAI by 2020 at the latest. He filed in 2024. He argued in court, you know, that that’s because it wasn’t that he was opposed to any kind of for-profit division. He just didn’t want one that dominated the nonprofit. And that didn’t become clear to him until 2023. So he wanted to essentially start the clock on the statue of limitations later on in the game\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But OpenAI argued and the judge essentially agreed that Musk needed to have made the case soon after what he saw happening at OpenAI by 2020 at the latest. So all three claims, breach of charitable trust, unjust enrichment, Microsoft aiding and abetting, are gone because of the statute of limitations thing, not because they decided on the merits.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hours after the verdict came out, Elon Musk responded in the most Elon Musk possible way, which is he took it to Twitter, uh, sorry, X, to complain. Um, he did a classic tweet and delete. So the first tweet he said, first post, “This illustrates why the ruling by the terrible activist Oakland judge, who simply used the jury as a fig leaf, creates such a terrible precedent. She just handed a free license to loot charities if you can keep the looting quiet for a few years.” And then deleted that. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Then followed up, “Regarding the OpenAI case, the judge and jury never actually ruled on the merits of the case just on a calendar technicality. There is no question to anyone following the case in detail that Altman and Brockman did in fact enrich themselves by stealing a charity. The only question is when they did it.” \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Did this response surprise you at all?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Not in the slightest. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So now that she makes clear she agrees with the jury, Musk posted ‘she’s a terrible activist Oakland judge who handed out a free license to loot charities.’ Musk is just not sympathetic. Um, but I’m thinking, like President Trump, it wasn’t necessarily important to Musk to win the case, just to file it, to drag Altman through the mud in a very public way ahead of these two IPOs. If what you what is revenge, that’s not nothing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This trial did a number on Sam Altman’s public image. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It certainly revealed a lot of the circular business deals he was involved in. He may have recused himself from the actual votes with some of these companies but he nonetheless profited from them or could profit in the near future. I think this was a habit he picked up at Y Combinator. Anyway, it was laid bare in the courtroom. I think it put another nail in the coffin. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Like, there were protesters outside the courthouse with some very funny signs up. And they poked the most fun at Musk, but they also poked a lot of fun at Sam Altman. You know, it’s Sam Altman’s house that got a Molotov cocktail thrown at it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, like, I think there is a great deal of public discontent, even rage over the rollout of AI into all of our lives. And, you know, this train got rolling out of the station through OpenAI, through ChatGPT, uh, and, you know, it was off to the races for a bunch of companies. But there at the forefront, at least in the beginning, was OpenAI, and Sam Altman is the face of OpenAI. And so this trial and all the mountains of evidence just confirm for people their opinions of Sam Altman.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, if there’s a fan club somebody’s gotta send me a T-shirt to prove it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> A lot of Silicon Valley tends to operate in a kind of bubble, disconnected from the public’s growing discontent around AI. Students are graduating into increasingly unstable careers, thanks to companies pushing to replace human workers with AI, regardless of whether AI can do the jobs better. Nothing shows that disconnect quite like the reaction to commencement speakers who tried to praise AI to a room full of new graduates. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Audio clip from University of Central Florida Graduation] \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Speaker: The rise of artificial intelligence is the next industrial revolution.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Crowd: Boos \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Speaker: Woo! What happened? Ok, I struck a chord! \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Multiple commencement speakers across the country have tried to proselytize AI this month and they were booed each time. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This rejection is not unfounded. While covering the trial, Rachael spoke to one of the protesters outside of the courthouse. Her name is Valerie. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valerie Sizemore:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I used to be a software engineer, but, um, have been unemployed by AI, so now I’m trying to make the resistance happen.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So this trial, um, these two CEOs are fighting over a piece of a pie that, uh, doesn’t really matter for the world. They’re just trying to make themselves richer, but we’re all gonna lose regardless of who wins.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The AI titans, and they are titans now, keep mistaking public resistance for ignorance. Somebody like Valerie isn’t failing to understand the wonders of AI. She’s recognizing that the costs like higher power bills, strained electrical grids, her job disappearing on, her career disappearing on her. Right? A technology class that treats the question of public consent as an annoying inconvenience. I guess what I’m getting at here, Morgan, is that we’re not talking about a PR problem. We’re talking about class warfare.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This was a battle between two billionaires. The trial revolved around this core question: Is OpenAI’s commitment to the benefit of humanity real? Or, is the company’s commitment really to chasing profits at the expense of AI safety? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What was supposed to be the trial of the century ended without answers or accountability. And by ruling on timing instead of the actual merits of the case, the trial also failed to establish any legal precedent for AI governance and guardrails. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It’s not gonna do a damn thing to stop this nightmare. Right? Obviously there’s gonna be an appeal from Musk’s attorneys. Who knows what’ll happen there? But you know, both Musk with his SpaceX IPO and Altman with his OpenAI IPO, they’re just gonna go forward as before. The AI rollout will go on as before.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Who knows if we’ll ever get artificial general intelligence per se? I don’t think it matters. I mean, the changes that have been happening have been happening without artificial general intelligence. They’re, they’re disruptive enough. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> How do you think this case will impact future AI cases?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> OpenAI is a strange creature. It started as a nonprofit, maybe because Musk and Altman intuitively knew that, uh, they had a better chance of raising money at that time if they presented it as for the good of humanity as opposed to, you know, just a chance to get in on this gold rush.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Right? And, and it must be said, and you know, many of the OpenAI principals said it many times that in the beginning, in the first few years of OpenAI, it was not clear at all it was gonna succeed, right? Google seemed to have such a head start and such a well-capitalized head start. So, you know, OpenAI has only become fabulously valued, um, in recent years, and it, it’s still not making money.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">To go back to, you know, like what, what precedent does this set for Silicon Valley? I don’t know that it sets any precedent because who in their right mind would start something like OpenAI again in that way? You would set up a startup like any other group of entrepreneurs and take your chances with that setup.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">All of this theater ended with no real answers, no real accountability, and no real change for the AI industry overall. So then was the point of taking this case to court in the first place? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The judge put tight, and I mean tight brackets around what this case was going to be about at trial, which raises the question for me, why did she take this case in the first place?Why did she give Elon Musk standing if he had unclean hands? He was a rival. He was a competitor in the AI space. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think that Gonzalez Rogers wanted these guys on both sides to be forced to peel back the curtain on how AI came to dominate the world in the way that it does now. And maybe the judge couldn’t give us accountability, but she could give us visibility, and that’s not nothing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And another upside: all those juicy, salacious details that were once just gossip fodder, that’s public record now. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Is there any legal precedent here? I think maybe the point was the theater.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s it for this episode, but stick around after the credits. Ok, let’s close all these tabs. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Close All Tabs is a production of KQED Studios, and is reported and hosted by me, Morgan Sung. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This episode was produced by Chris Egusa and edited by Chris Hambrick. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Close All Tabs team also includes producer Maya Cueva and audio engineer Brendan Willard. Additional music by APM.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is our Director of Podcasts, and Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by the Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. San Francisco Northern California Local.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This episode’s keyboard sounds were submitted by my dad, Casey Sung, and recorded on his white and blue Epomaker Aula F99 keyboard with Graywood v3 switches and Cherry profile PBT keycaps.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thanks for listening! \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rachael Myrow: Steve Molo, uh, the Musk’s attorney: “Have you misled people with whom you do business?” \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Altman “I do not think so.” \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And then Molo says, “Would they think so?”\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And then Altman says, “I can’t answer that.”\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Molo says, “You’ve repeatedly been called a liar by people with whom you’ve done business.”\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Altman: “I have heard people say that.” \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Molo: “Are you completely trustworthy?”\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Altman: “I believe so.”\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Molo: “You don’t know?”\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Altman: “I’ll just amend my answer to yes.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For three weeks, all eyes were on a salacious courtroom drama unfolding in Oakland, California. The Musk v. Altman trial had everything you’d expect from a favorite soap opera: Backstabbing? Check! Secret diary entries? Check! Pleading text messages? Check! And two billionaire buddies turned rivals duking it out over who did or did not steal a charity. Morgan and KQED’s Rachael Myrow explore the trial highlights, outcome and the big question: what was it all for?\u003c/span>\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=KQINC1712425236\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guest:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/rachael-myrow\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rachael Myrow\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, senior editor, Silicon Valley News Desk at KQED\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Further Reading/Listening:\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12084062/federal-court-rules-against-elon-musk-in-his-bitter-feud-with-sam-altman\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Federal Court Rules Against Elon Musk in His Bitter Feud With Sam Altman\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> — Katie DeBenedetti and Rachael Myrow, \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">KQED\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.wired.com/story/fancy-butt-pillows-musk-v-altman-trial/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Everyone at the Musk v. Altman Trial Is Using Fancy Butt Cushions\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> — Paresh Dave, \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">WIRED\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/932464/musk-v-altman-proved-that-ai-is-led-by-the-wrong-people\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Musk v. Altman proved that AI is led by the wrong people\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> — Hayden Field, \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Verge\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/04/13/sam-altman-may-control-our-future-can-he-be-trusted\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sam Altman May Control Our Future—Can He Be Trusted?\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> — Ronan Farrow and Andrew Marantz, \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The New Yorker\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/05/20/nx-s1-5822419/ai-colleges-commencement-booing\">Advice for 2026 commencement speakers: Don’t bring up AI\u003c/a> — Jude Joffe-Block and Michelle Aslam, \u003ci>NPR\u003c/i>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Want to give us feedback on the show? Shoot us an email at \u003ca href=\"mailto:CloseAllTabs@KQED.org\">CloseAllTabs@KQED.org\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Follow us on\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/closealltabspod/\"> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Instagram\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@closealltabs\"> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">TikTok\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-content post-body\">\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung, Host: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hello Tabbers! Tabbies? Tabhive? We’re workshopping this. Ok? \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Anyway, if you’re in the Close All Tabs fandom, and you want more of these deep dives, then please rate and review the show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you’re listening to this! Post about it! Follow us on Instagram! Tag us! Basically, it would be a huge help to get the word out. Ok, let’s get to the show.\u003c/span>\u003cb>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The tech world has been buzzing over one of the juiciest legal showdowns in Silicon Valley: Musk v. Altman. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Basically, Elon Musk, of Tesla and Twitter infamy, accused OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, and its leadership of betraying the company’s nonprofit roots. He alleged that instead of sticking to the original mission, which was to build safe artificial general intelligence for the benefit of all of humanity, the company chased profits over AI safety. He says they “stole a charity.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">On the other side: Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI who co-founded the company with Musk. Once upon a time, they were actually buddies. But today? They’re bitter rivals. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For three weeks, tech billionaires, their legal counsel, their personal security guards, and a throng of journalists packed into a courtroom in Oakland, California. This was a real “who’s who” of the AI industry. The six billionaires who took the stand have a collective net worth of around $850 billion dollars. That’s more than the GDP of most countries. And what did the uber wealthy bring for a long day at court? The hottest accessory in downtown Oakland: Fancy butt cushions. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Record scratch]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow, Guest:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> You know, I have to admit, I was not looking, uh, anywhere in the vicinity of their butts, so I did not see these butt cushions, uh, that I read about in Wired. But, um, I, I did see some more, you know, sober, uh, sensible butt cushions that the lawyers were using.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is Rachael Myrow, she’s the Silicon Valley tech editor at KQED, and she covered the case, trekking out for the grueling 12 days of trial. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And I really should have come up with one of my own because we were in that court, courtroom from 8am in the morning to 2 in the afternoon most days.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This trial was one of the courtroom dramas of the decade. Rachael said it was like \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Silicon Valley\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, the HBO show, meets a telenovela. Before it even started, Musk got so catty online that the judge threatened him with a gag order.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He went on X on the eve of the trial, popping off about Scam Altman until Judge Gonzalez Rogers dressed him down in front of the court.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s just the start of this gossip feast. We’re talking backstabbing! Personal diary entries read aloud! Secret affairs! Over 20 witnesses airing out everyone’s dirty laundry. And after all of that, the jury sided with OpenAI. So does this count as a crushing blow to Elon Musk?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Musk operates like President Trump. He sues for all sorts of reasons, and he also counts a win differently than normal people would count a win.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And he doesn’t need to win in the courtroom to win in other ways. Because nobody walked out of this trial looking great, especially not Sam Altman.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The historical record now shows a group of extraordinarily entitled people, mostly men, scrambling to be the tip of the spear for the AI revolution. Uh, I think the benefit of humanity never had anything to do with it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At the end of the day, nobody really won here. We’re going to get into that and open a few tabs about the trial, the drama leading up to it, the great billionaire AI industry reckoning and what this really means for the rest of us plebeians. Ready?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is Close All Tabs. I’m Morgan Sung, tech journalist and your chronically online friend, here to open as many browser tabs as it takes to help you understand how the digital world affects our real lives. Let’s get into it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ok, let’s open our first tab: Sam Altman, Elon Musk relationship timeline \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">K-dramas, telenovelas, any CW show, pick your poison. At its core, this scenario is a soap opera classic. Two besties have a falling out, struggle for power, and forgetting what they once meant to each other become embroiled in a years-long feud, hell bent on taking the other down. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I don’t know if they ever were friends. But also I wouldn’t say that they were frenemies, and again, this is just from my experience of the trial, \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ok, maybe that was a little bit of fanfiction. But we can’t write off their tech bromance entirely. After all, during the trial, Altman testified under oath that Musk used to show him memes on his phone. That’s pretty intimate, if you ask me. And years before that, they were two very rich guys who shared a dream.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Elon Musk in particular, uh, was very worried about the thought that artificial general intelligence, which is to say AI that surpasses human intelligence, uh, could, uh, come to the hands of one powerful player first, and then they would have, I don’t know, world domination within their grasp. So he got together with Sam Altman of Y Combinator fame or infamy, however you see it, \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Y Combinator is the startup accelerator that launched Reddit, Airbnb, DoorDash, Dropbox, Stripe, Coinbase, the list goes on. Sam Altman was part of the inaugural cohort. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And the two of them cooked up this nonprofit with a charitable mission. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They launched OpenAI in 2015, as a nonprofit artificial intelligence research company. In the first blog post, the company wrote: “Our goal is to advance digital intelligence in the way that is most likely to benefit humanity as a whole, unconstrained by a need to generate financial return. Since our research is free from financial obligations, we can better focus on a positive human impact.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But it doesn’t take long before they realize that if this is gonna be a thing, if this is gonna compete with Google, and whoever else might come along they were gonna need way more money than they were pulling in at the time.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So Elon Musk was spending millions, but they were probably gonna need billions. They started talking about setting up a for-profit division. And it wasn’t long before they realized in this conversation, collectively, that Elon wanted to be in charge of it, in control of it. And you can tell this because, you know, mounds of discovery, personal texts and email chains and personal journal entries made it abundantly clear that Musk was thinking close to the beginning like, ‘I know what I’ll do. We’ll fold this new this for-profit version of OpenAI into Tesla, where I can work on AGI in secret.’\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Well, Sam Altman and the other OpenAI principal co-founders weren’t down for that. Musk walked away in 2018. OpenAI launched ChatGPT in 2022. A year later, Musk announced his own AI startup, xAI, which eventually launched Grok. Musk has boasted about how Grok is not trained to be “woke”, unlike competitors like ChatGPT. OpenAI, meanwhile, has become the belle of the Silicon Valley ball, nabbing billions of dollars of investment from Microsoft. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And at a certain point, it becomes clear that the OpenAI nonprofit is really a shell of its former self. Right? Like, it’s all of the IP, all of the intellectual property has shifted, uh, from the nonprofit to the for-profit, all of the talent…I think it was kind of sitting there employee-free until very recently, and money was put into it. It’s now estimated to be worth about 200 billion, with a B, dollars. But what has this nonprofit been up to? Precious little. Precious little. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And so at some point, Musk decides to sue and to say, ‘Wait a second, you know, um, this is a bait and switch…they’ve abandoned the mission that we cooked up originally and, I want recompense. I want Altman and others, stripped from the board, stripped from their leadership positions. I want, something like $150 billion shifted from the for-profit to the nonprofit.’ But of course, if you’re OpenAI, your attitude is like, ‘Whoa, this is clearly vindictive.’ You know, you didn’t get what you want, that’s why you walked away with your toys and your money, and, uh, you know, we’re gonna see you in court.’\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> This legal showdown has been simmering for years. Between filing in early 2024 and finally walking into the courtroom for his testimony last month, Musk has: filed a motion accusing OpenAI and Microsoft of being a monopoly, led a group of investors in an attempt to buy OpenAI, threatened to sue Apple for giving OpenAI preferential treatment in the App Store, and has gotten into multiple online spats with Altman. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It was 100% clear there’s no love lost, uh, between you know, the principals. You know, what I like to say is, like, nobody has clean hands in this situation.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> So what exactly happened at this trial? Let’s open another new tab: Musk v. Altman \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> On one side you’ve got Elon Musk. You know, he didn’t come to be the wealthiest person on Earth by accident, right? Uh, even if he may not have been the person to start many of the companies he now owns and controls, uh, he took them into the stratosphere, quite literally in the case of SpaceX.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He’s very good at doing that, but he’s also well known to be mercurial, to have a kind of Jekyll and Hyde personality, to push other people to the breaking point.\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And, um, he’s gonna make decisions that, uh, he doesn’t expect to be countermanded on in the slightest. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Then you have somebody like Sam Altman, and, uh, I’ll tell you, it wasn’t any accident that The New Yorker came out with a scandalous profile of Sam Altman on the eve of the trial that basically, uh, described him as a compulsive pathological liar, and all of that came out in the trial too. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Let’s go through a few highlights from this trial. It got pretty juicy when Shivon Zillis took the stand. She’s a venture capitalist and machine learning expert who started working at OpenAI when it launched, and later joined the board of directors. She’s also the mother of four of Musk’s fourteen children. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In her testimony, she said that their relationship started with a “one-off” at a corporate off-site. When she decided to start a family on her own, Musk offered to be her platonic sperm donor. Their relationship grew, and now, they’re romantic partners. She told the OpenAI board about her relationship with Musk only after Business Insider started reporting on it. According to other testimony, many board members wanted to remove her, but decided to let her stay to, “keep the Elon conflict under control.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I think for many people who are not familiar with Silicon Valley shenanigans, going back decades, not, this is not new to AI, um, it’s not just neutral characters on the board. It’s a very insular world. It’s on the level of incest, I would say. And so I, for one, was not shocked to discover that Elon Musk had a, again, like a consigliere on the board making decisions. She seemed to be there in many ways, um, serving as a go-between, between Sam and Elon, helping to smooth over conversations, helping to, to help them reach points of agreement when that was possible, and at the very least, have clarity on what the other side was thinking when that was not. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Something else that also g- kind of struck me about not just Zelis’s testimony, but also the other women who had roles in this period of time at OpenAI that was under discussion, is how much even the smartest women were only number twos, number threes, ancillary characters in a drama that starred men. This is all about men, primarily white men, with a tremendous sense of entitlement.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And then there are these salacious journal entries. So, Greg Brockman is the president of OpenAI, and today, he has a 30 billion dollar stake in the company. But he wasn’t always so ludicrously wealthy. During the trial, pages of his personal diary from nearly 10 years ago were read out loud. And what he wrote seems to bolster Musk’s argument that they were all in it for the money, not necessarily for the good of humanity. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Word to the wise, be aware that if you get sued, they’re gonna come looking for this stuff. You know? Like, when he’s, when he’s writing to himself, “What will take me to $1 billion?” it was pretty clear that it sounded like he was interested in becoming rich. You have a guy who was personally ambitious. Um, is that illegal? I don’t know if it’s illegal. It certainly didn’t look good. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The funny thing here about Zelis, and it’s kind of in parallel to, to Brockman, is that, you know, Zelis was taking notes. And also a lot of Zelis’ emails and texts document how early Musk knew that people were talking about a, uh, a for-profit, that Musk himself was talking about a for-profit form of OpenAI. So this kind of ate away at the argument that he was shocked, shocked to discover that self-enrichment had become such a powerful motivator for his colleagues.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Another standout from the trial: texts between Sam Altman and former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati from the night that the OpenAI board voted to fire Altman as CEO. He was reinstated after over 90% of OpenAI employees threatened to quit and work for Microsoft. That in between time period is known as “The Blip.” And the exchanges from the night it started were read in court, and have since gone viral — immediately embedded in the lexicon of internet reaction memes.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rachael and I are going to do a dramatic reading of the texts \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I think I wanna be Mira. Or wait a moment. No, I wanna be Sam. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> You wanna be Sam? Okay. Okay.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow as Sam Altman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Can you indicate directionally good or bad? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Message sent whoosh]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung as Mira Murati: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Directionally very bad. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Message sent whoosh]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow as Sam Altman \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Can I come in? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Message sent whoosh]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung as Mira Murati: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They don’t want you to.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Message sent whoosh]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow as Sam Altman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What do you want to make it better? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Message sent whoosh]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m still willing to just walk away if that helps. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Message sent whoosh]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If they are ramped up for crazy lawsuits against me, then I’m not sure what… \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Message sent whoosh]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Can you please tell them I just wanna resolve this however, \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Message sent whoosh]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">and would like to join?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Message sent whoosh]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung as Mira Murati: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They’re convinced about their decision.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Message sent whoosh]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow as Sam Altman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> For me to be fired or some new thing? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Message sent whoosh]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung as Mira Murati: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes, for you to be gone. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Message sent whoosh]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow as Sam Altman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Okay. Then can I come in and talk about a path forward with them? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Message sent whoosh]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Can you ask why they’ve been saying all weekend they wanted me back?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Message sent whoosh]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow as Sam Altman: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Still don’t want me? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Message sent whoosh]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung as Mira Murati: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They don’t want you\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I mean, these read, these read like the kinds of texts that you would send during a really brutal breakup, like when you’re like, ‘Oh, my friend sees my ex in, in public. Can you please go talk to them?’ You know? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Yeah.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What do they reveal about the power struggle at OpenAI though?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> There was an attempted coup, essentially, precisely because of Sam Altman’s, uh, alleged managerial misbehavior, pitting different people against each other with different stories.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Another OpenAI board member, Helen Toner, shed light on this in her deposition. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Helen Toner basically said that Altman lied about what kind of safety reviews were done about, uh, models of ChatGPT that were released, that he ultimately cleared for release, and which, you know, she could say really wasn’t about AI safety, It was about this, you know, lack of trust in the communication. Microsoft, uh, CEO Satya Nadella, at one point he characterized the entire blip as amateur hour. Uh, these naive board members thinking that they could, you know, hold Sam Altman accountable, uh, for, for lying to them. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Right. I mean, Brockman and Altman were both throwing around some pretty wild accusations about why Musk really wanted control of OpenAI. Um, Brockman said that he wanted to raise massive amounts of money to build a colony on Mars. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Um, Sam Altman claimed that Musk was planning to pass OpenAI down to his children when he died, like succession style. But I mean, everyone’s dirty laundry was aired out in that courtroom. Like, no one came out with clean hands, including Sam Altman. So what did the witnesses say about him and his character? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh my goodness. There were so many people who described him as a liar to the extent that when finally he was directly questioned about being a liar, uh, and he didn’t answer the question directly, it just made him look more like a liar. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There were so many people who talked about his lack of, uh, trustworthiness. Sam Altman on the witness stand for hours being asked why he’s such a big liar. His former chief scientist, his former chief technology officer, two former board members, all testifying under oath that Altman exhibited a consistent pattern of dishonesty.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That is now in the public record forever.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">all of these guys come off as self-serving and, and, uh, backstabbing and oily. I wouldn’t wanna meet any of them in a dark alley or on the other side of a business deal. You know, like, they’re obviously not out for the benefit of humanity. But then we knew that. Didn’t we know that? I think we knew that. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After all that, mountains of evidence, hours of testimony, brutal days spent on those cold, hard, unforgiving courtroom benches, unless you had a fancy butt cushion, the ending of this trial was kind of anticlimactic. It took the jury just two hours to come to a unanimous decision. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The jury decided that Musk simply waited too long to sue. California has statutes of limitations. So you can’t just sit on your claims forever.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, in the end nothing happened! But that doesn’t mean the trial was for nothing. What’s the real outcome here? What did this courtroom drama really reveal? After the break, a new tab. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But first, we wanted to remind you that Close All Tabs depends on listeners like you to keep us going. You can support us by becoming a member at donate.kqed.org/podcasts. Ok, after the break? We’re leaving the courtroom, and going back to the real world. Stick around.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> We’re back! Let’s open one last tab: Musk v. Altman outcome.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So the jury rejected Musk’s case this week. But it’s important to note that they didn’t make that decision based on the legal merit of his case, just that it was too late for Musk to pursue it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And the jury found that Musk knew or should have known what was happening at OpenAI by 2020 at the latest. He filed in 2024. He argued in court, you know, that that’s because it wasn’t that he was opposed to any kind of for-profit division. He just didn’t want one that dominated the nonprofit. And that didn’t become clear to him until 2023. So he wanted to essentially start the clock on the statue of limitations later on in the game\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But OpenAI argued and the judge essentially agreed that Musk needed to have made the case soon after what he saw happening at OpenAI by 2020 at the latest. So all three claims, breach of charitable trust, unjust enrichment, Microsoft aiding and abetting, are gone because of the statute of limitations thing, not because they decided on the merits.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hours after the verdict came out, Elon Musk responded in the most Elon Musk possible way, which is he took it to Twitter, uh, sorry, X, to complain. Um, he did a classic tweet and delete. So the first tweet he said, first post, “This illustrates why the ruling by the terrible activist Oakland judge, who simply used the jury as a fig leaf, creates such a terrible precedent. She just handed a free license to loot charities if you can keep the looting quiet for a few years.” And then deleted that. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Then followed up, “Regarding the OpenAI case, the judge and jury never actually ruled on the merits of the case just on a calendar technicality. There is no question to anyone following the case in detail that Altman and Brockman did in fact enrich themselves by stealing a charity. The only question is when they did it.” \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Did this response surprise you at all?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Not in the slightest. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So now that she makes clear she agrees with the jury, Musk posted ‘she’s a terrible activist Oakland judge who handed out a free license to loot charities.’ Musk is just not sympathetic. Um, but I’m thinking, like President Trump, it wasn’t necessarily important to Musk to win the case, just to file it, to drag Altman through the mud in a very public way ahead of these two IPOs. If what you what is revenge, that’s not nothing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This trial did a number on Sam Altman’s public image. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It certainly revealed a lot of the circular business deals he was involved in. He may have recused himself from the actual votes with some of these companies but he nonetheless profited from them or could profit in the near future. I think this was a habit he picked up at Y Combinator. Anyway, it was laid bare in the courtroom. I think it put another nail in the coffin. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Like, there were protesters outside the courthouse with some very funny signs up. And they poked the most fun at Musk, but they also poked a lot of fun at Sam Altman. You know, it’s Sam Altman’s house that got a Molotov cocktail thrown at it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, like, I think there is a great deal of public discontent, even rage over the rollout of AI into all of our lives. And, you know, this train got rolling out of the station through OpenAI, through ChatGPT, uh, and, you know, it was off to the races for a bunch of companies. But there at the forefront, at least in the beginning, was OpenAI, and Sam Altman is the face of OpenAI. And so this trial and all the mountains of evidence just confirm for people their opinions of Sam Altman.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, if there’s a fan club somebody’s gotta send me a T-shirt to prove it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> A lot of Silicon Valley tends to operate in a kind of bubble, disconnected from the public’s growing discontent around AI. Students are graduating into increasingly unstable careers, thanks to companies pushing to replace human workers with AI, regardless of whether AI can do the jobs better. Nothing shows that disconnect quite like the reaction to commencement speakers who tried to praise AI to a room full of new graduates. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Audio clip from University of Central Florida Graduation] \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Speaker: The rise of artificial intelligence is the next industrial revolution.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Crowd: Boos \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Speaker: Woo! What happened? Ok, I struck a chord! \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Multiple commencement speakers across the country have tried to proselytize AI this month and they were booed each time. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This rejection is not unfounded. While covering the trial, Rachael spoke to one of the protesters outside of the courthouse. Her name is Valerie. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valerie Sizemore:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I used to be a software engineer, but, um, have been unemployed by AI, so now I’m trying to make the resistance happen.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So this trial, um, these two CEOs are fighting over a piece of a pie that, uh, doesn’t really matter for the world. They’re just trying to make themselves richer, but we’re all gonna lose regardless of who wins.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The AI titans, and they are titans now, keep mistaking public resistance for ignorance. Somebody like Valerie isn’t failing to understand the wonders of AI. She’s recognizing that the costs like higher power bills, strained electrical grids, her job disappearing on, her career disappearing on her. Right? A technology class that treats the question of public consent as an annoying inconvenience. I guess what I’m getting at here, Morgan, is that we’re not talking about a PR problem. We’re talking about class warfare.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This was a battle between two billionaires. The trial revolved around this core question: Is OpenAI’s commitment to the benefit of humanity real? Or, is the company’s commitment really to chasing profits at the expense of AI safety? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What was supposed to be the trial of the century ended without answers or accountability. And by ruling on timing instead of the actual merits of the case, the trial also failed to establish any legal precedent for AI governance and guardrails. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It’s not gonna do a damn thing to stop this nightmare. Right? Obviously there’s gonna be an appeal from Musk’s attorneys. Who knows what’ll happen there? But you know, both Musk with his SpaceX IPO and Altman with his OpenAI IPO, they’re just gonna go forward as before. The AI rollout will go on as before.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Who knows if we’ll ever get artificial general intelligence per se? I don’t think it matters. I mean, the changes that have been happening have been happening without artificial general intelligence. They’re, they’re disruptive enough. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> How do you think this case will impact future AI cases?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> OpenAI is a strange creature. It started as a nonprofit, maybe because Musk and Altman intuitively knew that, uh, they had a better chance of raising money at that time if they presented it as for the good of humanity as opposed to, you know, just a chance to get in on this gold rush.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Right? And, and it must be said, and you know, many of the OpenAI principals said it many times that in the beginning, in the first few years of OpenAI, it was not clear at all it was gonna succeed, right? Google seemed to have such a head start and such a well-capitalized head start. So, you know, OpenAI has only become fabulously valued, um, in recent years, and it, it’s still not making money.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">To go back to, you know, like what, what precedent does this set for Silicon Valley? I don’t know that it sets any precedent because who in their right mind would start something like OpenAI again in that way? You would set up a startup like any other group of entrepreneurs and take your chances with that setup.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">All of this theater ended with no real answers, no real accountability, and no real change for the AI industry overall. So then was the point of taking this case to court in the first place? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The judge put tight, and I mean tight brackets around what this case was going to be about at trial, which raises the question for me, why did she take this case in the first place?Why did she give Elon Musk standing if he had unclean hands? He was a rival. He was a competitor in the AI space. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think that Gonzalez Rogers wanted these guys on both sides to be forced to peel back the curtain on how AI came to dominate the world in the way that it does now. And maybe the judge couldn’t give us accountability, but she could give us visibility, and that’s not nothing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And another upside: all those juicy, salacious details that were once just gossip fodder, that’s public record now. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rachael Myrow: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Is there any legal precedent here? I think maybe the point was the theater.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Morgan Sung: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s it for this episode, but stick around after the credits. Ok, let’s close all these tabs. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Close All Tabs is a production of KQED Studios, and is reported and hosted by me, Morgan Sung. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This episode was produced by Chris Egusa and edited by Chris Hambrick. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Close All Tabs team also includes producer Maya Cueva and audio engineer Brendan Willard. Additional music by APM.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is our Director of Podcasts, and Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by the Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. San Francisco Northern California Local.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This episode’s keyboard sounds were submitted by my dad, Casey Sung, and recorded on his white and blue Epomaker Aula F99 keyboard with Graywood v3 switches and Cherry profile PBT keycaps.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thanks for listening! \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rachael Myrow: Steve Molo, uh, the Musk’s attorney: “Have you misled people with whom you do business?” \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Altman “I do not think so.” \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And then Molo says, “Would they think so?”\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And then Altman says, “I can’t answer that.”\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Molo says, “You’ve repeatedly been called a liar by people with whom you’ve done business.”\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Altman: “I have heard people say that.” \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Molo: “Are you completely trustworthy?”\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Altman: “I believe so.”\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Molo: “You don’t know?”\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Altman: “I’ll just amend my answer to yes.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>"
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"slug": "california-judges-are-testing-a-new-ai-clerk-you-wont-know-if-its-looking-at-your-case",
"title": "California Judges Are Testing a New AI Clerk. You Won’t Know if It’s Looking at Your Case",
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"headTitle": "California Judges Are Testing a New AI Clerk. You Won’t Know if It’s Looking at Your Case | 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>Two of California’s largest courts are testing an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/artificial-intelligence\">AI tool\u003c/a> that can draft orders and produce research memos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Judges so far are using it primarily for civil cases, but documents obtained by CalMatters indicate the possibility of expanded applications in criminal cases, where people’s freedom and access to justice are on the line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Los Angeles County Superior Court \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-03-18/ai-pilot-program-la-county-courts\">began a pilot program\u003c/a> in February to test a tool created by the company Learned Hand. Other courts may follow, according to Learned Hand founder and chief executive officer Shlomo Klapper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Learned Hand uses a combination of language models from Anthropic, OpenAI and Google to act as an AI clerk for judges. The company says it tests for bias and accuracy, but it has not yet published results.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Riverside County, which has a $10,000 agreement with the company to test the program, civil and probate attorneys are primarily using the tool to draft research memos that help judges reach their decisions. It’s typical for research attorneys to assist judges as they review cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Los Angeles County Superior Court has a roughly $314,000 contract that includes a roadmap to test the tool’s use in criminal, family and probate divisions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12079282\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12079282\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/GettyImages-2233287472.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/GettyImages-2233287472.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/GettyImages-2233287472-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/GettyImages-2233287472-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Salesforce Tower is seen reflected in windows of 500 Howard Street, where AI firm Anthropic subleased Slack’s office, in downtown San Francisco, California on Oct. 19, 2023. \u003ccite>(Loren Elliott for The Washington Post via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Officials would not describe in detail to CalMatters the criteria they’re using to evaluate whether use of the tool can safely expand to criminal and family courts, where the stakes are often much higher than in civil cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One judge who spoke to CalMatters on condition of anonymity due to judicial rules of conduct was alarmed when their colleagues at a recent luncheon said the technology could be used one day to evaluate appeals from people who believe their conviction or sentence was tainted by racial bias. California courts are handling a wave of those claims after lawmakers passed the Racial Justice Act in 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it is outrageous,” said the Los Angeles County Superior Court judge. “AI cannot and never will be able to replace human judgment in evaluating complex social dynamics. Ultimately, that will erode the public’s confidence in the competence and fairness of the judiciary.”[aside postID=news_12084655 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GavinNewsomAP.jpg']A majority of California’s superior courts now have generative AI use policies, according to documents obtained by CalMatters via public records requests, which they were required to create by the state Judicial Council before using the technology. Roughly a dozen of the 51 courts that have responded to CalMatters’ requests said they are using AI-powered tools from LexisNexis, Thomson Reuters, and Microsoft’s Copilot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Use of AI in courts has been controversial because of the propensity of AI models to cite falsehoods and to produce sycophantic text. Models from major companies like Google and Anthropic can \u003ca href=\"https://www.media.mit.edu/publications/your-brain-on-chatgpt/\">reduce critical thinking and brain activity\u003c/a>, according to a 2025 MIT study.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Language model hallucinations have already made it into the judicial system. Researcher Damien Charlotin has \u003ca href=\"https://www.damiencharlotin.com/hallucinations/\">documented hundreds of instances\u003c/a> of litigants, lawyers, and judges making mistakes when using AI to do their jobs including nearly 90 cases in state or federal courts based in California since August 2024.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last fall, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2025/09/chatgpt-lawyer-fine-ai-regulation/\">a Los Angeles-based lawyer received a historic $10,000 fine\u003c/a> for citing cases that don’t exist, and earlier this month the \u003cem>Sacramento Bee\u003c/em> reported that use of AI led to errors in \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article315238766.html\">four cases handled by prosecutors in Nevada County\u003c/a>. Most of these cases involve lawyers or people who are representing themselves in court, but UCLA Law School professors predict that \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2025/09/chatgpt-lawyer-fine-ai-regulation/\">more judges will make AI-fueled mistakes\u003c/a> in the future. In recent months,\u003ca href=\"https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/press/rep/releases/grassley-scrutinizes-federal-judges-apparent-ai-use-in-drafting-error-ridden-rulings\"> the U.S. Senate investigated federal judges\u003c/a> in Mississippi and New Jersey for drafting decisions with generative AI that had serious factual errors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Klapper, who previously worked as a clerk for a federal appeals court and for surveillance technology company Palantir, said the judiciary needs AI in order to reduce backlogs and increase efficiency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12085153\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12085153\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2263718744.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1237\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2263718744.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2263718744-160x100.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2263718744-1536x960.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of the Los Angeles Superior Court at United States Court House on Feb. 26, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. \u003ccite>(Mario Tama/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Could we hire more people?” he told CalMatters. “Maybe, but it’s not going to keep pace with the exponential increase that’s coming, nor is it going to be able to adequately solve the crisis of today. I think the only solution is to give every single judge and staff attorney their own AI clerk.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Klapper said he’s aiming to combine the best parts of what human judges can do with the best parts of what machines bring to bear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not saying all machines aren’t biased,” he said. “I’m not saying my machine isn’t even biased. I’m saying we can test it and people have tested it. And that is the benefit over humans.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Generative AI use policies for the Los Angeles and Riverside County superior courts only require disclosure if a motion, decision, or other document is written entirely with generative AI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both courts refused to say whether plaintiffs are aware that the tool is being tested on their cases. In a statement to CalMatters, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Superior Court said testing is done on motions that have already been decided, separate from live case environments. However, the contract allows for testing on live cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is important to note that even with successful evaluation and thorough testing, the Court remains several months, if not years, away from implementing this type of tool,” said the spokesperson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The contract allows the tool to be used for two critical motions in the criminal division: A motion to suppress, which is designed to determine what type of evidence the prosecution is allowed to present at trial, and motions for post conviction relief, which are filed by people who have already been convicted and want another shot at freedom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12085154\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12085154\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2262710662.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2262710662.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2262710662-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2262710662-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Los Angeles County district attorney Nathan J. Hochman seen after the arraignment of Nick Reiner at the Los Angeles Superior Court in downtown Los Angeles, United States on Feb. 2026. \u003ccite>(Putman/Anadolu via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That’s the “greatest concern” for Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman. When he reviewed the contract, he referred to the motions as “two incredibly important motions in the criminal justice system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you’re dealing with someone’s liberty — as opposed to in the civil setting, which is everything other than liberty — the stakes couldn’t be higher,” said Hochman. “I don’t want to take the chance, particularly in a criminal case, that AI happens to get it wrong. And now someone’s constitutional rights have been infringed. Someone has gone to prison who shouldn’t have, or on the flip side, that somehow someone gets off.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘An extremely perilous road’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In Los Angeles, some judges first heard about the new Learned Hand contract during a March presentation by Superior Court Judges Yvette Verastegui and Olivia Rosales. They lead the criminal branch and visit courthouses throughout the county as part of an annual roadshow, where they update judges on court operations, discuss workload and field questions. During a luncheon, Verastegui and Rosales said the tool could be used to assist with Racial Justice Act petitions in the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/justice/2024/11/california-racial-justice-act/\">California’s Racial Justice Act\u003c/a> allows people to challenge a criminal conviction or sentence that they believe was based upon racial bias. Petitions are filed directly to the court from people in state prison. If a case is found to have merit, the process includes appointing legal counsel, filing briefs and setting evidentiary hearings before a judge would decide whether to grant the petition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That process could look different with a tool like Learned Hand. Verastegui and Rosales explained that, following an incarcerated person’s petition, the tool could generate tentative decisions for judges to consider in denying or advancing cases to the next stages, according to one judge who attended the luncheon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12037905\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12037905\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240324_SANTACLARASUPERIORCOURT_GC-2-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240324_SANTACLARASUPERIORCOURT_GC-2-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240324_SANTACLARASUPERIORCOURT_GC-2-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240324_SANTACLARASUPERIORCOURT_GC-2-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240324_SANTACLARASUPERIORCOURT_GC-2-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240324_SANTACLARASUPERIORCOURT_GC-2-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240324_SANTACLARASUPERIORCOURT_GC-2-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Santa Clara County Superior Court in San José on March 24, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The concern, of course, that I have is that the courts will utilize that as a reference point and then get stuck to that initial analysis,” said the judge. “It’s an extremely perilous road to go down. Putting aside the inaccuracy, which will be a significant concern, it dehumanizes the whole process. It does not treat people as individuals with lived experiences. It essentially reimposes a one-size-fits-all style of justice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A second Los Angeles Superior Court judge who spoke with CalMatters on the condition of anonymity remembered the presentation and said they would not trust nor use the tool to summarize a Racial Justice Act petition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>AI can replicate or intensify patterns contained in the data used to make a model, including human biases. Large language models have a \u003ca href=\"https://hai.stanford.edu/news/covert-racism-ai-how-language-models-are-reinforcing-outdated-stereotypes\">history of demonstrating race and gender bias\u003c/a>, an analysis of predictive policing tech used by LAPD \u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/07/lapd-predictive-policing-surveillance-reform\">found racial bias\u003c/a>, and an analysis of the risk assessment algorithm COMPAS found that it is \u003ca href=\"https://www.propublica.org/article/machine-bias-risk-assessments-in-criminal-sentencing\">more likely to label Black people as at risk of committing crimes\u003c/a> after incarceration than white people with a similar record.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Public defenders who spoke with CalMatters echoed those concerns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elizabeth Lashley-Haynes, a deputy public defender at the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office, said it would be “highly problematic and bordering on unethical” for a judge to use the tool to review Racial Justice Act petitions, which she described as “incredibly nuanced.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re like nothing else in the legal system that has ever really been done,” said Lashley-Haynes, who specializes in Racial Justice Act cases. “Words that are used in these cases that have racial undertones or racial meanings are way beyond the realm of anything that artificial intelligence could do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12085155\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12085155\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/031225-MentalHealth-JAH-CM-11.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/031225-MentalHealth-JAH-CM-11.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/031225-MentalHealth-JAH-CM-11-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/031225-MentalHealth-JAH-CM-11-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Los Angeles County Superior Court’s Hollywood Courthouse, in Los Angeles, on March 12, 2025. \u003ccite>(Jules Hotz for CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In interviews with CalMatters, Klapper and Los Angeles County Superior Court Executive Officer, David Slayton, denied that the court has any plans to use the tool for Racial Justice Act petitions. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Superior Court later confirmed in an email to CalMatters that the contract permits the tool to be used in such a way “but that possibility has not commenced in any way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Klapper said if they were to build out a Racial Justice Act module, the tool would need to be evaluated for bias and co-developed with the court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The timing very fortuitous, right?” he said. “It’s a very fraught decision, I’m not going to lie…extremely high stakes — a scenario where I understand people might be very concerned. Especially with criminal, I have even more hesitancy, even more guardrails than normal about, because there are liberty interests at stake.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Extending beyond civil cases\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In Los Angeles, six superior court judges and their research attorneys are primarily using the Learned Hand tool to conduct research, summarize motions and assist in drafting tentative rulings, according to Slayton. He says the tool won’t move beyond the civil division “until the court leadership is comfortable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The court is being very deliberate and careful about how we use technology like this,” he said. “So until we evaluate it and determine that it is effective in those areas, we will not extend it to other areas.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tool will be evaluated on a quarterly basis to determine its future application, Slayton said, but he did not specify what kind of evaluation that entails. In an email to CalMatters, a spokesperson later said that Learned Hand is evaluated “against the same substantive expectations applied to law clerks and research attorneys: accurate legal research, sound analysis, neutral and judge-ready writing, and reliable work product that supports judicial decision-making.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12066914\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12066914\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/DonaldTrumpGetty1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1379\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/DonaldTrumpGetty1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/DonaldTrumpGetty1-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/DonaldTrumpGetty1-1536x1059.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">U.S. President Donald Trump displays a signed executive order in the Oval Office of the White House on Dec. 11, 2025, in Washington, D.C. The executive order curbs states’ ability to regulate artificial intelligence, something for which the tech industry has been lobbying. \u003ccite>(Alex Wong/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Samantha Jessner, who chairs the Judicial Technology Advisory Committee, said she was unaware of the possibility that the tool could eventually be used outside of the civil division until recently. Judges are not privy to contract negotiations due to certain ethical limitations, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think we have a duty and obligation to explore whether or not there is a place for artificial intelligence in what we do as a judicial branch and that’s exactly what this pilot is intended to afford us the opportunity to do,” said Jessner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Riverside County Superior Court signed an agreement with Learned Hand in February. In emails obtained by CalMatters, Klapper proposed to two Riverside County Superior Court executives, Jason Galkin and Sarah Hodgson, that the court use the tool for a common civil court motion and “then expand quickly once we earn our stripes.” He suggested that Hodgson assemble a list of motions and workflows “that generate the most pain,” citing examples that included the Racial Justice Act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Roughly two weeks later, Hodgson described the most laborious motions “that want to drive us into retirement,” including discovery motions and attorney fee motions. For criminal cases, the court suggested that Klapper focus on “things with the largest paper records,” citing death penalty habeas petitions and parole revocation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the pilot started, seven civil and probate attorneys have been granted access to the tool. Galkin, the chief executive officer of the Riverside County Superior Court, said they are “kicking the tires on the product” to see what tasks it can do. The tool is not being used to draft tentative rulings, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11985952\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11985952\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/AP24134775174210-scaled-e1770337042768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The OpenAI logo is seen on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen displaying output from ChatGPT, March 21, 2023, in Boston. OpenAI has introduced a new artificial intelligence model. It says it works faster than previous versions and can reason across text, audio and video in real time. \u003ccite>(Michael Dwyer/Associated Press)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We don’t even know if expansion is likely so there is no set criteria for what expansion might look like or thresholds for that because right now, the core question is: Does this help staff and does it advance what they’re trying to do in their roles?” said Galkin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As testing is underway, attorneys like Hochman say that use of AI is inevitable, but would be better suited for low-level, repetitive and routine tasks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s the analysis of the case itself, coupled with the conclusions that will be reached, that I’m very hesitant to trust AI at this point — in large part, because I don’t know all of the inputs that AI is using to make its decision. The only thing I’m 100% sure of is that AI didn’t go to law school,” said Hochman.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Cayla Mihalovich is a California Local News fellow.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2026/05/ai-los-angeles-riverside-courts/\">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/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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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>Two of California’s largest courts are testing an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/artificial-intelligence\">AI tool\u003c/a> that can draft orders and produce research memos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Judges so far are using it primarily for civil cases, but documents obtained by CalMatters indicate the possibility of expanded applications in criminal cases, where people’s freedom and access to justice are on the line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Los Angeles County Superior Court \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-03-18/ai-pilot-program-la-county-courts\">began a pilot program\u003c/a> in February to test a tool created by the company Learned Hand. Other courts may follow, according to Learned Hand founder and chief executive officer Shlomo Klapper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Learned Hand uses a combination of language models from Anthropic, OpenAI and Google to act as an AI clerk for judges. The company says it tests for bias and accuracy, but it has not yet published results.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Riverside County, which has a $10,000 agreement with the company to test the program, civil and probate attorneys are primarily using the tool to draft research memos that help judges reach their decisions. It’s typical for research attorneys to assist judges as they review cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Los Angeles County Superior Court has a roughly $314,000 contract that includes a roadmap to test the tool’s use in criminal, family and probate divisions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12079282\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12079282\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/GettyImages-2233287472.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/GettyImages-2233287472.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/GettyImages-2233287472-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/GettyImages-2233287472-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Salesforce Tower is seen reflected in windows of 500 Howard Street, where AI firm Anthropic subleased Slack’s office, in downtown San Francisco, California on Oct. 19, 2023. \u003ccite>(Loren Elliott for The Washington Post via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Officials would not describe in detail to CalMatters the criteria they’re using to evaluate whether use of the tool can safely expand to criminal and family courts, where the stakes are often much higher than in civil cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One judge who spoke to CalMatters on condition of anonymity due to judicial rules of conduct was alarmed when their colleagues at a recent luncheon said the technology could be used one day to evaluate appeals from people who believe their conviction or sentence was tainted by racial bias. California courts are handling a wave of those claims after lawmakers passed the Racial Justice Act in 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it is outrageous,” said the Los Angeles County Superior Court judge. “AI cannot and never will be able to replace human judgment in evaluating complex social dynamics. Ultimately, that will erode the public’s confidence in the competence and fairness of the judiciary.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>A majority of California’s superior courts now have generative AI use policies, according to documents obtained by CalMatters via public records requests, which they were required to create by the state Judicial Council before using the technology. Roughly a dozen of the 51 courts that have responded to CalMatters’ requests said they are using AI-powered tools from LexisNexis, Thomson Reuters, and Microsoft’s Copilot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Use of AI in courts has been controversial because of the propensity of AI models to cite falsehoods and to produce sycophantic text. Models from major companies like Google and Anthropic can \u003ca href=\"https://www.media.mit.edu/publications/your-brain-on-chatgpt/\">reduce critical thinking and brain activity\u003c/a>, according to a 2025 MIT study.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Language model hallucinations have already made it into the judicial system. Researcher Damien Charlotin has \u003ca href=\"https://www.damiencharlotin.com/hallucinations/\">documented hundreds of instances\u003c/a> of litigants, lawyers, and judges making mistakes when using AI to do their jobs including nearly 90 cases in state or federal courts based in California since August 2024.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last fall, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2025/09/chatgpt-lawyer-fine-ai-regulation/\">a Los Angeles-based lawyer received a historic $10,000 fine\u003c/a> for citing cases that don’t exist, and earlier this month the \u003cem>Sacramento Bee\u003c/em> reported that use of AI led to errors in \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article315238766.html\">four cases handled by prosecutors in Nevada County\u003c/a>. Most of these cases involve lawyers or people who are representing themselves in court, but UCLA Law School professors predict that \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2025/09/chatgpt-lawyer-fine-ai-regulation/\">more judges will make AI-fueled mistakes\u003c/a> in the future. In recent months,\u003ca href=\"https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/press/rep/releases/grassley-scrutinizes-federal-judges-apparent-ai-use-in-drafting-error-ridden-rulings\"> the U.S. Senate investigated federal judges\u003c/a> in Mississippi and New Jersey for drafting decisions with generative AI that had serious factual errors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Klapper, who previously worked as a clerk for a federal appeals court and for surveillance technology company Palantir, said the judiciary needs AI in order to reduce backlogs and increase efficiency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12085153\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12085153\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2263718744.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1237\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2263718744.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2263718744-160x100.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2263718744-1536x960.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of the Los Angeles Superior Court at United States Court House on Feb. 26, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. \u003ccite>(Mario Tama/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Could we hire more people?” he told CalMatters. “Maybe, but it’s not going to keep pace with the exponential increase that’s coming, nor is it going to be able to adequately solve the crisis of today. I think the only solution is to give every single judge and staff attorney their own AI clerk.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Klapper said he’s aiming to combine the best parts of what human judges can do with the best parts of what machines bring to bear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not saying all machines aren’t biased,” he said. “I’m not saying my machine isn’t even biased. I’m saying we can test it and people have tested it. And that is the benefit over humans.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Generative AI use policies for the Los Angeles and Riverside County superior courts only require disclosure if a motion, decision, or other document is written entirely with generative AI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both courts refused to say whether plaintiffs are aware that the tool is being tested on their cases. In a statement to CalMatters, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Superior Court said testing is done on motions that have already been decided, separate from live case environments. However, the contract allows for testing on live cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is important to note that even with successful evaluation and thorough testing, the Court remains several months, if not years, away from implementing this type of tool,” said the spokesperson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The contract allows the tool to be used for two critical motions in the criminal division: A motion to suppress, which is designed to determine what type of evidence the prosecution is allowed to present at trial, and motions for post conviction relief, which are filed by people who have already been convicted and want another shot at freedom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12085154\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12085154\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2262710662.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2262710662.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2262710662-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2262710662-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Los Angeles County district attorney Nathan J. Hochman seen after the arraignment of Nick Reiner at the Los Angeles Superior Court in downtown Los Angeles, United States on Feb. 2026. \u003ccite>(Putman/Anadolu via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That’s the “greatest concern” for Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman. When he reviewed the contract, he referred to the motions as “two incredibly important motions in the criminal justice system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you’re dealing with someone’s liberty — as opposed to in the civil setting, which is everything other than liberty — the stakes couldn’t be higher,” said Hochman. “I don’t want to take the chance, particularly in a criminal case, that AI happens to get it wrong. And now someone’s constitutional rights have been infringed. Someone has gone to prison who shouldn’t have, or on the flip side, that somehow someone gets off.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘An extremely perilous road’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In Los Angeles, some judges first heard about the new Learned Hand contract during a March presentation by Superior Court Judges Yvette Verastegui and Olivia Rosales. They lead the criminal branch and visit courthouses throughout the county as part of an annual roadshow, where they update judges on court operations, discuss workload and field questions. During a luncheon, Verastegui and Rosales said the tool could be used to assist with Racial Justice Act petitions in the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/justice/2024/11/california-racial-justice-act/\">California’s Racial Justice Act\u003c/a> allows people to challenge a criminal conviction or sentence that they believe was based upon racial bias. Petitions are filed directly to the court from people in state prison. If a case is found to have merit, the process includes appointing legal counsel, filing briefs and setting evidentiary hearings before a judge would decide whether to grant the petition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That process could look different with a tool like Learned Hand. Verastegui and Rosales explained that, following an incarcerated person’s petition, the tool could generate tentative decisions for judges to consider in denying or advancing cases to the next stages, according to one judge who attended the luncheon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12037905\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12037905\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240324_SANTACLARASUPERIORCOURT_GC-2-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240324_SANTACLARASUPERIORCOURT_GC-2-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240324_SANTACLARASUPERIORCOURT_GC-2-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240324_SANTACLARASUPERIORCOURT_GC-2-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240324_SANTACLARASUPERIORCOURT_GC-2-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240324_SANTACLARASUPERIORCOURT_GC-2-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240324_SANTACLARASUPERIORCOURT_GC-2-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Santa Clara County Superior Court in San José on March 24, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The concern, of course, that I have is that the courts will utilize that as a reference point and then get stuck to that initial analysis,” said the judge. “It’s an extremely perilous road to go down. Putting aside the inaccuracy, which will be a significant concern, it dehumanizes the whole process. It does not treat people as individuals with lived experiences. It essentially reimposes a one-size-fits-all style of justice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A second Los Angeles Superior Court judge who spoke with CalMatters on the condition of anonymity remembered the presentation and said they would not trust nor use the tool to summarize a Racial Justice Act petition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>AI can replicate or intensify patterns contained in the data used to make a model, including human biases. Large language models have a \u003ca href=\"https://hai.stanford.edu/news/covert-racism-ai-how-language-models-are-reinforcing-outdated-stereotypes\">history of demonstrating race and gender bias\u003c/a>, an analysis of predictive policing tech used by LAPD \u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/07/lapd-predictive-policing-surveillance-reform\">found racial bias\u003c/a>, and an analysis of the risk assessment algorithm COMPAS found that it is \u003ca href=\"https://www.propublica.org/article/machine-bias-risk-assessments-in-criminal-sentencing\">more likely to label Black people as at risk of committing crimes\u003c/a> after incarceration than white people with a similar record.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Public defenders who spoke with CalMatters echoed those concerns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elizabeth Lashley-Haynes, a deputy public defender at the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office, said it would be “highly problematic and bordering on unethical” for a judge to use the tool to review Racial Justice Act petitions, which she described as “incredibly nuanced.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re like nothing else in the legal system that has ever really been done,” said Lashley-Haynes, who specializes in Racial Justice Act cases. “Words that are used in these cases that have racial undertones or racial meanings are way beyond the realm of anything that artificial intelligence could do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12085155\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12085155\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/031225-MentalHealth-JAH-CM-11.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/031225-MentalHealth-JAH-CM-11.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/031225-MentalHealth-JAH-CM-11-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/031225-MentalHealth-JAH-CM-11-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Los Angeles County Superior Court’s Hollywood Courthouse, in Los Angeles, on March 12, 2025. \u003ccite>(Jules Hotz for CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In interviews with CalMatters, Klapper and Los Angeles County Superior Court Executive Officer, David Slayton, denied that the court has any plans to use the tool for Racial Justice Act petitions. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Superior Court later confirmed in an email to CalMatters that the contract permits the tool to be used in such a way “but that possibility has not commenced in any way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Klapper said if they were to build out a Racial Justice Act module, the tool would need to be evaluated for bias and co-developed with the court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The timing very fortuitous, right?” he said. “It’s a very fraught decision, I’m not going to lie…extremely high stakes — a scenario where I understand people might be very concerned. Especially with criminal, I have even more hesitancy, even more guardrails than normal about, because there are liberty interests at stake.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Extending beyond civil cases\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In Los Angeles, six superior court judges and their research attorneys are primarily using the Learned Hand tool to conduct research, summarize motions and assist in drafting tentative rulings, according to Slayton. He says the tool won’t move beyond the civil division “until the court leadership is comfortable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The court is being very deliberate and careful about how we use technology like this,” he said. “So until we evaluate it and determine that it is effective in those areas, we will not extend it to other areas.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tool will be evaluated on a quarterly basis to determine its future application, Slayton said, but he did not specify what kind of evaluation that entails. In an email to CalMatters, a spokesperson later said that Learned Hand is evaluated “against the same substantive expectations applied to law clerks and research attorneys: accurate legal research, sound analysis, neutral and judge-ready writing, and reliable work product that supports judicial decision-making.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12066914\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12066914\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/DonaldTrumpGetty1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1379\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/DonaldTrumpGetty1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/DonaldTrumpGetty1-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/DonaldTrumpGetty1-1536x1059.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">U.S. President Donald Trump displays a signed executive order in the Oval Office of the White House on Dec. 11, 2025, in Washington, D.C. The executive order curbs states’ ability to regulate artificial intelligence, something for which the tech industry has been lobbying. \u003ccite>(Alex Wong/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Samantha Jessner, who chairs the Judicial Technology Advisory Committee, said she was unaware of the possibility that the tool could eventually be used outside of the civil division until recently. Judges are not privy to contract negotiations due to certain ethical limitations, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think we have a duty and obligation to explore whether or not there is a place for artificial intelligence in what we do as a judicial branch and that’s exactly what this pilot is intended to afford us the opportunity to do,” said Jessner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Riverside County Superior Court signed an agreement with Learned Hand in February. In emails obtained by CalMatters, Klapper proposed to two Riverside County Superior Court executives, Jason Galkin and Sarah Hodgson, that the court use the tool for a common civil court motion and “then expand quickly once we earn our stripes.” He suggested that Hodgson assemble a list of motions and workflows “that generate the most pain,” citing examples that included the Racial Justice Act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Roughly two weeks later, Hodgson described the most laborious motions “that want to drive us into retirement,” including discovery motions and attorney fee motions. For criminal cases, the court suggested that Klapper focus on “things with the largest paper records,” citing death penalty habeas petitions and parole revocation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the pilot started, seven civil and probate attorneys have been granted access to the tool. Galkin, the chief executive officer of the Riverside County Superior Court, said they are “kicking the tires on the product” to see what tasks it can do. The tool is not being used to draft tentative rulings, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11985952\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11985952\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/AP24134775174210-scaled-e1770337042768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The OpenAI logo is seen on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen displaying output from ChatGPT, March 21, 2023, in Boston. OpenAI has introduced a new artificial intelligence model. It says it works faster than previous versions and can reason across text, audio and video in real time. \u003ccite>(Michael Dwyer/Associated Press)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We don’t even know if expansion is likely so there is no set criteria for what expansion might look like or thresholds for that because right now, the core question is: Does this help staff and does it advance what they’re trying to do in their roles?” said Galkin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As testing is underway, attorneys like Hochman say that use of AI is inevitable, but would be better suited for low-level, repetitive and routine tasks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s the analysis of the case itself, coupled with the conclusions that will be reached, that I’m very hesitant to trust AI at this point — in large part, because I don’t know all of the inputs that AI is using to make its decision. The only thing I’m 100% sure of is that AI didn’t go to law school,” said Hochman.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Cayla Mihalovich is a California Local News fellow.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2026/05/ai-los-angeles-riverside-courts/\">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/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cb>Here are the morning’s top stories on Friday, May 22, 2026\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In California’s crowded race for governor, almost every candidate has made \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12084487/how-californias-next-governor-would-tackle-rent-insurance-and-housing-costs\">housing affordability\u003c/a> a central part of their campaign. While the candidates have varied approaches on this issue, and there’s a lot they agree on, there are also some key differences. \u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Data centers are expanding into water-stressed communities across California, like the Imperial Valley. At the same time, data center operators are using loopholes to hide \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/water/2026/05/california-data-centers-water-transparency/\">how much water these facilities are using.\u003c/a> These findings are from a new report backed by Santa Clara University and the think tank Next10.\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2 class=\"routes-Site-routes-Post-Title-__Title__title\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12084487/how-californias-next-governor-would-tackle-rent-insurance-and-housing-costs\">\u003cstrong>How California’s next governor would tackle rent, insurance and housing costs\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When it comes to affording rent or a home mortgage in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a>, every candidate in the race for governor seems to have a personal stake. Katie Porter wants her three teenage children to eventually move off her couch. Antonio Villaraigosa wants reliable home insurance. Matt Mahan doesn’t want to fight with his wife over their mortgage, as his parents did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the affordability crisis literally drives \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12078787/grass-is-really-greener-for-many-californians-leaving-the-state\">residents out\u003c/a> of the state, the candidates have made housing a central point of their campaigns. That’s a sea change from previous elections, said Laura Foote, executive director for YIMBY Action. “Everybody up there was expected to have a plan and demonstrate how they were going to execute on delivering more affordable housing in California,” she said. “That’s a crazily different place than we were eight years ago, 10 years ago.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each candidate is trying to stand out in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12082125/inside-californias-billionaire-tax-fight-and-the-wide-open-governors-race\">most competitive primary\u003c/a> for California governor in two decades. But many are hitting the same broad talking points: lower the cost of construction, make homeownership more accessible and reduce homelessness. Where they differ is in the details of how they’ll get there. Meanwhile, some voters feel discouraged by key issues they say are missing. Katherine Peoples-McGill drove to Oakland from Altadena earlier this month to attend a debate sponsored by the Housing Action Coalition and other housing nonprofits. She runs the Rebuild Center for Altadenans, which assists survivors of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/la-fires\">2025 Los Angeles wildfires\u003c/a>. She was disappointed none of the candidates had visited her center, much less mentioned wildfires in their comments. “Altadena can happen anywhere in this country, anywhere in the state of California,” she said, “and for [the candidates] to really not be involved in that was a little shattering.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are some of the key points that candidates are focusing on – Democratic candidates Katie Porter, billionaire Tom Steyer and former state attorney general Xavier Becerra have all argued that modular and factory-built construction could hasten building timelines and streamline the process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other candidates are focusing on what the state can do now to incentivize and ease the path of traditional building methods. State Superintendent Tony Thurmond has campaigned on building 2 million affordable homes on school district-owned surplus property. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco wants to end the “over-regulation of our building industry.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>British American political commentator Steve Hilton and Mahan, mayor of San Jose, have both talked about capping fees that cities often impose on developers to offset the impact of new development. A recent \u003ca href=\"https://ternercenter.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/LIHTCImpactFees2026.pdf\">study from UC Berkeley’s Terner Center for Housing Innovation\u003c/a> found that these “impact” fees contribute to less than 5% of total development costs, but can nonetheless deter it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it comes to protecting the interests of renters, the candidates are divided on the best course. Steyer, Becerra, Villaraigosa and Thurmond have said they are in favor of some form of government-imposed rent caps, including extending and enforcing the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069513/tenants-crushed-after-california-renter-protections-bill-stalls-in-the-legislature\">Tenant Protections Act\u003c/a>, a 2019 law that limits annual rent increases and restricts evictions. It’s set to expire in 2030, within the next governor’s term. But Porter, a former state representative, has bucked that trend. In a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XO676pq-gg\">KQED Town Hall\u003c/a>, Porter said that she opposes rent control. And while she said she supports the Tenant Protection Act, she argued that it can slow down construction and force people to stay put, regardless of whether moving would benefit their family or lifestyle.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"entry-title \">\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/water/2026/05/california-data-centers-water-transparency/\">\u003cstrong>Data centers are guzzling California’s water. We have no idea how much\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Data center builders don’t tell the public how much water they use, \u003ca href=\"https://www.next10.org/sites/default/files/2026-05/Data-Centers-Water-Use-Report_0.pdf\">according to a new report\u003c/a> — and the industry is encroaching into water-stressed and vulnerable communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The report, by the think tank Next10 and researchers at Santa Clara University, finds that planned data centers — the ganglia of artificial intelligence — are \u003ca href=\"https://investor.pgecorp.com/news-events/press-releases/press-release-details/2025/PGE-Data-Center-Demand-Pipeline-Swells-to-10-Gigawatts-with-Potential-to-Unlock-Billions-in-Benefits-for-California/default.aspx\">spreading\u003c/a> to regions reliant on overtapped groundwater and strained surface water, with potentially major effects in the Central and Imperial Valleys. But, reinforcing \u003ca href=\"https://www.law.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/archive/2026/02/Regulating-Data-Center-Water-Use-in-CA_Report_CLEE-2026.pdf\">previous studies,\u003c/a> the researchers found that a patchwork of state, federal and local policies allow data center operators to avoid publicly disclosing their actual water use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">California lawmakers tried to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab93\">address\u003c/a> this last year, but California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed the measure. Now, the Legislature is trying again, with \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab2619\">bills\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab2469\">mandating\u003c/a> disclosures about water use and planning. “We have this huge build out, and we have very little data,” said \u003ca href=\"https://www.scu.edu/ethics/about-the-center/people/irina-raicu/\">Irina Raicu\u003c/a>, who directs the Internet Ethics program at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Few environmental impact reports for California’s data centers were publicly available online, the researchers found. Raicu and a team led by \u003ca href=\"https://www.scu.edu/cas/ess/faculty-and-staff/iris-stewart-frey/\">Iris Stewart-Frey\u003c/a>, a professor of environmental science and the main author of the study, went looking for the reports, \u003ca href=\"https://www.usbr.gov/mp/sod/projects/sisk/docs/esm/what-is-eis-eir.pdf\">meant to assess and disclose\u003c/a> a project’s impacts for both nature and people under the landmark California Environmental Quality Act. They found almost none. The ones they did find were largely for facilities in the city of Santa Clara.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Through interviews with planning officials, they discovered that projects can slip through with little environmental review if they fall under certain size or water use thresholds, or if they meet a city or county’s criteria for other approval pathways. These include something \u003ca href=\"https://www.cityofimperial.org/sites/default/files/NOE-Grading-Permit-63316-Initial-Study-%2325-0041(110625).pdf\">called ministerial approval\u003c/a>, which requires planning agencies to approve a project that meets local zoning and other standards. Even for data centers that undergo more stringent environmental scrutiny, the researchers found that documentation is rarely available to the public. In the few cases the planning documents were posted publicly, the information — on the data center’s owner or operator, size, type of cooling system, the amount of water used, whether it’s recycled or potable — was often “missing, contradictory, or vague,” the report said. The researchers said they contacted water providers in areas where data centers cluster, seeking usage data. None responded.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>Here are the morning’s top stories on Friday, May 22, 2026\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In California’s crowded race for governor, almost every candidate has made \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12084487/how-californias-next-governor-would-tackle-rent-insurance-and-housing-costs\">housing affordability\u003c/a> a central part of their campaign. While the candidates have varied approaches on this issue, and there’s a lot they agree on, there are also some key differences. \u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Data centers are expanding into water-stressed communities across California, like the Imperial Valley. At the same time, data center operators are using loopholes to hide \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/water/2026/05/california-data-centers-water-transparency/\">how much water these facilities are using.\u003c/a> These findings are from a new report backed by Santa Clara University and the think tank Next10.\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2 class=\"routes-Site-routes-Post-Title-__Title__title\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12084487/how-californias-next-governor-would-tackle-rent-insurance-and-housing-costs\">\u003cstrong>How California’s next governor would tackle rent, insurance and housing costs\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When it comes to affording rent or a home mortgage in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a>, every candidate in the race for governor seems to have a personal stake. Katie Porter wants her three teenage children to eventually move off her couch. Antonio Villaraigosa wants reliable home insurance. Matt Mahan doesn’t want to fight with his wife over their mortgage, as his parents did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the affordability crisis literally drives \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12078787/grass-is-really-greener-for-many-californians-leaving-the-state\">residents out\u003c/a> of the state, the candidates have made housing a central point of their campaigns. That’s a sea change from previous elections, said Laura Foote, executive director for YIMBY Action. “Everybody up there was expected to have a plan and demonstrate how they were going to execute on delivering more affordable housing in California,” she said. “That’s a crazily different place than we were eight years ago, 10 years ago.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each candidate is trying to stand out in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12082125/inside-californias-billionaire-tax-fight-and-the-wide-open-governors-race\">most competitive primary\u003c/a> for California governor in two decades. But many are hitting the same broad talking points: lower the cost of construction, make homeownership more accessible and reduce homelessness. Where they differ is in the details of how they’ll get there. Meanwhile, some voters feel discouraged by key issues they say are missing. Katherine Peoples-McGill drove to Oakland from Altadena earlier this month to attend a debate sponsored by the Housing Action Coalition and other housing nonprofits. She runs the Rebuild Center for Altadenans, which assists survivors of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/la-fires\">2025 Los Angeles wildfires\u003c/a>. She was disappointed none of the candidates had visited her center, much less mentioned wildfires in their comments. “Altadena can happen anywhere in this country, anywhere in the state of California,” she said, “and for [the candidates] to really not be involved in that was a little shattering.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are some of the key points that candidates are focusing on – Democratic candidates Katie Porter, billionaire Tom Steyer and former state attorney general Xavier Becerra have all argued that modular and factory-built construction could hasten building timelines and streamline the process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other candidates are focusing on what the state can do now to incentivize and ease the path of traditional building methods. State Superintendent Tony Thurmond has campaigned on building 2 million affordable homes on school district-owned surplus property. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco wants to end the “over-regulation of our building industry.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>British American political commentator Steve Hilton and Mahan, mayor of San Jose, have both talked about capping fees that cities often impose on developers to offset the impact of new development. A recent \u003ca href=\"https://ternercenter.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/LIHTCImpactFees2026.pdf\">study from UC Berkeley’s Terner Center for Housing Innovation\u003c/a> found that these “impact” fees contribute to less than 5% of total development costs, but can nonetheless deter it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it comes to protecting the interests of renters, the candidates are divided on the best course. Steyer, Becerra, Villaraigosa and Thurmond have said they are in favor of some form of government-imposed rent caps, including extending and enforcing the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069513/tenants-crushed-after-california-renter-protections-bill-stalls-in-the-legislature\">Tenant Protections Act\u003c/a>, a 2019 law that limits annual rent increases and restricts evictions. It’s set to expire in 2030, within the next governor’s term. But Porter, a former state representative, has bucked that trend. In a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XO676pq-gg\">KQED Town Hall\u003c/a>, Porter said that she opposes rent control. And while she said she supports the Tenant Protection Act, she argued that it can slow down construction and force people to stay put, regardless of whether moving would benefit their family or lifestyle.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"entry-title \">\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/water/2026/05/california-data-centers-water-transparency/\">\u003cstrong>Data centers are guzzling California’s water. We have no idea how much\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Data center builders don’t tell the public how much water they use, \u003ca href=\"https://www.next10.org/sites/default/files/2026-05/Data-Centers-Water-Use-Report_0.pdf\">according to a new report\u003c/a> — and the industry is encroaching into water-stressed and vulnerable communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The report, by the think tank Next10 and researchers at Santa Clara University, finds that planned data centers — the ganglia of artificial intelligence — are \u003ca href=\"https://investor.pgecorp.com/news-events/press-releases/press-release-details/2025/PGE-Data-Center-Demand-Pipeline-Swells-to-10-Gigawatts-with-Potential-to-Unlock-Billions-in-Benefits-for-California/default.aspx\">spreading\u003c/a> to regions reliant on overtapped groundwater and strained surface water, with potentially major effects in the Central and Imperial Valleys. But, reinforcing \u003ca href=\"https://www.law.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/archive/2026/02/Regulating-Data-Center-Water-Use-in-CA_Report_CLEE-2026.pdf\">previous studies,\u003c/a> the researchers found that a patchwork of state, federal and local policies allow data center operators to avoid publicly disclosing their actual water use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">California lawmakers tried to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab93\">address\u003c/a> this last year, but California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed the measure. Now, the Legislature is trying again, with \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab2619\">bills\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab2469\">mandating\u003c/a> disclosures about water use and planning. “We have this huge build out, and we have very little data,” said \u003ca href=\"https://www.scu.edu/ethics/about-the-center/people/irina-raicu/\">Irina Raicu\u003c/a>, who directs the Internet Ethics program at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Few environmental impact reports for California’s data centers were publicly available online, the researchers found. Raicu and a team led by \u003ca href=\"https://www.scu.edu/cas/ess/faculty-and-staff/iris-stewart-frey/\">Iris Stewart-Frey\u003c/a>, a professor of environmental science and the main author of the study, went looking for the reports, \u003ca href=\"https://www.usbr.gov/mp/sod/projects/sisk/docs/esm/what-is-eis-eir.pdf\">meant to assess and disclose\u003c/a> a project’s impacts for both nature and people under the landmark California Environmental Quality Act. They found almost none. The ones they did find were largely for facilities in the city of Santa Clara.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Through interviews with planning officials, they discovered that projects can slip through with little environmental review if they fall under certain size or water use thresholds, or if they meet a city or county’s criteria for other approval pathways. These include something \u003ca href=\"https://www.cityofimperial.org/sites/default/files/NOE-Grading-Permit-63316-Initial-Study-%2325-0041(110625).pdf\">called ministerial approval\u003c/a>, which requires planning agencies to approve a project that meets local zoning and other standards. Even for data centers that undergo more stringent environmental scrutiny, the researchers found that documentation is rarely available to the public. In the few cases the planning documents were posted publicly, the information — on the data center’s owner or operator, size, type of cooling system, the amount of water used, whether it’s recycled or potable — was often “missing, contradictory, or vague,” the report said. The researchers said they contacted water providers in areas where data centers cluster, seeking usage data. None responded.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/gov-gavin-newsom\">Gov. Gavin Newsom\u003c/a> issued on Thursday what his office called a “first-of-its-kind”\u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/5.21.26-AI-Workforce-EO-FINAL-SIGNED.pdf\"> executive order\u003c/a> directing state agencies to prepare workers and businesses for artificial intelligence-driven workforce disruption.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California has never sat back and watched as the future happened to us — and we won’t start now,” Newsom said, in a statement accompanying the order. “We have taken the lead on advancing innovation, safety, and transparency. But we must think bigger. This moment demands that we reimagine the entire system — how we work, how we govern, how we prepare people for the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The order mandates agencies to explore a range of policy options, including severance standards, expanded unemployment insurance, job retraining programs aimed specifically at white-collar workers, worker ownership models and a concept the governor called “universal basic capital,” giving all residents a stake in assets such as corporate stocks, bonds or wealth funds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The move reflects \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12079472/stanford-study-ai-experts-are-optimistic-about-ai-the-rest-of-us-not-so-much\">growing tension among Americans\u003c/a> over how AI is disrupting their \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12034490/ai-companions-seductive-risk-teens-senators-want-more-guardrails\">personal lives\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12076726/ai-is-changing-tech-work-heres-why-it-matters-for-the-rest-of-us\">jobs\u003c/a>, even as many business leaders continue to express optimism about the technology’s capabilities. Layoffs tied to AI are snowballing across many sectors of the economy, including Silicon Valley, and labor leaders are growing increasingly impatient with the governor’s cautious approach to regulating the industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this week, Meta announced it was laying off roughly 8,000 workers, about 10% of its workforce, as the company accelerates its shift toward AI. Intel, Cisco, Amazon and other tech giants have also dramatically reduced their headcounts in recent months, citing the need to shift spending to AI-focused employees and data center construction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anthropic co-founder Dario Amodei has predicted that roughly half of all white-collar jobs could disappear within five years. Most other tech leaders disagree with the specific timeline but broadly agree that AI will displace white-collar workers in engineering, communications and law in the near future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12055158\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12055158\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/AnthropicAIGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/AnthropicAIGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/AnthropicAIGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/AnthropicAIGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">From left to right: Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Chief Product Officer Mike Krieger and Head of Communications Sasha de Marigny give a press conference during Anthropic’s first developer conference in San Francisco, California, on May 22, 2025. \u003ccite>(Julie Jammot/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The economic logic driving those cuts has alarmed policymakers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom\u003ca href=\"https://x.com/CAgovernor/status/2057507319139750057\"> posted to the social media platform X\u003c/a> shortly after signing: “California will pursue new policies that make sure working Californians — not just Big Tech — benefit from the wealth and breakthroughs coming out of this space.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom telegraphed Thursday’s order earlier this week, when he appeared at the Center for American Progress IDEAS Conference in Washington. “Businesses are going to make a fortune, and that’s why you cannot continue to have a payroll tax system that taxes jobs and then subsidizes automation,” Newsom said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tom Kemp, executive director of the California Privacy Protection Agency, applauded the fact that the order named data privacy as a consumer protection concern and highlighted the CPPA’s automated decision-making technology regulations, which he called “the nation’s most comprehensive.”[aside postID=news_12084499 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/TeenagersMetaSocialMediaGetty.jpg']Others are more skeptical. “\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Catastrophic job loss from AI is not inevitable, it’s a political choice\u003c/span>,” Lorena Gonzalez, president of the California Federation of Labor Unions, AFL-CIO, wrote in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, Gonzalez noted one area of genuine agreement: the order’s emphasis on collective bargaining as a tool for protecting workers from AI displacement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That database of AI provisions in collective bargaining agreements exists, and we have introduced bills that mirror those protections over the past few years,” she wrote, going on to chide the governor for vetoing a number of them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12079472/stanford-study-ai-experts-are-optimistic-about-ai-the-rest-of-us-not-so-much\">Stanford HAI’s 2026 AI Index\u003c/a>, software developers ages 22 to 25 are among those most likely to see their skills made redundant earliest. This year, U.S. employment fell nearly 20% from 2024, even as headcount for older developers continued to grow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Following the job cuts announced at Meta, a union of Alphabet workers in the U.S. and Canada released a statement that suggests Silicon Valley’s own labor force may seek to organize.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As Big Tech companies attempt to nudge ahead of each other in the AI race, our daily work lives are shifting,” Alphabet Workers Union-CWA Local 9009 said in a statement. “It’s undeniable that our whole industry is being transformed by the corporate push to adopt new AI tools. It’s hard not to feel anxiety and fear when we can see more and more tech companies cutting huge portions of their workforce both in anticipation of replacing them with AI, and to fund their multi-billion-dollar bets on AI as the future of the industry.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12036125\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12036125\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Meta, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and Threads logos are screened on a mobile phone on Jan. 25, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Meta declined to comment, and Anthropic, OpenAI, DeepMind and Amazon did not respond in time for this report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In February, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and Gonzalez delivered what amounted to an ultimatum to Newsom: regulate AI or lose labor’s support for any future presidential run. Shuler called a potential AI-driven economic collapse a coming “crisis.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In August 2025, Newsom announced a\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12051433/california-teams-with-google-microsoft-ibm-adobe-to-prepare-students-for-ai-era\"> partnership with Google, Microsoft, IBM and Adobe\u003c/a> to expand AI education in California schools and community colleges, a workforce preparation push that now looks like a precursor to Thursday’s more sweeping order.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom also announced the statewide expansion of Engaged California, a digital platform originally launched to help coordinate recovery after the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, which will now be used to gather public input on AI’s impact on the workforce.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A backdrop of federal inaction\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Newsom’s order comes as President Donald Trump on Thursday announced he was postponing signing a long-anticipated AI executive order, telling reporters, “I didn’t like what I was seeing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The planned federal order would have created a system for the government to vet powerful new AI models before public release, a process the administration had been negotiating with Anthropic, OpenAI, Google and xAI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12074482\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12074482\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-2262729717-scaled-e1773182284895.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1413\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">President Donald Trump speaks during a press briefing at the White House on Feb. 20, 2026, in Washington, D.C. \u003ccite>(Chen Mengtong/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Trump has argued that aggressive AI oversight could hobble the United States in its technology competition with China, calling AI “a critical engine of the economy.” He told reporters he discussed AI safeguards with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a recent trip to China.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it remains unclear whether the federal administration will allow California and other states to take dramatic action as AI reshapes the American labor force.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In December 2025, Trump faced\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12066910/trumps-ai-order-provokes-pushback-from-california-officials-and-consumer-advocates\"> backlash\u003c/a> from California officials and consumer advocates after he issued an executive order curtailing states’ ability to regulate AI, though the order didn’t directly preempt state AI laws.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/gov-gavin-newsom\">Gov. Gavin Newsom\u003c/a> issued on Thursday what his office called a “first-of-its-kind”\u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/5.21.26-AI-Workforce-EO-FINAL-SIGNED.pdf\"> executive order\u003c/a> directing state agencies to prepare workers and businesses for artificial intelligence-driven workforce disruption.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California has never sat back and watched as the future happened to us — and we won’t start now,” Newsom said, in a statement accompanying the order. “We have taken the lead on advancing innovation, safety, and transparency. But we must think bigger. This moment demands that we reimagine the entire system — how we work, how we govern, how we prepare people for the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The order mandates agencies to explore a range of policy options, including severance standards, expanded unemployment insurance, job retraining programs aimed specifically at white-collar workers, worker ownership models and a concept the governor called “universal basic capital,” giving all residents a stake in assets such as corporate stocks, bonds or wealth funds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The move reflects \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12079472/stanford-study-ai-experts-are-optimistic-about-ai-the-rest-of-us-not-so-much\">growing tension among Americans\u003c/a> over how AI is disrupting their \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12034490/ai-companions-seductive-risk-teens-senators-want-more-guardrails\">personal lives\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12076726/ai-is-changing-tech-work-heres-why-it-matters-for-the-rest-of-us\">jobs\u003c/a>, even as many business leaders continue to express optimism about the technology’s capabilities. Layoffs tied to AI are snowballing across many sectors of the economy, including Silicon Valley, and labor leaders are growing increasingly impatient with the governor’s cautious approach to regulating the industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this week, Meta announced it was laying off roughly 8,000 workers, about 10% of its workforce, as the company accelerates its shift toward AI. Intel, Cisco, Amazon and other tech giants have also dramatically reduced their headcounts in recent months, citing the need to shift spending to AI-focused employees and data center construction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anthropic co-founder Dario Amodei has predicted that roughly half of all white-collar jobs could disappear within five years. Most other tech leaders disagree with the specific timeline but broadly agree that AI will displace white-collar workers in engineering, communications and law in the near future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12055158\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12055158\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/AnthropicAIGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/AnthropicAIGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/AnthropicAIGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/AnthropicAIGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">From left to right: Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Chief Product Officer Mike Krieger and Head of Communications Sasha de Marigny give a press conference during Anthropic’s first developer conference in San Francisco, California, on May 22, 2025. \u003ccite>(Julie Jammot/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The economic logic driving those cuts has alarmed policymakers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom\u003ca href=\"https://x.com/CAgovernor/status/2057507319139750057\"> posted to the social media platform X\u003c/a> shortly after signing: “California will pursue new policies that make sure working Californians — not just Big Tech — benefit from the wealth and breakthroughs coming out of this space.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom telegraphed Thursday’s order earlier this week, when he appeared at the Center for American Progress IDEAS Conference in Washington. “Businesses are going to make a fortune, and that’s why you cannot continue to have a payroll tax system that taxes jobs and then subsidizes automation,” Newsom said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tom Kemp, executive director of the California Privacy Protection Agency, applauded the fact that the order named data privacy as a consumer protection concern and highlighted the CPPA’s automated decision-making technology regulations, which he called “the nation’s most comprehensive.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Others are more skeptical. “\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Catastrophic job loss from AI is not inevitable, it’s a political choice\u003c/span>,” Lorena Gonzalez, president of the California Federation of Labor Unions, AFL-CIO, wrote in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, Gonzalez noted one area of genuine agreement: the order’s emphasis on collective bargaining as a tool for protecting workers from AI displacement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That database of AI provisions in collective bargaining agreements exists, and we have introduced bills that mirror those protections over the past few years,” she wrote, going on to chide the governor for vetoing a number of them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12079472/stanford-study-ai-experts-are-optimistic-about-ai-the-rest-of-us-not-so-much\">Stanford HAI’s 2026 AI Index\u003c/a>, software developers ages 22 to 25 are among those most likely to see their skills made redundant earliest. This year, U.S. employment fell nearly 20% from 2024, even as headcount for older developers continued to grow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Following the job cuts announced at Meta, a union of Alphabet workers in the U.S. and Canada released a statement that suggests Silicon Valley’s own labor force may seek to organize.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As Big Tech companies attempt to nudge ahead of each other in the AI race, our daily work lives are shifting,” Alphabet Workers Union-CWA Local 9009 said in a statement. “It’s undeniable that our whole industry is being transformed by the corporate push to adopt new AI tools. It’s hard not to feel anxiety and fear when we can see more and more tech companies cutting huge portions of their workforce both in anticipation of replacing them with AI, and to fund their multi-billion-dollar bets on AI as the future of the industry.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12036125\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12036125\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Meta, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and Threads logos are screened on a mobile phone on Jan. 25, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Meta declined to comment, and Anthropic, OpenAI, DeepMind and Amazon did not respond in time for this report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In February, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and Gonzalez delivered what amounted to an ultimatum to Newsom: regulate AI or lose labor’s support for any future presidential run. Shuler called a potential AI-driven economic collapse a coming “crisis.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In August 2025, Newsom announced a\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12051433/california-teams-with-google-microsoft-ibm-adobe-to-prepare-students-for-ai-era\"> partnership with Google, Microsoft, IBM and Adobe\u003c/a> to expand AI education in California schools and community colleges, a workforce preparation push that now looks like a precursor to Thursday’s more sweeping order.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom also announced the statewide expansion of Engaged California, a digital platform originally launched to help coordinate recovery after the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, which will now be used to gather public input on AI’s impact on the workforce.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A backdrop of federal inaction\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Newsom’s order comes as President Donald Trump on Thursday announced he was postponing signing a long-anticipated AI executive order, telling reporters, “I didn’t like what I was seeing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The planned federal order would have created a system for the government to vet powerful new AI models before public release, a process the administration had been negotiating with Anthropic, OpenAI, Google and xAI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12074482\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12074482\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-2262729717-scaled-e1773182284895.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1413\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">President Donald Trump speaks during a press briefing at the White House on Feb. 20, 2026, in Washington, D.C. \u003ccite>(Chen Mengtong/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Trump has argued that aggressive AI oversight could hobble the United States in its technology competition with China, calling AI “a critical engine of the economy.” He told reporters he discussed AI safeguards with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a recent trip to China.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it remains unclear whether the federal administration will allow California and other states to take dramatic action as AI reshapes the American labor force.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In December 2025, Trump faced\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12066910/trumps-ai-order-provokes-pushback-from-california-officials-and-consumer-advocates\"> backlash\u003c/a> from California officials and consumer advocates after he issued an executive order curtailing states’ ability to regulate AI, though the order didn’t directly preempt state AI laws.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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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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"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.",
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"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>",
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"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?",
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"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
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"possible": {
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"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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},
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"pri-the-world": {
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"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 2pm-3pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
"title": "Radiolab",
"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
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},
"reveal": {
"id": "reveal",
"title": "Reveal",
"info": "Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.",
"airtime": "SAT 4pm-5pm",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/",
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"link": "/radio/program/reveal",
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"rss": "http://feeds.revealradio.org/revealpodcast"
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},
"rightnowish": {
"id": "rightnowish",
"title": "Rightnowish",
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