Dylan Dunnan

Nonprofits need more than passion—they need data-driven insights to secure funding and grow their mission. With 277+ employees and complex funding requirements, Bay Area Youth Services (BAYS) turned to PrimePay HCM for: • Position-based workforce management • Automated funding tracking • AI-driven applicant tracking • Streamlined compliance tools CTA: Read their story. https://hubs.ly/Q03lhW5b0

24

Sacramento Joins the "Tech Triangle" including San Francisco • Sacramento • San Jose with new $50M commitment from Meta! Historic news for California’s Capital Region — Sacramento is now stepping into its role as a technology and innovation hub alongside Silicon Valley and the Bay Area. Meta has just committed $50 million to support a transformative downtown California State University-Sacramento campus project, helping convert under-utilized state buildings on Capitol Mall into a vibrant mixed-use destination that will include: = Affordable student and faculty housing = A new School of Public Affairs = Room for cutting-edge academic programs and an AI Center = Cultural and community spaces contributing to downtown revitalization This landmark investment isn’t just about construction — it’s about AI innovation, investment, equity, workforce development, and economic revitalization. It positions Sacramento as a place where talent is cultivated and retained, not just trained and exported. 📍 Read more here: Meta pledges $50M to help build a new Sacramento State campus downtown — CBS Sacramento: https://lnkd.in/gkJNHZy9 This partnership between Meta, Sacramento State, and state leadership signals a new chapter for Sacramento’s role in the technology ecosystem — bridging academic excellence, innovation, and community prosperity. #Sacramento #Innovation #HigherEd #TechEcosystem #DowntownRevitalization #Meta #SacState #AI #EconomicGrowth Eric Ball, Saurabh Suri, Saurabh Ranjan, Vikas Datt, Jennifer Baker Khan, John Hooker, Aaron Mondell Anderson, Patrick Bumpus, Yatish Mishra, Sean Mishra, Dan Wadhwani, Brad Squires, Mihran Berejikian, Jackson Crawford, Jason A. Vita, Peyton Crawford

71

5 Comments

🔗: https://on.wsj.com/49y9ziC One of the Bay Area’s hottest startups is hiring like crazy. The catch? You have to be willing to train artificial intelligence to one day do your job as well as you can. Welcome to the next gig economy. Instead of driving for Uber or delivering Postmates, a new wave of workers is signing up to school AI. These white-collar contractors review and critique the output of the large language models that power chatbots and other AI tools. When Katie Williams, 30, first saw a job listed for Mercor, the posting said the company was looking for a video editor. Williams, who lives in Houston, went to school for video editing and has worked in news and social-media marketing. She applied and soon landed an interview, conducted by an unseen AI proctor with a male-sounding voice. She wasn’t quite sure what the job would entail but the pay was as much as $45 an hour, so she moved ahead. Williams is now about six months into various projects that have involved watching video clips and writing out captions of everything that’s happening in them, and rating the quality of videos generated by prompts. She has mixed feelings about the work. Co-workers in her Slack channel don’t feel great about training AI but they feel their job prospects are limited. How is AI changing your job or company?

127

14 Comments

In a first-of-its-kind clinical trial, UCLA scientists have shown it’s possible to reprogram a patient’s blood-forming stem cells to generate a continuous supply of functional T cells, the immune system’s most powerful cancer-killing agents. https://lnkd.in/eDwzaY3n

42

Big M&A news in Seattle startup land as Palo Alto Networks plans to acquire 3-year-old cybersecurity company Protect AI, ranked No. 10 on the GeekWire 200, our list of top tech startups across the Pacific Northwest. It's part of a growing cohort of cybersecurity startups that are based in the Seattle region or have a significant presence in the area. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gfx_pXkS

91

Amid tariff-induced economic uncertainties, Santa Cruz has historically shown resilience by spawning innovative startups during tough economic times. Companies like Looker and PayStand exemplify how recessions can spark creativity and groundbreaking business models. https://lnkd.in/g8rPieCZ

62

3 Comments

Koraima Ruiz was on the verge of shutting down her childcare program. She had the passion, the skills, and the drive to provide quality child care in San Francisco (which is NO easy feat!) But for years, her business barely survived—earning $15,000 a year running a child care program out of her home. That's not a living wage. That's not sustainable. She built her child care program from the ground up. She worked tirelessly to create a safe, nurturing space for children in her community. This isn't just her story. It's the reality for thousands of child care providers across the country. And when providers can't sustain their businesses, families lose access to care. Parents are forced to leave jobs. Entire communities feel the impact. This is fixable. With the right support—business coaching, technology, marketing tools, and operational guidance—Koraima didn't just survive. She grew. Her program flourished. ✅ She's now making $120,000 a year and on track to earn $180,000 ✅ She's providing stable, high-quality care to families who need it ✅ She helped one family who had been on waitlists for months finally get a childcare spot Koraima's story is a reminder that child care providers are small business owners, community leaders, and the backbone of our economy. To every provider doing this work—you deserve support. And to every policymaker looking for solutions—invest in the people already showing up for children and families every day. Koraima's story isn't unique. It's just one of many. Imagine how much stronger our communities could be if every provider had access to the same tools and resources. #childcare #earlychildhoodeducation #childcarepolicy

52

4 Comments

Today we’re launching our Physical AI Lab, led by UCLA professor and renowned researcher Bolei Zhou, who’s joining Coco as Chief AI Scientist. Bolei has spent his career advancing physical AI with 60,000+ citations and pioneering work. Now, he’s bringing that expertise to Coco. What makes this lab special is Coco’s fleet itself. Our robots run urban deliveries across the U.S. and Europe, navigating unpredictable environments (construction, pedestrians, weather, etc.). These are the kinds of real world challenges you can’t capture in simulation and that data is becoming the raw material for advancing physical AI. As we scale to 10,000+ robots in 2026, this fusion of research and deployment will define the next generation of physical AI and reimagine how goods move through cities everywhere. TechCrunch has the scoop - link in comments.

212

12 Comments

BASE Fellows Spring 2026 Black in AI Safety and Ethics (BASE) exists to increase Black representation and leadership in the fields of AI safety, Governance, and Security. Our mission is to build a global community that connects, educates, and empowers Black researchers, professionals, and students to shape the development of safe, equitable, and human-centered AI systems, while preventing the gradual disempowerment of the Black diaspora in the age of artificial intelligence. Fellows gain structured expert mentorship, foundational training, and hands-on research experience to prepare them for impactful research in the rapidly evolving AI safety ecosystem. https://lnkd.in/e-FcYvQj

13

At PagerDuty, we believe technology can drive positive impact as the world’s challenges grow more urgent and interconnected. This year, we’re scaling our climate investments with partners to create a more sustainable and equitable future. 🌱🌍 ✨ Watch Duty - Supporting real-time wildfire alerts that protect 6+ million users across 22 states. Helping them scale from reactive disaster response to proactive community preparedness. ✨ Beneficial Returns - Piloting innovative carbon offset approaches by directly investing in Guatemalan social enterprises Ecofiltro Guatemala and Estufas Chispa, creating both carbon reductions and improved health outcomes for underserved communities. ✨ Renewable Energy Commitment - Continuing our investment in Stacked RECs through the Bonneville Environmental Foundation, matching 100% of our electricity consumption while supporting the Tribal Renewable Energy Fund. We take a holistic partnership approach through funding, technical expertise and engagement to build climate resilience where it’s needed most. Learn more here ➡️ bit.ly/3W6Nhhi

18