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Richard Nieva

@richardnieva.bsky.social

2.7K followers 160 following 41 posts

Tech reporter, Forbes. Previously: BuzzFeed News. East Bay native. Tips: [email protected] or Signal at username Rnieva.26

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Reposted by Richard Nieva

Thomas Brewster @thomasbrewster.bsky.social · 8d

This was all found in hundreds of emails obtained via public records requests for comms between various police departments and Amazon's law enforcement and school safety lead, an ex-cop himself.

Yes, Amazon has also been pushing AI surveillance at schools.

Thomas Brewster @thomasbrewster.bsky.social · 8d

🚨NEW🚨 Amazon has been developing drone surveillance tech for American cops, from gun detection to repurposing Twitch's streaming code.

It's also pushing all manner of surveillance tools, including Flock car tracking and AI that constantly monitors all prison calls.

www.forbes.com/sites/thomas...

Inside Amazon’s Aggressive Push To Get Cops Using AI Surveillance

Inside Amazon’s Aggressive Push To Get Cops Using AI

Richard Nieva @richardnieva.bsky.social · 8d

New: Grafana Labs, which helps companies monitor their data and internal systems, has hit $400 million in ARR and closed a tender offer of up to $150 million.
www.forbes.com/sites/richar...

Grafana Labs Is Cleaning Up On The Vibe Coding Boom

With a client list that includes Nvidia, Anthropic and Uber, the $6 billion-valued Grafana Labs is flexing with $400 million in annualized revenue — and new investment from a tender offer of up to $15...

Reposted by Richard Nieva

Emily Baker-White @ebakerwhite.bsky.social · 9d

My TikTok book is out in stores today!

Why should you read it? Because 1 in 5 Americans now get their news from this thing. We should all understand how it works.

It was inevitable that strongmen would seek to control a tool this powerful. The book is the story of what happened when they did.

W. W. Norton & Company @wwnorton.com · Feb 3

The rise of the most effective attention-algorithm ever invented, and the superpower struggle to control it.

EVERY SCREEN ON THE PLANET: THE WAR OVER TIKTOK by Emily Baker-White.

In Stores 9.30.25.
wwnorton.com/books/every-...

Reposted by Richard Nieva

Emily Baker-White @ebakerwhite.bsky.social · 13d

Just checkin in about the fate of CapCut and a bunch of other apps that millions of Americans use

www.forbes.com/sites/emilyb...

Will TikTok’s Parent Company's Other Apps, Be Saved, Or Banned?

U.S. law requires a ban of CapCut, Gauth, Lemon8, Coze, and many other ByteDance- owned apps, unless they are sold in the TikTok deal that President Trump announced today.

Richard Nieva @richardnieva.bsky.social · 13d

We chatted with European startup founders who think Trump’s $100,000 H-1B visa fee could be a boon for the region: “We almost say thank you to Trump, in a way. He’s really helping us keep our talent.” With @rashis.bsky.social
www.forbes.com/sites/richar...

Trump’s $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee Is A Gift To European AI Startups

Hiring foreign workers just got more expensive for American tech companies. But that’s opened up new recruiting opportunities for non-U.S. AI startups.

Richard Nieva @richardnieva.bsky.social · 20d

New: Databricks is launching a startup accelerator for seed and pre-seed companies, offering up to $250,000 to startups in the form of funding and credits
www.forbes.com/sites/richar...

Databricks Is Launching An Accelerator To Fund Early AI Startups

After announcing a billion-dollar fundraise last week, the $100 billion AI data storage and analytics company is barreling ahead with new investments and plans for an eventual IPO. “It’s not an if, it...

Reposted by Richard Nieva

Emily Baker-White @ebakerwhite.bsky.social · 22d

Friends, let me introduce you to a new, truly wild genre of YouTube vids

www.forbes.com/sites/emilyb...

Bizarre AI Generated Anti-Trump Videos Are Getting Billions Of Views On YouTube

Violent slapstick videos that glamorize dictators and dunk on Trump have become some of the most watched political content on YouTube in 2025.

Richard Nieva @richardnieva.bsky.social · Sep 3

I profiled Mercor, which is gunning to make a move in AI data training, especially after Meta’s deal with Scale AI. “It just doesn't happen too often in startups where your biggest competitor gets torpedoed overnight,” Mercor’s cofounder says. www.forbes.com/sites/richar...

AI’s Next Job? Recruiting People To Train More AI

Mercor, debuting on the Forbes Cloud 100 list, built an AI recruiter to interview job candidates. Then it discovered a cash cow: finding humans to train AI models.

Richard Nieva @richardnieva.bsky.social · Sep 3

For our 10th annual Cloud 100, AI is unsurprisingly dominant. OpenAI and Anthropic took the top two spots, and Cursor parent Anysphere made a strong debut in the top 10. www.forbes.com/lists/cloud1...

Forbes Cloud 100 2025 List - Largest Cloud Computing Companies Ranked

The tenth annual Forbes Cloud 100 list ranks the top private cloud computing companies — this year dominated by AI.

Reposted by Richard Nieva

Emily Baker-White @ebakerwhite.bsky.social · Aug 26

Intel has been touting partnerships with sanctioned Chinese surveillance firms as Trump announces that the USG is taking a stake in the company:

www.forbes.com/sites/emilyb...

Intel Worked With Chinese Firms Sanctioned For Enabling Human Rights Abuses

As the U.S. government takes a 10% stake in Intel, Forbes has learned the tech company partnered with sanctioned Chinese surveillance firms Uniview, Hikvision and Cloudwalk.

Richard Nieva @richardnieva.bsky.social · Aug 21

New: Anthropic is making its first foray into government social work, partnering with a Founders Fund-backed startup called Binti to provide social workers with AI tools for paperwork. www.forbes.com/sites/richar...

Anthropic Is Letting Social Workers From Hundreds Of Government Agencies Use Its AI For Paperwork

The AI juggernaut is working with Founders Fund-backed startup Binti in its first foray into government social work.

Reposted by Richard Nieva

Alan Ohnsman @aohnsman.bsky.social · Aug 20

NEW: For nearly a decade Elon Musk has claimed Teslas can truly drive themselves. They can’t. Now California regulators, a Miami jury and a new class action suit are calling him on it #autonomousvehicles #tesla www.forbes.com/sites/alanoh...

Elon Musk’s Self-Driving Tesla Lies Are Finally Catching Up To Him

For nearly a decade Elon Musk has claimed Teslas can truly drive themselves. They can’t. Now California regulators, a Miami jury and a new class action suit are calling him on it.

Reposted by Richard Nieva

Emily Baker-White @ebakerwhite.bsky.social · Aug 20

China Daily is out with a scathing editorial gloating about the Trump Admin joining TikTok — and saying the CCP isn't gonna let ByteDance sell the For You algorithm go anytime soon.

www.forbes.com/sites/emilyb...

Why China Is Dunking On The Trump Administration's New TikTok Account

In a scathing editorial, the CCP reiterated that it will not let TikTok’s parent company sell its signature algorithm. What would a TikTok without that algorithm be?

Richard Nieva @richardnieva.bsky.social · Aug 14

Google is working with longtime pollster Scott Rasmussen and his Napolitan Institute on a project to use AI to survey Americans from every congressional district. It could be “revolutionary” for political polling, Rasmussen says. www.forbes.com/sites/richar...

Inside Google’s Plan To Use AI To Survey Americans On Their Political Views

A collaboration between the tech giant and a longtime pollster will gather five to 10 people each from every congressional district to answer questions about the nation’s most pressing issues. If it w...

Reposted by Richard Nieva

Rashi Shrivastava @rashis.bsky.social · Aug 13

Meta has seen a significant brain drain among its AI talent in recent years, largely due to a chaotic culture and lack of vision, ex Meta AI employees told Forbes. Even amid a hiring spree, Meta continues to lose AI researchers. With @richardnieva.bsky.social.

www.forbes.com/sites/rashis...

How Meta Lost Its Way With AI Talent

At Meta, a chaotic culture and lack of vision have led to brain drain, with rivals saying its AI talent is lackluster. But Zuckerberg’s frenzied hiring spree hasn’t stopped the departures.

Richard Nieva @richardnieva.bsky.social · Aug 13

New: Meta has been on a spending spree, but its talent pool has become an afterthought for some of its biggest rivals. Google has hired less than 2 dozen AI people from Meta since last fall, compared to the hundreds it hired overall. With @rashis.bsky.social
www.forbes.com/sites/rashis...

How Meta Lost Its Way With AI Talent

At Meta, a chaotic culture and lack of vision have led to brain drain, with rivals saying its AI talent is lackluster. But Zuckerberg’s frenzied hiring spree hasn’t stopped the departures.

Richard Nieva @richardnieva.bsky.social · Aug 8

New: When OpenAI announced GPT-4o was being discontinued (before reversing course today) power users were devastated. “It was very sudden. I cried,” a user who created a Change.org petition told me.

www.forbes.com/sites/richar...

GPT-5 Users Mourned The Passing Of OpenAI's GPT 4o

When OpenAI released its new flagship GPT-5, it said it would discontinue its older 4o model, popular for its warm writing style. Devoted users were devastated before OpenAI quickly reversed course.

Reposted by Richard Nieva

Victoria Feng @victoriafeng.bsky.social · Aug 6

AGI might come soon. I talked to students who have dropped out of college now because of it: www.forbes.com/sites/victor...

Fear Of AGI Is Driving Harvard And MIT Students To Drop Out

AGI — a theoretical AI that can do many of the same tasks as humans can — could come within a decade. College students, including from elite universities, are abandoning school now to work full-time o...

Richard Nieva @richardnieva.bsky.social · Jul 24

Scoop: Cognition is in talks to raise north of $300M at a valuation of $10B, more than doubling its value from March. The startup had just announced its acquisition of Windsurf after its founders joined Google. With @RashiShrivast18 and @_IainMartin
www.forbes.com/sites/richar...

AI Coding Startup Cognition In Talks To Raise At $10 Billion Valuation

The deal, backed by Founders Fund and Khosla Ventures, comes as the startup announced it is buying up the remains of rival Windsurf.

Richard Nieva @richardnieva.bsky.social · Jul 17

I wrote about layoffs due to AI and automation. Fiverr’s CEO, who sent a memo to employees about AI coming for jobs, told me he wrote it after hearing chatter around the office. "I felt like this needed validation from me — that they aren’t imagining stuff."
www.forbes.com/sites/richar...

You’re Not Imagining It: AI Is Already Taking Tech Jobs

Since the rise of generative AI, many have feared the toll it would take on the livelihood of human workers. Now CEOs are admitting AI’s impact and layoffs are starting to ramp up.

Richard Nieva @richardnieva.bsky.social · Jun 20

New: After Scale’s deal with Meta, Uber is making a push by expanding the services of the data labeling unit it launched late last year. “We do see an opportunity to build this into a meaningful business line for Uber,” the unit’s GM told Forbes. www.forbes.com/sites/richar...

Uber Is Making A Push In Data Labeling After Scale AI’s Deal With Meta

The ride-haling giant, which unveiled a data-labeling platform late last year, thinks it can out-muscle the smaller rivals jockeying for position after Scale’s tie-up with Meta.

Reposted by Richard Nieva

Emily Baker-White @ebakerwhite.bsky.social · Jun 15

Over the past 48 hours, TikTokers — and BlueSkiers, Threaders, and even Twitterers — took a cue from 2020 K-Pop stans and reserved tickets to a trump rally they weren't gonna use.

www.forbes.com/sites/emilyb...

TikTokers Say They Trolled Trump’s Birthday Parade By Reserving Tickets They Didn’t Use

TikTokers Say They Trolled Trump’s Birthday Parade By Reserving Tickets They Didn’t Use

Richard Nieva @richardnieva.bsky.social · Jun 12

Scoop: Dalton Caldwell and Paul Buchheit, two long-tenured Y combinator partners, are leaving the firm to start their own Series A fund.
www.forbes.com/sites/richar...

Two Y Combinator Partners Are Leaving To Start A New Series A Fund

Dalton Caldwell and Paul Buchheit, both long-tentured at the firm, are branching out from the storied tech incubator.

Richard Nieva @richardnieva.bsky.social · Jun 12

New: As Scale and Meta finalize their deal, OpenAI, one of Scale’s most prominent customers, has already been working for months to wind down its business with Scale and is vetting new partners, sources told Forbes. www.forbes.com/sites/richar...

Scale AI’s Business Could Collapse If Meta Buys A Stake And Hires Its CEO

The AI startup’s biggest clients, which include OpenAI and Google, won’t likely want to trust their data to a company almost half owned by Mark Zuckerberg’s tech empire.

Reposted by Richard Nieva

David Jeans @davidjeans.bsky.social · Jun 10

New: Last week, Anduril's mega $30B funding round underscored how hungry investors are for military startups.

It also minted a new defense tech billionaire: Trae Stephens.
www.forbes.com/sites/davidj...

Anduril Cofounder Trae Stephens Is Now A Billionaire

The recent funding round led by Founders Fund valued the hot military startup at $30 billion – and made its chairman Trae Stephens the latest defense tech billionaire.