#WaitingToExhale Since the #H1BVisa program was introduced in 1990, it's been the primary pathway for #siliconvalley companies to take advantage of foreign talent. And vice versa. All of that is now back in play after a federal judge in Boston blocked Trump's $100,000 visa fee Monday.

What does national defense have to do with shipping coal to Asia out of West Oakland? The Trump administration just invoked the Defense Production Act, a Cold War-era law, to revive a terminal this city spent a decade trying to kill. @replsimon.bsky.social weighed in today on @kqednews.kqed.org

Why is a California Republican pushing a federal shield for stone makers in Minnesota + Spain? A CA ban on high-silica stone would stop the next generation of sick workers - IF it happens - but McClintock's bill erases recourse for the young men already dying from cutting our kitchen countertops.

Every #vote counts! Head to @kqednews.kqed.org for results and analysis. 🤓

Sarah Wynn-Williams signed a non-disparagement agreement in 2017 and took the severance. Then she wrote a bestselling book about her time at the social media giant. Now Meta is keen to stop her from appearing in public and/or promoting the book. ...

So proud of @faridajhabvala.bsky.social for winning a regional #Murrow for Investigative Reporting (!!!) for one of her stories about #silicosis. We knew (I get to edit her radio features) that this was big when she started pursuing this beat.

RIP Jerry Neuman, an iconic voice on KQED-FM for 37 years until he retired in 2013. For those of us who remember those pipes, a sad day indeed. 😕https://www.kqed.org/news/106157/kqeds-jerry-neuman-retires-after-37-years

backstabbing! secret affairs! and also a dramatic reading of the texts from the night of the openai coup!

TONIGHT! Stanford University isn’t just a leading academic institution in the San Francisco Bay Area. It's where many of Silicon Valley's ruling elite go shopping for protégés, according to the admirably accomplished already investigative journalist Theo Baker.

I was not looking anywhere in the vicinity of their butts! But perhaps I should have been? @morgansung.bsky.social and @goosenaut.bsky.social of the @kqednews.kqed.org podcast "Close All Tabs" help me process what I sat through, and I mean SAT through not too long ago. www.kqed.org/news/1208523...

When even software engineers and scientists are struggling with Bay Area #housing math, something has gone wrong with how this place values people and all the good they bring here. “We have a very hot economy. It’s creating a lot of wealth.... And our housing is too expensive.”

"Catastrophic job loss from AI is not inevitable, it's a political choice." — California labor leader Lorena Gonzalez, responding to Gavin Newsom's new executive order on AI and workers.

At Musk vs. Altman trial, where potential damages are the order of the day. Judge Gonzalez Rogers is tearing into Musk's expert witness, who says the defendant's wrongful gains are as high as $135 billion. "Your analysis seems to be devoid of connection to the underlying facts," the judge tells him.

⚖️3 weeks of testimony. A courtroom full of billionaires. 1 Oakland jury. + a 🦜 in a 🍐 🌳. 🎼 If Musk wins: $150 Bil redirected to the nonprofit, OpenAI's for-profit structure dismantled, Altman + Brockman removed. If OpenAI wins: the IPO proceeds. Deliberations start Mon in Musk v Altman. 🗒️

‘A consistent pattern of lying’: Musk v OpenAI trial exposes what insiders think of Sam Altman

⚖️ Musk v Altman et al headed into last day of testimony. Right now there's a pre-jury spat about whether to enter into evidence a back half of a jackass award OpenAI employees handed out to Josh Achiam (now Chief Futurist at OpenAI). Musk described Achiam as a jackass on his last day at OpenAI. 🫏

Berkeley’s City Council voted May 7 to keep its current @flocksafety.bsky.social contract but further review a $2 million expansion. How you characterize this split decision depends on where you come down on surveillance technology for local law enforcement.

⚖️ Musk v Altman et al Today's "Oooooh!" moment in the press pews: fmr OpenAI board member Helen Toner on Mira Murati during Altman's brief ouster in 2023. “She was waiting to see which way the wind would blow. She did not realize she was the wind. She was worried about retaliation and blowback.”

Does anyone in AI really have our best interests at heart? I talked with the @kqednews.kqed.org podcast "The Bay" about the trial transfixing Silicon Valley, Musk v. Altman et al.

⚖️ Musk v Altman et al: Four days. One witness stand. Don't make the mistake of thinking this case is solely about whether OpenAI was built on a lie. This is also about whether Elon Musk gets to dominate AI's future. Or Sam Altman. Or both. Or neither. 🙆🏻‍♀️🍿🤖

Musk v Altman et al. OpenAI lawyer William Savitt: Musk’s lawyers urged CA AG Bonta to oppose OpenAI restructuring. Meta as well. 🧵

Musk v Altman et al Day 3 started out 🌶️ with a heated discussion about what the esteemed Dr. Stuart Russell of @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social can testify to later today. Judge YGR: no “climate risk” and “concentration risk,” ... "the risks that I have found sufficiently credible.” 🧵

Day 3 in Musk v Altman et al. If you believe Elon Musk, the pro human "speciesist" wanted to be first to wield the awesome powers of #AGI. But the team/squad/family he put together turned out to be more interested in💰💰💰. “I would have sued sooner if I thought the charity had been stolen sooner.”

Whatever the case may be with Elon, @catherinebracy.com has been critical of OpenAI’s restructuring and its potential impact on the future of AI and the nonprofit sector. This is what she had to say about the trial @kqednews.kqed.org @rachaelmyrow.bsky.social www.kqed.org/news/1208129...

“Musk sat on his claims for years,” OpenAI attorney William Savitt said. “He knew everything that was happening, when it was happening. My clients had the nerve to go out and succeed without him.”

Opening Arguments today in Musk v Altman et al. 🎙️ keeps dropping out on Musk’s attorney Steve Molo. “What can I tell you? We are funded by the federal government!” Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers jokes, and the courtroom erupts in laughter. “Is this a Microsoft product?” Molo asks, to more laughter.

"Clean slate! Beginning today. Let the process work. Try to control - all of you - try to control your propensity to use social media to make things worse outside this courtroom." - Judge. "Do you agree to that?" "Yes, of course," #Musk. "Do you agree to that?" to #Altman and #Brockman. "Yes."

Jury selection today in #Musk v #Altman et al. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers discussing prospective jurors with the lawyers. "The reality is, people don't like [Musk]. The question is, whether [jurors] can get beyond their bias, or no."

Fmr software engineer Valerie Sizemore (in the red t-shirt) is "unemployed by AI." She's protesting outside the courthouse in Oakland home to Musk v Altman et al. "I'm here less because I care about the outcome and more because they're both here. I can protest both at once, rather one at a time."

Jury selection today in #Musk v #Altman et al. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers questioning prospective jurors about whether and how they use AI at work and in their personal lives. Given that this is a Bay Area jury pool, we're hearing a wide range of responses. From never used to well versed.

Jury selection today in #Musk v #Altman et al. A prospective juror says he's one "of a dying breed" because he subscribes to newspapers, and the overflow room full of journalists erupts in applause! Same guy: "Elon Musk doesn't care about people. He cares about money...Nothing else matters."

Jury selection today in #Musk v #Altman et al. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers endearing herself to the press corp in the overflow room with jokes: “Vwar dyer is the Texas way to say voir dire.” 😂

The #AI trial of the... decade? Year? Month? starts TODAY in Oakland, and @kqednews.kqed.org has a seat in the courtroom! Musk vs. Altman et al features billions at stake, spicy unsealed private texts and journals, and a judge with zero tolerance for billionaire nonsense.

#ICYMI Fmr Rep. Eric Swalwell spent $40K in CAMPAIGN 💰 on a lawyer who defended him against sexual assault allegations. "His best argument is 'Nothing came out until I ran for governor. The best argument against him is 'He's not being sued based on his 🗳️ designation.'" - @levinsonjessica.bsky.social

🙆🏻‍♀️

“What we found were thousands of conversations in which a homework helper turned into a confidant, then a suicide coach,” Maria Raine of Orange County told the California Senate Privacy, Digital Technologies, and Consumer Protection Committee on Monday.

An audit of 7,000+ California websites by a fmr Google cookie policy lead found > 1/2 ignored user requests to opt out of tracking. Are CA’s privacy laws making a difference? “As somebody who has the ability, knowledge and background to measure it, I’m going to say scientifically, the answer is no.”

‪“There’s a lot of opportunity, but the onus is on us to fully realize the opportunity this technology presents us, and understand it.” - Sha Sajadieh of @stanfordhai.bsky.social talking about the latest AI Index Report. 😳🙆🏻‍♀️😶‍🌫️ What do you think?

The Pentagon is trying to sideline @anthropic.com. It may also still be relying on its AI in the war with Iran? New from me on one of the weirder legal fights among a growing number of weird legal fights in tech. ⚖️💔⚖️

Nice to hear @rachaelmyrow.bsky.social on #BayCurious podcast. Interesting to hear about the history of San Jose and how industrial waste goes back to the beginning of modern California... www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect...

Psychologically vulnerable people going down the proverbial rabbit hole with AI chatbots? Experts say the risks were foreseeable. The sycophancy or agreeability built into the chatbots’ design encourages unstable behavior.

What I so ❤️‍🔥 about this series of 1-1s with the gubernatorial candidates ahead of the primary (June 2nd, y'all) is how @scottshafer.bsky.social + Marisa Lagos attempt to humanize these 🤖 candidates & GET THEM OFF THEIR TALKING POINTS. If you're a voter in California, please listen today! Then vote...

#ICYMI A jury found Meta and YouTube negligent in a social media addiction case. 🎙️MON at 10 on KQED's Forum: I 💬 with @jeffhorwitz.bsky.social of Reuters + @jazzmyth.bsky.social of The19th about how American parents are supposed to hold Silicon Valley power accountable. If not this way, then how?

Before Silicon Valley, there was the Gold Rush. The New Almaden Quicksilver Mine, just south of San José, made that possible. It fueled fortunes, and left behind a toxic legacy 🎣☠️ that still drifts in the San Francisco Bay today. I went "down the mine" for @kqednews.kqed.org / Bay Curious. ⬇️

“I am holding so much pain in my chest, in my mind, in my heart,” said Luz Gallegos, whose childhood accompanying her parents to @ufw.bsky.social pickets and marches inspired her to become a farmworker advocate. “At the same time... we cannot stay silent, we cannot let our movement end.”

From Apple’s App Store to Amazon's Buy Box, @scottwiener.bsky.social and his consigliere(?) Garry Tan are taking aim Big Tech’s self-dealing. Which, God bless, but is this state bill primarily a campaign strategy? And how does it play with San Francisco voters who are not techies or tech adjacent?

Let's do the numbers, shall we?

“If I’m talking to a man, I’m supposed to act like a woman. If I’m talking to a woman, I need to act like a man. If I’m talking to a gay person...” After doing this for months, the Nairobi man developed insomnia, PTSD, and had trouble having sex. www.404media.co/ai-is-africa... via @404media.co

Their “presence at illegal gatherings” had been noted and they were under “intelligence monitoring,” the Iranian authorities texted them. “It is advised that you refrain from attending such illegal gatherings, which are desired by the enemy.” www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/t... via @nytimes.com

The DHS is expanding its efforts to identify Americans who oppose ICE by sending tech companies legal requests for identifying data behind social media accounts that track or criticize the agency. Does that make this a dangerous post for me? 👀 www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/t... via @nytimes.com