Good morning. It’s Friday, and I’m reading about how former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was detained by German customs earlier this week. Onto the five USC, Los Angeles and California stories you need to know for today.

1.

A group of Silicon Valley insiders is backing Minnesota Democrat Dean Phillips’ long-shot presidential campaign, launching a novel artificial intelligence chatbot that can answer a delightful range of questions in a voice that sounds like Phillips. The chatbot underscores the fact that generative AI, though relatively benign in this use case, could very well be weaponized against political candidates in the near future. You may notice that today’s newsletter is late, and that’s because I’ve spent 15 minutes this morning trying to get the bot to say something inappropriate. 

Meryl Kornfield and Elizabeth Dwoskin / The Washington Post

2.

The drama keeps coming at the LA Times. More than 400 of the paper’s unionized reporters, photographers and editors are walking out today in a one-day work stoppage, protesting imminent mass layoffs that staffers say threaten to gut the newsroom. “This is the Big One,” union leadership wrote. Why should you care? The Times is the largest newspaper in the West and dominates coverage of Southern California. It sets the agenda, exposes wrongdoing and holds elected leaders accountable in one of the most populous metro areas in the country.

Katie Kilkenny / The Hollywood Reporter

3.

At the height of a dry spell in 2022, California farmers drained the Merced River dry — literally. One downstream gauge reported zero water moving past it for a four-month period. Worse, it took months for state regulators to discover the incident, at which point water restrictions had already eased. Even worse: The farmers were most likely drawing water legally. Experts say the incident, which devastated downstream wildlife, was a result of an antiquated system that protects the rights of long-established growers over the environment during droughts.

Raymond Zhong / The New York Times

4.

LA City Councilmember Kevin de León criticized the city attorney for donating to his council opponent, questioning whether it amounted to political favoritism. De León and the attorney, Hydee Feldstein Soto, have something of a checkered history. Last fall, de León slammed Feldstein Soto’s decision not to prosecute an activist who he got into a physical altercation with at a Christmas toy giveaway. Since then, de León has repeatedly appealed to Feldstein Soto for legal protection against activists that follow him and his staff around City Hall, calling for his resignation for his role in the 2022 racist tapes scandal.

Christopher Cadelago / Politico

5.

The family of Kristin Smart, a Cal Poly freshman who was murdered in a dorm room nearly 30 years ago, is suing the university for wrongful death and negligence. Smart’s murder has grabbed headlines on-and-off over the years, most recently when her convicted killer was attacked in a prison yard. The suit alleges that the university could’ve prevented Smart’s death if only it hadn’t ignored at least five reports of harassment filed against Smart’s killer, and that it mishandled the investigation into her death.

Matthias Gafni / San Francisco Chronicle

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