A surge of applicants vying for a chance to be chosen for a voucher worth up to 2,000 for the California E-Bike Incentive Program triggered an error in the program's website, blocking everyone from applying. Officials say they've fixed the glitch for the next round of applications next week. The California E-Bike Incentive Program, launched by the California Air Resources Board, was established to help lower cost barriers to alternative methods of transportation such as e-bikes, with the goal of getting cars off the road and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Eligible residents must be 18 years or older with an annual household income less than 300% of the Federal Poverty Level. The vouchers can be used toward the purchase of an electric bike.

Self-driving cars may need to act more like humans, new research has found. A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found autonomous cars with a greater focus on being "socially sensitive" would prove safer. What does being socially sensitive mean? In short, it seems that it's driving more like a person. The researchers found that autonomous vehicles would be safer if programmed to "incorporate ethical considerations" and focus on protecting more vulnerable people on the road such as pedestrians or cyclists.

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There is a little shuttle bus in the Inland Empire that's fueled with big aspirations. It's electric, tops out at 25 mph, and can only go on a pre-designated route set up by the Riverside Transit Agency. But here's a catch -- it also drives itself. As of Monday, commuters in Riverside are the first in the country to ride a fully self-driving, publicly accessible bus that is deployed by a city transit agency. "I like to say I have no lesser ambition than to be the new Detroit for vehicle manufacturing," Riverside Mayor Lock Dawson said.

Uber Technologies plans to launch a self-driving mobility service in Japan, a company executive said Wednesday. The U.S. ride-hailing service provider plans to introduce autonomous rides in Japan once partner firms are ready, the executive said. Uber Technologies CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said at an event in New York that autonomous rides will make streets safer. The company offers driverless rides in some cities in countries, including the United States, in partnerships with Waymo, a unit of Google parent Alphabet, and other companies.

The California Highway Patrol is deploying new patrol vehicles in hopes of cracking down on what the agency called "video game-styled" driving. The vehicles, 100 Dodge Durangos, will be paired with a fleet of Dodge Chargers and Ford Explorers to "observe the most reckless and dangerous behaviors without immediate detection," according to a CHP news release. "The new vehicles give our officers an important advantage," CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee said in a statement. "They will allow us to identify and stop drivers who are putting others at risk, while still showing a professional and visible presence once enforcement action is needed." The vehicles will be placed in various regions across the state starting this week.

Tesla brought in 20 percent less automotive revenue at the end of last year compared to the year previous, the company reported today, as demand for its electric cars appear to have dipped precipitously across the globe. The drop exceeded even some pessimistic Wall Street analysts' predictions. By late afternoon, before CEO Elon Musk and other company leaders appeared for a quarterly update call for investors, stock prices appeared relatively stable on the news. Overall, however, the electric automaker's stock price is down more than 40 percent from its late 2024 high. In a slide deck prepared for investors, Tesla pinned the drop on declines in deliveries, some which it said were related to the need to retool some of its production lines for modified versions of its best-selling electric cars.

Finals season looks different this year. Across college campuses, students are slogging their way through exams with all-nighters and lots of caffeine, just as they always have. Through the end of May, OpenAI is offering students two months of free access to ChatGPT Plus, which normally costs 20 a month. It's a compelling deal for students who want help cramming--or cheating--their way through finals: Rather than firing up the free version of ChatGPT to outsource essay writing or work through a practice chemistry exam, students are now able to access the company's most advanced models, as well as its "deep research" tool, which can quickly synthesize hundreds of digital sources into analytical reports. The OpenAI deal is just one of many such AI promotions going around campuses.

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Age: Founded in 2009 as the Google Self-Driving Car Project. How futuristic – and they've been working on this since 2009? Actually, it goes back to 2004 and a prototype autonomous car built by Stanford University. The Google project became known as Waymo in 2016. Any idea how many more years until we see the first self-driving taxis? They already have them in San Francisco, LA and Phoenix, among other places.