Things to Do in L.A. Tap to enable a layout that focuses on the article. This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here . Alberto Carvalho issued his first statement after an FBI raid on his home and office. The investigation is linked to AllHere, the company behind a failed multimillion-dollar chatbot initiative that the district launched with fanfare in 2024 but that failed within months.

The head of an education technology startup that created a highly touted chatbot for the Los Angeles school system has been arrested and charged with fraud. Federal prosecutors, in an indictment unsealed Tuesday, accused Joanna Smith-Griffin of defrauding investors and charged her with securities fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Smith-Griffin, 33, is the founder and former chief executive of AllHere, the Boston-based company that created "Ed," an artificial-intelligence tool billed as revolutionary for students' education and the interaction between the L.A. Unified School District and the families it serves. After unveiling the chatbot with great fanfare in March, L.A. school officials, months later, quietly disconnected the tool -- which was supposed to respond to any question from students or parents in an accurate, helpful and private manner. LAUSD board members at Tuesday's meeting will consider resolutions on immigration sanctuary, LGBTQ protection and accelerating the teaching of current events.

Alberto Carvalho, who remains determined to bring artificial intelligence into district classrooms despite the collapse of the technology company leading the effort, will appoint a task force to examine what went wrong and how to move forward. The schools chief announced the task force in an interview with The Times in advance of Tuesday's annual address to administrators, which is akin to a state-of-the-schools speech. In his public address, Carvalho is expected to highlight academic progress and L.A. Unified School District initiatives. In a recent appearance, he said he was hopeful that standardized test scores would rise at all grade levels in math and English. Although school districts throughout the state have received results -- and can make them public if they wish -- the state has not yet released local or statewide scores.

Alberto Carvalho said he is moving foward with his venture into artificial intelligence -- a platform designed to help students and families navigate the complexities of the district -- despite the collapse of the company that designed an AI chatbot. In his first extended interview about what happened, the L.A. schools chief described a fully functional AI-driven platform that is in place and owned by the district -- with everything but a chatbot for now. But parents and teachers are questioning this characterization, because the platform is not available across the school system and its signature feature is sidelined. They said they have no idea how or how well it works, how to access it or what it is supposed to do. Their only information, they said, came from splashy media events.

The school district said it dropped its dealings with AllHere, the company that created "Ed," the sun-shaped chatbot, after "we were notified of their financial collapse." AllHere did not respond to an inquiry this week from The Times and the level of its operation is unclear. In a separate development, a major data breach has affected a data cloud company called Snowflake, which has worked with L.A. Unified. The district said Tuesday that there is no connection to the AllHere situation, and that it is working with investigative agencies to assess the damage and which district records were obtained through a third-party contractor. Meanwhile, the district unplugged the chatbot -- for which AllHere had been paid 3 million -- on June 14, less than three months after unveiling the animated figure as an easy-to-use, conversational companion for students and a soon-to-be-indispensable guide for parents.