Latest news with #RobBonta
San Francisco Chronicle
9 hours ago
- Automotive
- San Francisco Chronicle
Tesla and California's DMV are facing off, over the car company's self-driving claims
The fate of Tesla 's business in California, at least for the next 30 days, could be decided in a stuffy second-floor hearing room in Oakland. There, attorneys for the electric car company and the Department of Motor Vehicles are facing off this week before an administrative judge, over claims that Tesla deceived consumers with its autopilot and self-driving features. Officials at the DMV filed those allegations in July 2022 and amended them in November 2023, seeking to suspend Tesla's licenses to manufacture and sell vehicles in California for at least 30 days. Additionally, the department is pursuing a court order for the electric vehicle to pay an undetermined sum in restitution. In court filings, attorneys for the state Department of Justice have cited four phrases or product descriptions from Tesla's website that state officials describe as misleading or that amount to false advertising. These include: 'autopilot'; 'full self-driving capability'; a promise that the system 'is designed to be able to conduct short and long-distance trips with no action required by the person in the driver's seat'; and claims that cars can effectively drive people to their destinations, with the vehicle navigating streets, freeways and intersections and then automatically parking itself. 'These labels and descriptions represent specifically that respondent (Tesla)'s vehicles will operate as autonomous vehicles, which they could not and cannot do,' Attorney General Rob Bonta wrote in a July 17 brief. Attorneys for Tesla argue, to the contrary, that while the company's driver assistance technology qualifies as 'state of the art,' the company 'has always made clear' that its vehicles are not fully autonomous, and that they require 'active driver supervision' from a human. As this case proceeds through administrative court in Oakland, Tesla is facing a separate federal trial in Miami that threatens to fell its autopilot system and its brand image. The Miami case centers on a 2019 fatal crash of a Tesla Model S sedan with its autopilot engaged. According to court documents, the Tesla driver had bent to pick up a cell phone he had dropped when suddenly his car rammed into a parked SUV, killing one person and seriously injuring another.
Phone Arena
17 hours ago
- Business
- Phone Arena
AT&T suffers a 3,000% increase in copper theft, $20,000 reward up for grabs
Technology is on the rise, but so is crime, as it seems. In California, a telco is experiencing something that surprised me – and that's very impressive, given the promise I made to myself not to be impressed and/or surprised by news in 2025. This AT&T announcement, however, tells a story so thrilling, it's hard to ignore. It's authored by AT&T California President Susan Santana. According to her, California is grappling with a surge in copper wire theft and infrastructure vandalism that is endangering public safety and disrupting essential connectivity. The carrier reports a dramatic rise in incidents, with more than 2,200 cases of copper theft recorded across the state in 2024, compared to just 71 in 2021. I loved math back in high school, but I needed a calculator for this one: that's a ~3,000% surge in the last three years. These crimes have caused significant damage by disabling streetlights, cutting off phone and broadband services, and generating repair costs that reach into the millions. In response, AT&T is partnering with government officials, businesses, and community leaders to find solutions and protect customers who are often the most affected. In June, Santana joined California Attorney General Rob Bonta in Los Angeles for a community roundtable focused on this issue. The gathering brought together over 40 representatives from 26 organizations to discuss the widespread impact of copper theft and explore strategies to strengthen enforcement and prevent future crimes. Renita Pettigrew, AT&T 's Assistant Vice President of Construction & Engineering, contributed to the conversation by outlining how theft and vandalism undermine infrastructure and disrupt access to critical services. To combat these crimes, AT&T has introduced a statewide reward program of up to $20,000 for actionable information that leads to arrests and convictions connected to copper cable theft or the sale and purchase of stolen copper. So, here's your chance to win the reward: if you have valuable information, maybe don't hesitate to share it with the authorities. – Susan Santana, AT&T California President, July 2025 Residents are urged to remain vigilant and report suspicious activities, such as unmarked vehicles or individuals cutting and removing cables. Reports can be made to local law enforcement or AT&T Global Security at (800) 807-4205. AT&T 's reward offer is valid for leads submitted through February 1, 2026.
E&E News
3 days ago
- Politics
- E&E News
California sues to overturn revocation of federal high-speed rail grants
California sued the Trump administration on Thursday over its termination of $4 billion in federal grants for the state's high-speed rail project, calling the decision an illegal act of political retribution. What happened: Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) filed the complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, the day after President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that the Federal Railroad Administration had revoked the Obama- and Biden-era grants and said the project would not receive a 'SINGLE penny' in federal funding ever again. That decision came after Trump threatened for months to claw back federal funding from the planned rail line connecting the Bay Area to Los Angeles, which has become a political punching bag for Republicans amid construction delays and cost overruns. Advertisement The filing argues that FRA's decision was 'arbitrary' and an 'abuse of discretion' that will cause economic damage to the state and the Central Valley, where the first leg of the route is being constructed from Bakersfield to Merced.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
California sues Trump administration over loss of high-speed rail funding
California's high-speed rail authority sued the Trump administration Thursday over its cancellation of billions of dollars in federal funding. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California by state Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta, comes one day after the Federal Railroad Administration pulled $4 billion from the project that was intended for construction in the Central Valley. The suit seeks declaratory and injunctive relief and challenges the legality of the decision. The lawsuit calls the administration's actions 'arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion, and contrary to law, and threatens to wreak significant economic damage on the Central Valley, the State, and the Nation." It names Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and acting FRA Administrator Drew Feeley as defendants and details President Trump's 'personal animus' toward the project and long-standing criticism of it. Trump previously pulled funding from the train during his first term. The suit calls the president's past statements over the project's budget as untrue. The project is about $100 billion over budget from its original proposal of $33 billion. Trump previously said it was 'hundreds of billions of dollars' more. 'Trump's termination of federal grants for California high-speed rail reeks of politics." Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement Thursday. 'It's yet another political stunt to punish California. In reality, this is just a heartless attack on the Central Valley that will put real jobs and livelihoods on the line. We're suing to stop Trump from derailing America's only high-speed rail actively under construction.' The fast train to connect San Francisco to Los Angeles was originally expected to be completed in 2020. But while the entire route was environmentally cleared last year, no portion of the line has been finished and construction has been underway only in the Central Valley. The Trump administration initiated a compliance review in February after Republican lawmakers called for an investigation into the project and demanded that it be defunded. The 310-page review found significant failures in the project, citing budget shortfalls and missed deadlines in its assessment, and found 'no viable path' forward. In two letters disputing the findings, Ian Choudri, chief executive of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, said the review was filled with inaccuracies that misrepresented the project's progress. In early July, Choudri asked that the Federal Railroad Administration delay its decision and requested another meeting. Less than two weeks later, the Trump administration canceled the funds instead. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
California sues Trump administration over loss of high-speed rail funding
California's high-speed rail authority sued the Trump administration Thursday over its cancellation of billions of dollars in federal funding. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California by state Attorney General Rob Bonta, comes one day after the Federal Railroad Administration's pulled $4 billion from the project that was intended for construction in the Central Valley. The suit seeks declaratory and injunctive relief and challenges the legality of the decision. The lawsuit calls the administration's actions 'arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion, and contrary to law, and threatens to wreak significant economic damage on the Central Valley, the State, and the Nation." It names Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and acting FRA administration Drew Feeley as defendants and details President Trump's 'personal animus' towards the project and longstanding criticism of it. Trump previously pulled funding from the train during his first term. The suit calls the president's past statements over the project's budget as untrue. The project is about $100 billion over budget from its original proposal of $33 billion. Trump previously said it was 'hundreds of billions of dollars' more. 'Trump's termination of federal grants for California high-speed rail reeks of politics." Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement Thursday. 'It's yet another political stunt to punish California. In reality, this is just a heartless attack on the Central Valley that will put real jobs and livelihoods on the line. We're suing to stop Trump from derailing America's only high-speed rail actively under construction.' The fast train to connect San Francisco to Los Angeles was originally expected to be completed in 2020. But while the entire route was environmentally cleared last year, no portion of the line has been finished and construction has only been underway in the Central Valley. The Trump administration initiated a compliance review in February after Republican lawmakers called for an investigation into the project and demanded that it be defunded. The 310-page review found significant failures in the project, citing budget shortfalls and missed deadlines in its assessment, and found 'no viable path' forward. In two letters rebutting the findings, the project's chief executive Ian Choudri said the review was filled with inaccuracies that misrepresented the project's progress. In early July, Choudri asked that the Railroad Administration delay its decision and requested another meeting. Less than two weeks later, the Trump administration canceled the funds instead. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
