Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:
Silicon Valley bets $200M on AI data centers floating in the ocean – Ars Technica
The latest investment round of $140 million is intended to help the company Panthalassa complete a pilot manufacturing facility near Portland, Oregon, and speed up deployments of wave-riding “nodes” designed to generate electrical power, according to a May 4 press release. Instead of sending renewable energy to a land-based data center, the floating nodes would directly power onboard AI chips and transmit inference tokens representing the AI models’ outputs to customers worldwide via satellite link.
Portland startup Epicurate acquired by Journey – Portland Business Journal
Portland startup Epicurate, which makes private dining and luxury experience booking software, has been acquired by a New York startup in a similar space.
Moms, Coaches, Doctors, Entrepreneurs: Who Are America’s Health and Wellness Influencers? | Pew Research Center
Half of U.S. adults under 50 say they get health and wellness information from social media influencers or podcasts. About 4 in 10 of these influencers describe themselves as health care professionals; coaches and entrepreneurs are almost as common
Poland is a model for economic growth | AP News
It’s a historic leap from the post-Communist ruins of 1989-90 to European growth champion, which economists say has lessons on how to bring prosperity to ordinary people — and that the Trump administration says should be recognized by Poland’s presence at a summit of the Group of 20 leading economies later this year.
AI Slop is Killing Online Communities
AI slop is driving up the noise, and making the signal more and more difficult to discern in communities. This risks becoming a downward spiral; as communities become more polluted by this stuff, members will get frustrated from wading through AI slop and draw back, thus diminishing the life of the organic community even further.
Introducing Trusted Contact in ChatGPT | OpenAI
Today we are starting to roll out Trusted Contact, an optional safety feature in ChatGPT that allows adults to nominate someone they trust, such as a friend, family member, or caregiver, who may be notified if our automated systems and trained reviewers detect the enrolled person may have discussed harming themselves in a way that indicates a serious safety concern.
Ted Turner didn’t just revolutionize television − he changed the way we see our world
Turner will be remembered mostly for the creation and development of the Cable News Network – CNN – which launched in 1980 and made our knowledge of distant events instantaneous and our world more comprehensible. In this sense, Turner’s legacy extends beyond television. He changed our conception not only of journalism but also of our world.
Nearly 100 local measures on primary ballots across Oregon, many to fund struggling fire districts • Oregon Capital Chronicle
Voters in a third of Oregon’s 36 counties will vote during the May primary on whether to raise local property taxes to fund struggling fire districts and departments.
Six-Week “Soccer Fest” Downtown Watch Party Planned for World Cup
Away Days Brewing Co., which has a taproom in Southeast’s Brooklyn neighborhood with year-round soccer vibes, is organizing the festival. Soccer Fest will be held at the U.S. National Bank Building downtown, with an entrance at 326 SW Broadway. The bar will broadcast games on a massive screen in the bank hall and feature food, merch, DJs, vendor pop-ups and Away Days beer on tap.
AI Is Rewriting What Investors Should Look For In Early Startup Teams
Every generation of technology resets what investors should expect from founders. Twenty years ago, a founder who wasn’t internet-native was at a structural disadvantage. Forty years ago, it was computer literacy. Today, AI-native fluency is the baseline — the ability to build, test, and iterate using AI copilots, APIs, and low-code tools at a speed that would have required a full engineering team just a few years ago.
The “AI Job Apocalypse” Is a Complete Fantasy
The problem with that premise is that it defies everything we know about people, markets and economics. Human wants and needs are anything but fixed.
The stuff nobody tells you about startup marketing
So no, you don’t need a fancy strategy, brand guidelines, a content calendar, or a paid budget. Just figure out what your audience finds interesting and talk about it. Plus, when you treat marketing this way, your brand will be that much more authentic.
Microsoft AI Deal Secures Three Mile Island Nuclear Restart – Bloomberg
Three Mile Island, the site of the most famous US nuclear accident, is coming back online, as soon as mid-2027, to power chatbots and other artificial intelligence applications. That’s thanks to a long-term agreement signed by Microsoft Corp. and Constellation Energy Corp., the power company that owns the facility, in September 2024.
ChatGPT’s latest viral trend turns your photos into terrible MS Paint doodles — and I can’t stop using it | TechRadar
Basically, you’re telling ChatGPT to lean into hesitation, uneven lines, and inexpert artistic skills. Despite that premise, the results are pretty entertaining.
Lev + Startup Day = Startup Success
The goal of the Startup Day competition is to start a new company in <1 week using Lev and associated tools. You can start with your own idea or one from our Lev Idea Finder database of over 16,000 startup ideas.
The Culture of AI Engineering
Too much of the industry treats software as a problem to be optimized and solved. That may be true for code writing and testing, but the better metaphor is staring us in the face: It’s a software company, not a software factory.
DORA | ROI of AI-assisted Software Development report
DORA’s ROI of AI-assisted Software Development report provides a practical framework to help you navigate the complexities of AI adoption. Whether you are managing the initial “productivity dip” of a new rollout or looking to defend your budget for the next fiscal year, this guide provides the calculations and conversation starters you need.
Defensibility in the Age of AI — Oregon Venture Fund
At OVF we spend time looking for patterns where defensibility is structurally durable. Other than IP-intensive players, the application companies still building real moats in 2026 aren’t winning on product features but rather on assets that AI can’t generate such as regulated market access, embedded distribution, and operational depth that takes years to accumulate.
States crack down on tax break for wealthy investors
The QSBS exemption, introduced during the Clinton administration, was designed to encourage investing and creating small companies. The federal carve-out allows investors and founders to reduce their capital gains taxes when selling stock directly acquired from a qualifying C corp.
2026 GeekWire Awards revealed: Big winners — and big love for Seattle — at annual tech celebration – GeekWire
Oregon-based freight marketplace DAT Freight & Analytics says it has navigated multiple acquisitions in 18 months by treating integration as culture-building rather than a takeover, guided by their “One DAT” value. The company says it relies on concrete practices like Gallup engagement benchmarking (landing in the 75th percentile among tech organizations), structured pay equity analyses, and a Women in Tech mentorship program.
More Oregon startup news
