San Jose’s former mayor turned congressman finds himself at the center of a national battle over who can regulate artificial intelligence: the states or the federal government under President Donald Trump. A coalition of online child safety and tech watchdog groups is calling on Rep. Sam Liccardo, along with several other lawmakers, to reject an...
Another lawsuit targets San Jose’s license plate cameras
A group of San Jose residents has filed a federal class action lawsuit against San Jose to challenge the city’s automated license plate reader program. The trio of residents — Tony Tan, Scott West and Colin Wolfson — is targeting a program first launched in 2022 that has grown to encompass a network of 474...
San Jose wants to spin off AI policy initiative
For many public officials, artificial intelligence holds the promise to massively boost government operations. But the emerging technology also faces serious questions about how it can be used without compromising data security and user privacy or displacing workers. For the past two years, San Jose has been helping government agencies across the globe navigate this...
San Jose workers want safeguards from AI
San Jose has been an early adopter of generative artificial intelligence tools. Now the city’s largest public sector union is demanding it also move quickly to embrace safeguards for workers. Amid ongoing contract renewal negotiations with the city, AFSCME Local 101 has introduced a package of proposals intended to give workers a greater say in...
UPDATE: Santa Clara County workers want guardrails for AI
Santa Clara County officials want to get ahead of artificial intelligence, and are exploring how to implement guardrails as the growing technology sparks displacement fears among public servants. The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday, with Supervisor Susan Ellenberg absent, to move forward with a comprehensive study on how AI is used across its various...
San Jose mayor behind in polls but ahead on prediction markets
Traditional polling puts San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan toward the back of the pack in the race for California governor. But online gambling markets are betting bigger on his success. While polls by Emerson College, UC Berkeley and the Public Policy Institute of California have all put Mahan under 5% favorability in the race, the...
UPDATE: San Jose restricts use of license plate readers
San Jose is tightening controls over its automated license plate reader program, as the city faces mounting public pressure over surveillance concerns and a lawsuit. The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt a range of new safeguards for San Jose’s network of 474 cameras, including limits on where the devices may be installed and...
Out-of-state police access Silicon Valley license plate readers
The company behind a network of automated license plate reading cameras is losing its public safety contracts across Silicon Valley. The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors is the most recent slate of officials to join Los Altos Hills and Mountain View in severing ties with Flock Safety over concerns the company has enabled unlawful...
San Jose mayor’s social media use faces criticism
Just weeks after announcing his run for governor, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan launched two new social media accounts on X and Instagram, each one designated as a city-backed account for official messaging. The move in February came amid City Hall grumbles about the mayor’s longstanding practice of using individual social media accounts for both...
Bernie Sanders warns about AI ‘tsunami’ at Stanford town hall
Workers, students and researchers in Silicon Valley are no strangers to the idea that artificial intelligence may be coming for their jobs. Many are under the impression that it’s not a matter of if, but when. But for Sen. Bernie Sanders, a longtime critic of the billionaire class, the new technology has ramifications that go...