There is no chiddush here as Rav Ovadia’s son specifically recalls his father’s pask on this exact issue in the exact same manner in Siman Resh Nun Bet of Yalkut Yosef. If you will look there (and i know you won’t) you will see that the psak is not limited to chayalim except for ashkenazim who hold like the rama with regard to “hashma’at kol” in which case it is limited to chayalim.
last time i checked we still held like bet hillel and against bet shamai that “ein melacha bekelim.” In other words, kelim, like washing machines, cannot, by jewish legal definition, commit a melacha. even the inyan that in israel the electric companies are jewish operated and mechaleleh shabbat has been addressed by rav ovadia in the past where he held since the electricity is also generated for permitted uses (like hospitals) it is permitted to derive benefit from it if you are not mechalel yourself, of course.
But it is very very old news. ynet or haaretz, whose editors do not learn, may be susceptible to reporting this as new but i am surprised at yw’s decision to publish this as new.