San Jose administrators have disclosed that private information for current and former city employees may have been compromised, following a data breach last month. The incident occurred on Jan. 9 when a “workforce member” lost a USB drive that may have contained Social Security numbers, according to a letter city officials sent to people whose...
Santa Clara County may ditch camera vendor amid privacy issues
Cities across Silicon Valley may be on the cusp of cutting ties with a surveillance company linked to local police departments’ cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Santa Clara County officials this week signaled growing distrust with Flock Safety, a company that sells license plate reading cameras to cities across California, over concerns the...
San Jose adds AI tools to its disaster tactics
San Jose faces a wide array of disaster risks — everything from wildfires to floods and mass shootings — each of which poses its own difficult questions for emergency management officials tasked with leading the city’s evacuation efforts. But those emergency planners will soon get a high-tech assist in these life-or-death calls from a cutting-edge,...
San Jose approves expanded Taser, body cam contract for police
For years, police technology firm Axon Enterprises has been dogged by accusations that it’s attempting to unfairly corner the market on Tasers and body-worn cameras for law enforcement. Despite some hand wringing, the San Jose City Council voted unanimously Tuesday, with Vice Mayor Pam Foley absent, to approve a new, expanded contract with the firm to...
Trump executive order clears way for TikTok deal
President Donald Trump on Thursday signed off on an agreement on a TikTok sale he said would bring the app into compliance with U.S. law. The agreement gets the app one step closer to complying with a 2024 law that forced ByteDance, TikTok’s China-based corporate owner, to sell the platform or have the app banned...
The White House says TikTok will be sold to a U.S. joint venture
After four deadline extensions to force a sale of TikTok, the U.S. is finally close to a sale agreement for the massively popular video platform, a White House official said Monday. The deal will move TikTok’s ownership to a U.S. joint venture compliant with a 2024 law forcing ByteDance, Tiktok’s corporate owner, to sell the...
Trump chip deal critics say it undercuts U.S. becoming AI leader
Some Democrats are troubled by President Donald Trump’s recent deal to allow two tech companies to sell artificial intelligence chips to China as long as they provide the U.S. government some of the revenue. “I certainly have concerns about what we might call linkage, that is linking revenue to the Treasury to national security decisions,”...
Chinese makerspace company opens Mountain View headquarters
A Chinese tech company that specializes in tools for the makerspace community recently held its grand opening in Mountain View as part of an expansion effort to make its technology more accessible to businesses, hobbyists and other creative professionals. Desktop manufacturing company xTool launched five years ago with the goal of helping people turn ideas into...
Trump announces plan to accelerate U.S. artificial intelligence development
President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a sweeping plan to accelerate the development of artificial intelligence and further integrate the technology across the federal government. His speech made clear he wanted to allow a lot of leeway for tech executives to lead, and that he sees artificial intelligence as a crucial way for the country...
San Jose mayor uses AI for work
By Matt O’Brien, AP Technology Writer Before the mayor of San Jose, California, arrives at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new business, his aides ask ChatGPT to help draft some talking points. “Elected officials do a tremendous amount of public speaking,” said Mayor Matt Mahan, whose recent itinerary has taken him from new restaurant and...