❌

Normal view

Satellite manufacturing thrives in California despite cost and regulatory pressures

5 August 2026 at 13:00
California Gov. Gavin Newsom visited Vast Space headquarters in early June with Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson. From left: Vast CEO Max Haot, Newsom, Vast chief operating officer Kris Young and Richardson. Credit: Vast Space

The mood was celebratory at the ribbon-cutting for Muon Space’s San Jose, California, manufacturing facility in June. State, local, United States Space Force and Pentagon representatives lauded the startup and, […]

The post Satellite manufacturing thrives in California despite cost and regulatory pressures appeared first on SpaceNews.

China’s tech advances are causing chaos from Silicon Valley to the White House

1 August 2026 at 13:00

New AI models, advanced robots and specialty computer chips are unsettling markets and the US tech industry

Over the past month, a series of advancements in China’s artificial intelligence, chip manufacturing and robotics technologies have rattled financial markets, caused divisions among US tech moguls and left the Trump administration scrambling to respond.

Silicon Valley has long pointed to China’s tech industry as a competitive threat and used its growth as rationale for why US firms should not face regulatory oversight that could slow them down. In recent weeks, however, China’s progress has pushed US tech CEOs past vague warnings and into open disagreement over how to address Chinese-made products upending their industry.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Héctor Retamal/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Héctor Retamal/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Héctor Retamal/AFP/Getty Images

How AI may drive union-resistant tech workers to the bargaining table

21 July 2026 at 12:00

Tech workers are increasingly unionizing, trading Silicon Valley’s myth of exceptionalism for collective bargaining to contest the corporate deployment of artificial intelligence

For decades, the technology industry was a fortress that labor unions couldn’t breach. Tech workers already had cushy compensation packages, dream benefits like unlimited vacation and free lunch, and a flat corporate hierarchy that made engineers feel as powerful as their bosses, all of whom dressed down in sneakers and hoodies. So why unionize?

Now, that fortress is cracking from the inside. Unions have become increasingly popular for tech employees. After months of mass layoffs tied to artificial intelligence and mounting anxieties about how it’s being deployed, some tech workers say they’ve been saddled with higher workloads while facing the threat of job loss caused by the very products they’re building. Workers from Google DeepMind and Meta in the UK are also objecting to how their companies’ AI products are being used, such as for military purposes or to monitor employee productivity. Those same workers are now attempting to unionize.

Continue reading...

© Composite: Rita Liu/The Guardian/Getty Images

© Composite: Rita Liu/The Guardian/Getty Images

© Composite: Rita Liu/The Guardian/Getty Images

‘Absolutely bananas’: San Francisco homes sell for $1m above asking price amid AI boom

7 July 2026 at 23:33

Report finds widespread overbidding as rapid AI growth generates increased wealth in city where housing is scarce

San Francisco’s AI boom has buyers spending unprecedented amounts of money on homes – much more than sellers are asking for.

A new analysis from real-estate brokerage Compass, found that in the first half of 2026, more than 140 homes in the city sold for at least $1m above their asking price, 44 of them in June alone.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Ethan Swope/Getty Images

© Photograph: Ethan Swope/Getty Images

© Photograph: Ethan Swope/Getty Images

Silicon Valley donations make Colorado Democratic primary one of state’s most expensive

30 June 2026 at 16:26

Manny Rutinel’s House campaign draws millions from big tech as pro- and anti-AI factions spar over regulation

Political groups funded by top tech executives have been homing in on one local race in Colorado, as the state’s Democratic primary vote gets under way on Tuesday. Democrat Manny Rutinel, who’s running in the competitive eighth congressional district for a seat in the House, has seen his campaign boosted with at least $2m in donations from committees led by the former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and crypto billionaire Chris Larsen.

Rutinel is a progressive candidate running against former state representative and centrist Democrat Shannon Bird. During his campaign, he has focused on his Latino heritage and centered his platform around affordability and regulating Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Brice Tucker/The Greeley Tribune/AP

© Photograph: Brice Tucker/The Greeley Tribune/AP

© Photograph: Brice Tucker/The Greeley Tribune/AP

A viral doomsday scenario aims to shake Europe out of its AI complacency

20 June 2026 at 10:59

Does a thought-experiment about US ascendancy in the technology say as much about AI jitters as it does about the reality?

It’s 2031 and the US and China are about to tear Europe into pieces.

The US ploughed vast sums into datacentres and the EU did not. China built robots and Europe did not. American companies “restructured” their workflows around AI and fired people, while EU workers went on long lunch breaks and handed over administrative tasks to the AI model Claude.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Hannibal Hanschke/EPA

© Photograph: Hannibal Hanschke/EPA

© Photograph: Hannibal Hanschke/EPA

California ‘billionaire tax’ makes ballot despite opposition from tech moguls

Wealth tax criticized by billionaires and Gavin Newsom would levy a one-time 5% tax on residents worth over $1bn

A popular proposal in California to impose a wealth tax on billionaires has gained enough signatures to qualify for the ballot in November, state officials announced on Wednesday.

The news is set to intensify an already heated debate around the tax, which has pitted tech moguls and the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, against the labor union backing the measure.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Jae C Hong/AP

© Photograph: Jae C Hong/AP

© Photograph: Jae C Hong/AP

❌