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California considers insurance to help with wildfire costs

The most populous state should follow the lead of Oregon, the World Bank and the Federal Emergency Management Agency after outspending its emergency fund in seven of the last 10 years, California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and Treasurer Fiona Ma said.California spent nearly $950 million two years ago, about $450 million more than was budgeted and by far the highest annual amount. It spent about $677 million last year, as wildfires again swept through cities, suburbs and more rural areas.

California has experienced 11 of the top 20 most destructive fires in its history since 2007.

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Study questions safety claims about Tesla autopilot’s steering feature

The study, released Friday by Quality Control Systems Corp., a data analysis company in Maryland, examined the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s 2017 conclusion that there was a 40 percent reduction in the rate of crashes by Tesla vehicles that resulted in the deployment of air bags after they were equipped with Autosteer, a part of the automaker’s suite of automated driver-assist systems it markets as Autopilot.

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AIG swings to loss, hit by catastrophes and volatile market

The company’s general insurance unit reported an underwriting loss of $1.1 billion, compared with a loss of $846 million a year ago, largely due to Hurricane Michael and the California wildfires.Still, AIG said its general insurance accident year combined ratio – which excludes changes from losses incurred in past years – was 98.8 for the quarter, compared with 100.2 a year ago.

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Google, Amazon expanding smart home device data gathering

The commercial success of voice assistants has bolstered dozens of companies working to build interest in internet-enabled televisions, kitchen appliances and other devices. Many people first start tinkering with connected appliances after buying a smart speaker. Surveys show about a quarter of U.S. smart speaker owners regularly use them to control something else, a percentage analysts expect to rise.

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