---
title: 'Silicon Florist links arrangement for May 20, 2026'
date: '2026-05-20T14:04:36-07:00'
type: post
word_count: 449
char_count: 4025
tokens: 584
categories:
  - Portland
---

# Silicon Florist links arrangement for May 20, 2026

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

[The third wave of American philanthropy – by Nan Ransohoff](https://nanransohoff.substack.com/p/the-third-wave-of-american-philanthropy?utm_source=tldrai)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This piece aims to directionally sketch the scale of what’s coming, the gap in operational capacity needed to absorb it, and what we can do to fill it.

[Live updates: 2026 Oregon primary results • Oregon Capital Chronicle](https://oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2026/05/19/live-updates-2026-oregon-primary-results/?emci=3e16598c-4b54-f111-8fcb-000d3a18905c&emdi=f707c9d8-5154-f111-8fcb-000d3a18905c&ceid=435409)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Capital Chronicle crew is reporting from election watch parties in Portland, Aurora and Stayton, as well as the home base in Salem and will share updates here and on Bluesky.

[Apocalypse No. The AI jobs narrative is BS | by Scott Galloway | May, 2026 | Medium](https://medium.com/@profgalloway/apocalypse-no-753b5bf0d330)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Every generation gets its “machines will take your job” panic. This one just comes with better PR and a bigger balance sheet. The AI job apocalypse isn’t data-driven — it’s narrative-driven, engineered by people who profit when you’re scared. Fear is the product. Capital is the outcome.

[Software’s Centaur Era – Richard Marmorstein](https://twitchard.github.io/posts/2026-05-18-softwares-centaur-era.html?utm_source=tldrnewsletter)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think it’s easy to miss how extreme a scenario this is, economically. Software jobs don’t necessarily disappear if AI surpasses humans at writing software – the jobs might change in nature, sure – but they don’t really disappear unless there is truly nothing left for humans to contribute to the process.

[Anthropic, the company behind AI-chatbot Claude, eyeing expansion in Seattle’s South Lake Union – MyNorthwest.com](https://mynorthwest.com/local/anthropic-claude-expansion-seattle/4239828)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

According to The Puget Sound Business Journal, Anthropic is negotiating a 120,000-square-foot lease in South Lake Union, where it already has offices. The AI company, based in San Francisco, wants more space at Dexter Yard, a mixed-use development that opened in 2023. Anthorpic currently has more than 1.1 million square feet of office space in San Francisco.

[The Anchored Interview Pattern – by Sam Keen](https://writing.alteredcraft.com/p/the-anchored-interview-pattern)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Half the information an agent needs to do good work isn’t in the corpus. It’s in your head: intent, preferences, constraints you haven’t written down.

[Announcing Mercury’s Series D | Mercury](https://mercury.com/blog/series-d-announcement)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Today, we’re announcing a $200 million Series D at a $5.2B valuation. We’re excited to bring on TCV as our lead investor in the round, as well as returning investors Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue, CRV, Sapphire Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and Spark Capital.