Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:
Why I’m leaving OpenAI to build telepathy
On Thursday, July 23rd, I resigned from OpenAI. On the 24th, I started as a Founding Researcher at Conduit. We’re building telepathy: thought-to-text models, trained on non-invasive neural data.
(2016) Easily the most overlooked and most successful content startup in Portland: Digital Trends turns 10
Every once in a while it comes up in conversation. “What’s the most overlooked company in town? Or the company that no one knows is here?” For a time, a good answer was Survey Monkey. Or MetaFilter. Or maybe deflecting with a regional office, like Pinterest or Yahoo! or Yieldbot. But time and time again, one of my favorite go to answers has been a homegrown startup here in town, Digital Trends. Yes, that Digital Trends.
OpenAI Didn’t Notice Its AI Agents Using a Message Board to Plan Their Hacking Spree | WIRED
At the Black Hat security conference, the AI giant revealed new details about how its agents went rogue, hacked several other companies—and did it all right under the company’s nose.
Sequoia doubles down on AI with $10B fund under new leadership — TFN
Sequoia Capital plans to raise about $10 billion in new capital, which would be its biggest commitment in 54 years, according to Bloomberg.
Member Spotlight: Katharine Reinhold, Executive Director of Built Oregon
From food and beverage to apparel and outdoor gear, Built Oregon connects, amplifies, and accelerates the companies that define Oregon’s product culture, helping founders access mentorship, retail opportunities, educational programs, and a supportive community.
“Hello, Computer.”
2026 feels pretty key for all of this. The models have to be refined and perfected for voice. In some cases, perhaps even shrunken down to perform in real-time on-device. Then we need to figure out the right form-factors for said devices. Sure, the smartphone will remain key, and will probably serve as the connection for most companion tech, but we’re going to get a range of purpose-built hardware for AI out in the wild which will be predominantly controlled via voice.
The Title Cards in Blade Runner Are Fucking Amazing – Rands in Repose
Appreciating typography is a study in paradox. The primary goal of well-designed typography is to help you read the words, not appreciate how the words are composed of letters and how each of those individual letters has been designed to convey a small bit of meaning. If you see the typography rather than read the words, the typography has failed in its job, right? You should be reading, not staring at the shape of that uppercase A.
I Think I’ve Been Building RuntimeWire Since I Was 13 | by Ryan Merket | Aug, 2026 | Medium
Looking back, I had accidentally built a tiny publishing system: a CMS, a reader app and a distribution model. On floppy disks. For middle school news.
NVIDIA’s Vera Whitepaper Has a Thread Loose
The frustrating part is that Vera does not need this help, with early independent testing suggesting Olympus is genuinely formidable. The whitepaper’s strongest case is the hardware; its weakest case is the story wrapped around it, so let’s pull that story apart.
Trail Blazers could face hefty NBA relocation fee if team leaves Portland – oregonlive.com
Two weeks ago, a Trail Blazers official suggested the team’s new owners might have to pay the NBA a $1 billion relocation fee if they decide to move the team out of Portland.
Having fun is the new moat. — Justin Welsh
Michael’s self-created job was born out of his love for this little corner of the world. And his whole mission is to help other people love it too. He’s the man about town, promoting small businesses, connecting this person to that person, and throwing events so that good people can get together and meet each other the old-fashioned way, over a beer.
The Return Of The Repeat Founder: Inside YC’s Growing Class Of Second-Timers
What we found is that repeat participation to date has mostly been a two-chapter journey: 428 founders (94%) went through YC exactly twice, while only 25 appeared three times. Twitch and Stash co-founder Justin Kan was the sole four-time founder.
AI’s architects say the next era of human history is here
If these moguls are right, we may be entering the most consequential technological transition in human history — the opening stages of an “intelligence explosion” that transforms civilization faster than humanity can understand or control.
More Oregon startup news
