Robots that fully flesh out avocados and build burrito bowls are now making food for customers at two Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurants in Southern California, as automation and artificial intelligence continue to enter the fast-food industry and raise fears about the supplanting of workers. Chipotle earlier this week announced the debut of the robots at … Read more
Wherever filmmaker Becky Muikia goes, she brings the stories of her native Kenya with her. They came with her to the NBA All-Star Weekend, where her media and communications company showed its short film “Jumping for Change” about a Kenyan girls basketball team that fights gender norms. And this summer, they traveled to Los Angeles, … Read more
Walt Disney Animation Studios Chief Creative Officer Jennifer Lee has stepped down from her executive role to focus on leading the “Frozen” franchise, Walt Disney Co. said Thursday. “Zootopia” and “Encanto” director Jared Bush has been named as her replacement. The change is effective immediately. Lee served as head of the storied animation studio for … Read more
Amazon MGM Studios will soon join the Motion Picture Assn., the lobbying arm of Hollywood’s major studios announced Thursday. The Seattle-based tech and retail giant — which distributes content via its theatrical arm, Amazon MGM, and its streaming service, Prime Video — will officially become the seventh member of the MPA on Oct. 1. Amazon … Read more
A sprawling mobile home park in Malibu that was owned by the seaside city’s founding family has been sold to one of the nation’s largest owners of manufactured housing communities. Point Dume Club of Malibu, which has 297 residences, will continue to operate and not be redeveloped into the kind of tony estates commonly found … Read more
Trained as a physicist, Sean M. Kirkpatrick has spent most of his career in government, much of it as an intelligence and technology expert for various Pentagon agencies, culminating in an 18-month stint as the government’s lead investigator of UFOs. It was in that latter position — as the first director of the Pentagon’s All-domain … Read more
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has barred insurance companies from canceling residential coverage of some 750,000 policyholders affected by the Airport, Bridge and Line fires. The order issued Thursday protects residents within the fire zones or adjoining ZIP Codes from insurance non-renewals or cancellations for one year from the date of emergency declarations Gov. Gavin … Read more
California’s labor market weakened at the end of summer, with the unemployment rate ticking up again and the state eking out a small number of new jobs, according to new data released Friday. The statewide unemployment rate went up a notch to 5.3% in August (from 5.2% in July), tied with Illinois for the second … Read more
A week after Hurricane Helene overwhelmed the Southeastern U.S., homeowners hit the hardest are grappling with how they could possibly pay for the flood damage from one of the deadliest storms to hit the mainland in recent history. The Category 4 storm that first struck Florida’s Gulf Coast on September 26 has dumped trillions of … Read more
Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp, left, and founder Jeff Bezos look up at a New Glenn rocket on at the company’s LC-36 facility in Florida. Blue Origin Dave Limp had only one question for Jeff Bezos when he interviewed last year to become CEO of Blue Origin, the billionaire’s space venture. “Jeff, is Blue Origin … Read more