Heap o' Links Tue Dec 23, 2025

America’s great migration
The elite classes – and their chattering-class interlocutors – remain concentrated in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, places that retain much of the world’s ultra-rich. Yet the supremacy of these cities is being undermined by their growing failure to offer working- and middle-class citizens, particularly the young, the prospect of a better life.

h/t Blazingcatfur

Waymo Robotaxis Stall and Snarl San Francisco Traffic After Massive Blackout
Waymo temporarily halted its robotaxi service in San Francisco this Saturday evening after a large blackout left many of its autonomous vehicles stalled in traffic lanes and intersections, causing gridlock across parts of the city. … It is theorized these units effectively “froze” because the blackout knocked out traffic signals and may have disrupted the connectivity and remote support they rely on, leaving them in a conservative fail‑safe state where they simply stopped rather than proceed through dark intersections. … Interestingly, the Tesla services in the city continued despite the blackout. Unlike Waymo, Tesla does not operate a driverless robotaxi service in San Francisco. …

h/t Skip on A♠