San Francisco

Two years in, officials are calling San Francisco’s Text Before Tow program — which lets residents sign up to get a text if their car is about to be towed — a success. Only 130 texts have gone out to participants, but more than half resulted in a vehicle being saved from an impending tow.

It’s a move happening statewide. In October, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation requiring all new school buses purchased after 2035 to be zero-emission vehicles.

CISO Michael Makstman explains what it takes to secure San Francisco, how the city is approaching generative AI and the importance of sharing information in the Coalition of City CISOs.

The company leading the robotaxi race wants to expand driverless ride-hailing to Los Angeles and 22 Bay Area cities in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties — even as San Francisco is suing to rein in its expansion.

Officials and residents alike are putting new investment behind water transportation. The cost of the ferry is now comparable to BART for most East Bay locations and cheaper than driving across any of the area’s major bridges.

Despite criticism, the city passed legislation for a 15-month surveillance pilot program that greatly expanded the powers of police to temporarily monitor live video feeds from privately owned cameras.

The guidelines direct city employees to fact check AI-generated content and disclose when they use the technology, which can write and summarize emails and other documents as well as generate images and videos.

Artificial intelligence is having an impact across disciplines and campuses in Bay Area, where both students and professors are applying the technology and learning about its implications for their fields.

City and county of San Francisco CIO Linda Gerull has set her retirement for Dec. 29. Chief Information Security Officer Michael Makstman will serve as the interim director of the Department of Technology.

After dozens of fires caused by combusting batteries used in electric scooters and bikes in recent years, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors is set to consider imposing new restrictions on the rechargeable devices.

California's Privacy Protection Agency has shared draft rules on how companies using automated decision-making tools — including those powered by artificial intelligence — can use consumers' information.

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission in the Bay Area is holding public meetings for community feedback on a plan to add tolling to the region’s most-crowded freeways to generate new funding for transit and other projects.

The state has suspended Cruise from operating its driverless taxis in San Francisco, effective immediately, for allegedly withholding footage of a severe crash involving one of the company's robotaxis.

Early intervention software could soon help the San Francisco Police Department to identify "at-risk" officers. The police commission is considering an upgrade in the hopes that it fends off future lawsuits.

A crash in San Francisco involving a driverless Cruise taxi happened at an inopportune time for autonomous vehicle companies, which were already under scrutiny by state regulators.

A female pedestrian was severely injured after being struck by an alleged hit-and-run driver and then thrown into the path of a Cruise driverless vehicle that ran over her in downtown San Francisco on Monday.

The shooting death of a teenager at San Francisco's Twin Peaks lookout point over the weekend has highlighted the need for new police patrols and technology in the area, officials say.

In a letter, lawmakers urged the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to collect more data on autonomous vehicles, citing serious safety concerns about how they operate in real-world situations.