California Announces Investigation Into State Farm

Ricardo Lara, California's Insurance Commissioner, announced a formal investigation into State Farm on Thursday, as complaints continue to mount about the insurer's handling of claims from the catastrophic wildfires in Los Angeles.
The so-called 'market conduct examination' is a tool used when there is evidence of broad consumer complaints, according to a spokesman for the department. It's the fourth time that State Farm General Insurance Company — the state's largest insurer, which covers one out of every five homes in California — has been the subject of such an investigation since 2014, said Michael Soller, a deputy insurance commissioner.
'Some troubling patterns that my staff will investigate include the frequent reassignment of multiple adjusters with little continuity in communication, inconsistent management of similar claims, and inadequate record-keeping,' Mr. Lara said in a statement. 'These issues create unnecessary stress, prolong recovery, and erode trust.'
The multiple fires that erupted on Jan. 7 in Eaton Canyon and on a hillside in Pacific Palisades have left a burn zone unlike almost any other — over 16,000 homes, businesses and other structures were obliterated and many others were damaged by toxic smoke. The fires are being described as among the most destructive in California's history, and have displaced thousands of people.
Complaints against State Farm have been growing from the first weeks after the fire.
A group of survivors from Altadena, the community flanking Eaton Canyon where one of the blazes started, have collected over 400 complaints from victims whose homes were insured by State Farm. The homeowners, who first found each other on a WhatsApp group for pickleball enthusiasts before migrating to the gaming app Discord, describe a pattern of delays and foot-dragging that they say has worn them down.
Among the complaints is a pattern of rotating adjusters — where the same damaged home is assessed by one adjuster, only to be passed off to another, then another, forcing the homeowner to start from scratch with each new consultant, said Joy Chen, a former deputy mayor of Los Angeles, who runs the Eaton Fire Survivors Network, which collected the accounts.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

CBS News

3 hours ago

• CBS News

Skate shop owner embraces challenge of revitalizing San Francisco's Tenderloin

When it was time for Justin Marks to open up his skate shop, Low Key, he says San Francisco's Tenderloin was a natural fit. "I wanted the skate shop to revolve around the Tenderloin's art scene," he said. "Our business is based around the community of the Tenderloin." Over the past five and a half years, he's immersed himself in it – a neighborhood that has seen some of its toughest times. "The hard times don't compare to the heightened good times that I have here in the Tenderloin," he said. "There was never a time where I wanted to throw in the towel and call it quits in the Tenderloin." As images of homelessness and open-air drug use became synonymous with the Tenderloin in recent years, Marks says what was lost was the light shining upon the good in the neighborhood, which did and does still exist. "That's a huge reason why I have my business here – to shed light on the positive activities and throw fuel on that fire rather than the negative dialogue about the Tenderloin," he said. In terms of visible issues, he says the streets are literally cleaner now than they were about a year ago. "If you call 311 and report that a sidewalk needs to be cleaned, they usually show up within that day, within a handful of hours – they're there cleaning it. That's been really helpful for my business," he said. "I think they're more responsive now." That's a big step forward and long overdue, says Chris, a man who's lived in the Tenderloin for many years. "The Tenderloin has been cleaning up," he said. "2023 and 2022 – it was bad." It's a visible change that's easy to track. Crime is also down in the Tenderloin, about 25% year-over-year, according to SFPD data. However, systemically? "We need more help. We need more assistance for the homeless people out here to get housing – get shelter," he said. San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie says systemic changes are in progress. "We're doing more on the neighborhood outreach teams to make sure that we get people off the street and into the help that they need. 822 Geary has helped us get people stabilized," he said. The Mayor is referring to the 822 Geary behavioral health stabilization center. It opened in the spring and is designed to give immediate treatment for those experiencing mental health crises so they can be connected to services and shelter. "We still have a lot of work to do. I am clear-eyed about the challenges. We're going to work in partnership with community leaders," Lurie said. When it comes to solutions for the unhoused, Marks thinks they must go far beyond providing shelter. "We can't just give them housing and then walk away. I think that's what's happened time after time," he said. However, he doesn't expect systemic changes to happen overnight. "It's going to take some years to see the success of these projects," he said. But what he has seen is intrigue by first-time visitors or those coming back to the neighborhood for the first time in years. "It's interesting, when people come to the Tenderloin Art Walk, they're pleasantly surprised," he said. Marks thinks more exposure to events like the Art Walk and other activations seen during 'I Love Tenderloin' Week, for example, will work in tandem with the visible and systemic changes underway. "I have felt in the last year or so that a lot more resources have been put into the Tenderloin and a lot more showcasing and love to the Tenderloin has been happening," he said. "I think the Tenderloin is very misunderstood." They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and Marks is on a mission to share the beauty he sees in the Tenderloin with those around it, one day at a time.

Wall Street Journal

3 hours ago

• Wall Street Journal

Some Fed Officials Skeptical of July Rate Cut

San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said cooling inflation could reverse course due to tariffs. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg News)

Yahoo

4 hours ago

• Yahoo

CHAI - AI Lab Quantizes Social AI to 4-bit for +56% Increase in Throughput

PALO ALTO, Calif., June 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- CHAI, the high-growth AI startup, today unveiled a major advancement in model optimization through its successful deployment of quantized large language models (LLMs). The breakthrough—achieved by CHAI's AI research team—reduces inference latency by 56% while preserving model performance, a critical milestone as the platform now serves 1.2 trillion tokens daily, rivaling industry giants like Anthropic's Claude. The Quantization Advantage Model quantization, a technique that reduces the numerical precision of neural network parameters, has emerged as a key strategy for optimizing LLMs. CHAI's research team systematically evaluated multiple quantization approaches (including INT8, FP16, and hybrid methods) to maximize efficiency without sacrificing output quality. The winning implementation: 56% faster inference – Dramatically reduces response times for end users smaller model footprint – Lowers memory and compute costs <1% performance degradation – Maintains accuracy across benchmarks The quantized model deployment complements CHAI's $20 million compute investment, addressing the platform's exponential growth. By marrying hardware scaling with algorithmic innovation, CHAI now serves 1.2T tokens per day while maintaining competitive inference speeds. Was CHAI the first AI Platform? CHAI was the first consumer AI product to reach 1 million users, leveraging the open-sourced LLM GPT-J, before ChatGPT or Llama. What is CHAI? CHAI is a social AI platform where users can create their own AI. Since its launch three years ago, CHAI has experienced significant growth, particularly among Gen Z users. Now, to support further growth and wider adoption, CHAI has redesigned its brand. Can you use CHAI AI in a browser? As of March 2025, no. CHAI is focused on delivering the most engaging social AI experience by hiring talented engineers to refine its app. While there are currently no plans for a web app, this may change in the future. Is CHAI AI safe? CHAI has implemented a range of safety features that allow users to engage in dynamic chats while encouraging them to stay within established guidelines. By building better AI, CHAI aims to enhance user value and experience. What makes CHAI special? CHAI is designed to be the most engaging social AI, delivering highly entertaining conversations. Many users rely on it to craft interactive stories and immersive experiences. Why do people love CHAI? CHAI employs advanced AI techniques to increase the entertainment value of its bots. Users chat with AI to write interactive novels and have engaging conversations, supported by a variety of genres that appeal to avid novel readers. Sometimes regarded as the best free AI chatbot, CHAI is paving its way to widespread adoption of conversational social AI for entertainment. Who is the founder? William Beauchamp is a 2x founder, first started building CHAI with his sister in Cambridge UK in 2020. After building the first AI chat platform they relocated to Palo Alto. Are they hiring? CHAI is a rapidly growing company that is known for paying very high salaries with an intense culture focused on delivering results and iterating quickly. Apply on CHAI's website. Press Contact: Tom Lu+1 (626) 594-8966 View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Chai AI Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data