Tesla Says It's Building a Wheelchair-Accessible Robotaxi A Tesla representative at a DC hearing said the vehicle is "an active product being built." The Tesla Cybercab is not wheelchair accessible, but the company says it's actively developing a wheelchair-accessible autonomous vehicle. Tesla is building a wheelchair-accessible autonomous vehicle, a Tesla representative told lawmakers in Washington, DC, on Monday. "We are in development for a purpose-built, wheelchair-accessible autonomous vehicle," Tesla senior policy advisor India Herdman told members of the DC City Council on Monday, during a hearing focused on a controversial bill that could allow robotaxi services to operate in the District. "We know that paratransit can be very difficult, and people who are confined to wheelchairs permanently should still be able to move around freely, so that is an active product being built by Tesla in Texas," she said.

Power grid operators in the United States are warning that a dangerous heatwave could put more strain on an electric grid already under pressure from surging energy consumption. A stretch of extreme heat is expected to intensify across much of the central and eastern parts of the country this week, peaking from Tuesday through Thursday. Temperatures this week are forecasted to climb above 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) from Boston to Washington, DC, pushing up demand for air conditioning. The heatwave coincides with two major events on the US calendar. Saturday's holiday marks the 250th anniversary of the US's independence, and millions are expected to gather for barbecues, parades and fireworks.

For America's 250th birthday, the U.S. government is hosting two major events hosted by rival groups. One got Trump, the other got bigger stars.

Follow this section to personalize your feed and get instant alerts. Follow Go to your personalized feed WHY FOLLOW? Smart Alerts: Get notified about major news as it happens. Follow this tag to personalize your feed and get instant alerts. Follow Go to your personalized feed WHY FOLLOW?

Follow this section to personalize your feed and get instant alerts. Follow Go to your personalized feed WHY FOLLOW? Smart Alerts: Get notified about major news as it happens. Follow this tag to personalize your feed and get instant alerts. Follow Go to your personalized feed WHY FOLLOW?

Why the Reflecting Pool Is Full of Algae After Trump's Renovation Warm weather has fueled a bloom that US National Park Service workers are trying to kill using everything from hydrogen peroxide to nanobubbles ahead of July 4 celebrations. On Wednesday morning, workers poured hydrogen peroxide into the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, DC. The treatment is the latest attempt by the Interior Department to control an algae bloom that has turned the pool bright green, despite President Donald Trump's costly renovation to make it "American flag blue" in time for the nation's 250th anniversary . Hot temperatures and climate change are among the risk factors that could be driving the outbreak. The Trump administration spent more than $14 million to update the pool ahead of celebrations across the US capital .

Anthropic leaders flew to Washington, DC, to meet with White House officials on Monday. Trump administration officials concluded talks with Anthropic on Monday without lifting export controls that were imposed last week on the company's most advanced AI models in response to jailbreaking concerns, according to three people briefed on the matter. The administration continues to believe that there are ways to disable some of the guardrails on Anthropic's Claude Fable 5, effectively allowing users to access the more powerful cybersecurity capabilities of the company's Mythos model, the people said. Anthropic has said for days that the administration's concerns are overblown, a position it reiterated in working group meetings held at the Commerce Department with government researchers from Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI) and the Office of the National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross, one of the people said. The meetings were also attended by Commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, who dialed in by conference call from the G7 summit in Evian, France.

Bosses at the artificial intelligence (AI) firm Anthropic are set to meet senior White House officials amid fresh national security concerns over the company's latest release. The meeting is set to take place on Monday in Washington DC between executives at Anthropic and the US Department of Commerce, a government department led by Secretary Howard Lutnick, according to two people familiar with the matter. It comes after Anthropic blocked all public access to the recent release of its latest AI tool on Friday, which it has previously said is too powerful. The firm made the decision after the US government prohibited Anthropic from allowing any foreign national access to the technology. The AI tool at issue is named Fable 5 or Mythos 5. Fable 5 is a version of the tool with extra safeguards made available to the public, while Mythos 5 has different controls and is only available to a select group of organisations.

Follow this section to personalize your feed and get instant alerts. Follow Go to your personalized feed WHY FOLLOW? Smart Alerts: Get notified about major news as it happens. Follow this tag to personalize your feed and get instant alerts. Follow Go to your personalized feed WHY FOLLOW?

Best Power Banks Best Smart Rings Routers vs. Modems Choose the Right Laptop Smart Sprinklers Deals Delivered The company is mapping Alexandria and, soon, Arlington--right across from the power center of Washington, DC. Self-driving cars aren't yet permitted to operate in Virginia. But Alphabet-owned Waymo began transporting its cars to the state last week, a Waymo representative told Virginia officials, to map Arlington and Alexandria, in the northern part of the state. For most autonomous vehicle companies, mapping, or the creation of sensor-aided and ultra-precise digital representations of streets and the features around them, is the first step required to launch a local robotaxi service. Drivers will operate the mapping vehicles for now, Waymo says.