California Edition

Trials, Traitors and $16.5 Billion Extra Cash: AI Reshapes Wealth, Politics and Budgets in California

The artificial intelligence boom is minting fortunes, shifting political careers and helping balance state budgets.
Demonstrators outside federal court in Oakland, California, US.Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Welcome to Bloomberg’s California Edition—covering all the events shaping one of the world’s biggest economies and its global influence. Sign up here if you’re not already on the list.

Not very long ago, artificial intelligence was a fringe concept for people who spent too much time watching Star Trek. Now, it’s a force reshaping everything from billion-dollar fortunes to politics to public budgets, with California at its epicenter. So this week we’re taking you on an state tour—three stories across the Golden State showing the unexpected boons, the expensive battles and the outright betrayals in the world of chatbots and GPTs.