Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:
AI models that can take down governments and business months away, rare Five Eyes statement warns | AI (artificial intelligence) | The Guardian
The surprising public intervention by signals agencies for Australia, the US, the UK, New Zealand and Canada comes after the Trump administration earlier this month decided to block “foreign nationals” from using a much-hyped AI model built by tech company Anthropic, called Fable.
Sector Snapshot: Robotics Startups On Fire As Venture Funding Surges To Record Numbers In 2026
The impressive rise in funding reflects a marked shift in perception among venture investors about the robotics sector, which was traditionally considered an expensive, asset-heavy hardware gamble. In particular, investors appear to be drawn to startups working on embodied AI, or artificial intelligence with a physical body that interacts with the real world in real time.
The Fake Traction Problem – by Martyn Eeles – HealthVC
One of the most dangerous moments in fundraising is when a founder starts to believe their own traction before the market has fully validated it. This happens more often than most founders realise, especially in health, where early signals can feel incredibly promising long before they become commercially meaningful.
Before it was obvious
Each founder started with a non consensus belief about where the world was heading and then spent years building before that future became obvious to everyone else. The luck was being attached to powerful tailwinds.
The New Rules of Media | Marc Andreessen & Ben Horowitz | The a16z Show
The conversation explores the shift from legacy media to creator-led platforms, why authenticity has become a competitive advantage, and how founders can build audiences by communicating directly with customers, employees, and the public. They discuss podcasts, social media, storytelling, corporate communications, and the changing relationship between companies, journalists, and audiences.
Weekly Review: Around the Model – by Sam Keen
One pattern runs through this issue: as models get cheaper, more open, and easier to swap, the hard part moves to everything around them. Bayer’s context discipline, two new agent harnesses, and three editorials on review and judgment all point the same way. The edge is in the scaffolding, not the core.
Mayor’s Home-Sharing Pilot Program Receives Five Applications in Four Months
The program—in which the city writes a $1,000 check to Portland homeowners who list spare bedrooms for rent on particular platforms, including the Atlanta-based PadSplit—has so far received just five applications in four months.
Portland | Claude Code Meetup for Devs · Luma
We’ll be showcasing winners from the Claude Hackathon (March 28) and giving attendees a chance to hear what they built, how they approached the challenge, and what they learned along the way. Expect live conversations around AI-assisted coding, product building, experimentation, and the future of developer tooling.
Politicians Don’t Understand Innovation – Andrew Maxwell
We keep treating innovation as if it were a policy design challenge: write the strategy, announce the program, allocate the funding, define the milestones, and measure whether the activities were delivered. But innovation is not the execution of a predetermined plan. It is the disciplined management of uncertainty. That distinction matters.
Five years in, new analysis links Seattle’s ‘JumpStart’ tax to downtown decline – GeekWire
The report, released Monday afternoon, finds that downtown Seattle has lost about 30,000 jobs since 2020 and that the taxable value of its office buildings has fallen 48% — even as Bellevue, which has no comparable tax, added jobs and saw commercial values rise 7%.
Combine a National VC with a Regional VC – David Cummings on Startups
Last month, I was talking to an entrepreneur about his upcoming fundraising round, and he shared an approach that I hadn’t heard before. His ultimate goal for the funding round was to secure a lead VC from a national, brand-name firm combined with a strong regional fund. My curiosity piqued, so I asked him why. He told me it comes down to getting the best of both worlds.
devopsdays Portland, OR 2026
Devopsdays is a worldwide series of technical conferences covering topics of software development, IT infrastructure operations, and the intersection between them. Each event is run by volunteers from the local area. Most devopsdays events feature a combination of curated talks (see open Calls for Proposals) and self organized open space content. Topics often include automation, testing, security, and organizational culture.
Homebuyer Education Seminar Tickets, Wednesday, July 29 • 5:30 PM – 7 PM | Eventbrite
Join us for this educational and interactive evening that will help set you on the path to owning a home. Whether you are a first time buyer or repeat homeowner, this event will equip you with meaningful information to take that next step in the homebuying journey. Engage with financial planners, credit repair specialists, title company and insurance representatives, Realtors, mortgage lenders, and more to help you create your own personalized roadmap to buying a home.
