New edition of my emerging tech newsletter, The Prototype, is out! This is a space-packed issue, looking at the investment boom into space startups, the recent evacuation from ISS and more. www.forbes.com/sites/the-pr...

"They need to make sure big swings are reasonably hedged while raising additional capital. Truly cashing in on the AI boom, though, will mean making a bet and committing to it. Otherwise they’ll be playing an ongoing game of catch up in an AI race where speed is everything."

NEW: "Rep. Julia Letlow Discloses Over 200 Stock Trades After Deadline As Ban Debate Grows In Congress" #whoops me, for @forbes www.forbes.com/sites/zachev...

The mainstreaming of AI is turning into a trillion dollar business, yet the two biggest data center real estate firms have lagged in public markets. Here’s why—and how they could catch up. My latest for @forbes.com: www.forbes.com/sites/phoebe...

Checkr, which got its start running criminal record checks on Uber drivers and gig workers, has seen its revenues jump 14% to $800 million as companies try to spot a flood of AI-generated CVs and faked financial documents. www.forbes.com/sites/iainma...

And this vital story by @aniloza.bsky.social and @jaspar.bsky.social looking at the impacts of funding cuts to early-career scientists. They found that in the first 270 days of 2025, fewer early-career grants were awarded than in any similar period since 2016. www.statnews.com/2025/12/08/t...

After her most recent grant announcement on Tuesday, MacKenzie Scott is now America's third-most-generous philanthropist by dollar amount, and second by percentage of wealth. More insights and context in my latest for @forbes.com: www.forbes.com/sites/phoebe...

MacKenzie Scott (former wife of Jeff Bezos) is a quiet rockstar #philanthropist. She gave away $7 billion in the past year. per @forbes.com @pheebini.bsky.social that vaults her even higher among the ranks of the country's most generous givers www.forbes.com/sites/phoebe...

After #investing in the likes of OpenAI, ElevenLabs and Flock Safety, former SV Angel managing partner (and former professional opera singer!) Beth Turner is striking out on her own. My latest for @forbes.com: www.forbes.com/sites/phoebe...

ICYMI, last week's edition of my newsletter talked about why LLMs are vulnerable to poetic attacks, how seaweed might be a better way to harvest rare earths and why learning a second language is good for you. Subscribe so you don't miss the next one! www.forbes.com/newsletter/t...

Forbes raised questions about the massive funding round metaverse-turned-AI firm #Napster announced as a done deal in January. The money is never coming, the company said Thursday. With @iainmartin.bsky.social for @forbes.com: www.forbes.com/sites/phoebe...

NEW: The FBI spied on a Signal group chat of NY immigrants' rights volunteers organizing court watch+ labeled activists “anarchist violent extremist actors.” Joint FBI/NYPD report shows law enforcement accessed private planning convo of ppl monitoring ICE Docs obtained by @propertyofthepeople.org

"Democratic Congresswoman Indicted In Alleged $5 Million FEMA Fund-Stealing Scheme" Antonio Pequeño IV for @forbes.com

The Musk-led #AI company has a lot of cash in the bank. But it still needs more—and more. It’s using some creative off-balance-sheet financing to get it. Some details on xAI's financials and weird/novel capital raise, from Anna Tong and me for @forbes.com: www.forbes.com/sites/phoebe...

Big tech needs access to the grid for AI data centers. In many cases, crypto got there first. Free link: www.wsj.com/business/ene...

You can oversee the bloody dismemberment of a Washington Post journalist with a bone saw, and the president of the United States will smile, shake your hand and threaten to pull the license of a news outlet whose reporter asks you a question about it. www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...

NEW: Amazon’s Zoox launches ride service in San Francisco in robotaxis with no steering wheels — or fees for now #selfdrivingvehicles www.forbes.com/sites/alanoh...

I will never forget having to edit Jamal’s final, posthumous piece for the Washington Post, after he was murdered. He was calling for free expression in the Arab world. You can read it here : www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/glo...

Facebook cofounder Dustin Moskovitz and his wife Cari Tuna cofounded Open Philanthropy to find charities that create the biggest impact/$. Now, they’re changing its name and encouraging others to join. See table for their biggest grantees. My latest for @forbes.com: www.forbes.com/sites/phoebe...

So just how much money is OpenAI dumping on this firehose of imbecilic video? More than $5 billion annualized, or around $15 million per day, according to Forbes estimates and conversations with experts www.forbes.com/sites/phoebe...

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 also potential silver linings (more training data + future tax savings). My latest for @forbes.com: www.forbes.com/sites/phoebe...

We spoke to experts who pointed out that chief dealmaker Altman, who has claimed he has no stake in the company, doesn’t have much to lose. “He can commit to as much as he wants... Either he uses it, he renegotiates it, or he walks away.” www.forbes.com/sites/rashis...

One likely scenario is that the AI company pays for and utilizes only a portion of the compute it has booked said D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria. “They don't want OpenAI to go bankrupt, so their incentive is to renegotiate,” he told Forbes. www.forbes.com/sites/rashis...

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? Latest for @forbes.com with @pheebini.bsky.social and @richardnieva.bsky.social. www.forbes.com/sites/rashis...

1/3 Reddit’s popularity has exploded in recent years. Daily users have approximately doubled since the summer of 2023. It’s become one of the top sources cited by AI chatbots. And organic search to the platform has skyrocketed (you may have noticed more Reddit results when you Google these days).

“Timothy Mellon Has Likely Donated More Than Half His Fortune To Politics” @pheebini.bsky.social for @forbes.com

One week of @wsj.com heds.

Thanks to his $130 million donation to pay troops during the gov shutdown, Mellon has likely given away a bigger % of his fortune than any person ever: more than half. A breakdown of his giving and how he made his millions—not just from inheritance!—for @forbes.com: www.forbes.com/sites/phoebe...

NEW: Rivian's had a tough few years in the volatile, but CEO RJ Scaringe is betting its new R2 electric SUV will mark a big growth phase. “I'm very, very biased, but I think R2 is going to drive a step-change in overall EV adoption” #electricvehicles #Rivian www.forbes.com/sites/alanoh...

New details about Deel's latest fundraise, its legal + private market battle with Rippling and what's next in my story with Matt Durot for @forbes.com: www.forbes.com/sites/mattdu...

I chatted with AMD’s senior vice president of AI about the company’s massive deal with OpenAI, and how AMD’s software efforts played a part in scoring the agreement. www.forbes.com/sites/richar...

In my latest for @forbes.com I did some math on how the spate of massive #AI infra deals is benefiting the dealmakers most of all. These founders, CEOs and investors keep getting richer while critics condemn their "circular deals": www.forbes.com/sites/phoebe...

@forbes.com mgt, led by CEO Sherry Phillips and CCO Randall Lane, have proposed 1.25% annual bumps for staff, not even keeping up with inflation--when many in the newsroom go YEARS without a raise. #journalismjobs @nyguild.bsky.social

Link to the article:

Customers for AI products may be dubious, and communities & ratepayers feeling the burdens of data centers may be unhappy, but these folks think the boom is just great. @pheebini.bsky.social: 20 billionaires tied to the AI and data center boom have added >$450B to their fortunes since January 1.

new from me: time is a flat circle www.forbes.com/sites/emilyb...

New: "Trump Golf Course Displays Gold Presidential Seal—Here’s Why That Could Violate Federal Law" 🏌️🚔 me, for @forbes.com 1/

Amid all this $ORCL's proxy came out ... Larry Ellison now has 346 million shares pledged (as of 9/19/25), up from 277 million last year. The difference is worth ~$20 billion (more than the supposed EV of whatever portion of TikTok's U.S. business that's supposed to spin out)

The exact lineup of investors taking control of TikTok U.S. is still under wraps, but the network of players is in some cases nearly half a century in the making. Inside their ties to #Trump and each other for @forbes.com: www.forbes.com/sites/forbes...

🚨NEW🚨 A recently-unsealed warrant shows how teens from a dozen countries used Discord to discuss plans for terror attacks across the world in the name of ISIS. They were serious, buying and learning how to make deadly weapons. Cops caught them in time. www.forbes.com/sites/the-wi...

Trump has long badgered the Fed to lower interest rates, which it finally did last week. A review of the president's personal fortune shows he has billions of reasons for doing so. www.forbes.com/sites/danale...

Nvidia’s Jensen Huang just bet $500 million that a tiny data center startup can become a British rival to Coreweave. www.forbes.com/sites/iainma...

Nuclear power firm $OKLO is up 400% since March. Relationships with the energy sec & #OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have certainly helped. (Altman bought shares in the SPAC that merged w/Oklo for $0.002 each in 2021. His stake is now ~$880 million.) My latest @forbes.com: www.forbes.com/sites/phoebe...

How AI hype minted two new billionaires from Oklo, a nuclear power startup with no revenue. Its relationships the Energy Secretary Chris Wright and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have certainly helped, from my colleague @pheebini.bsky.social www.forbes.com/sites/phoebe...

New @forbes.com magazine cover story—from @rashis.bsky.social and me—is our take on #CoreWeave, one of the biggest beneficiaries of the #AI boom. It's a fascinating firm built on bold bets, complex risk & no shortage of luck. Would love to hear what you think: www.forbes.com/sites/rashis...

A series of bold bets and calculated risks helped Michael Intrator turn @CoreWeave from a no-name crypto miner into a $50 billion company, serving compute to the likes of OpenAI and Microsoft. Elated to share my latest @forbes.com cover story with @pheebini.bsky.social www.forbes.com/sites/rashis...

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