Silicon Florist links arrangement for October 9, 2025

Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:

dispatches from hell… sorry, I mean, Portland… 01 – CamiKaos

And the Portlanders? The real ones? They’re out there in inflatable dinosaur costumes, dancing. They’re sitting on the sidewalk in pajamas, eating pastries and sipping coffee. Just being there. Bearing witness. Reminding everyone that fascism, hate, and violence don’t belong here.

Inside Intel’s Hail Mary to Reclaim Chip Dominance | WIRED

The struggling American chipmaker is betting that a new plant and fresh product line will help turn around its fortunes.

California enacts law giving consumers ability to universally opt out of data sharing | The Record from Recorded Future News

The California Consumer Privacy Act, signed in 2018, gave Californians the right to send opt-out signals, but major browsers have not had to make opt-outs simple to use. The bill signed Wednesday would require them to set up an easy-to-find mechanism that lets Californians opt-out with the push of a button, instead of having to do so repeatedly when visiting individual websites.

I went to the Portland ICE facility while Kristi Noem was there — and it was fucking hilarious.

Yesterday — Tuesday, October 7th — I did what any self-respecting Portland journalist does on a sunny, eighty-degree fall afternoon: I went to the PortlandICE facility.

OpenAI’s Rising Tide Strategy

It’s undoubtedly a good strategy during boom times. The problem is that boom times don’t last forever. Even if you believe that AI is the next massive technological wave – even if you believe it’s the biggest technological wave, ever – the reality remains that markets ebb and flow and slow downs always happen for reasons that range from rational to irrational. The only certainty is that a correction will happen.

Mastodon is taking cues from Bluesky with plans for its own starter ‘Packs’ | TechCrunch

Mastodon, the decentralized, open social network with over 8 million accounts and nearly 700,000 monthly active users, is planning to introduce a new feature, called “Packs,” which will make it easier for newcomers to discover curated collections of users to follow.

Start with a prompt

When Warp’s Zach Lloyd noticed senior engineers were reluctant to adopt AI tools, he rolled out a slightly more pointed new policy: Every coding task needs to start with a prompt.

Silicon Forest Tech Trends Survey 2026

ProFocus Technology surveys hundreds of Portland & PNW tech professionals each year to help build a comprehensive trends report for the local tech community. Contribute to the report by taking this quick and anonymous survey.

Dear Cami

After the absolute wild abandon of summer, October brings a return to comfort. To routine. To ritual. So when one of my dearest AuDHD friends sends a letter that is more a cry for help than a tidy question, it feels like magic to tell you about the small rituals I live by.

Today’s AI hype has echoes of a devastating technology boom and bust 100 years ago

Understanding this history matters now. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a similar general purpose technology and looks set to reshape every aspect of the economy. But it’s already showing some of the hallmarks of electricity’s rise, peak and bust in the decade known as the Roaring Twenties.

I Thought I’d Mastered AI-Assisted Development. I Was Wrong.

The correct metaphor for this interaction is not a tool you wield, but a team member you onboard. It’s like hiring a brilliant, tireless junior developer who never gets frustrated, never needs sleep, and can context-switch between twenty different files without losing track of the broader objective. Your job becomes what management has always been: setting clear objectives, providing strategic direction, reviewing output, and course-correcting when necessary.

PDX ads+tech happy hour no. 7 · Luma

For everyone in the Portland area who works in advertising, digital media, adtech, or martech (or some other corner of the industry), this happy hour is for you!

PGE, Gridcare say AI will help power Hillsboro data centers – Portland Business Journal

In an announcement Wednesday, PGE and the startup, Gridcare, said a first-of-its-kind joint project will allow for an extra 80 megawatts of data center load next year in Hillsboro and 400 total additional megawatts by 2029.

Other Oregon startup stories