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...
Santa Clara data centers hit max energy capacity
Santa Clara leaders are raising concerns about how the city’s dozens of data centers affect residents and the environment. Santa Clara has more standalone data centers than any other California city — 55 in operation and three in the pipeline, according to the city. Demand is growing as more people use the internet and digitally...
Democrats want to force a vote on Trump’s memecoin activity
As President Donald Trump headed over to his Virginia golf course for a gala with the 250 top buyers of his $TRUMP “memecoin,” Democrats are trying to find ways to push back on the president’s incursions in the cryptocurrency market. Sen. Chris Murphy said Thursday that Democrats will demand a vote on an amendment prohibiting...
Silicon Valley cities hit with request for residents’ emails to train AI
Bay Area residents who emailed their officials in the past few years may be surprised to learn their correspondence could train a company’s AI for future use. Mountain View-based company GovernmentGPT filed 90 California Public Records Act requests with multiple cities across the Bay Area for emails from residents addressed to mayors, councilmembers and city...
Santa Clara politicians turn to ChatGPT for advice
Santa Clara officials said they’ve used ChatGPT at two public meetings, sparking concerns about the use of artificial intelligence to inform decision makers. Artificial intelligence tools have been growing in popularity as cities like San Jose use it to improve road safety or translate public meetings. But the technology is still plagued with misinformation problems,...
Silicon Valley lawmaker wants to make it illegal for Trump to hawk crypto
President Donald Trump made tens of billions on paper by using his national profile to push meme cryptocurrency. One Democratic congressman wants to make sure other politicians can’t do the same. Silicon Valley Congressman Sam Liccardo introduced a bill Thursday that would bar Trump and other public officials from promoting stocks and cryptocurrency endeavors from...
San Jose mayor says AI driving Spanish speakers’ participation
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan says Spanish-speaking participation at city meetings has increased 300% through the use of artificial intelligence translation software. But critics are finding errors in the tool — and question if it’s really driving the increase. Mahan made the declaration in Miami, Florida Thursday during a discussion about AI in government at...
San Jose State students tackle academic shortcomings with AI
When a team of San Jose State University business students recognized the path toward academic counseling and course curriculum was complicated and messy, they turned to AI for a solution. Gabriel Castaneda, co-founder of CollegeBot.AI, said the students launched the artificial intelligence platform as a startup company to help students navigate through their class requirements...
San Jose could restrict use of AI tools to set rent prices
San Jose housing advocates say corporate property owners are taking advantage of the latest artificial intelligence tech to drive up rent prices — and renters are feeling the financial pain. Councilmember Peter Ortiz has proposed a policy to restrict the sale and use of “algorithmic devices” to set rents or manage home occupancy levels in the city....