Have you been using Sora? Some back-of-napkin math suggests #OpenAI is spending more than a quarter of what it’s making to power its AI slop factory. There are a couple of potential silver linings (more training data + future tax savings). My latest for @Forbes:

OpenAI has gone wild with compute deals this year, committing to spend far more than its balance sheet can currently sustain. So who takes the fall if it can’t pay? With @richardjnieva and @_pheebini. https://t.co/7EmCFpyyHN

SCOOP (free, as it's FOIA-based!): I obtained 1,665 pgs of documents about "Bicken Ben," a growing private school the Zuckerbergs ran illegally out of their Palo Alto compound Neighbors complained the school for years. In 2024, they reached their breaking point. Link in reply.

New: I profiled Sierra, the $10B AI customer service startup from Bret Taylor and Clay Bavor, which wants to make AI agents the primary way businesses interact with customers. For the piece, I talked to their old bosses, Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai

1/ NEW deep dive: Trump’s gutting of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is leaving the public vulnerable to abuses:

Harvey has closed a new $150 million funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz valuing the San Francisco-based legal AI startup at over $8 billion

AI Video Startup Synthesia Valued At $4 Billion In New $200 Million Raise via @forbes

AOL Has A New Italian Owner: Unicorn Startup Bending Spoons

Europe Venture Fund Lakestar Calls Halt On New Startup Bets via @forbes

AI agents startup @genspark_ai is in talks to raise over $200 million at a 1 billion+ valuation. Investors include LG tech ventures and SBI investment, sources tell @Forbes. Last month, Genspark said it reached a $50 million run rate 5 months after launch.

TikTok ignored repeated questions about whether and how they share data with ICE. Also, earlier this year, they quietly updated their policies about what happens when law enforcement asks for your data.

Older adults across the country are turning to AI companions to help deal with loneliness. We visited a senior care facility in the Bronx and spoke with residents about their experience speaking to AI bots. With @richardjnieva https://t.co/PVzCtw1HAK

Congrats to our new, in house Pentagon press corps The Federalist, the Epoch Times, OAN, Turkish newspaper Akşam, three individuals from the Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency, two Turkish freelancers, a reporter for the Australian, an Afghan freelancer; and three lesser-known

First story: A new player has entered the humanoid robot race. Rhoda AI, which raised $230M, has quietly built an experienced team that has been secretly developing a humanoid robot since last year, documents they have shared show.

I've joined @Forbes!! I'll be covering AI for their website / magazine, and assisting with lists like AI 50. I'm excited tell deeper stories about the people behind the AI revolution. If you are a founder or investor in AI or robotics I'd love to hear from you =)

Only have eyes for Nexus.

This Secretive Company Built An Empire By Hawking Bad Financial And Health Advice On Facebook

New- Will Somerindyke supplied munitions to warzones for years. Now with investor BVVC, he's joined the defense tech boom, and is in talks to raise "hundreds of millions" for Union, a startup making artillery shells. https://t.co/4CN4zjf78U

Elon Musk Is A Billionaire Federal Welfare Vampire https://t.co/j2dAiKn71e

Worth a reread given the latest spat: In the past 15 years alone, Tesla, Musk’s $1.1 trillion company, and SpaceX, his $350 billion valuation company, have sucked in a stunning $30 billion in public dollars.

SCOOP: ex-OpenAI staffers have raised $20M for a pre-launch startup, Applied Compute. Led by Benchmark, the round values the reinforcement learning startup at $100M. Its 3 founders, all recent Stanford students, have since fielded an offer 5x higher 👀 https://t.co/vkgPLLKqUO

We’re at the red line moment. Stand for what God loves, resist what He hates.