LOS ANGELES — On a sunny afternoon this fall, automotive engineers and marketers with Mullen Automotive welcomed new customers to check out a fleet of brands, including SUVs, utility trucks and a sports car. The customers got test rides with experts and a look at future products.

But the startup automaker isn’t located in Motor City, ...Read more

Among the Tesla Cybertruck’s unusual selling points, such as stopping various projectiles, is this one:

If you're ever in an argument with another car, you will win.

That was Elon Musk talking tough at the launch of Tesla Inc.’s latest model. While any autos executive will talk up safety specs, framing a crash as a contest to be won or ...Read more

DETROIT — Dinner in Motown, Wings game, paddle tennis, shopping, Bocce ball, dinner, snow, snow and let it snow. Just your typical jam-packed Thanksgiving weekend for the Payne family six-pack of mom, dad, two boys and their wives.

Good thing we had a three-row, six-seat SUV to negotiate it all.

This week’s test mule was a 2024 Acura MDX ...Read more

Billionaire Jeff Bezos, who recently announced his plans to move to Miami, is looking to offload at least one of his Seattle-area homes, according to media reports and property listings.

The Amazon founder owns a 4,300-square-foot, five-bedroom home in the Eastside town of Yarrow Point currently listed for nearly $4.4 million, Business Insider ...Read more

When Sam Altman was abruptly fired last month as CEO of artificial intelligence powerhouse OpenAI, the rupture left him with a lot of thinking to do.

But looking back on the experience, Altman told comedian Trevor Noah in a video podcast released Thursday morning, there may have been some upside.

"The empathy I gained out of this whole ...Read more

A new report from a congressional watchdog calls out subsidies for crop insurance to more than 1,000 of the nation's largest farmers as a waste of taxpayer money.

The Government Accountability Office, an independent, nonpartisan oversight agency, published a 73-page report this week highlighting that some of the $17.3 billion the federal ...Read more

You can sense it in the ubiquitous "Help Wanted" posters in artsy shops and restaurants, in the ranks of university students living out of their cars and in the outsize percentage of locals camping on the streets.

This seaside county known for its windswept beauty and easy living is in the midst of one of the most serious housing crises ...Read more

Entertainment employment in the greater Los Angeles area took a big hit during the writers' and actors' strikes, according to a study released Thursday by the Otis College of Art and Design in conjunction with Westwood Economics and Planning Associates.

But the strikes were not the only causes of the contraction, the report found.

The study �...Read more

Homebuyers have suffered some severe whiplash in recent months. After all, when mortgage rates hit 8% in late October, it was reasonable to think the housing market would stay on ice throughout the winter. The move cemented a narrative of negativity about poor affordability and homeowners with low-rate loans being unwilling to sell. Seven weeks ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A shift in demographics. Affordable apartments transformed into luxury condos. A coffee shop called something like "Brew Slut."

The signs of gentrification take many forms. A newly opened art gallery can serve both as a communal space and a harbinger of the displacement to come. Remodeled homes might boost a street's curb appeal...Read more

Most gamblers looking for action in Las Vegas head for the Strip, but the biggest bet to watch these days is on the edge of town. There, a vast new complex will take plastic waste from across the West and process it into high-quality material that manufacturers can turn back into water and soda bottles or other food-grade packaging.

Republic ...Read more

Who has $235,183 lying around in a bank account? The average homebuyer in Silicon Valley, apparently. That’s the median down payment for a home in the San Jose metro area — and it’s on the rise.

In the third quarter of 2023, the median down payment in San Jose reached nearly 25% of purchase price, up from 23% in the first quarter, ...Read more

How out of whack is the housing market?

Well, an October poll by LendingTree of 2,045 US adults found 35% want the housing market to crash — highlighted by youthful Gen Z-ers (53%) and millennials (46%).

Look, rooting for a bargain is as American as apple pie. Who doesn't hope for that big sale, deep-discount coupon or holiday pricing to ...Read more

In the spirit of the holiday season, the labor movement keeps on giving the gift of strikes. This time, California State University faculty are the ones walking the picket line.

The California Faculty Association, which represents close to 29,000 professors, lecturers, librarians, counselors and coaches across the CSU system, is staging one-day...Read more

Xcel Energy and Ford Motor Co. announced Tuesday they are collaborating to outfit business fleets with 30,000 electric vehicle charging ports across eight states by 2030.

The program would begin in Wisconsin and Colorado in 2024 but could expand elsewhere — including in Minnesota — if approved by utility regulators.

Minneapolis-based Xcel ...Read more

In the first two years of the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art and Culture’s existence, e-commerce giant Amazon.com was happy to contribute funds to the much-lauded Riverside, California, facility.

But this year, the Cheech hosted an exhibit that included a piece depicting an Amazon warehouse on fire. In an interview, the artist said the ...Read more