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In 2011, Harris became the attorney general of California. Gary Reyes/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty ImagesHarris served as the attorney general of California for six years. The Washington Post's Matt Viser reported that President Donald Trump and Ivanka Trump donated to two of Harris' bids for attorney general. In her first year as attorney general, Harris supported a law signed by Republican Gov. Jerry Brown as lawmakers who didn't allow "newly available DNA testing," and said new DNA evidence might vindicate Cooper.

Persons: Harris, Michael Johnson, Gary Reyes, Getty Images Harris, Matt Viser, Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Julianne Hing, Nicholas Kristof, Kevin Cooper, Kristof, Jerry Brown, Cooper Organizations: San Jose, MediaNews, Mercury, Getty Images, Republican Gov, Color, The New York Times, CBS News, San, San Bernardino County, Attorney's, Los Angeles Times Locations: California, Washington, San Bernardino

☆ Eight newspaper publishers sue Microsoft and OpenAI over copyright infringement
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Eight U.S. newspaper publishers filed suit against Microsoft and OpenAI in a New York federal court on Tuesday, claiming the technology companies reuse their articles without permission in generative artificial intelligence products and incorrectly attribute inaccurate information to them. The group of eight newspaper publishers takes issue with ChatGPT and Microsoft's Copilot assistant — available in the Windows operating system, the Bing search engine, and other products the software maker produces. The legal challenge comes four months after The New York Times sued OpenAI over copyright infringement in the ChatGPT chatbot that the startup released in late 2022. The New York Times case also touched on the matter of OpenAI models regurgitating information from its articles. Correction: This article has been updated to reflect the correct day the lawsuit against Microsoft and OpenAI was filed.

Persons: Sam Altman, Microsoft's, OpenAI, Axel Springer Organizations: Economic, U.S, Microsoft, Bing, Southern, of, New York Daily News, Chicago Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, Sun Sentinel, The Mercury, The Denver Post, Orange County Register, Pioneer Press of Minnesota, CNBC, New York Times, OpenAI's, Financial, Google Locations: Davos, Switzerland, New York, U.S, of New York, Florida, California, Orange

☆ 8 Daily Newspapers Sue OpenAI and Microsoft Over A.I.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Katie Robertson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Eight daily newspapers owned by Alden Global Capital sued OpenAI and Microsoft on Tuesday, accusing the tech companies of illegally using news articles to power their A.I. All are owned by MediaNews Group or Tribune Publishing, subsidiaries of Alden, the country’s second-largest newspaper operator. In the complaint, the publications accuse OpenAI and Microsoft of using millions of copyrighted articles without permission to train and feed their generative A.I. products, including ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot. This, it said, reduced the need for readers to pay subscriptions to support local newspapers and deprived the publishers of revenue both from subscriptions and from licensing their content elsewhere.

Persons: OpenAI, Paul, Paul Pioneer Press — Organizations: Alden Global Capital, Microsoft, New York Daily News, The Chicago Tribune, The Orlando Sentinel, The Sun Sentinel, San Jose Mercury News, The Denver Post, Orange County Register, Paul Pioneer Press, U.S . Southern, of, MediaNews Group, Tribune Publishing Locations: Florida, Orange, U.S, of New York, Alden

☆ I worked with Steve Jobs as a software engineer straight out of college. It was like playing on a great sports team.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Kiera Fields | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Rony Sebok got a job at Apple straight out of Harvard in 1983 working on the Mac team. She worked with a small team of software engineers under the direction of Steve Jobs. Interviewing for the Mac team didn't follow the traditional approachAt the time, this was a top-secret project. Steve Jobs once came into my cubicle and asked, "Don't you own a pair of blue jeans?" AdvertisementMacintosh software team photographed in January 1984 for a Rolling Stone article.

Persons: Rony Sebok, Steve Jobs, Sebok, Jobs, —, Steve, I'd, Bill Gates, alums, Lisa teams, Windham, Steve didn't, Susan Kerr, John Sculley, Lisa, OpenAI Organizations: Apple, Harvard, Mac, Service, Macintosh, Computer Science, Microsoft, IBM, BMW, Windham Hill, Polaroid, Mercury, Getty, HP, Havard Business School, Google Locations: East Coast, West, Cupertino, Hawaii, Apple

☆ Heather Somerville — Reporter at The Wall Street Journal
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Heather Somerville | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Heather SomervilleHeather Somerville is a reporter at The Wall Street Journal in San Francisco covering technology and national security. Her articles explore the national-security implications of emerging technology, U.S. efforts to counter China's rise as a technology power, and the relationship between Silicon Valley and the U.S. defense complex. Heather joined the Journal in 2019 to cover venture capital and technology companies. Before that, she wrote about venture capital and Silicon Valley startups for Reuters and the Mercury News. She was previously a reporter for the Fresno Bee and the Charlotte Observer and wrote about national security for outlets in Washington, D.C.

Persons: Heather Somerville Heather Somerville, Heather Organizations: Wall Street, Reuters, Mercury, Fresno Bee, Charlotte Observer Locations: San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Silicon, Washington ,

What’s going to stop that?” said Jon Loffi, a longtime law enforcement officer who teaches aviation security at Oklahoma State University and wrote a paper on identifying insider threats. The Federal Aviation Administration says its approved medical examiners are trained to gauge a pilot's mental health. The Horizon close call could result in the re-examination of the practice of letting off-duty pilots or other airline employees sit in the cockpit jump seat. Security experts say it would be difficult if not impossible to stop every determined criminal or terrorist who targets aviation. The off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot who was arrested Sunday joined Horizon as a first officer or co-pilot in 2001.

Persons: We’re, ”, Jon Loffi, It's, Joseph David Emerson, Emerson, Jeffrey Price, “, Ross Aimer, ” Price, ” Loffi, Loffi, Pete Buttigieg, Karen Yee, ” Allen Scott, ___ Claire Rush Organizations: Alaska Airlines, Oklahoma State University, FAA, FBI, Federal Aviation Administration, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Oklahoma State, FedEx, Pacific Southwest Airlines, Security, Transportation Security Administration, Sunday, Virgin America, Mercury, San Francisco Chronicle Locations: U.S, Oklahoma, French, California, Alaska, Multnomah County , Oregon, Portland, Pleasant Hill , California, San Francisco, Jose, Portland , Oregon

☆ Fact Check: Kamala Harris eligible to be president despite misleading posts
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

An Instagram post shares an image that says, “Kamala Harris is NOT a ‘natural born Citizen” per Art II Sec. She is missing 2 of the 3 legs of the ‘natural born Citizen’ test. Kamala can’t be president!”The screenshot goes on to say, “Con Artist Kamala… NOT Natural Born Citizen… NOT Eligible to be President or Vice-President!!! A White House bio also states clearly that Harris’ parents were immigrants from Jamaica and India. Posts suggesting that U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is ineligible to be president are based on a false claim that Harris is not a “natural born citizen” of the U.S.

Persons: Kamala Harris, ” Harris, ”, “ Kamala Harris, Kamala, ’, Kamala can’t, Kamala …, …, … ” Harris, Harris ’, Harris, “, Donald J, Trump, Michael C, Dorf, Read Organizations: U.S . Constitution, Bay Area, Group, The Mercury News, Cornell Law School Legal, U.S, Senate, Newsweek, Cornell Law School, Reuters, Thomson Locations: United States, U.S, U.S ., Oakland , CA, India, Jamaica, Oakland , California, ”

SAN QUENTIN, Calif. (AP) — A former California police officer turned serial killer who was on death row after being convicted of murdering six people in the 1980s has died of natural causes, authorities said. Anthony Sully, 79, died Friday at a medical facility outside the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center, where he had been housed for decades, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The Marin County Coroner’s Office will determine Sully’s official cause of death, the department said in a news release Monday. The victims were beaten, stabbed and shot inside an electrical supply warehouse in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1983. Three of the bodies were found stuffed into barrels dumped at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

Persons: —, Anthony Sully, Sully, Kathryn Barrett, Barbara Searcy, Gloria Jean Fravel, Brendan Oakden, Michael Thomas, Phyllis Melendez, Detectives, “ Organizations: QUENTIN, Calif, San Quentin Rehabilitation Center, California Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation, San Francisco Bay Area, San Jose Mercury News, Bay Area, Mercury Locations: California, Marin, San Francisco Bay, San Francisco

Particle pollution is a “key ingredient” of wildfire smoke, Barrett told CNN. “Sometimes we can see, smell, and even taste the impacts of wildfire smoke,” Barrett said. Mountain ranges can shield some regions from worse air pollution by keeping smoke aloft when it travels, Mass said. Pittsburgh - June 29, 2023An MLB game between the San Diego Padres and Pittsburgh Pirates is delayed as Canadian wildfire smoke descends on downtown Pittsburgh. San Francisco - Sept. 9, 2020Smoke from northern California wildfires casts a reddish glow in San Francisco, California.

Persons: ”, William Barrett, Barrett, ” Barrett, Clifford, Talat Odman, Mass, “ It’s, “ You’re, Lev Radin, Scott Olson, Kevork, Joe Robbins, San Diego Padres, Andrew McCutchen, Carr, George Rose, Ray Chavez, David Zalubowski Organizations: CNN, American Lung Association, University of Washington, Georgia Institute of Technology, Washington DC, ” CNN, Pacific Press, York City, MLB, San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego, Pirates, MediaNews, Mercury, Environmental Protection Agency Denver, Denver International Airport, Denver Locations: Canada, United States, Northern Europe, New York City, York City, Chicago, Irvine, Santiago, Irvine , California, California, Santa, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Sacramento, Sacramento , California, Shasta County , California, San Francisco, San Francisco , California, San Francisco Bay

☆ Some iPhone owners will soon be getting around $65 from Apple over its 'batterygate' scandal
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Haley Tenore | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The lawsuit was over "batterygate," a scandal where Apple was accused of decreasing the performance of older phones. In 2020, lots of iPhone users filed claims as part of an Apple settlement related to the slowdown of older iPhones. After some iPhone owners had their batteries replaced, they noticed that performance-related issues were resolved, according to data from Geekbench. Later that year, Apple admitted to throttling the performance of older phones. The iPhones affected under the class action lawsuit include the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, 7, 7 Plus, and SE.

Persons: Apple, Batterygate, didn't Organizations: Apple, Morning, Mercury News Locations: Geekbench

☆ Elon Musk plans to rebrand Twitter as 'X' — an idea that harkens back to the CEO's early days when he was ousted from PayPal
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Elon Musk announced Saturday that he plans to rebrand Twitter and change the bird logo to 'X.' Musk previously wanted X to be the name of a banking services site now known as PayPal. Musk said a new "interim" X logo will go live Sunday. Elon Musk in Palo Alto, California, on August 7, 2000. According to Ashlee Vance's biography "Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future," almost everyone in the company preferred the name PayPal.

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, Elon, Pauline Lubens, Julie Anderson Ankenbrandt, Ankenbrandt, x.com, X.com, Peter Thiel, Max Levchin, Musk's, Thiel, Ashlee Vance's Organizations: Twitter, PayPal, MediaNews, Mercury, Getty, Elon, SpaceX, X Corp Locations: Silicon Valley, Palo Alto , California, Palo Alto, Nevada

☆ A Las Vegas flight to Hawaii was diverted after a passenger AirDropped a photo suggesting there was a bomb on the plane to other passengers, police say
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Police said Southwest Airlines diverted a flight after someone on board share a sinister message. Police said the passenger shared a photo that appeared to suggest there was a bomb on the plane. A flight attendant also received photos via AirDrop that suggested a bomb was "contained within the aircraft," Modeste told Insider in a statement. In a statement provided to Insider, Southwest Airlines said it would defer additional questions to local authorities who met the aircraft. And in January Pegasus Airlines delayed a flight after passengers were AirDropped images of plane crashes.

Persons: Tya Modeste, Modeste, Valerie Maluchnik, Maluchnik Organizations: Police, Southwest Airlines, FBI, Morning, Alameda County Sheriff's, Mercury, Southwest, Oakland International, Operations, Transportation Security Administration, TSA, APS, American Airlines, Pegasus Airlines Locations: Las Vegas, Hawaii, Oakland, Alameda County, Alameda

☆ After a Winter Deluge, California Rivers Are Too Dangerous to Enjoy
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( Jill Cowan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Gwyny Pett has been visiting the Kern River for decades, camping there as a girl and then taking her own children, now grown, to splash in shallows so calm they felt like a private pool. She has also seen the destructive power of the river during high-water years. “I mean, this is dangerous,” she said, gesturing at the water speeding past. After a parade of epic winter storms, the Kern River and other major waterways fed by melting Sierra Nevada snow have become wild torrents — a transformation so dangerous that several counties in Central California have prohibited people from entering the water. On Wednesday, a kayaker died on the Kern River, about 20 miles upstream from the campground from where Ms. Pett was sitting.

Persons: Gwyny Pett, Pett, gesturing, kayaker Organizations: The Mercury Locations: Kern, “, Central California, Fresno County

☆ DeSantis breaks silence on migrant flights that landed on Newsom's turf, boasting that the program was 'very effective'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

DeSantis on Wednesday defended a Florida program that relocates migrants to blue states. Until Wednesday, DeSantis hadn't commented publicly about the flights that landed in Sacramento, first on Friday and then again on Monday. "I think it's also been every effective," DeSantis said about the relocation program at the start of the roundtable. DeSantis also defended the use of a $12 million fund in Florida to pay for the relocation program. Under DeSantis, Florida sent more than 1,100 members of its national guard to Texas.

Persons: DeSantis, —, Ron DeSantis, DeSantis hadn't, Biden, Gavin Newsom, Joe Biden's, Trump, Scott Eisen, Ray Chavez, it's Organizations: Service, Gov, Florida Division, Emergency Management, US Customs, Border Patrol, Republican Gov, Democratic Gov, MediaNews, Mercury, Getty, GOP, Arizona, Biden, Republican Locations: Florida, Texas, California, Sierra Vista , Arizona, Sacramento, Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Mexico, DeSantis, Vineyard , Massachusetts, DeSantis , Florida, Arizona

☆ Trump suggested he won't attend a GOP presidential debate because the venue's board chair publishes the Washington Post. But he took part in the same debate in 2015.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Grace Eliza Goodwin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Donald Trump suggested he might not attend a GOP presidential debate at the Reagan Library. On Truth Social, Trump criticized the venue's board chair, who publishes the Washington Post. But, Trump participated in a debate at the same location, with the same board chair, back in 2015. But, despite his misgivings about Ryan's role on the board, Trump did participate in a previous GOP presidential debate at the Reagan Library in 2015. It's unclear if Trump actually plans to skip the Reagan Library debate, the date of which has not yet been announced.

☆ Google's 80-acre San Jose mega-campus is on hold as company reckons with economic slowdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

The city of San Jose may now be paying the price. CNBC has learned that, as part of Google's downsizing that went into effect early this year, the company has gutted its development team for the San Jose campus. By then, the company had already completed much of its multi-year land grab of downtown San Jose for the future campus. Google spent several years planning for the San Jose complex and invested significant resources in winning over the local community. "We all originally knew that it's going to be a long-term plan," San Jose councilmember Omar Torres, who represents the downtown area, told San Jose Spotlight in February.

☆ Why Blackouts, Power Outages Are Becoming More Common
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Taylor Dorrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

Power outages have increased 64% from the early 2000s, and weather-related outages — many driven by the worsening climate crisis — have increased 78%. A record-breaking blizzard in Buffalo, New York, this winter caused power outages throughout the city, resulting in the deaths of 47 residents. In 2021, a heat wave led to power outages and the deaths of hundreds in the Pacific Northwest. While regional organizations might use fees to penalize companies for power outages, it's now much harder to pinpoint and hold a person or entity responsible. In the meantime, the climate crisis will continue to wreak havoc on an aging grid system that puts profits over reliability.

☆ Convicted fraudster Elizabeth Holmes welcomes second child and she's pushing to delay prison
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Holmes was sentenced to over 11 years in prison while pregnant with second child in November. In a court filing this week, her legal team said Holmes has "two young children," according to Mercury News. Holmes is seeking to extend her freedom past the day she's due to prison in April. Holmes gave birth to her first child in July 2021 while awaiting trial for her charges. The company's valuation shot up to $9 billion before Holmes and fellow Theranos executives were charged with fraud in 2018.

☆ Meet Maye Musk, the Sports Illustrated cover model and the glamorous mother of one of the richest men in the world
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Despite her support for her children, Maye Musk has been a celebrity in her own right for decades. Maye Musk Maye Musk attended the Met gala with Elon Musk last year. "They followed their passions, and they all went in different directions," Maye Musk told Insider in a 2020 interview. Elon Musk, in particular, had tried his hardest in school, but only in the subjects he liked, Maye Musk said. Even at 14 years old, Maye Musk said Elon Musk had shown a passion for investing.

☆ A woman drove for 10 hours to pick up her 78-year-old mom who got stranded for 5 days by the Southwest chaos, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A woman drove for 10 hours through torrential rain to pick up her 78-year-old mom in Oakland. Tracy Hurst told The Mercury News her mother was stranded for 5 days by the Southwest chaos. A Southwest flight attendant located Kelly and they shared a hotel room on Monday night while her mother made the lengthy drive from Oregon in poor weather, the report added. Shobi Maynard, a 22-year-old from Cleveland, Ohio, told Insider his Southwest flight got canceled right before Christmas, so he rented a car with three strangers and drove 20 hours home. Hurst, Southwest Airlines and Oakland International Airport didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider.

☆ Wanted: Two lighthouse keepers for tiny island in San Francisco Bay. Must have 'high-quality culinary experience' and a captain's license.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Two custodians for a historic lighthouse and hotel in San Francisco Bay are being recruited. The East Brother Light Station is looking for two people to become lighthouse keepers for two years on the tiny island just off Point San Pablo in Richmond. Former innkeepers Tiffany Danse (left) and Tyler Waterson (right). Run boat service to the mainland. Run boat service to the mainland again," the Chronicle wrote.

☆ Everything we know about Nishad Singh, the 27-year-old former FTX exec who had an 8% stake in the crypto exchange
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Nishad Singh was FTX's Director of Engineering and had a 7.8% stake in the crypto exchange. Singh received a $543 million loan from Alameda Research, per bankruptcy filings. Singh was FTX's director of engineering, and had a 7.8% stake in the company. Singh's nearly 8% stake, which also included FTX subsidiary FTX.US, was worth about $572 million in March of this year. A year after Singh became FTX's director of engineering, he became a steady donor for the Democratic Party.

☆ 'Avatar' sequel earns film critics' praise for visual spectacle
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Lisa Richwine | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Fans attend a premiere for the film Avatar: The Way of Water, at Dolby theatre in Los Angeles, California, U.S., December 12, 2022. REUTERS/Mario AnzuoniLOS ANGELES, Dec 13 (Reuters) - The long-awaited sequel to groundbreaking movie "Avatar" won praise on Tuesday from movie critics who said they were awed again by director James Cameron's visual artistry. The sequel offers more advanced 3D images, showcasing aquatic creatures on the lush moon of Pandora. "'Avatar: The Way of Water' is such a screen-popping visual feast it earns the 3-hour, 12-minute running time," said Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times. Studios split ticket sales with theaters, and Cameron told GQ magazine that "The Way of Water" will need to make $2 billion just to break even.

☆ Stanford University apologizes for limiting Jewish student admissions in the 1950s
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Chantal Da Silva | Chantal Da Silva Is A Breaking News Editor For Nbc News Digital Based In London. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Stanford University apologized Wednesday for limiting Jewish student admissions during the 1950s — a practice that the school long denied had taken place. Stanford had targeted specific high schools known to have significant populations of Jewish students, allowing the school to still "claim that the university did not impose a quota on Jewish students," the report said. It said that despite "decades of denials," a 1953 memo, dubbed the "Glover Memo," clearly reported Snyder's "intentions to act against Jewish students." "However, the report articulates how this effort to suppress Jewish enrollments had long-lasting effects and dissuaded some Jewish students from applying to Stanford in later years. “This is what we want for all members of the Stanford community,” she said, according to the outlet.

☆ SCOOP: Sen. Dianne Feinstein fails to disclose husband's stock purchase, says she's willing to pay a fine
▼ + stars: | 2021-01-27 | by ( Dave Levinthal | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Sen. Dianne Feinstein's husband, investment banker Richard Blum, invested up to $50,000 in polling firm The Generation Lab. But the Democratic lawmaker didn't disclose the purchase until this month, weeks after a federal deadline. Feinstein has not yet been contacted by the Senate Ethics Committee on whether she will face a fine, Mentzer added. Members of Congress are generally allowed to buy and sell individual stocks — to the chagrin of some government reform advocates — so long as they publicly disclose the transactions. Not until May did Feinstein publicly disclose her husband's Facebook stock purchase, investigative journalism outfit Sludge revealed later in 2018.

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