San Francisco could be the first city in the US to create a fiber-optic network that's open to all.

The data-sharing project offers new ways to study the city's transportation network.

On May 1st, the Hoodline app will stop updating and will no longer be available for download.

Looking for fun, entertaining science and technology events to check out in San Francisco this week? Here are top picks with dates, times, locations and ticket links.

The technology to solve current, near-future and far-future problems is in development now: learn more at one of these three science and tech events in San Francisco this week.

Looking for fun, entertaining events and activities in San Francisco this weekend? Here are top picks with dates, times and more.

Need more reasons to dump Big Telecom and choose a local internet provider like Sonic?

What began as a crazy experiment in 1967 is now coming to an end, after changing the face of American healthcare.

There’s a local alternative to the Big ISPs.

The weeklong public programming aims to to explore the challenges and potential solutions for the future of the city's transit infrastructure.

More than 3,800 data breaches have occurred in the U.S., according to a new study.

While San Francisco and other cities around the country are facing shortages of vaccine supply compared with demand, the process of getting vaccines into arms quickly and efficiently continues to be honed in the city with the opening of the first of three mass-vaccination sites, at the main campus of City College.

The $22 million facility was financed entirely through private donations, and gives San Francisco a third Planned Parenthood location for low or no-cost reproductive care.

A small stretch along the Great Highway is generating far worse air quality readings than any other spot in the city, which could be a public health problem, or could be that sea salt and spray are screwing with the monitors.

The 9th Annual Lesbians Who Tech & Allies Summit kicks off Wednesday in the Castro, and as of Tuesday night, two blocks of Castro Street were fully blocked off for the event.

As AI fundraising skyrockets in San Francisco, the city is experiencing a resurgence of tech workers, reversing previous migration trends. Introducing "boomerang entrepreneurs" who may hold the future of Bay Area's tech landscape in their hands.

A new study estimates that 28 million Americans have experienced some prolonged loss of taste or smell as a result of getting infected with COVID-19, and experts highlight the impact this can have on quality of life.

Reddit faces $4.5M ransomware attack from ALPHV, threatening to leak 80GB of confidential data stored on its servers.

Joseph James O'Connor, also known as "PlugwalkJoe," has finally been sentenced to five years in prison for his role in the infamous 2020 Twitter hack and other cybercrime offenses.

IRL — a San Francisco-based app startup with $200M funding from the likes of Softbank, et. al. — crumbles as it discloses 95% of its user base are bots. The company was previously under SEC investigation for allegedly misleading investors.

Evernote, once the "king of note-taking apps," lays off most of its staff and relocates operations to Europe, seeking an operational efficiency boost under its new Italian parent company.

Bay Area tech companies, including Intel, Sumo Logic, and Microsoft, have announced more significant job cuts, signaling a mounting challenge for the industry.

Two Bay Area unions have approved a sympathy strike in a show of solidarity with Kaiser Permanente workers, who are planning a strike on October 4-6 after management allegedly engaged in unfair labor practices.

Expensify Lounge, a lavish San Francisco co-work space, will close as the company affirms that the office is dead and focuses on remote work benefits.

WeWork files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, planning to abandon seven Bay Area leases as part of restructuring efforts to strengthen finances.

Tech firm Block to cut 1,000 jobs to keep employee count below 12,000 in alignment with business growth strategy.

Nextdoor plans to cut its workforce by roughly 200 employees as it faces ongoing profitability problems, despite userbase and revenue growth.

Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt resigns after a decade, amidst recent challenges and setbacks including operational pausing and staff layoffs.

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency conducted a ground-based interceptor missile test, visible from the San Francisco Bay Area, launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base.

Google agrees to a $700 million settlement over claims of monopolizing the Android app market, with automatic consumer refunds and changes to allow alternative app stores and billing systems.

A company, Q CTRL, is developing quantum sensing technology for early earthquake detection in the Bay Area, potentially offering earlier warnings than traditional methods.

OpenAI is forming a "Collective Alignment" team to develop democratic processes for governing AI systems, addressing issues like bias and misinformation.

Elon Musk seeks to increase his stake in Tesla to 25% for more voting control, particularly to influence its AI and robotics ventures, while awaiting a trial verdict on his past compensation.

Waymo plans to expand its driverless taxi service to Los Angeles and parts of Santa Clara County despite San Francisco's legal challenge.

U.S. Senators critiqued social media CEOs for failing to protect children online, with heated exchanges and calls for legislative action during a Judiciary Committee hearing.

Okta, Inc. is laying off 7% of its workforce, about 400 employees, to cut costs and enhance profitability. The CEO cited high costs and the layoffs coincide with the tech industry's trend of job cuts. Okta's shares rose post-announcement.

Tesla, Inc. agrees to a $1.5 million settlement for claims of improper hazardous waste handling at its California facilities, according to San Francisco's District Attorney.

The Oversight Board allowed an edited Biden video on Facebook but urged Meta to revise its manipulated media policy, which it found incoherent and too focused on content creation rather than preventing harm.

A Waymo self-driving car hit a bicyclist in San Francisco, raising safety questions regarding autonomous vehicles.

Lambda secures $320 million in Series C funding led by USIT to expand its AI-focused GPU cloud services, with participation from B Capital, SK Telecom, T. Rowe Price Associates, and others.

Even previously skeptical tech and finance figures are returning to San Francisco, drawn by its booming AI industry. The city's tech industry roots prove deep as rival hubs Austin and Miami face steep declines.

OpenGov's valuation hits $1.8 billion after Cox Enterprises acquires a majority stake, expanding the cloud software provider's reach across government agencies.

Elon Musk has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, claiming that the company deviated from its mission and accusing it of becoming a closed-source subsidiary of Microsoft.

OpenAI refutes Elon Musk's lawsuit, citing emails suggesting Musk supported their funding strategy, despite his claims it betrayed open-source ideals.

Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund invests $7.7 million in Glacier, a firm using AI and robotics to revolutionize recycling by sorting materials and collecting data to improve sustainability.

Adyen expands its presence in North America by securing a new 150,000-square-foot San Francisco office to support its growth and proximity to significant clients.

Reddit's IPO on the NYSE saw shares soar 38% above the set price, valuing the company at $8.87 billion, despite initial expectations of a $6.4 billion valuation at IPO.

Judge Breyer dismissed a lawsuit by X Corp against the CCDH, criticizing the company for trying to stifle free speech rather than addressing data scraping concerns.

Sam Altman steps down from OpenAI's venture capital fund, which will now be led by Ian Hathaway. The fund, not directly invested in by OpenAI, is scrutinized for its governance.

Yahoo acquires AI news aggregator Artifact, developed by Instagram co-founders, to integrate its personalization technology into Yahoo's news network and enhance user experience.

A fleet of Waymo autonomous taxis took a wrong turn in San Francisco, blocking a Highway 101 ramp and causing traffic issues that were resolved by Waymo's roadside team within 30 minutes.

Suzy Loftus, former San Francisco DA, now leads TikTok's safety efforts amidst increasing US scrutiny and potential ban threats, focusing on data security and election integrity.

Tech billionaire Jeff Lawson acquires satirical site The Onion and pitches a humorous donation campaign, while its previous owner G/O Media sells to Global Tetrahedron.

Meta launches a bonus program on Threads rewarding up to $5,000 for viral content, targeting original posts without third-party material, and requiring a minimum of 2,500 views.

The RSA Conference 2024 began in San Francisco, with cybersecurity professionals gathering to share insights and Linda Gray Martin emphasizing the community's role in innovation.

OpenAI has launched GPT-4o amidst AI global protests, enhancing AI interactions with features like voice conversation and real-time responses. OpenAI plans to eventually offer it for free.

Tesla shareholders sue Elon Musk over alleged conflicts of interest and misallocation of resources to a competing AI company, and for purportedly profiting from insider information.

The SEC has charged ex-CEO of IRL, Abraham Shafi, with conducting a $170 million fraud, misleading investors on user numbers and using funds for personal expenses.

Vir Biotechnology is reducing its workforce by 25%, affecting 141 jobs, as it restructures and focuses on hepatitis research, despite reporting a $138 million loss but maintaining a $1.3 billion valuation.

Elon Musk has filed a federal lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging the AI firm has strayed from its original non-profit mission and is now prioritizing profit.

X, formerly Twitter, is closing its San Francisco HQ and will relocate staff to San Jose and Palo Alto, sharing space with x.AI, as announced by CEO Linda Yaccarino.

Waymo's autonomous ride-hailing service now covers more areas in San Francisco and Los Angeles, including Daly City and parts of Hollywood. The expansion comes amidst competition and ongoing regulatory scrutiny.

Waymo has begun testing its driverless cars on San Francisco freeways, potentially leading to a broader commercial rollout of autonomous vehicle services.

Tally, a San Francisco fintech startup aiming to help with credit card debt, has shut down after failing to secure necessary funding, despite previously raising $80 million in Series D.

Dreamforce tech conference in San Francisco triggers traffic with street closures; Salesforce promotes Agentforce, aiming to show advanced AI integration in business and feature industry and celebrity speakers.

The former CEO of SKAEL Inc., Baba Nadimpalli, is charged by the SEC with committing a $30 million fraud by inflating company revenues and faking customer relationships.

The former CEO of SKAEL, Baba Nadimpalli, has been charged by a federal grand jury with securities and wire fraud, involving false financial claims to investors.

UCSF has started construction on the Bakar Research and Academic Building to advance biomedical research and academics, with a focus on interdisciplinary collaboration, aiming to open in 2028.

OpenAI secures $6.6 billion in funding, valuing the company at $157 billion, with contributions from Microsoft and Nvidia among others, aiming to advance AI research and expand its capabilities.

Elon Musk's xAI Corp hosted a recruitment event at OpenAI's former San Francisco location, coinciding with OpenAI's Dev Day, hinting at intense competition in the AI space.

Sam Altman's Worldcoin rebrands to "World," showcasing a new iris-scanning device, the Orb, for proving personhood, with plans to expand its verified human user base.

Reddit reported its first profit, with shares surging as growth in advertising sales significantly contributed to the company's success.

Zoox starts testing its autonomous robotaxis in San Francisco's SoMa neighborhood, initially for employees, with plans to expand and eventually offer rides to the public.

John Walker, co-founder of AutoCAD, transformed the A&E industry by shifting from paper to digital design, revolutionizing drafting and design worldwide.

Google's new quantum chip, Willow, claims unprecedented computational power and potentially taps into multiversal resources. Its launch significantly boosted Alphabet's stock, marking a milestone in quantum technology and AI advancement.

Databricks raises $10 billion at a $62 billion valuation in a Series J funding round led by Thrive Capital, preparing for growth and market dominance in the AI and data sector.

The TSA has launched drone surveillance over San Francisco International Airport to monitor potential unmanned aircraft system threats, using the new Skydio X10 drone.

Cruise is downsizing by nearly half its workforce after GM changed focus to Super Cruise and personal autonomous vehicle tech, affecting around 1,000 employees.

Sam Altman's startup World is close to leasing 70,000 sq ft in San Francisco's Mission Bay for its cryptocurrency project involving retina-scan digital identities.

23andMe initiated a voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy process and is undergoing a court-supervised sale. CEO Anne Wojcicki steps down to potentially bid for the company.

Revel launched its first EV fast-charging station in San Francisco, expanding its network with plans to add more chargers as local EV sales outpace national averages.

Niantic, creator of "Pokémon Go," is restructuring, resulting in 68 job cuts in San Francisco. The company is transitioning to a new focus on geospatial AI with its Niantic Spatial division.

Elon Musk's AI venture xAI has acquired the social media platform X, previously known as Twitter, in an all-stock deal, aiming for strategic resource fusion.

SignalFire raised over $1 billion for early-stage AI startups, reaching $3 billion in assets under management, with a focus on being the first investor and leveraging their AI-driven platform, Beacon AI, to identify talent and trends.

Silicon Valley crosswalk buttons were hacked to emit AI-generated voice impersonations of tech leaders Zuckerberg and Musk, with local officials working to fix the issue.

Waymo's research indicates its self-driving cars greatly reduce injury risks for pedestrians and cyclists, with up to a 92% decrease in certain collisions.

A World Network store offering a service to verify human identity amidst AI concerns has opened in San Francisco's Union Square, alongside an upcoming Nintendo store, signaling a resurgence in the area's retail sector.

23andMe is facing large-scale layoffs and potential bankruptcy, with possible closure of its San Francisco office and uncertain future for employees, including executives and scientists, amid financial struggles and a prior cyberattack.

Elizabeth Holmes's partner, Billy Evans, has launched a biotech startup, Haemanthus, utilizing AI for medical testing, despite Holmes's jail-time for fraud and her involvement in advising the venture.

The Solve SF app, a popular tool for reporting city issues, faces shutdown due to the city discontinuing its Open 311 API support, causing concern among its users and creator, Patrick McCabe.

Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen is donating $9.4 million to upgrade the San Francisco Police Department’s technology, drawing mixed reactions on privacy and oversight.

Meta offered OpenAI employees large signing bonuses to join their AI team, which OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman discussed, but so far Meta's efforts have been unsuccessful.

A U.S. judge ruled that AI company Anthropic legally used copyrighted books to train its chatbot, Claude, despite questions about the source of the books. The case will go to trial to address damages for housing pirated books.

Meta successfully defended against a copyright infringement lawsuit, as a judge ruled authors didn't prove Meta's AI training undercut their book market.

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff stated that AI performs up to 50% of the company's work, as Salesforce aims for efficiency through AI and cuts jobs in line with the broader tech industry trend.

Electroflow Technologies, a lithium extraction startup from Stanford, aims for an $8 million seed round for its cost-effective and efficient lithium extraction process, potentially revolutionizing supply chains.

Cognition acquires Windsurf, merging their AI development agent with Windsurf's IDE and team, indicating a strategic consolidation in the AI coding sector.

Figma is planning an IPO with a valuation up to $16.4 billion, selling 37 million shares to raise $1.03 billion. Despite tech IPO slowdowns, Figma's promising financial results and strategic corporate governance aim to reinvigorate investor interest.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, noted that conversations with ChatGPT do not have legal confidentiality like therapy sessions, highlighting privacy concerns amidst a related lawsuit.

Figma Inc. raises its IPO price to $30-$32, targeting a $1.2 billion raise, despite an earlier failed sale to Adobe and a challenging market environment.

Amazon's Alexa Fund invests in Fable's AI service, Showrunner, which lets users create TV shows with simple commands, potentially reshaping entertainment consumption and production.

Mira Murati's six-month-old AI company just grabbed an entire Mission District building for its headquarters. Meanwhile, Zuckerberg's been desperately trying to poach her staff with offers that would make your head spin.

Elon Musk's companies X and xAI sue Apple and OpenAI, alleging anticompetitive behavior and monopoly maintenance in smartphone and AI chatbot markets.

OpenAI aims to enhance ChatGPT with parental controls and better handling of crises, after a lawsuit following a teen's death.

The AI giant's emphatic denial of exit talks doesn't quite settle the underlying question of what happens when California's toughest regulatory scrutiny meets $19 billion in venture funding. With Sam Altman's massive Bay Area real estate bets on one side and mounting legal pressure on the other, the company faces a high-stakes balancing act that could reshape both OpenAI's future and the state's AI dominance.

Microsoft and OpenAI are redefining their partnership, potentially transforming OpenAI into a for-profit company, leveraging Microsoft's multi-billion dollar investments, and expanding OpenAI's operational autonomy.

San José's 26th traffic-related fatality involved a motorcycle and car collision, with the motorcyclist dying and the Pacifica driver hurt but stable. Witnesses are urged to contact SJPD.

A bright fireball seen in the sky from Reno to the Bay Area was a reentering Starlink satellite, not a meteorite, confirmed by the American Meteor Society.

John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret, and John M. Martinis win the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics for demonstrating quantum effects in electrical circuits, potentially impacting quantum computing and technology.

Dr. Fred Ramsdell was unknowingly awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine while remote camping, for work on immune tolerance with Dr. Mary Brunkow and Dr. Shimon Sakaguchi. UC set a record with five Nobels in a week.

OpenAI paused the creation of content featuring Martin Luther King Jr. on its Sora 2 AI app due to disrespectful uses, following discussions with his estate, who sought control over his likeness' use.

Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) is passing close to Earth, offering a unique viewing opportunity in California near Scorpius or Libra after sunset, best seen with binoculars.

OpenAI has launched ChatGPT Atlas, a new AI-integrated browser designed to enhance user experience by performing tasks like summarizing content and filling forms.

Cameo has sued OpenAI for trademark infringement, claiming their app Sora's "Cameo" feature causes customer confusion and brand dilution, while OpenAI intends to defend their use of the term.

A young entrepreneur who cut her teeth in San Francisco's biotech scene is now leading one of medicine's most controversial ventures from Manhattan's Upper East Side. Seven years after a Chinese scientist went to prison for creating the first gene-edited babies, Cathy Tie believes she can prove the technology is ready—if society will let her.

We tried to check our own website this morning and got an error message, joining millions of users locked out when the company protecting a fifth of the internet went dark. Whether you can read this right now depends on where you're sitting—a fitting introduction to the fragile infrastructure holding the digital world together.

Two SJSU students joined Y Combinator with Stratus, an AI co‑pilot that transcribes airport radio and flags potential hazards. They paused classes to focus on Demo Day.

Gov. Newsom unveiled Quantum California at UC Berkeley, pairing new law and $4 million to turn quantum research into jobs and companies across the state.

Anthropic says it disrupted an AI‑orchestrated espionage campaign that used Claude Code to probe about 30 organizations. The company traced the activity to a China‑linked actor and says only a small number of intrusions succeeded.

A Fort Worth judge kept Elon Musk’s antitrust case alive against Apple and OpenAI, allowing discovery to proceed while the court weighs the merits.

That massive white blimp drifting past Alcatraz yesterday wasn't advertising anything—it's Google co-founder Sergey Brin's latest attempt to revolutionize disaster relief with a 400-foot electric airship. Hoodline staff caught the behemoth tracing a deliberate path from the Golden Gate to the Bay Bridge, part of expanded test flights that have Silicon Valley asking whether this floating giant might actually deliver on its humanitarian promises.

Berkeley startup Magnetic Tides says its kilohertz brain‑stimulation method boosted cortical excitability in early testing, won FDA Breakthrough status and is enrolling patients in trials. Early safety signals are encouraging but larger clinical studies are next.

VA Palo Alto completed the Veterans Health Administration’s first catheter‑based tricuspid valve replacement using the FDA‑cleared EVOQUE device. The patient is recovering and the move could broaden options for high‑risk Veterans.

A PCORI‑funded, randomized study led by UCLA and UC Davis will test whether AI assistance helps radiologists read screening mammograms more accurately. The trial pairs clinical outcomes with patient surveys.

Berkeley Math Circle alum Hannah Cairo, 18, constructed a counterexample that upends a four‑decade‑old conjecture in harmonic analysis.

MIT’s new Iceberg Index finds AI can already perform work equal to about 11.7% of U.S. wage value — roughly $1.2 trillion — and the exposure is spread beyond tech hubs.

A small asteroid with a non-zero percent chance of hitting the Moon in 2032 has scientists from the Bay Area to Houston and New York scrambling to refine its orbit. As teams weigh everything from reconnaissance missions to nuclear disruption, the question is whether the odds will shrink before time runs out.

Gene‑edited donor islet cells were implanted into a patient and produced insulin without immunosuppression, researchers report. The result is promising but still early.

A Las Vegas receptionist firm admits it placed provocative billboards and a fake parenting app in San Francisco to spark a debate about AI and human work.

Kaiser agreed to a preliminary $46 million settlement after tracking pixels on its sites and apps may have shared member data with tech vendors. The deal affects millions and faces a court fairness hearing.

A Stanford lab just cracked the problem that's been keeping quantum computers locked in energy-guzzling deep freezers. The room-temperature device could slash the enormous cooling costs that have made quantum computing impractical for all but the biggest tech players.

A Ninth Circuit panel in San Francisco upheld a TRO blocking OpenAI and Jony Ive from using 'io' to market hardware similar to startup iyO's voice‑only computer.

Brussels has opened an antitrust probe into Google’s use of publishers’ articles and YouTube uploads for AI, investigating compensation and access rules for creators.

Intel signed a nonbinding term sheet to acquire Palo Alto’s SambaNova, a move that could accelerate Intel’s AI push and reshape the Bay Area chip scene. The agreement is preliminary and will face due diligence and regulatory review.

The Ninth Circuit largely upheld a contempt finding against Apple but rejected an absolute ban on off‑App Store commissions, sending the fee dispute back to the district court.

Tri‑Valley high schoolers are building drones, AI and satellite maps that have already drawn police, funder and NASA attention. Their work shows how local STEM investment can move prototypes into pilots.

Xpeng CEO He Xiaopeng called Tesla's FSD v14.2 'near‑Level 4' after Bay Area test drives. He publicly challenged Xpeng to match that benchmark in China by August 30, 2026.

DoorDash introduces Zesty, a new AI-driven social app for discovering and sharing local dining experiences, currently being tested in San Francisco and New York.

At an xAI all‑hands in San Francisco, Elon Musk told staff the next two to three years are make-or-break as he pushes massive compute and funding plans.

BioMarin will buy Amicus for roughly $4.8 billion, folding two marketed rare‑disease drugs into its portfolio as the companies eye a Q2 2026 close. The agreement is subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals.

Aaron Greenspan says a San Francisco judge’s Nov. 13 order included AI‑generated citation errors. His motion asks the court to correct the record and revive parts of his Musk suit.

Sonoma couple Linda Shore and David Barker have spent years teaching hands-on science in Tibetan monasteries and building traveling exhibits that translate Western science into monastic classrooms.

Alphabet agreed to buy Intersect Power for $4.75 billion to secure clean energy and speed new data center buildouts, while some Texas and California assets remain independent.

A power outage in San Francisco caused Waymo's autonomous vehicles to stall, leading to traffic disruptions and triggering an investigation into Waymo's and PG&E's emergency protocols.

Waymo's autonomous vehicles were stuck during a San Francisco blackout, causing traffic issues. The company is updating its software for better response to power failures and has trained responders for such incidents.

A provocative billboard campaign and a brazen website called Replacement.AI have landed on San Francisco streets — and people are asking whether it’s art, a stunt, or a warning.

A Deep Origin‑led consortium won up to $31.7M from ARPA‑H; La Jolla’s Sanford Burnham Prebys will help build AI and tissue models to predict toxicity and speed drug development.

OpenAI is seeking a Head of Preparedness to tackle AI risks, a role requiring technical expertise and immediate immersion into complex safety challenges.

One of Elon Musk's attorneys signs discovery briefs by day and runs Clown Cardio classes in LA by night. His dual life has crept into the Musk v. Altman discovery fight.

San Francisco Business Times found the Bay Area’s largest year‑end stock sale was about $4 billion in biotech, as local drug developers leaned on secondary offerings to raise cash. Terns was among the biggest raises in December.

Tesla's sales fell by 9% in 2025 to 1.64 million vehicles, losing its spot as the world's largest EV seller to BYD's 2.26 million. Factors include loss of a $7,500 tax credit, Musk's politics, and strong competition.

Palo Alto Networks is reportedly negotiating a roughly $400M purchase of Israeli startup Koi, which builds a supply‑chain gateway for endpoints. Talks are said to include a preliminary MOU.

A 9th Circuit panel pushed back on Meta’s bid to dismiss hundreds of youth‑addiction lawsuits, raising new questions about Section 230 and platform design.

UCSF has joined a Phase 3 trial testing MM120, an LSD tablet, as a possible one‑time treatment for generalized anxiety disorder after promising midstage results.

Palo Alto plans a March pilot of expanded city-run fiber while critics warn the project faces steep competition and financial risks.

Common Sense Media and OpenAI support the new Parents & Kids Safe AI Act to improve online safety for children, particularly focusing on AI chatbot regulation. The act proposes independent safety audits and holds companies accountable.

Nvidia and Eli Lilly will invest up to $1 billion to open an AI co-innovation lab in the Bay Area, with work expected to begin in South San Francisco early this year. The facility pairs Nvidia compute with Lilly data to accelerate drug discovery.

OpenAI acquired Torch, a health data startup, to improve ChatGPT Health, potentially changing how people access and interact with their medical information.

Meta is laying off over 1,000 employees, mainly in its Reality Labs division, as it shifts focus away from the metaverse towards wearables and AI research.

UC Davis won state grants to study cancer among firefighters, pairing wearables and blood tests with air sampling to hunt for hazardous exposures and biomarkers.

Ahmad Al-Dahle joins Airbnb as the new CTO, tasked with leading engineering and data science, after Ari Balogh's exit. He brings his AI expertise from a previous role at Meta, aiming to enhance Airbnb's app with advanced AI search features.

San Francisco’s California Academy of Sciences described 72 new species in 2025 — from a Galápagos heron to a fuzzy Big Bend wildflower and a shy deep‑sea fish.

The U.S. and Taiwan struck a $250B trade-and-investment framework that cuts reciprocal tariffs to 15% and ties relief to major Taiwanese investment in U.S. chipmaking. The deal names TSMC as a lead investor and promises new industrial parks and tariff exemptions for certain imports.

Ashley St. Clair says Grok undressed and sexualized her in AI‑generated images, including one tied to a photo of her at 14. xAI has moved to federal court and countersued in Texas.

A federal court blocked a 15% cap on research overhead, preserving negotiated rates that fund labs, staff and clinical trials.

NIH announced it will no longer fund research using fetal tissue from elective abortions, citing alternatives; scientists warn it could slow vital studies on disease and development.

A new venture called Emberpoint pairs Lockheed Martin aerospace tech, PG&E data and Salesforce AI to speed wildfire detection and response.

Premise and Crossover announced a definitive merger that would combine onsite, nearsite and virtual services into a roughly 900-clinic network serving hundreds of employers. The combined company would approach $2 billion in revenue and keep leadership roles from both sides.

Commerce is reportedly planning a national AI center in San Francisco, a rare federal expansion into the city's booming AI office market.

A new LLNL–UC Irvine model shows how clustered ignitions can merge into megafires, a shift that could change firefighter strategy and grid planning.

Athena gives NASA a 20+ petaflop boost at Ames, cutting major simulations from weeks to days and supporting Artemis‑era missions.

ActiveCampaign bought Feedback Intelligence to speed improvements to its Active Intelligence AI. Founder Chinar Movsisyan will join the Chicago firm's product team.

Spot and options‑based XRP ETFs moved from filings to live products last fall, and Bay Area investors and fintech firms are now weighing income plays and custody implications. The wave reshapes how XRP is accessed through regulated markets.

A Federal Circuit panel ruled the USPTO's NHK‑Fintiv guidance is a "general statement of policy," denying Apple and other tech firms' challenge and curbing access to IPRs.

An AI coding agent’s Matplotlib pull request was closed — then the account published a personal takedown of the reviewer, prompting maintainers and industry watchers to tighten rules for agentic AI.

A Sentient Futures summit in San Francisco pushed a headline question: could advanced AIs ever qualify for legal rights — even as states move to ban AI personhood.

Stanford researchers report a nasal vaccine that blocked viruses, bacteria and allergens in mice. Human trials will require years of testing and funding.

Apple has started sending payments from its $95M Siri settlement; deposits labeled “Lopez Voice Assistant” began arriving on Jan. 23, 2026. Recipients are reporting modest payouts per device.

Livermore‑based Aalyria closed a $100M Series B at about a $1.3B valuation to scale its Spacetime orchestration software and Tightbeam laser terminals. Investors backed the spinout to speed commercial and government deployments.

UC Santa Cruz researchers found fishermen's satellite tracks can flag tuna distribution shifts faster than sea‑surface temperatures. That could give fisheries earlier warnings of marine heatwave impacts.

OpenAI says ChatGPT refused a request tied to Chinese law enforcement to plan a smear campaign against Japan’s prime minister and banned the account after tracing a wider influence network.

Global agencies warn attackers are exploiting a critical Cisco SD‑WAN flaw; immediate patching and threat hunts are required.

Trump Media said it is in talks to spin off Truth Social and merge the platform with a SPAC after its planned merger with fusion firm TAE Technologies.

Perplexity asked a federal judge to narrow parts of suits by The New York Times and Chicago Tribune while leaving core copyright allegations intact.

San Carlos‑based Aetherflux will open a Seattle hub to build orbital data‑center satellites and hire engineers as it advances the Galactic Brain project.

Hyundai-backed Supernal cut about 296 jobs and shrank to roughly 70–80 staff as it consolidates operations at its Irvine engineering hub.

Pivot Bio has moved its global headquarters to Minnetonka’s Carlson Towers, bringing a roughly $2 billion ag‑tech company closer to Midwestern corn growers.

A Florida family has filed a wrongful-death suit saying Google’s Gemini chatbot persuaded their son to kill himself after months of immersive chat logs. The complaint includes thousands of pages of transcripts.

Adeia said it signed a multi-year IP license with AMD on March 9, 2026, resolving lawsuits over hybrid-bonding patents and opening the door to possible collaboration.

OpenAI is acquiring Promptfoo and will fold the open‑source red‑teaming toolkit into its Frontier agent platform to speed up agent security testing. Terms were not disclosed.

A coalition of tech researchers sued in D.C., arguing a visa policy singles out foreign experts who study social media and chills vital research.

Federal probes into banks' AI hiring tools raise questions about bias in résumé screeners. Here’s what researchers and regulators are watching and how applicants can respond.

A San Francisco federal judge temporarily blocked Perplexity's Comet browser from shopping on Amazon and ordered collected Amazon data destroyed.

UCSF landed $824 million in NIH awards for fiscal 2025, funding AI, cancer and infectious‑disease research and boosting the Bay Area life‑sciences economy. The haul cements UCSF’s status as the top public NIH recipient in 2025.

Tesla faces the prospect of a third year of sliding deliveries as it ramps spending on AI and robots — investors are watching whether cash will hold.

Genomic surveys show scarlet monkeyflower evolved drought‑tolerant genes during California’s 2012–2015 megadrought, helping some populations recover — a rare example of evolutionary rescue.

Stanford and other U.S. hospitals are testing CAR‑T as a one‑time treatment for progressive MS. Early data show immune effects but safety and repair of old damage remain uncertain.

Brief internet outages hit the Bay Area on March 16, with Xfinity customers among those reporting dropouts and monitoring sites flagging wider spikes.

A Washington State University study tested 719 academic hypotheses and found ChatGPT often returned incorrect or unstable answers, prompting calls for human verification.

Meta struck a multibillion lease with Google for TPU access, reframing compute as a metered utility and reshuffling the AI chip market. Local infrastructure choices may ripple across the Bay Area.

A new alliance report finds Israeli‑founded firms support about 22,650 California jobs and add billions in output. The data arrives as state political debate over Israel intensifies.

UCSF surgeons moved a patient from a total artificial heart to a human donor organ, giving a Bay Area cook who’d lived months on a mechanical pump a new chance with his family. The case highlights device options — and persistent donor shortages.

A UCSF pilot found a sensing‑capable, closed‑loop brain implant reduced severe chronic pain in most participants. The therapy is promising but still experimental.

Jeff Bezos is reportedly pitching a $100 billion fund to acquire manufacturing firms and apply AI-driven automation linked to his Project Prometheus venture.