Erin Griffith
@ering.bsky.social
NYT reporter covering startups & venture capital Writing a book about startups in the 2010s🦄
eBay will pay $56 million to the couple behind EcommerceBytes. The company tried to silence their coverage with a harassment campaign, including sending shipments of live cockroaches and a bloody pig mask. A portion of the $$ will go to First Amendment charities www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/t...
Couple Stalked by eBay Settle for $56 Million
Two Massachusetts journalists were harassed by a Silicon Valley security team in a case that raised questions about when executives should be held responsible.
nytimes.com
Librarians hosting anti-AI workshops say "the anti-AI movement isn’t about rejecting technology altogether so much as it is about advocating for more control, agency, and freedom in how people use technology" techcrunch.com/2026/07/25/l...
Librarians are hosting viral 'Avoiding AI' workshops for people who are fed up with Big Tech | TechCrunch
At libraries around the country, "Avoiding AI" workshops have elicited unprecedented demand.
techcrunch.com
BREAKING: Trump just ordered warning signs and exhibits to be installed outside the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History to alert the public that the museum does not, in his view, accurately reflect American history. For the record: It does.
Trump Orders Warnings Placed at ‘Inaccurate’ Smithsonian History Museum
President Trump said the signage at the National Museum of American History would correct what a disputed White House report described as “extreme political activism.”
nytimes.com
NEW: In a stunning admission, the Trump administration admitted in court documents that it canceled billions in energy grants to states "based solely" on politics -- and whether that state was represented by Democrats and backed Harris in 2024. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/b...
Trump Administration Admits Canceling Grants to States That Did Not Vote for Him
Federal officials said in court documents that they halted billions of dollars in funding for energy projects to states “based solely” on whether they backed President Trump in the 2024 election.
nytimes.com
You're laughing... I can't withdraw my Bonk from Kraken and you're laughing?
FinTwitter@fintwitter.bsky.social · last mo.Kraken has temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals of Bonk due to an ongoing incident affecting the token, according to its website.
i will now be whispering "driverless taxis do not run from rage" under my breath every time i see one zip by
It has been suggested to me that this premise would make a funny musical and I 100% agree
Erin Griffith@ering.bsky.social · 5mo agoNew story from me: Trapped! Inside a Self-Driving Car During an Anti-Robot Attack. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/17/t...
New story from me: Trapped! Inside a Self-Driving Car During an Anti-Robot Attack. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/17/t...
Trapped! Inside a Self-Driving Car During an Anti-Robot Attack.
nytimes.com
New story about how Hollywood (and the world) sees the tech industry, from "Silicon Valley" to "Mountainhead," to a promising new show called "The Audacity." ⬇️ www.nytimes.com/2026/03/12/t...
Silicon Valley’s Image Takes a Dark Turn in Pop Culture
nytimes.com
New story about how Hollywood (and the world) sees the tech industry, from "Silicon Valley" to "Mountainhead," to a promising new show called "The Audacity." ⬇️ www.nytimes.com/2026/03/12/t...
Silicon Valley’s Image Takes a Dark Turn in Pop Culture
nytimes.com
to everyone pining for a reboot of "Silicon Valley," I have bad news from the showrunner: “It would feel like a period piece, because at its core, it’s optimistic, and I think we’re living in a post-optimistic world." www.nytimes.com/2026/03/12/t...
Silicon Valley’s Image Takes a Dark Turn in Pop Culture
nytimes.com
An eye-opening story from @ering.bsky.social and Karen Weise on how Jeffrey Epstein worked his way into the inner sanctum of Microsoft's C-suite www.nytimes.com/2026/02/24/t...
How Jeffrey Epstein Ingratiated Himself With Top Microsoft Executives
nytimes.com
One of @ering.bsky.social's great file finds: Epstein tried to help create an tech fund shortly before he was arrested in 2019 with two tech types. One of his partners, however, was worried about the "optics" of telling founders that Epstein was involved. So they suggested Epstein conceal himself.
Here is Epstein asking Peter Thiel if he should invest in Spotify or Palantir. Thiel was (and still is) Palantir's chairman and tells Epstein there is "no need to rush." This is one of several emails where Thiel gives Epstein advice. Epstein later invested $40m into one of Thiel's VC funds.
For example, here is Coinbase cofounder Fred Ehrsam in 2014 emailing w/ people around Epstein, including crypto entrepreneur Brock Pierce, asking to meet Epstein before the financier invested $3m in Coinbase. Coinbase was a two year old startup. Epstein netted multimillion dollar returns from this.
Epstein had many known connections to Silicon Valley CEOs, but less known was how he made money from those relationships. We did a deep dive into how he got dealflow in Silicon Valley, giving him shots to invest in Coinbase, Palantir, SpaceX and other companies. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/b...
Jeffrey Epstein’s Money Mingled With Silicon Valley Start-Ups
nytimes.com
New: we dug into Epstein’s dealmaking in Silicon Valley. He used his connections with tech’s elite to get into hot startup deals, some of which paid off handsomely (coinbase) and others that did not (jawbone). W/ @rmac.bsky.social + matt Goldstein www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/b...
Jeffrey Epstein’s Money Mingled With Silicon Valley Start-Ups
nytimes.com
“Dependence is problematic,” Robert said. “On the other hand, it’s good for business.” Talking about chatbots but applies to any addictive business … social media, cigarettes, junk food, gambling… www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/t...
Why Do A.I. Chatbots Use ‘I’?
nytimes.com
I'm back from a very long book+mat leave! My first story is a look at what's going on with VC funding for AI startups. I've written a version of this story a few times over the last couple years, but each time, the frenzy has gotten crazier: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/04/t...
A.I. Deal Making Is Getting Faster and Faster
nytimes.com
Why is every story about de blasio these days so damn entertaining www.semafor.com/article/10/2...
Exclusive: British newspaper spoke to the wrong de Blasio, not an ‘imposter’
How a Long Island vintner, with the help of ChatGPT, prompted a transatlantic journalistic debacle.
semafor.com
the recap of seasons 1-3 of The Morning Show is so unintentionally hilarious. thank you for reminding me of the roughly 9 million ABSURD plot twists I forgot about, none of the which make any sense together. (i love this insane show)
Is an event that those involved call "the blip" really dramatic enough for an entire movie? It wasn't a gripping rise and fall. It's a tiny, kinda-pointless-in-the-end blip that happened along the rise. I will say Andrew Garfield as Altman is pretty good www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
Luca Guadagnino to Direct True-Life OpenAI Movie ‘Artificial’ for Amazon MGM
Andrew Garfield, 'A Complete Unknown' scene-stealer Monica Barbaro, and 'Anora' actor Yura Borisov are circling lead roles in the story of Sam Altman's firing and rehiring.
hollywoodreporter.com
anyone else see Mountainhead? I shared some thoughts here: substack.com/home/post/p-...
no charm, only money
did you roomcuck yourself?
substack.com
I wrote a story in 2014 about a digital payments startup called Clinkle. At the time, a source provided me with photo of Clinkle CEO Lucas Duplan burning (fake) money with Richard Branson. It became a metaphor after Clinkle crashed. Now Duplan filed a DMCA takedown to get it removed from Google.
RFK Jr. said multiple times during his house and senate hearings today that no scientists have been fired from federal agencies. Our reporting has shown that hundreds, if not thousands, of scientists have been let go from NIH/CDC/FDA