Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:
Baltimore Is Not Waiting for Permission to Be a Startup City
I want to talk about my look at Baltimore startups because it sits in the region of the United States where ecosystem builders have been putting a lot of consideration into the Research and IP heavy orientation of the northeast while economic development attention on innovation and entrepreneurship can’t ignore the proximity of cities here.
Customer Experience Roundtable, Fri, May 1, 2026, 4:00 PM | Meetup
Join us for an interactive roundtable focused on working through CX challenges and discussing the latest CX trends. Whether you are a seasoned leader or just starting out in the field, this event will provide valuable insights and best practices to elevate your CX skills. We will open the discussion with intros and then a starting topic.
Intel to join Musk’s Terafab mega AI chip project | Reuters
“Our ability to design, fabricate, and package ultra-high-performance chips at scale will help accelerate Terafab’s aim to produce 1 terawatt per year of compute to power future advances in AI and robotics,” Intel said in a post on social media platform X.
Introducing the OpenAI Safety Fellowship | OpenAI
Today we are announcing a call for applications to the OpenAI Safety Fellowship, a new program for external researchers, engineers, and practitioners to pursue rigorous, high-impact research on the safety and alignment of advanced AI systems. The program will run from September 14, 2026 through February 5, 2027.
Social media is turning into a freak show – by Nate Silver
The ecosystem is unhealthy, especially on Twitter, and that’s producing some strange beasts among the most influential accounts.
I-5 bridge saga: How costs soared and delays piled up – Axios Seattle
Why it matters: The total project cost has more than quadrupled since an earlier replacement plan fell apart in 2013, now topping $14 billion — all while the bridge continues to snarl traffic and could collapse in a major earthquake.
The term “AGI” is almost useless at this point
To put it another way: many people seem to treat AGI as a “know-it-when-you-see-it” kind of thing.2 But we now simultaneously have serious people claiming that AGI has been achieved (in April 2025, December 2025, February 2026) and others saying it’s still a decade or more away. Expecting that we’ll know it when we see it is patently not working.
Confessions of a Millennial in Tech – by Elena Verna
If output goes up while the cost of producing that output goes down, what happens to compensation? What happens to leverage? What happens to the premium attached to knowledge work when more of that work becomes abundant? What happens to company structures when fewer people can produce dramatically more?
I Built AI Agents with OpenClaw, NanoClaw, and Hermes. Here’s What Nobody Tells You.
I loved every frustrating minute of it. The tinkering was the point. I learned more about how computers actually work in those weeks than I had in years of just using Windows. But I also understood, viscerally, why normal people weren’t going to do this. The gap between “this technology exists” and “this technology is usable” was enormous.
How data centers can boost mass timber – Portland Business Journal
Even with mass timber adoption in the early stages, Dylan Kruse of Portland-based Sustainable Northwest estimated roughly that “more than 10% of the mass timber that was sold and installed last year went through” Amazon and Meta.
Kotek’s Prosperity Council releases findings from statewide survey – Portland Business Journal
The group has held multiple listening sessions across the state and received 1,000 responses to an online survey. Contributions came from 35 of Oregon’s 36 counties and across a “broad cross-section” of communities, from business to government to economic development to agriculture, and from both urban and rural regions.
We Are C1
Agentic identity is a security problem. Every agent has an identity, whether it’s delegated from its human controller or running standalone as an enterprise agent. And those agents have access to data and systems. Unlike humans however, agents run at the speed of GPUs.
The new role of angel investors
Our Wednesday, April 8th PubTalk panel explores the new role of angel investors in today’s startup ecosystem. Experienced angels and founders will discuss how value-add support really shows up after the investment, what healthy governance looks like at the earliest stages, and how to build durable investor-founder partnerships that grow with the company.
Break – It! : Founder App Testing & Feedback Session, Wed, Apr 8, 2026, 11:30 AM | Meetup
Break – It! brings Portland founders together to stress-test each other’s applications and get honest feedback before launch. This edition will be led by Beth Fuller, a professional software product manager who specializes in helping teams refine their products before release.
More Oregon startup news
