This is a fabulously written, in-depth profile of Edwin Chen, the billionaire founder of Surge AI and one of the key people to watch in the AI revolution. Incredible reporting and a must-read story from @pheebini.bsky.social

The AI Billionaire you've never heard of-partly because he's never given an interview before. @forbes.com reporter @pheebini.bsky.social has the goods on this influential but little-known entrepreneur, who previously worked at Google and Twitter.

Ted Chiang’s "Story of Your Life" has always stuck with me—it makes you think differently about language, perspective, and possibility. Turns out I’m not the only one. That inspired Edwin Chen to found Surge in 2020. Check out why he's the most successful tech entrepreneur you've never heard of. #AI

1/ My latest for @forbes.com is a profile of a founder who holds outsized influence in the race to improve AI models and hates Silicon Valley culture. Edwin Chen on aliens and Eminem but also bootstrapping Surge AI, why he'd never go public and the future of AI: www.forbes.com/sites/phoebe...

1/2 Amazing story from my colleague @pheebini.bsky.social about the CEO & founder of Surge AI, which is generating more revenue than any other AI company focused on data labeling (labeling = a crucial step in the process of training AI models). www.forbes.com/sites/phoebe...

The listing comes as #OpenAI gears up for an astronomical employee share sale that could make many in OpenAI’s ranks rich enough to afford the mansion. Scoop for @forbes.com: www.forbes.com/sites/phoebe...

New // As Paramount’s chairman, CEO and owner of 50% of its voting rights, David Ellison will oversee the entertainment empire. But it’s his father who controls the purse strings and owns the equity, per regulatory filings. Read my latest for @forbes.com: www.forbes.com/sites/phoebe...

As Trump slashes NIH funding, big donors like Brin are even more crucial to advancements on diseases like Parkinson's. It's his gifts that first put the Michael J. Fox Foundation on the Forbes Top 100 Charities list. www.forbes.com/sites/willia...

The story behind Infinite Reality, the Florida firm that spent $207 million to buy the Napster brand and then rename itself Napster, is also weird. To learn more about that, see this investigation by @pheebini.bsky.social and @iainmartin.bsky.social (Napster had no new comment on it for me).

In a singularly weird cycle of brand reincarnation, Napster has resurfaced as a gallery of animatronic-looking AI agents that offer video advice about everything from cooking and gardening to tax strategy and oncology. (Please don't base your tax planning or cancer treatment on their counsel.)

More Bezos news: while he was in Venice getting married, he sold hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of Amazon stock. details from @forbes.com Martina Castellanos www.forbes.com/sites/martin...

#Google cofounder Sergey Brin's increased giving to Catalyst4, a type of nonprofit that can lobby as well as own entire for-profit companies, may be part of a broader shift in his giving strategy. More details in my latest for @forbes.com: www.forbes.com/sites/phoebe...

At a time when federal funds for health research have faced cutbacks, Google's billionaire cofounder Sergey Brin just put $700 million into charitable entities that fund research in three key areas, from @pheebini.bsky.social #philanthropy www.forbes.com/sites/phoebe...

Saw this question from the other site earlier today and spluttered: No! No chatbot answer is ever 'authentic'! Chatbots are developed by corporations to advance those corporations' aims and the fact that we only occasionally notice they're doing that is The Problem! www.forbes.com/sites/emilyb...

The plot thickens in the case of the mystery investor behind Infinite Reality’s seemingly unbelievable valuation - read here from @pheebini.bsky.social

1/ Infinite Reality claims it raised more than $3 billion from a sole unnamed investor. That would make the obscure company the beneficiary of one of the biggest funding rounds of the year. Not all is as it seems. With @iainmartin.bsky.social for @forbes.com: www.forbes.com/sites/phoebe...

New: "Don Jr. And Eric Trump Landed $3 Million In Stock For Joining Firm’s Advisory Board That Had Little Public Presence Before Their Appointment" me, for @forbes.com

Justine Musk, Elon Musk’s first wife and the mother of six of his children, asked for stakes in Tesla and SpaceX when they got divorced. Musk made sure she got no shares. Now she's worth just $15 million, or 1/24,000th of Elon. New with @kerrydolan.bsky.social: www.forbes.com/sites/kerrya...

Kimbal Musk, Elon's brother, sat on SpaceX's board for 20 years. And despite having no title or official role at SpaceX, he was a designated corporate officer, a fiduciary position typically reserved for the C-Suite. Inside the making of another Musk fortune. www.forbes.com/sites/johnhy...

There’s a surprising name lurking in the rankings of startups that have raised the most funding this year. Infinite Reality. This obscure metaverse startup claims to have raised $3 billion on a $15 billion valuation. Not all is as it seems...

Something smells fishy here. The Mysterious Case Of The $15 Billion Metaverse Startup And Its Anonymous Multi-Billion Dollar Investor via @pheebini.bsky.social @iainmartin.bsky.social www.forbes.com/sites/phoebe...

About to read this, the latest from @pheebini.bsky.social 👇🏼

Here’s why Amazon—despite being a retail giant & heavily dependent on goods manufactured in China—is positioned well to withstand the #tariff blows. Read my latest for @forbes.com below. I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments/dms ⬇️ www.forbes.com/sites/phoebe...

#CoreWeave cofounder Brannin McBee spoke to @forbes.com about the “important milestone” as shares started trading Friday: "I think we raised exactly what we needed for the business." My latest, on CoreWeave's pricing, IPO implications and what's next: www.forbes.com/sites/phoebe...

Billionaires poured millions into Trump's presidential run and poured on praise when he won. But when their reputation or company isn’t at stake, what do they really believe? @forbes.com surveyed #billionaires on the best president in U.S. history. Read my latest: www.forbes.com/sites/phoebe...

1/ @coreweave.bsky.social's three cofounders and a board member are now billionaires, according to information revealed about their stakes and private market sales in the company’s IPO prospectus filed Monday. I broke down the numbers in my latest for @forbes.com: www.forbes.com/sites/phoebe...

"Here Are All The Major Lawsuits Against Trump And Musk—As DOJ Asks Judge To Give DOGE Treasury Access" @alisond64.bsky.social for @forbes.com

A long ownership dispute over the @thenba.space @mintimberwolves.bsky.social is set to be resolved today. My latest for @forbes.com: a profile of the serial entrepreneur who's hoping to take over as a majority owner & told me he counts his chickens every day: www.forbes.com/sites/phoebe...

#science #autism #parkinsons #bipolar

My latest for @forbes.com is a deep dive into the #Google cofounder's philanthropic network & and its expansion into autism research + venture investing. I spoke with some of the people leading it and learned about their (inspiring and fascinating) process: www.forbes.com/sites/phoebe...

Google cofounder Sergey Brin is, like Elon Musk, one of the world's richest people. But Brin couldn't be more different in his actions. He's given $1 billion+ to Parkinson's research and, per @forbes.com @pheebini.bsky.social is now taking on autism #philanthropy www.forbes.com/sites/phoebe...

Inside Google cofounder Sergey Brin's $2 billion quest to tackle Parkinson's, bipolar disorder and autism -- read @pheebini.bsky.social's fascinating dive into Brin's philanthropy, research and investments here, including a quote from the press-shy billionaire himself.

I spoke to a cadre of next-gen AI chip companies who see a sudden opening after the DeepSeek frenzy. “We’re sort of rejoicing,” said Andrew Feldman, CEO of Cerebras, which is expected to go public later this year. www.forbes.com/sites/richar...

NEW from me for @forbes.com: Sec. of State Marco Rubio is headed down to Panama amid Trump's demands to reclaim the country's U.S.-built canal. I spoke to industry experts about a more diplomatic solution—what if the US bought the canal? How much would it go for? www.forbes.com/sites/kylemu...

Give this headline writer a raise www.404media.co/email/855bf8...

NEW: @giacomotognini.bsky.social and I dove into regulatory docs, spoke with sources & crunched numbers to shed light on Liang's stake in @deepseek.bsky.social and his hedge fund, their business models and what they could be worth. Read our latest in @forbes.com: www.forbes.com/sites/giacom...

1/On Jan. 20, Chinese AI firm DeepSeek launched its latest model, R1. Within a week its app dethroned ChatGPT in the U.S., turning it and its founder, Liang Wenfeng, into household names. But how much is it worth? @pheebini.bsky.social and I dug in for @forbes.com: www.forbes.com/sites/giacom...

"Here’s How Much Billionaires Like Musk Might Pay For TikTok U.S." by @pheebini.bsky.social, Matthew Durot for @forbes.com

TikTok is difficult to value. Keeping those complications in mind—we spoke with at least nine people for @forbes.com about why + broke down a few different scenarios ahead of the Supreme Court's potential ruling on the TikTok U.S. ban, which could happen any minute. www.forbes.com/sites/phoebe...

From billionaire to broke: Not only is the Senator from West Virginia out of funds, but he also owes money to Russian and Arab companies. from @forbes.com

A handful of tech giants decide what info to show millions of Americans. When they're controlled by foreign adversaries, it's a natsec risk. When they're US companies sucking up to the president, they're just exercising their 1A rights. On the TikTok argument: www.forbes.com/sites/emilyb...

Frank McCourt sold the @losangelesdodgers.bsky.social for a hefty sum in 2012. Here's how he’s been building his business and media empire since, and setting up the consortium that submitted a bid to purchase #TikTok ahead of its potential ban next week: www.forbes.com/sites/phoebe...

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has spent the last few months working on an artificial intelligence project that aims to capitalize on the booming landscape of AI video generation www.forbes.com/sites/sarahe...

Here are some Los Angeles-based organizations that support disaster relief, if you can support them with time, money, hosting displaced people. Anything helps. Thank you and again, be safe! letsvolunteerla.org/listings/?fw...

Scoop: when @anthropic.com's funding round at a $60B valuation goes through, all 7 of its cofounders will become #billionaires thanks to their estimated 2% stake in the company. By @alexrkonrad.bsky.social and me for @forbes.com: www.forbes.com/sites/alexko...

News: When Anthropic's funding round at a $60B valuation goes through, all 7 of its cofounders will become billionaires. @pheebini.bsky.social and I looked at filings and spoke to sources for @forbes.com. We determined that each still owns about 2% of the maker of AI chatbot Claude.

As someone who spent years reporting on Zuckerberg, I've struggled to find something coherent to say about today. Then @cwarzel.bsky.social reminded me of my old reporting. This is what a FB employee said to me in 2020 after Zuckerberg addressed workers following FB-enabled violence in Kenosha, WI.

The #billionaire Amazon founder put early money into Airbnb and Uber. Now he's placing bets on AI robotics companies. I spoke with founders and experts about why in my latest for @forbes.com. What do you make of Bezos' investment strategy? www.forbes.com/sites/phoebe...

The Amazon founder sold nearly $14 billion worth of stock so far in 2024–more than any other U.S. #billionaire. Here’s why #JeffBezos paid $1 billion less in taxes by moving to Florida. My latest for @forbes.com: www.forbes.com/sites/phoebe...