California Policy and Politics Saturday

Newsom signs bills to shield California elections from Trump interference, increase transparency -- Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a sweeping package of election-security bills Saturday, vowing California will block any attempts by Donald Trump and law enforcement allies to meddle with November’s vote. Nicole Nixon in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/19/26

Neither Becerra nor Hilton will commit to AI safety guidelines Newsom laid out Friday -- As governments and political leaders increasingly push for regulations to rein in artificial intelligence, neither candidate for California governor has committed to firm policies on AI safety, including two requirements Gov. Gavin Newsom called for Friday. Jeanne Kuang Calmatters -- 9/19/26

Gemini Hacked Three Companies in First Known Breakout by Google’s AI -- Google’s Gemini model accessed the internet and hacked other companies during a test of its cybersecurity capabilities, the first known example of the company’s artificial-intelligence systems autonomously committing such an act. Erin Woo and Robert McMillan in the Wall Street Journal$ Kate Conger in the New York Times$ Gerrit De Vynck in the Washington Post$ -- 9/19/26

Trump Calls A.I. Fears a Hoax. Inside the White House, the Debate Is More Complex -- People who have discussed the subject with Mr. Trump in private say his outbursts are rooted in worries that if the artificial intelligence boom fueling the American economy slows down, the market could crash and recession could quickly follow. David E. Sanger, Jonathan Swan, Cecilia Kang and Dustin Volz in the New York Times$ -- 9/19/26

Newsom signs bill to help prepare Hollywood workers for AI -- The legislation is modest — establishing a $15 million pilot program for training at community colleges. But it is also one of California’s first laws squarely focused on Hollywood and AI. Daniel Miller Politico -- 9/19/26

 

Paramount, California settlement talks accelerate, potentially moving Warner Bros. merger closer -- After a bitter standoff, Paramount Skydance and California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta have made progress in settlement talks that could push Hollywood’s massive merger over the finish line, people familiar with the matter said Friday. Meg James in the Los Angeles Times$ Jessica Toonkel in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 9/19/26

California’s biggest reservoir project in decades clears major obstacle -- The developers of a new, massive Northern California reservoir say they’ll have enough water to pursue their $6 billion venture, laying to rest their previous concerns that the project 70 miles northwest of Sacramento might not be viable. Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/19/26

Allegations against billionaire tax architect force reckoning at crucial moment for labor -- The leader of the healthcare union behind California’s controversial billionaire tax initiative faced at least 15 years of misconduct allegations before bombshell reports last week substantiated allegations of physical intimidation, extortion and assault against him. Hannah Wiley in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/19/26

California is poised to get $1.4 billion for broadband. But there’s a huge catch -- California’s bid for $1.4 billion in broadband funding has been five years in the making. Now the Trump administration says it must give up net neutrality and other state internet rules. Khari Johnson Calmatters -- 9/19/26

LA County issues temporary ban on mega data centers, with ordinance in the works -- Los Angeles County is moving forward with an ordinance that would permanently ban AI hyperscale data centers in unincorporated areas, according to county officials on Friday. Steve Scauzillo in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/19/26

Workplace

S.F. security guards strike at multiple major downtown skyscrapers -- Service Employees International Union-United Service Workers West, which represents 14,000 security guards in Los Angeles and the Bay Area, including 3,700 in San Francisco, voted Tuesday to authorize workers to walk off the job sites in these markets. Laura Waxmann, St. John Barned-Smith in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/19/26

Climate

Here’s when and where California could get the most rain this winter as powerful El Niño builds -- Along parts of the California coast, federal forecasters now put the odds of a top-third precipitation season as high as 50% to 60%. One of Europe’s leading seasonal models goes considerably further, projecting January rainfall around 4 inches above normal in San Francisco and more than 6 inches above in Santa Rosa. Greg Porter in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/19/26

Wildfire

Yosemite’s Dome Fire now spans nearly 2,000 acres -- Watch Duty, a wildfire information service, reported Friday that the Dome Fire covers 1,977 acres and is 10% contained, based on a perimeter uploaded to the National Interagency Fire Center. Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/19/26

Also

San Francisco mountain lion captured in Sunset, released back into wild -- A young mountain lion that prompted a major police and wildlife response in San Francisco’s Sunset District on Friday was safely tranquilized and captured before being released back into the wild, authorities said. Aidin Vaziri, St. John Barned-Smith in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/19/26

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More U.S. troops have died amid Iran war than Pentagon has disclosed publicly -- More American service members have died in the Middle East during the ongoing Iran war than the Pentagon has disclosed publicly, according to six U.S. officials familiar with the Defense Department’s internal casualty accounting data. Five of the officials said there have been at least 22 military fatalities — four more than what appears in the Pentagon’s public database, known as the Defense Casualty Analysis System, or DCAS. Noah Robertson, Tara Copp, Warren P. Strobel and Alex Horton in the Washington Post$ -- 9/19/26

Trump Bans CNN, MS NOW and Politico From the White House -- The president made the announcement in an insult-laden social media post. It was unclear how such a ban would be enforced or defended in court. Michael M. Grynbaum and Benjamin Mullin in the New York Times$ Jocelyn Noveck Associated Press -- 9/19/26

Hundreds rally outside shuttered Kennedy Center, chanting ‘Hands off!’ -- Hundreds of supporters of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts gathered Friday as the sun set over the Potomac, surrounded as much of the building as they could, linked arms and chanted, “Hands off! Hands off!” Sophia Solano and Jade Tran in the Washington Post$ Chris Cameron in the New York Times$ Gary Fields Associated Press -- 9/19/26

Russia Aims to Inject Chaos Into Elections, U.S. Intelligence Finds -- Classified U.S. intelligence assessments from recent months have determined that the Kremlin has again authorized a digital influence campaign to peddle content across social media in hopes of seeding or amplifying domestic divisions around the election season, the officials said. Dustin Volz, Julian E. Barnes and Steven Lee Myers in the New York Times$ -- 9/19/26

 

California Policy and Politics Friday

Newsom creates panel on AI safety regulation, suggests possible ‘kill switch’ -- Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday ordered the formation of a panel to come up with safety regulations for the state’s artificial intelligence companies, including the development of a possible “kill switch” for AI programs that go rogue. Dakota Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ Kathryn Palmer in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Jeanne Kuang Calmatters -- 9/18/26

California voters are most interested in this proposition — it’s not the billionaire tax -- Just four days after taking office for a second time, President Donald Trump made an unprecedented demand. As Los Angeles County reeled from some of the most devastating wildfires in U.S. history, Trump said he would withhold critical recovery aid unless California agreed to two conditions. Sara Libby, Raheem Hosseini in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/18/26

Governor’s race heats up as Becerra meets fire victims, Hilton blames Dems for high cost of living -- With weeks until the election, Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton intensify their campaigns for governor, pitching dueling plans on wildfire recovery and California’s cost of living. Nicole Nixon and Seema Mehta in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/18/26

He championed vaccine mandates. Will that record help him unseat a party-shifting conservative? -- New polling shows seven in 10 Californians are worried about healthcare costs. Dr. Richard Pan, a pediatrician and former state senator, and incumbent Rep. Kevin Kiley offer voters dramatically different solutions to health challenges. Kristen Hwang Calmatters -- 9/18/26

California ranks No. 2 in the nation for steep electricity prices, this report says -- Only Hawaii is higher, but Gov. Gavin Newsom's office fires back at the report's authors. Rob Nikolewski in the San Diego Union Tribune -- 9/18/26

Proposition 40: The billionaire's tax -- The money collected from the tax would primarily be used to shore up funding for healthcare in the state, which is currently projected to take a massive blow due to federal cuts. This measure is also one of the few issues that both California gubernatorial candidates Xavier Becerra and Steve Hilton can agree upon: both oppose it. Kavish Harjai LAist -- 9/18/26

California health clinics accuse influential union and its leader of racketeering in civil lawsuit -- The California Primary Care Assn. and five clinics filed a civil lawsuit in federal court Friday accusing SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West and its president, Dave Regan, of racketeering and using ballot initiatives to “shake down” community health centers. Taryn Luna in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/18/26

Walters: Taxing California’s rich just got more complicated. Prop 40’s fate is still uncertain -- Proposition 40, which would impose a 5% tax on the wealth of California’s billionaires, is arguably the most important measure placed before voters in this century. It is also probably the most confounding. Dan Walters Calmatters -- 9/18/26

Workplace

California newsrooms await grants, Newsom’s decision on tax credits -- California’s beleaguered news industry — which has seen its advertising decline steadily over the past 20 years due to competition from online giants like Google and Meta, resulting in layoffs, smaller newsrooms and less oversight of government — may be thrown two modest lifelines in the coming weeks. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/18/26

FCC approves foreign owners for a merged Paramount-Warner Bros. --The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday granted Paramount Skydance’s request to allow Middle Eastern royal families to hold a substantial stake in a merged Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery. Meg James in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/18/26

It’s supposed to be easy to make your boss pay up for lost wages. Instead it takes years -- For years, California has struggled to address a mounting backlog of workers claiming labor law violations, even as it collected millions of dollars from employers each year for enforcement. Now, a judge’s order may force the state to solve the problem. Jeanne Kuang Calmatters -- 9/18/26

Homeless

$1 million in homeless funds for a nightclub? New LA fraud cases allege bribery and theft -- Federal and local prosecutors unveil new cases and a guilty plea, while asking: Who was actually watching the books at the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority? Nick Gerda of LAist Calmatters -- 9/18/26

Education

UCLA chancellor faces faculty outcry over 9/11 statement, a test of academic freedom -- UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk’s statement to distance the university from a law school symposium on 9/11 has promoted growing faculty backlash over academic freedom. Dozens of UCLA law professors say Frenk’s remarks unfairly suggest the symposium endorsed terrorism or antisemitism, urging a public retraction. Jaweed Kaleem in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/18/26

More UC students are failing intro math courses as regents weigh reinstating SAT -- UC regents began weighing whether to bring back the SAT, with no vote and no decision this week. Admissions officials said dropping the exam has not hurt retention or graduation, while faculty point to falling grades in introductory math. Jaweed Kaleem in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/18/26

Wildfire

Wildfire expands to 1,000+ acres in Yosemite National Park, moves toward Badger Pass -- A wildfire in Yosemite National Park nearly quadrupled in size on Wednesday as it moves north toward Yosemite Valley and the Badger Pass ski area. Joshua Tehee in the Fresno Bee -- 9/18/26

ICE

County reports persistent delays in tuberculosis reporting at Otay Mesa Detention Center -- San Diego County warned doctors at the Otay Mesa Detention Center this week that continued weeks-long delays in reporting suspected tuberculosis cases “may subject health care providers to professional licensing actions.” Paul Sisson in the San Diego Union Tribune -- 9/18/26

Education

Why turf war over community college bachelor’s degrees remains unresolved despite legislation -- A legislative attempt to settle a long-simmering turf war between California’s community colleges and the California State University has instead ignited a new dispute. Michael Burke EdSource -- 9/18/26

Street

California’s tough on crime law promised treatment. Here’s why people are falling through the cracks -- California’s Prop. 36 gave certain people facing criminal charges an option to have their cases dropped if they complete drug treatment. Now, counties are on their own to figure out how to provide it. Marisa Kendall and Cayla Mihalovich Calmatters -- 9/18/26

AI

Anthropic says its chatbot Claude is taking over the work of building its own successor -- Artificial intelligence company Anthropic said on Thursday that more than a quarter of its research and development is now led by its chatbot Claude, a figure that jumped from zero in just months and indicates progress toward AI that builds itself without human input. Miriam Waldvogel in the Washington Post$ -- 9/18/26

Hackers Used Anthropic’s Claude to Break Into OpenAI -- Two weeks after a swarm of AI agents broke out of containment at OpenAI to hack the company Hugging Face, the ChatGPT maker learned about another AI-powered intrusion—and this time it was the target. Robert McMillan in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 9/18/26

Meta glasses captured and shared intimate images without users’ consent, lawsuit claims -- The contractors in Kenya work for companies that help train Meta’s artificial intelligence, according to a proposed class-action lawsuit amended in late August. Queenie Wong in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/18/26

Tech Companies’ Staff Knew Their AI Tools Posed ‘Existential Threat’ to Publishers -- Executives, others at OpenAI and Microsoft acknowledge they could undermine their content sources, according to filing in New York Times’ copyright lawsuit. Alexandra Bruell in the Wall Street Journal$ Karen Weise and Mike Isaac in the New York Times$ -- 9/18/26

Also

‘Absolutely world class’: Scenic stretch of California coast is opening to the public -- Miles of pristine hills and valleys along California’s Central Coast have long been off-limits to the public to shield the state’s last remaining nuclear power plant. But not for much longer. Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/18/26

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Trump admin must provide 30 day notice for ‘demolition,’ major changes to Kennedy Center amid shutdown fight -- The Trump administration must give a 30-day notice if it intends to make major changes to the Kennedy Center, including the “demolition” of the building, a federal judge ordered on Thursday. Elleiana Green Politico -- 9/18/26

Weeks Before the Midterms, Almost Everything Is Getting More Expensive -- The price of eating out, filling a gas tank and buying a house keeps rising, while higher interest rates add to borrowing costs. David Uberti, Justin Lahart and Aaron Zitner in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 9/18/26

Most Michigan voters disapprove of Trump’s tariffs on Canada, poll shows -- Among the state’s independents, who could determine the outcome of several key midterm races, 68 percent disapprove of the levies on Canadian products. Riley Beggin in the Washington Post$ -- 9/18/26

China Stockpiled Oil, and Now It Could Dominate the Energy Landscape -- The war with Iran revealed just how much influence the world’s biggest oil importer has over prices and other countries’ supplies of jet fuel, gasoline and diesel. Rebecca F. Elliott and Keith Bradsher in the New York Times$ -- 9/18/26