Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:
Happy Hour with Tech Professionals, Thu, Aug 20, 2026, 5:30 PM | Meetup
Whether you’re deep in the tech world or just tech-curious, if you’re in Bend and want real conversations with interesting people, you belong here. Bring a friend, bring a coworker, or come solo and leave with new connections. No presentations, no sales pitches. Just good people and good conversation.
Lake Oswego Tech Forum
Each quarter, LO TECH CONNECT presents “The Forum” featuring a speaker of note in the technology field. This quarter, our speaker is Scott Mokler, retired Senior Principal Engineer at Intel Corporation. He will discuss the recent awarding to Oregon of $160 million from the National Science Foundation under the Frontiers of Advanced Semiconductor Technology (FAST) grant program and how this award could kick-start a new era of growth for Oregon’s semi-conductor industry.
Why Fire and Thorns owner Lisa Bhathal Merage is loving Portland – Portland Business Journal
“I’ve been really enjoying my time getting to know more people in the Portland community,” Bhathal Merage said. “It’s a really special place filled with kind individuals, and I have really loved my time here.”
Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Bolsters National Security and Strengthens U.S. Supply Chains by Imposing Tariffs on Drones and Their Parts and Components – The White House
Today, President Donald J. Trump signed a Proclamation to address the national security threat posed by imports of drones and their components, including by strengthening America’s drone industry and supply chain.
ChatGPT can now remember what you did on your Mac — without screenshots – The New Stack
This, OpenAI says, will then allow ChatGPT to answer questions like “What was I debugging yesterday?” or “Where did I leave off on that PR?” — all without having to re-explain the full context of your query. Based on your history, ChatGPT will then be able to find the files, documents, and conversations relevant to your query, no matter whether they were in Google Docs, Slack, or an open browser tab.
Anthropic set AI agents loose on the same task. They started a turf war. | TechCrunch
On Thursday, Anthropic’s Frontier Red Team published new research examining how groups of AI agents behave when they encounter each other in the wild. The findings provide a glimpse into potential risks that could develop as companies and governments move to implement agents working autonomously across shared codebases, markets, and computer systems.
Judge orders Kalshi cease numerous Washington operations | Washington State
A King County Superior Court judge issued a final order requiring KalshiEX (Kalshi) to cease many of its Washington operations after finding that Kalshi likely violated the Washington Gambling Act and the Consumer Protection Act by running an illegal gambling operation in Washington.
Why does Opus 5 feel worse to work with?
In my opinion and that of the colleagues I’ve spoken with, working with Opus 5 feels like a downgrade compared to Opus 4.7, Opus 4.8, and Fable.
Introducing Bluesky Protocol Services – AT Protocol
Today we’re launching Bluesky Protocol Services: a new brand, and a new website, for the public infrastructure Bluesky operates on the AT Protocol network.
Anthropic could be worth $2 trillion when it goes public – Ars Technica
Anthropic investors expect the AI startup to float at a valuation of $2 trillion or more in October, a dizzying figure that would eclipse SpaceX and make the AI lab’s debut the largest-ever initial public offering.
40 Companies Joined The Unicorn Board In July, The Highest Count In 4 Years
In the past two months, the board added more than $100 billion each month in value from newly minted unicorns. Three companies joined the board at decacorn values. Crypto.com, Kling AI and Ant International together added $49 billion in the past month.
The moat paradox – by Ali Abouelatta – First 1000
As I continue embarking on this entrepreneurial journey, one question keeps creeping in the back of my mind: how do you build a moat?
Seattle Tech Week 2026: The Most Seattle Tech Week Yet
Seattle Tech Week started on a Monday night with pickleball in SoDo and ended, five days later, somewhere between a rooftop happy hour, a Lake Union cruise, and a Mariners game. In between: roughly 250 events across boardrooms, incubators, coworking spaces, an Amtrak train, pickleball courts, concert venues … and an axe-throwing range.
(2018) When a homegrown Portland startup project hits the bigs: PitchBlack partners with Black & Brown Founders
I’m still in awe that the whitest city in America was the platform to launch one of the most amazing black pitch events in the United States. All thanks to Stephen Green. But that just lends credence to my whole “ridiculous decisions” argument.
With PNW electricity demand surging, planners map out major grid upgrades • Washington State Standard
The plan calls on Washington, Oregon, Idaho and western Montana to add 11,000 megawatts to the region’s grid. That’s about a third of the electricity the Northwest uses at peak demand, such as during a heat wave.
Summer Strengthens our Connection Currency — Oregon Venture Fund
Oregon Venture Fund invests in the most competitive startups who have a presence in Oregon and Southern Washington. While we review 250-300 business plans per year, we invest in only 3 to 4 new companies annually and make 4 to 5 follow-on investments in portfolio companies meeting their milestones. Our portfolio has earned an average 16% net IRR and produced a 3.1X average net return across all funds since 2007 (19 annual funds!).
America Wants to Make Its Own Humanoid Robots. That Won’t Be Easy. – The New York Times
In the United States, humanoid robotics is still in its infancy. Analysts estimate that the top humanoid companies made just a few hundred robots last year. Most aren’t available for purchase by the average consumer, but instead are part of test projects with other companies in warehouses and factories. By comparison, Unitree and another Chinese company, Agibot, together made about 10,000.
More Oregon startup news
