Steve Hilton unveils his vision for California bullet train

California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton is pitching a dramatic end to the state’s troubled high-speed rail project — imagining a future where the multibillion-dollar undertaking is transformed into a monument to government failure.The Republican candidate’s AI-generated campaign ad, titled around his proposal to “cancel High Speed Rail, turn it into the Government Failures National Monument,” offers a stark before-and-after vision of California depending on who occupies the governor’s office.The spot contrasts a sun-drenched, prosperous California under Hilton with a frozen, dystopian version of the Golden State under Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra, blaming the latter’s hypothetical administration for soaring gas prices, struggling businesses and worsening conditions on Skid Row.The biggest news, opinion and culture shaping California right now.

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Never miss a story The ad opens with an AI-generated vision of California two years into a hypothetical Hilton administration, portraying the high-speed rail project as a “failed promise.” In the opening sequence, Skid Row is transformed into a luxurious destination resembling Rodeo Drive, complete with cherry blossoms and fine dining.The Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica is bustling with shoppers, while gas prices have fallen to $3 a gallon and families are back on the road.The narrator describes the rail project’s cancellation and transformation into a national monument, declaring: “Visitors come from around the world to see the most expensive piece of concrete in human history.”The idyllic imagery then gives way to Hilton’s depiction of California under Becerra, with the ad claiming that gas prices would climb to $8 a gallon and families would struggle to afford driving.The campaign’s sunny visuals abruptly tur...