Gov. Gavin Newsom staged a news conference in Los Angeles this week to tout the adoption of artificial intelligence to improve the efficiency of state government.
That’s pretty dull stuff, so Newsom goosed its news value by contrasting California’s AI program with President Donald Trump’s slashes of federal services via his Department of Government Efficiency, headed by Newsom’s erstwhile pal, industrialist and inventor Elon Musk.
“I could have easily come in here with sunglasses and chainsaws — you know where I’m going — and gotten your attention,” Newsom told reporters. “We’re DOGE but better.”
He took another potshot at Trump and Musk, saying, “They haven’t come close to the savings they’ve asserted. I think it’s been very damaging.”
