Business & Tech

Mark Zuckerberg Gets Roasted for Saying the Average American Has 'Fewer Than Three Friends’ While Pushing AI Chatbots

Is Mark Zuckerberg okay? The internet is certainly questioning his grip on reality over his comment on a new podcast, while he was hyping Facebook’s AI chatbots, when he said that the average American has “fewer than three friends.”

Business & Tech

Sam Altman's World Networks Wants Union Square Shoppers to Come Get 'Scanned' and Prove They're Human

A decidedly creepy but maybe ahead-of-the-curve business opened next to Macy's on Geary Street Thursday, across from Union Square Park, where a set of high-tech orb devices scan your iris and let you prove your own humanity.

Business & Tech

Meta Launches Standalone AI App, Hopes It Will Compete With ChatGPT

If the Meta brand weren't so tarnished, one could see its standalone AI app doing fairly well. But will anyone actually care or use this thing?

SF Politics

Lots More Bay Area Tech Companies Gave Millions to the Trump Inauguration Than We Had Realized

The Bay Area spent more than $30 million sucking up to Donald Trump by shoveling donations to his inauguration, and as it turns out, tech companies like Uber, Robinhood, and Chris Larsen’s Ripple Labs all bent the knee with $1 million or more to Trump.

Business & Tech

You Might Be Able to Buy and Own Your Own Self-Driving Waymo Someday

If you’ve ever wanted to own your own self-driving Waymo vehicle, and are willing to shell out a great deal of money for it, parent company Google/Alphabet says it may eventually start selling those vehicles to the public.

Business & Tech

Be Wary of Putting Stuff In the Trunk of a Waymo — Sometimes They Drive Off

There have been a few stories about Waymos driving off with people's luggage still in the trunk, and now a San Francisco tennis instructor has filed a lawsuit over some lost tennis equipment.

Business & Tech

Yep, Now Saks Is Closing Its Union Square Store

As has been pretty widely predicted, Saks Fifth Avenue has officially announced the closure of its Union Square store — which has been operating on an "appointment only" basis since last summer.

Business & Tech

Tesla Settles Racial Discrimination Lawsuit From Fremont Factory Worker, Still Has More Discrimination Suits Pending

One former Fremont Tesla factory employee has received a settlement in a three-year-old lawsuit over alleged racially charged workplace incidents. But there are still more big lawsuits against Tesla looming, including a class-action suit from 16,000 Black workers.

SF News

Supervisors Lift Formula Retail Ban on Van Ness, Add the Fillmore Safeway Property to That Exemption Too

Big-chain formula retail stores might soon be welcome again on Van Ness Avenue, plus there’s now an added a carve-out to include the shuttered Fillmore Safeway too, after the SF Board of Supervisors eliminated these formula retail restrictions.

Business & Tech

Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Shutting Down Two Bay Area Schools It Launched In 2016

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has decided to shut down two tuition-free private schools it started for low-income students in 2016, giving no explanation, though kicking down $50 million to help with the students’ transition to new schools.

Business & Tech

SF AI Startup Founder Dethrones Taylor Swift as World’s Youngest Self-Made Female Billionaire

You may not have heard of Scale AI co-founder Lucy Guo, but she just passed Taylor Swift as the youngest self-made billionaire woman, though that’s all based on her ownership stake in a company she no longer works for, and might not even be profitable.

Business & Tech

OpenAI’s Latest Hire Is… 95-Year-Old Labor Activist Dolores Huerta?

Yes, artificial intelligence company OpenAI just hired longtime rabble-rouser Dolores Huerta as a member of their temporary philanthropic advisory board, though it could be a PR move to butter up regulators as OpenAI restructures to a for-profit company.

Business & Tech

Waymo Eyeing Expansion Into San Jose, and Also Much of the South Bay

You might soon be able to take a Waymo all the way from SF to San Jose, as the self-driving robotaxis are apparently already halfway through their bureaucratic quest to win approval to operate in San Jose, plus much of Santa Clara County.

Business & Tech

Federal Judge Rules Against Google In Second Antitrust Case, This One About Its Ad Network

For the second time in less than a year, a federal court has dealt a blow to Google's business model, ruling that it holds an illegal monopoly in a key sphere of its operations.

Business & Tech

Meta Faces the Antitrust Lawsuit Mark Zuckerberg Never Wanted

The FTC's antitrust lawsuit against Meta, focusing on Facebook's acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp over a decade ago, kicked off in federal court Monday morning, and Mark Zuckerberg is testifying.

Business & Tech

Hackers Reprogram Peninsula Crosswalk Signals to Mock Elon Musk and Zuckerberg

Pedestrians expecting to hear normal crosswalk commands in Silicon Valley are instead hearing prank voices of Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg saying things like “F***, I'm so alone,” as some joker has hacked those cities’ crosswalk systems.

Business & Tech

Tech Updates: Nokia Brings 200 Tech Jobs to San Jose With Sustainable Chip Plant

Bay Area companies are leading the charge in sustainable tech: Nokia expands its semiconductor hub to San Jose; Lightmatter unveils an energy-efficient AI processor; Savor Foods introduces carbon-based butter; and Longshot Space develops a low-cost cargo space launch system.

Business & Tech

Arnold Schwarzenegger Now a Billionaire, According to Forbes’ Latest List

There’s a few show biz types who just appeared for the first time on this year’s annual Forbes billionaire list, like Bruce Sprinsteen, Jerry Seinfeld, and the former ‘Governator,’ Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Business & Tech

OpenAI's Feud With Musk Escalates With New Court Filing

OpenAI has asked a federal court to get estranged billionaire co-founder Elon Musk to stop publicly bad-mouthing the company — which, they say, is unlawful and is doing harm to the company.

Business & Tech

Sonoma-Serving Budget Airline Avelo Shuts Down Flights, Becomes Trump Deportation Contractor

A budget airline that made a hub of Santa Rosa's Charles M. Schulz Airport is closing that hub and turning its attention to providing charter flights for deported migrants out of Arizona, under contract with the federal government.

Business & Tech

Trump Extends TikTok Ban/Sale Another 75 Days, as Tariffs Blow Up Current Deal

Just as a deal to place TikTok in the hands of US owners was almost in place, China pulled ByteDance out of that deal in response to our tariffs, though Trump is selling this as him just extending the deadline.

SF News

Steph Curry’s Company Abruptly Kills Off Plans to Build His Business Headquarters In Dogpatch

A stunning reversal after Steph Curry’s off-court business Thirty Ink made the splashy $8.5 million purchase of a new Dogpatch headquarters, as Curry’s people now say they’re backing out of the deal over some bizarre squabble over union carpenters.

SF News

The Removal of the Formula Retail Ban on Van Ness Just Got One Step Closer to Reality

SF’s formula retail ban might be removed from a 23-block stretch of Van Ness Avenue, as the SF Planning Commission just unanimously passed a recommendation to exempt Van Ness from limits on large chain stores.

Business & Tech

Bay Area Tech Stocks Get Destroyed By Trump Tariffs, SF CEO Screams Obscenity on Live Earnings Call

Remember when all those Bay Area tech CEOs cuddled up to Trump with $1 million inauguration donations? Boy did that just blow up in their faces! They lost billions today, and one yelled “Oh sh*t!” when he checked his stock on a live earnings call.

Business & Tech

Amazon and Founder of OnlyFans Put In Last-Minute Bids to Buy TikTok

A deadline is approaching with the expiration of Trump's executive-order reprieve for TikTok, and several last-minute bidders have emerged.