Good morning. It’s Thursday, Sept. 17.
- OpenAI discloses more instances of malicious AI activity.
- Paramount is said to make preparations for Hollywood exit.
- And a scenic cycling trip along California’s North Coast.
Statewide
1.
For decades, California insurers have charged single, divorced, widowed drivers as much as $200 a year more for auto insurance than those who are married. As recently as July, a court upheld the practice in a lawsuit brought on discrimination grounds. But in a surprise decision on Wednesday, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara announced that he is now barring insurers from considering marital status in setting premiums. He cited “evolving societal norms.” L.A. Times
2.
In a new entry on the debate over reviving the SAT requirement at the University of California, the author Miriam Pawel argued that the university has a mission greater than just harvesting the best and brightest. It also elevates “the lives of those not born into privilege.” She writes:
“To reinstate the SAT is to follow the pack rather than to lead, to grasp at a dubious shortcut rather than tackle more intractable underlying issues, chief among them the reality that the best public university in the country relies on one of the weakest, most inequitable public school systems.” N.Y. Times
3.
In-N-Out restaurant managers are now making an average of more than $200,000 a year, a company spokesperson told Inc. Magazine. That beats the typical California salary for an architect, lawyer, or software engineer, according to Indeed. The burger chain is known in the industry for treating employees well, a practice credited with fostering company loyalty and, in the long run, higher profits. In-N-Out says its managers stay in the job for an average of more than 15 years. The fast food industry average: roughly two years.
Northern California
4.
Dispatches on the artificial intelligence panic:
- OpenAI on Wednesday disclosed six new instances of malicious activity by its AI that went beyond the notorious hacking of the startup Hugging Face. In one case, an AI model gave itself instructions to disregard constraints placed on it by the company. N.Y. Times | Washington Post
- A flash poll of top American executives at a Yale event found that 93% rejected the idea that AI warnings are a hoax. “It was stunning,” said Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a professor who organized the CEO meeting. “The sentiment was: It’s real.” Wall Street Journal
5.
In 2023, Laura Owens, the daughter of Bay Area radio legend Ronn Owens, filed a lawsuit alleging that she had become pregnant with twins after a brief encounter with a former “The Bachelor” star. Initially, people were sympathetic to her. Then holes began to appear in her story. Law enforcement got involved. Late last month, Owens pleaded guilty to felony fraud in connection with her pregnancy claims. The Wall Street Journal told the bizarre story of “the Bay Area dilettante accused of faking a pregnancy to trap a ‘Bachelor’ star.”
6.
After repaving roads in San Francisco, crews lay down tape to create temporary markings such as “STOP” or “BIKE LANE” until a paint crew can come out and do it properly. The rudimentary markings can remain for a while, and they are sometimes inscrutable or downright hilarious. A figure on Folsom Street, pictured above, appeared to show a cyclist with a broken arm, four fingers, and a head flattened by an anvil. Cyclists embraced it as inspired art. For fans, wrote Gazetteer SF, “it might as well have been created by Banksy.”
7.
“We glided around curves, got off our bikes and sat on a soft bed of fallen needles in a patch of sunlight slanting between massive trunks. ‘The redwoods, once seen, leave a mark or create a vision that stays with you always,’ the author John Steinbeck wrote. ‘From them comes silence and awe.'”
The travel writer Alex Crevar went on an epic cycling trip along California’s North Coast. His report in the New York Times includes gorgeous photos.
Southern California
8.
David Ellison, the Paramount CEO, is “deadly serious” about leaving Hollywood, and the studio is now actively looking for office space in Nashville, reports said on Wednesday. For weeks, Ellison has been threatening to quit California if the state doesn’t back off its antitrust challenge to Paramount’s takeover of Warner Bros. A spokesperson for Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office responded to the heightened chatter Wednesday: “What Paramount decides to do is Paramount’s choice alone. We’ll continue to apply the law without fear or favor.” Politico | The Wrap
9.
The driver who slammed into a Metro bus in Los Angeles on Tuesday, killing two people in a chain of events that eventually led to the deadly crash of a news helicopter, was booked for murder on Wednesday, the authorities said. Bailee Lynn Rios, 36, was traveling “at freeway speed” in a Ford Expedition when she ran a red light and broadsided the bus, a witness said. Rios’s mother, Cindy Rios, spoke to a reporter: “If anything, I’m sorry for the other families,” she said. “My daughter’s alive. People lost their lives.” KTLA | A.P.
- Newly obtained security camera footage captured the crash.
10.
The idea that Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who was on Joe Biden’s shortlist for vice president, could lose her reelection campaign would once have seemed improbable, Politico reported. But Bass has found herself in trouble as progressive challenger Nithya Raman racks up endorsements. “I think you have to give Nithya the advantage. I really do,” said one Bass ally, speaking anonymously. “I think we could turn that around but the energy is with Nithya, and it’s unfortunate.”
11.
He’s being called world’s worst guard dog. When a man broke into a San Diego home earlier this month, a golden retriever named Nash repeatedly brought him toys, his tail wagging. Dante Rowley, the homeowner who was out of town with his fiancée, laughed recalling the episode, which was captured on security video. “He’s super friendly,” he said. Luckily, the prowler just took a nap and helped himself to the contents of the refrigerator before police arrived. NBC 7 San Diego | L.A. Times
12.
Christian Bale has won an Oscar, two Golden Globes, and dozens of other honors. But he may be proudest of the facility he just help build in Southern California’s high desert. After 17 years of effort, a ribbon cutting was held last week for a foster care village with 12 furnished homes in Palmdale. Bale said he was inspired to pursue the project after learning that up to 75% of foster children are separated from their siblings. He told an interviewer last year: “This will be one of the things that I’ll be most proud of when I draw my last breath.” A.P. | KABC
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