Democrats maintain a firm grip on California. But they face mounting pressure to balance the state budget, usher in more government efficiency, build homes and solve affordability, figure out wildfire liability and regulate AI.

Image caption, Google CEO Sundar Pichai has backed the company's massive spending on AI. Google parent Alphabet lost just over $500bn (£374bn) in value on Thursday after it rattled Wall Street with its last update of the year on its business operations. Google spooked investors so badly that its stock hit a six-month low, after it revealed its artificial intelligence (AI) summaries on search were affecting ad revenue. Microsoft and Amazon also updated investors this week, and joined Google in plans to keep spending astronomical sums of cash in an ongoing AI race. But investors appeared dismayed at the impacts these plans are having on the ability of each to keep growing their core lines of business.

'The city is alive': A brief peace in Kherson, but residents fear what comes next The Ukrainian city of Kherson has known its first two days of quiet after many years, as a US-brokered temporary ceasefire has allowed residents rare moments of respite from the constant Russian aerial attacks that plague the front line region. Videos posted on social media showed people strolling down streets covered in anti-drone nets and gathering in the city's squares - ordinary activities that usually mean keeping one eye on the sky and one ear out for incoming drones. Ever since the ceasefire was announced, there's been total silence, said Olga, 42, speaking by phone from Kherson. We are all, of course, overjoyed. I don't even know what to call it, she added, her smile coming through in her voice.

DoorDash will acquire grocery delivery firm Instacart in a $17bn (£12.8bn) DoorDash said the deal, expected to be final in about a year, will expand options for customers and let more sellers use the companies' services. Instacart shoppers will be able to buy from 150,000 stores, up from the current 100,000, while DoorDash will reach beyond restaurants into retail, the firms said. Together, we can accelerate innovation across the grocery industry and make online grocery more seamless and affordable for the millions of households we serve, Instacart's chief executive said. Over the last 14 years, Instacart has transformed online grocery by helping retailers of all sizes compete and grow, and joining forces with DoorDash allows us to do even more, CEO Chris Rogers also said.

Faisal Islam: The 10-year plan will have to fill the gaps from this'micro Budget' It was not a mini Budget, but it was rather small. It might be called the micro Budget. Small does not necessarily mean bad, but it clearly falls short of radical action to create a promised new economic model. A new theory of growth was not unveiled as promised by the prime minister Andy Burnham. It was preamble, roadmap, consultation, perhaps the starter to the main course, which appears to be the PM's 10-year plan next month.

The world's changed a lot since Seán McLoughlin, better known to 31 million subscribers as Jacksepticeye, began making YouTube videos. He started uploading in 2012, in what many people consider to be the platform's golden age when vlogging, video game playthroughs and comedy escapism were all the rage. Like many in the content creation space, he's been branching out in recent years, taking more acting jobs and getting involved in film production. BBC Newsbeat caught up with McLoughlin to talk about his new role, his work on bringing one of his favourite video games to the big screen and why he misses the whimsical days of the internet. McLoughlin got famous playing video games, and these days there's a good chance you'll see - or hear - him in one.

'Painful' years ahead, think tanks warn, as living standards set to fall People are facing a painful and depressing few years ahead, economic think tanks have warned, after forecasts showed growth in living standards grinding almost to a halt. Typical working-age households would see their disposable income fall by £1,050, or 3%, between now and 2029, according to the Resolution Foundation, while the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said the current decade would be the worst for household income growth on record. Chancellor John Healey said his Budget offered breathing space, but said the government could never remove completely cost of living pressures. The UK's official forecaster said its latest economic forecast painted a pretty grim picture. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), blamed the difficult financial situation facing the UK on higher borrowing costs and inflation caused by the US-Iran war.

Chancellor John Healey has announced his Budget, which includes changes to minimum wage and help for people trying to get onto the housing ladder. Here is how the Budget could affect you if you are under-25. If you are an 18-to-20 year-old earning the minimum wage, your pay will go up by 3.9% from next April. However, the increase may be lower than you had expected. That is because Healey reversed course on how his Labour predecessor, Rachel Reeves, had been increasing the minimum wage for young people.

Tax thresholds remain unchanged - here's what it means for your pay Income tax thresholds, which have been frozen under successive chancellors, will stay at current levels until April 2031 as planned. But after that they are expected to start to rise again with inflation. John Healey may not have mentioned the end of this policy in his Budget speech - after all, it is still some way off - but according to the documents released by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) the freeze, which has been shaving additional tax off people's take-home pay for the past five years, is scheduled to end. The proportion of your income that is taken in tax will continue to go up over the next four years in line with decisions made in previous Budgets. But then the personal allowance - the point at which you start to pay tax - and other thresholds, where you tip into paying a higher rate of tax, will rise again with inflation, meaning you keep more of what you earn.

Our gifting experts are obsessively searching for holiday gifts that are unique, thoughtful and suitable for any budget. These Claude Enterprise features let you track AI ROI - what's new Is your pricey Claude Enterprise account worth it? Anthropic is trying to surface insights with three tools. Radhika Rajkumar is a senior editor at ZDNET based in New York City. Many businesses still want more clarity on AI ROI.