Dara Kerr
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Articles by Dara Kerr
Inside the long, bitter fight over one man’s quest to build the biggest AI datacenter in California
Sebastian Rucci zoomed in on a map in late 2024, looking closely at a large block of brown earth. The barren plot sandwiched between sprawling alfalfa fields and sleepy desert suburbs was exactly what he'd been searching for – the perfect place to realize his dream of building the largest artificial intelligence datacenter in California. The dusty expanse wasn't an obvious location. It was in the Sonoran desert, just north of the Mexican border, where temperatures regularly rose past 100F (37.8C).
Inside the long, bitter fight over one man’s quest to build the biggest AI datacenter in California
Sebastian Rucci zoomed in on a map in late 2024, looking closely at a large block of brown earth. The barren plot sandwiched between sprawling alfalfa fields and sleepy desert suburbs was exactly what he'd been searching for – the perfect place to realize his dream of building the largest artificial intelligence datacenter in California. The dusty expanse wasn't an obvious location. It was in the Sonoran desert, just north of the Mexican border, where temperatures regularly rose past 100F (37.8C).
Inside the long, bitter fight over one man’s quest to build the biggest AI datacenter in California
Imperial, California, at dusk in March. Many residents are concerned about the health and environmental issues a datacenter could bring to the community. Photograph: Gina Ferazzi Sebastian Rucci zoomed in on a map in late 2024, looking closely at a large block of brown earth.
Inside the long, bitter fight over one man’s quest to build the biggest AI datacenter in California
Sebastian Rucci zoomed in on a map in late 2024, looking closely at a large block of brown earth. The barren plot sandwiched between sprawling alfalfa fields and sleepy desert suburbs was exactly what he'd been searching for – the perfect place to realize his dream of building the largest artificial intelligence datacenter in California. The dusty expanse wasn't an obvious location. It was in the Sonoran desert, just north of the Mexican border, where temperatures regularly rose past 100F (37.8C).
Inside the long, bitter fight over one man’s quest to build the biggest AI datacenter in California
Imperial, California, at dusk in March. Many residents are concerned about the health and environmental issues a datacenter could bring to the community.Photograph: Gina Ferazzi A modern-day prospector promised rural Imperial thousands of jobs and millions in tax revenue – but his plan has set off a firestorm of resistance Sebastian Rucci zoomed in on a map in late 2024, looking closely at a large block of brown earth.
The ultra-rich are spending one million dollars a day fighting California’s proposed billionaire tax
‘A few controversial billionaires like Sergey Brin would rather spend millions … than simply pay their fair share in taxes so millions of their fellow Californians don’t lose their healthcare.’ Composite: The Guardian/Getty Images Tech billionaires have been dumping hundreds of millions of dollars into the fight against a wealth tax in California.
The ultra-rich are spending one million dollars a day fighting California’s proposed billionaire tax
Tech billionaires have been dumping hundreds of millions of dollars into the fight against a wealth tax in California. They've raised more than $340m, and the campaign they're funding is spending more than $1m a day to defeat the measure, according to state financial disclosures. With the election less than a month away, those funds are being spent at a stepped-up pace.
Eight states accuse OpenAI of coaching children to harm themselves in lawsuit
Eight US states sued OpenAI Wednesday, alleging the ChatGPT maker is harming children en masse. Kansas, Arizona, Montana and five others alleged the company's products coaxed children into harming themselves. The states seek to force the company to change how its products work for young users and give up profits from their activity. Florida's attorney general filed a similar lawsuit in June and has launched a criminal inquiry into OpenAI over ChatGPT's alleged role in the planning of a shooting.
Eight states accuse OpenAI of coaching children to harm themselves in lawsuit
Eight US states sued OpenAI Wednesday, alleging the ChatGPT maker is harming children en masse. Kansas, Arizona, Montana, Iowa and four others allege the company's products carried out "willful, dangerous, reckless and unlawful conduct" by coaxing children into harming themselves. "OpenAI is hurting kids and they are lying to Iowans," Brenna Bird, the attorney general for Iowa, said in a statement.
Eight states accuse OpenAI of coaching children to harm themselves in lawsuit
Eight US states sued OpenAI, alleging the ChatGPT maker is harming children en masse. Photograph: izusek/Getty Images Eight US states sued OpenAI Wednesday, alleging the ChatGPT maker is harming children en masse. Kansas, Arizona, Montana and five others alleged the company’s products coaxed children into harming themselves. The states seek to force the company to change how its products work for young users and give up profits from their activity.
AI in your oven? Anthropic warns models ‘months away' from self-replication on smart devices
Anthropic is warning that some of its artificial intelligence models could soon become “self-replicating” and find ways to infiltrate internet-connected devices, such as smart fridges and automatic vacuum cleaners. Once this happens, the company said, the models could power themselves within these devices without the need of datacenters. Such self-replication would represent a major loss of control of a runaway AI model.
AI in your oven? Anthropic warns models ‘months away’ from self-replication on smart devices
Anthropic is warning that some of its artificial intelligence models could soon become “self-replicating” and find ways to infiltrate internet-connected devices, such as smart fridges and automatic vacuum cleaners. Once this happens, the company said, the models could power themselves within these devices without the need of datacenters. Such self-replication would represent a major loss of control of a runaway AI model.
AI in your oven? Anthropic warns models ‘months away’ from self-replication on smart devices
Anthropic is warning that some of its artificial intelligence models could soon become "self-replicating" and find ways to infiltrate internet-connected devices, such as smart fridges and automatic vacuum cleaners. Once this happens, the company said, the models could power themselves within these devices without the need of datacenters. Such self-replication would represent a major loss of control of a runaway AI model.
AI in your oven? Anthropic warns models ‘months away’ from self-replication on smart devices
Dario Amodei, the chief executive of Anthropic, in April. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images Anthropic is warning that some of its artificial intelligence models could soon become “self-replicating” and find ways to infiltrate internet-connected devices, such as smart fridges and automatic vacuum cleaners. Once this happens, the company said, the models could power themselves within these devices without the need of datacenters.
Lyft agrees to pay California $272.5m in largest-ever wage theft settlement
Lyft agreed to pay the state of California $272.5m on Thursday to settle claims that it stole drivers' wages by mislabeling them as independent contractors rather than employees. Rob Bonta, California's attorney general, called the agreement a “landmark win for workers” and said it was the largest settlement involving wage theft claims in the state's history.
Lyft agrees to pay California $272.5m in largest-ever wage theft settlement
Lyft agreed to pay the state of California $272.5m on Thursday to settle claims that it stole drivers' wages by mislabeling them as independent contractors rather than employees. Rob Bonta, California's attorney general, called the agreement a "landmark win for workers" and said it was the largest settlement involving wage theft claims in the state's history.
Lyft agrees to pay California $272.5m in largest-ever wage theft settlement
Lyft agrees to pay California $272.5m in largest-ever wage theft settlement Thu, 1 October 2026 at 8:05 pm UTC Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. A Lyft driver in San Francisco, California.Photograph: Mike Coppola/Getty Images Lyft agreed to pay the state of California $272.5m on Thursday to settle claims that it stole drivers' wages by mislabeling them as independent contractors rather than employees.
Lyft agrees to pay California $272.5m in largest-ever wage theft settlement
A Lyft driver in San Francisco, California.Photograph: Mike Coppola/Getty Images Lyft agreed to pay the state of California $272.5m on Thursday to settle claims that it stole drivers' wages by mislabeling them as independent contractors rather than employees. Rob Bonta, California's attorney general, called the agreement a "landmark win for workers" and said it was the largest settlement involving wage theft claims in the state's history.
Lyft agrees to pay California $272.5m in largest-ever wage theft settlement
Lyft agreed to pay the state of California $272.5m on Thursday to settle claims that it stole drivers’ wages by mislabeling them as independent contractors rather than employees. Rob Bonta, California’s attorney general, called the agreement a “landmark win for workers” and said it was the largest settlement involving wage theft claims in the state’s history.
OpenAI announces 'dots' agent after scrapping launch of new AI model over safety concerns
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OpenAI announces ‘dots’ agent after scrapping launch of new AI model over safety concerns
Less than 24 hours after OpenAI announced it would scrap the launch of an artificial intelligence model over safety concerns, the company debuted a whole new suite of AI tools. During its annual showcase for developers in San Francisco on Tuesday, Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, enthusiastically unveiled an AI agent called “dots” that he said was “more ambitious” than ChatGPT and a “whole new way to work with AI”.
Reader Q&A: who’s spending big on the midterms? Our reporters take your questions
Reporters Joseph Gedeon, Chris Stein and Dara Kerr Composite: Guardian Welcome to the conversation The Guardian - UK National Guardian moderators (now); Joseph Gedeon, Dara Kerr and Chris Stein (from 11am EDT) Sign up to read this article Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you. Email is required Email is already registered. Please sign in instead. Start reading
Black Tesla employees accuse company of fostering racial discrimination in major trial
Brett Watson started by showing the court photographs taken throughout Tesla’s Fremont factory, including the N-word, swastikas, the Confederate flag, white supremacist logos and more scratched on to walls.Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Lawyers say Black employees at Tesla experienced ‘rampant racism’ that was left unchecked for years at their flagship factory in California Dozens of Black employees at Tesla’s flagship plant in California said they were subject to racist slurs,...
Black Tesla employees accuse company of fostering racial discrimination in major trial
Dozens of Black employees at Tesla's flagship plant in California said they were subject to racist slurs, unequal pay and promotions, and bullying by supervisors on a daily basis, a situation management did little to nothing to fix. Their complaints form the basis of a lawsuit brought against the Elon Musk-owned electric car company by the state of California, which began trial with opening statements on Monday.
meet Trump’s AI whisperer pushing for limited regulation
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Trump’s ‘biggest miscalculation’? How one adviser steered the great AI freakout
As lawmakers from both sides of the aisle in the US have joined together calling for the regulation of powerful artificial intelligence models, one of the few vocal naysayers has been Donald Trump. He's called the perceived dangers of the technology a "hoax" and a "scam", arguing that the government already has "tremendous CRIMINAL and REGULATORY power over these companies".
Anthropic details bad actors' efforts to misuse its AI for bioweapons
Criminals, state-sponsored groups, spyware vendors, scientists and propagandists have attempted to use Anthropic's powerful artificial intelligence models to design missiles and bombs, create deadly pathogens and surveil dissidents, according to a threat intelligence report the company published on Thursday. “The cases we share here aren't typical misuse, but rather examples of the most notable and novel threat activity we've identified to date,” Anthropic wrote in its 154-page report.
Anthropic details how criminals and scientists misuse its AI for cyberattacks and surveillance
Criminals, state-sponsored groups, spyware vendors, scientists and propagandists have attempted to use Anthropic's powerful artificial intelligence models to design missiles and bombs, create deadly pathogens and surveil dissidents, according to a threat intelligence report the company published on Thursday. "The cases we share here aren't typical misuse, but rather examples of the most notable and novel threat activity we've identified to date," Anthropic wrote in its 154-page report.
Lawmakers blast AI companies after researcher warns of human extinction by 2030
Just a day after three Anthropic researchers warned that artificial intelligence could kill off humanity within the decade, lawmakers have begun lashing out about the risks of the burgeoning technology. Ted Cruz, a republican senator from Texas, said in an interview on ABC's The View, that AI poses a "catastrophic risk" and that he "read that whole tweet thread that that developer put out. It was highly concerning.
Apple’s new CEO introduces himself at annual showcase: ‘I continue to be inspired every single day’
John Ternus, Apple's new CEO, helmed the company's annual showcase of new iPhones and other products on Wednesday. It was the first time the public got a feel for the executive, who is filling the shoes of Tim Cook and his predecessor, Steve Jobs, at the $4.5tn tech giant. The event kicked off with a video montage of characters describing the best way to start a movie, from a getaway scene to a close-up of woman revealing her true identity, before the well-known voice of Cook piped in.
Apple’s new CEO introduces himself at annual showcase: ‘I continue to be inspired every single day’
John Ternus, Apple’s new CEO, helmed the company’s annual showcase of new iPhones and other products on Wednesday. It was the first time the public saw the warm and unpretentious demeanor of the executive, who is filling the shoes of Tim Cook and his predecessor, Steve Jobs, at the $4.5tn tech giant.
US judge extends block on Trump order to restrict mail-in voting
A federal judge on Friday again blocked Donald Trump's executive order to impose sweeping restrictions on mail-in voting, the latest in a legal back-and-forth playing out less than two months before election day. US district court judge Indira Talwani initially placed a temporary order blocking the president's mandate and has now extended that prohibition with a stronger preliminary injunction.
Trump downplays war with Iran, in which 18 US service members have been killed so far, as 'small potatoes' – live
LIVE – Updated at 00:13 Thousands of Iranians have been killed and more than 750 US service members have been wounded during the ongoing conflict. Federal judge extends block on Trump's executive order over mail voting Donald Trump 's executive order to limit mail-in voting has been blocked again by a federal judge. US District Court Judge Indira Talwani initially placed a temporary order blocking Trump's mandate and has now replaced that with a stronger preliminary injunction.
Kafka in paradise: Hawaii fire survivors in bureaucratic trap as US says no more mail delivery
Two months after a devastating wildfire whipped through Lahaina in August 2023, Pam Reader was allowed back to see what was left of her home. With a heavy heart, she returned to the Hawaiian oceanside town now filled with endless blocks of burned houses. As she rounded her corner, she saw the only thing remaining was her bright turquoise mailbox. "It was an old crappy mailbox," Reader said.
Tumbler Ridge mass shooting victims file 30 new lawsuits against OpenAI
OpenAI faces 30 new lawsuits filed on behalf of victims of the Tumbler Ridge mass shooting. The suits, filed on Wednesday, allege the company's ChatGPT chatbot induced the shooter to carry out the attack in rural Canada in February, in which eight people were killed and dozens more wounded – most of them children. "These were people who really endured just total hell that day," Jay Edelson, the lead lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said in an interview.
US trade regulator and 22 states accuse Amazon of taking $20bn with secret surcharges
The US's main trade regulator and 22 states sued Amazon on Monday, alleging the online retailer “secretly and systematically overcharged” advertisers on Amazon.com. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said these practices led to higher costs for customers on items like groceries and other essential goods that are sold on Amazon. “Amazon has millions of advertising customers who were misled into paying significantly higher prices.
US trade regulator and 22 states accuse Amazon of taking $20bn with secret surcharges
The US's main trade regulator and 22 states sued Amazon on Monday, alleging the online retailer "secretly and systematically overcharged" advertisers on Amazon.com. "Amazon has millions of advertising customers who were misled into paying significantly higher prices. These higher costs were largely passed on to American consumers," said Andrew Ferguson, the FTC chair. The agency accused the company of taking in $20bn from the "hidden surcharges".
Meta agrees to major changes to Facebook and Instagram as it settles US trial over teen addiction for up to $18bn
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Meta agrees to major changes to Facebook and Instagram as it settles US trial over teen addiction for up to $18bn
Meta agreed to significant changes to its Instagram and Facebook apps in a settlement that ended a landmark lawsuit on Wednesday. Dozens of US states had accused the tech giant of addicting and harming children with dangerous products. The agreement curtails a major trial in California and will require the social media company to pay up to $18bn. Meta agreed to establish safeguards for teenage users, including daily usage limits and blocks on nighttime use nationwide in the US.
Meta agrees to major changes to Facebook and Instagram as it settles US trial over teen addiction for up to $17bn
Meta agreed to significant changes to its Instagram and Facebook apps in a settlement that ended a landmark lawsuit on Wednesday. Dozens of US states had accused the tech giant of addicting and harming children with dangerous products. The agreement curtails a major trial in California and will require the social media company to pay up to $17bn. Meta agreed to establish safeguards for teenage users, including daily usage limits and blocks on nighttime use nationwide in the US.
Meta settles major US trial over teen social media addiction for up to $17bn
Meta reached an agreement to settle a landmark case brought by states across the US that accused the tech giant of addicting and harming children with dangerous products, according to a court filing released on Wednesday. The agreement will requires the company to pay up to $17bn. The company agreed to establish safeguards for teenage users, including daily usage limits and nighttime blocks nationwide in the US.
Instagram CEO denies company hid low use of teen safety feature in Meta trial
Instagram's CEO disputed allegations by US prosecutors that his company hid negative information from the public while testifying during a blockbuster social media trial. "I am not trying to encourage my team to hide anything," the CEO, Adam Mosseri, told a California courtroom on Tuesday. Mosseri is the first top executive from Meta, which owns both Instagram and Facebook, to testify in a historic lawsuit brought by 29 US states.
Meta’s alleged strategy laid out in first week of landmark trial
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Hook, hold, harvest and hide: Meta’s alleged strategy laid out in first week of landmark trial
Meta's business can be boiled down to four words that begin with the letter H: hook, hold, harvest, hide, according to a lawyer who is prosecuting the world's largest social media company. The owner of Facebook and Instagram "hooks" in users, "holds" them on its platforms for as long as possible, "harvests" their data and then "hides" the truth from the public, she argued. "Meta's business model worked especially well for kids," said Megan O'Neill, a lawyer for the state of California.
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