National San Francisco's police, fire departments fret about push for more self-driving cars Self-driving car firms want California regulators to allow for more vehicles on San Francisco streets. Police and fire departments cite many times when autonomous vehicles botched rescue operations. Dara Kerr
Technology California allows robo-taxis to expand and emergency responders aren't happy In a 3-1 vote, California's transportation regulator allows self-driving car companies to expand their programs in the state — despite opposition from police and fire departments. Dara Kerr
Technology Biden orders restrictions on U.S. investments in Chinese technology The executive order covers advanced computer chips, micro electronics, quantum information technologies and artificial intelligence. Officials cited national security, rather than economic interests. The Associated Press
Environment Ford plans to make EV batteries in U.S. with Chinese company that developed the tech Ford's plans to produce electric vehicle batteries based on technology and licensing from China has become a flashpoint in the debate over relations between the two countries. Jackie Northam
National Musk vows to pay legal costs for users who get in trouble at work for their tweets Elon Musk said X, formerly known as Twitter, said there is "no limit" on how much the company is willing to pay. Juliana Kim
Technology Movie extras worry they'll be replaced by AI. Hollywood is already doing body scans Five background actors told NPR they had to undergo face and body digital scans while on TV and movie sets. The use of digital replicas is a sticking point in the ongoing strikes in Hollywood. Bobby Allyn
Technology Elon Musk sues disinformation researchers, claiming they are driving away advertisers X, the company formerly known as Twitter, is suing the Center for Countering Digital Hate, which has documented the spread of hate speech and viral falsehoods on social media. Shannon Bond
Technology 'Open the pod bay door, HAL' — here's how AI became a movie villain When Tom Cruise battles a sentient artificial intelligence "Entity" in the latest Mission Impossible film, he joins a long list of heroes who've had to fight a malevolent machine onscreen. Bob Mondello
Technology After rebranding, X took @x from its original Twitter owner and offered him merch Gene X Hwang owned @x on Twitter. Until Elon Musk rebranded the platform and took the handle. Kai McNamee
Technology New study shows just how Facebook's algorithm shapes conservative and liberal bubbles Research conducted at the height of the 2020 election reveals new details about how Facebook's algorithms handle political content. But it suggests there are no easy fixes to political polarization. Huo Jingnan Shannon Bond
