John Paczkowski
@pczki.bsky.social
Executive Editor, Tech & Innovation, @forbes. Previously: BuzzFeed News, Recode, AllThingsD. Full salmon, forward into terror.
The same U.S. startups serving as suppliers to OpenAI, Anthropic, and, in some cases, U.S. federal entities, are also supplying Beijing’s top labs. Increasingly, Silicon Valley is training both sides of the AI arms race.
These American Startups Are Making China's AI Smarter
The same Silicon Valley startups supplying OpenAI, Anthropic and the U.S. government are also selling AI training datasets to Chinese labs building rival models.
forbes.com
The AI arms race isn’t just being fought over Nvidia chips. Chinese labs are matching OpenAI and Anthropic by purchasing the exact same data from US vendors like Mercor and Surge AI (who also work with the US federal govt) www.forbes.com/sites/annato...
My (cynical) working theory is that the White House knows that its "AI Framework" is basically a much worse version than the AI framework the Biden admin released, which caused the VC bros of Silicon Valley to go all MAGA. Keeping it private avoids the comparison.
Maria Curi@mccuri.bsky.social · yesterdayNEW: White House plans to keep AI framework under wraps www.axios.com/2026/08/04/w...
Scoop: Flapping Airplanes, a startup that’s trying to develop ways to use less data to train AI models, is in talks to raise capital at a $5 billion valuation. With @iainmartin.bsky.social and @richardnieva.bsky.social. www.forbes.com/sites/rashis...
AI Startup Flapping Airplanes Is In Talks To Raise Funding At A $5 Billion Valuation
The data efficiency startup is researching a better way to train AI models using less data.
forbes.com
This Indian startup is sending professional cleaners into people's homes wearing cameras on their heads to collect AI training data for U.S. labs. Founded by Anjali Sardana, 24, Pronto wants to give domestic workers in India a share in the AI gold rush. www.forbes.com/sites/rashis...
AI Companies Are Paying This Indian Startup To Strap Cameras To Housekeepers’ Heads
Twenty-four-year-old founder Anjali Sardana wants to give domestic workers in India a share in the AI gold rush by sending them into people’s homes to collect training data for U.S. AI companies.
forbes.com
Here comes the AI pivot: From neural signal headphones to viral presentation builders, these buzzy AI startups raised millions but later pivoted away from their initial product in a high-stakes race for survival and revenue. www.forbes.com/sites/rashis...
AI Startups Are Pivoting From Flashy Demos To Tech That Pays The Bills
Founders who were working on neural-signal headphones and viral presentation builders are starting over in a high-stakes race for survival and revenue.
forbes.com
🚨NEW🚨 Well, this is a first for me: A surveillance company CEO says sorry. Flock's chief Garrett Langley says it was a "mistake" to label activists tracking the spread of its surveillance technology "terrorists." His comments come amid a rising public backlash. www.forbes.com/sites/thomas...
Flock CEO Apologizes For Calling Activists ‘Terrorists’
As a movement against $8.3 billion Flock Safety’s license plate readers gathers momentum, company CEO Garrett Langley tells Forbes he shouldn’t have called non-violent activists “terroristic” organiza...
forbes.com
People can't get OpenAI or Anthropic shares. Instead, they're buying used OpenAI employee sweatshirts on eBay for $250. Or used Anthropic t-shirts for $120. Inside the secondary market for AI swag. It's a bubble inside of a bubble. www.forbes.com/sites/annato...
The Booming Secondary Market For Used OpenAI and Anthropic Swag
You might not be able to get in on the IPO, but you can still get the hoodie. With AI startups like OpenAI and Anthropic in private hands, people are paying $250 for used sweatshirts on eBay to cospla...
forbes.com
“I do think these are the vintage concert rock shirts of tomorrow. It’s geek chic. There’s going to be a day when people brag about the OpenAI double stitch shirt they got in the roaring twenties.” via @annatonger.bsky.social
The Booming Secondary Market For Used OpenAI and Anthropic Swag
You might not be able to get in on the IPO, but you can still get the hoodie. With AI startups like OpenAI and Anthropic in private hands, people are paying $250 for used sweatshirts on eBay to cospla...
forbes.com
NEW: From Chip's beefed-up golf cart to TELO Trucks' anti-Cybertruck, a new wave of quirky, affordable EVs is coming to market #electricvehicles www.forbes.com/sites/alanoh...
A Beefed Up Golf Cart And An Anti-Cybertruck: Cheap, Quirky EVs Are Coming
Chip Motors is taking orders for a low-speed, battery-powered “life utility vehicle,” priced from $15,000, joining a new wave of quirky EVs.
forbes.com
Donald Trump, who decades ago described himself as “a bit of a P.T. Barnum,” has finally found his most lucrative act: being president. www.forbes.com/sites/danale...
Trump Made Even More Money Than You Thought Last Year
America’s salesman-in-chief capitalized on the most lucrative pitch of his life. Now Trump is selling something else—the myth that he doesn’t know how he made so much.
forbes.com
So very Meta: "let's make sure we can prove other AI tools are just as bad, rather than focusing our attention on making ours better."
Katie Drummond@katie-drummond.bsky.social · last mo.NEW: Meta paid hundreds of contractors to pretend they were kids—and then prompt rival chatbots like Gemini and ChatGPT to talk about subjects like suicide, sex, eating disorders, and self-harm. From @dmehro.bsky.social and @joelkhalili.bsky.social
AI valuations have always been mind boggling. But "tranched" funding rounds mystify them even further, allowing VCs to invest at wildly different prices and founders to raise unprecedented amounts of money without any product or revenue. With @iainmartin.bsky.social www.forbes.com/sites/rashis...
AI Startups With No Revenue Are Using This Tactic To Supersize Their Valuations
Funding rounds where VCs can invest at wildly different prices are helping AI founders raise unprecedented amounts of money at sky-high valuations, before they even have a product.
forbes.com
Someone finally answered the question of “why are there no major AI boyfriend apps?” The hook was romantasy which is now a major subgenre for women.
Three Dudes Run The Biggest AI Romantic Fantasy Site For Women
Three Dudes Run The Biggest AI Romantic Fantasy Site For Women
forbes.com
Exciting personal news — today is my first day as a business reporter at ProPublica! www.propublica.org/atpropublica...
ProPublica Hires Caroline O’Donovan, Ben Foldy and Kendall Taggart to Expand Business Coverage
propublica.org
EliseAI started building AI tools back when it wasn't cool. Today it's AI answers phones, responds emails and manages systems for 90% of the largest residential communities in the country. The startup has crossed $200 million in ARR. www.forbes.com/sites/rashis...
This $2.2 Billion AI Startup Is Helping The Country’s Largest Landlords With Admin Work
EliseAI is using AI to slash millions in labor costs across real estate and healthcare.
forbes.com
New: Cursor hit $4 billion in annualized revenue, up from $3 billion in late April. The new figure comes ahead of an expected acquisition by SpaceX after its IPO. With @annatonger.bsky.social www.forbes.com/sites/richar...
Cursor Hits $4 Billion Annualized Revenue Ahead Of SpaceX IPO
Elon Musk’s rocket and AI company is expected to acquire the buzzy AI coding startup shortly after it goes public.
forbes.com
What's a way to make a killing in the AI boom if you're not an AI researcher or early Anthropic employee? Becoming a "nerd-first" escort. Read my story to find out more about the shifting economics of intimacy in Silicon Valley: www.forbes.com/sites/annato...
The Nerdy Escorts Cashing In On Silicon Valley’s AI Boom
A small group of high-end companions are charging time-poor technorati thousands an hour by offering a blend of sex, attention and genuine intellectual rapport.
forbes.com
“I recall at least one girl describing herself as a ‘Claude Widow’. She’s lost her husband to AI stress.” www.forbes.com/sites/annato...
The Nerdy Escorts Cashing In On Silicon Valley’s AI Boom
A small group of high-end companions are charging time-poor technorati thousands an hour by offering a blend of sex, attention and genuine intellectual rapport.
forbes.com
Uh oh. The head of CBS Entertainment is privately warning that the Bari Weiss train wreck is inflicting significant damage on the broader CBS brand. And shes not alone. Inside Paramount, "some believe she should be relieved of her duties." The scoop in @status.news www.status.news/p/60-minutes...
Paramount’s Weiss Woes
The fallout from Bari Weiss’ dismantling of “60 Minutes” is now reverberating across Paramount, with company leaders privately questioning the damage being done to the CBS brand, Status has learned.
status.news
In a statement to @benmullin.bsky.social, Scott Pelley disputes what Bari Weiss said in this morning's editorial meeting, claiming he was never offered "a way back" as she claimed. "These executives cannot gain the trust of the staff with lies. This is antithetical to everything we stand for..."
Bari Weiss' deputy, Charles Forelle, repeatedly accused Pelley of being "rude." "You know what was rude? Black Thursday. That was the absolute definition of rudeness," Pelley shot back. www.status.news/p/scott-pell...
New: AI insurance company Corgi has doubled its valuation to $2.6 billion with a $106 million fundraise, just weeks after raising $160 million and becoming a unicorn. www.forbes.com/sites/richar...
AI Insurance Startup Corgi Doubles Valuation To $2.6 Billion In Weeks
Welcome to the frenzied world of AI, where a two-year-old startup founded by a 26-year-old can have a company-owned dog, run a 24-hour cafe and raise $106 million about a month after becoming a unicor...
forbes.com
A lasting memory of Bilton is his stolen-valor coverage of Theranos, months after the WSJ’s John Carreyrou broke the story
Will Oremus@willoremus.com · 2mo agooh my god www.nytimes.com/2026/05/28/b...
My last magazine story for @forbes.com is a deep dive into the #SPV ecosystem. Who's profiting? How? There's room for ample innovation and ample risk. Why is the space changing so quickly, and what's next? Would love to know what you think: www.forbes.com/sites/phoebe...
Inside The Murky Market Selling Pre-IPO SpaceX And OpenAI Shares
Want SpaceX And OpenAI Shares Before The IPO? Inside The Secretive Market Selling Them
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