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Troy Wolverton

@troywolv.bsky.social

1.9K followers 1.9K following 229 posts

Longtime tech and Bay Area journalist. Currently a senior tech correspondent with The San Francisco Examiner. www.sfexaminer.com/users/profile/tr…

Posts Replies Media

Troy Wolverton @troywolv.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Given where I grew up and where I’ve spent most of my adult life, this map makes a lot of sense. But @profericejohnson.bsky.social would laugh and grit his teeth about the Nevada part, given how I pronounce the state’s name.

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Reposted by Troy Wolverton

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 15/08/2026

New in PN: Transgender athletes are a red herring "None of this discourse happened bc there is a new high-profile trans athlete in the news. Instead, Republicans are starting a culture war to rile up their base, co-opt Dems into agreeing with them, & push trans people out of public life altogether"

publicnotice.co

Transgender athletes are a red herring

It's a non-problem meant to exclude people from public life.

Troy Wolverton @troywolv.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

I wrote last week about how spending on the billionaire tax and two competing propositions has already topped $140 million, making it the eighth most expensive ballot measure battle in California history.

$140 million raised in battle over billionaire tax

Prop. 40 fight already among state’s priciest ever.

Reposted by Troy Wolverton

@TJChambers @tjchambers.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

@troywolv.bsky.social: @gilduran.com Identifies Silicon Valley Elite And Their Embrace Of Fascism As Threat To Democracy | @sfexaminer.bsky.social www.sfexaminer.com/news/technol...

Thiel, tech elite chief villains in ‘Nerd Reich’

New Book details tech’s ties to anti-democratic ideas.

Reposted by Troy Wolverton

Kevin Riggle @kevinr.free-dissociation.com · 28/07/2026

Got hit up by @troywolv.bsky.social last week and he graciously let me vent on the record about the OpenAI-HuggingFace incident. www.sfexaminer.com/news/technol...

OpenAI hacking incident highlights AI cyberrisks

Experts take company to task for safety efforts

Reposted by Troy Wolverton

Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 02/07/2026

The White House is openly saying they want to eliminate a minority group and people still want to say this is about sports.

Supreme Court Bolsters President Trump’s Push to Eliminate Transgender Insanity
The White House
June 30, 2026

Troy Wolverton @troywolv.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

A little more than 10 years ago, while a reporter for the @mercurynews.com, I interviewed the Rev. Jesse Jackson about his effort to push Silicon Valley to embrace diversity. At the time, he was hopeful about the tech industry being receptive to his message. And it was — until the backlash.

mercurynews.com

Q&A: Jesse Jackson is pleased with progress on diversity, but pushing for more

Q&A: Jesse Jackson is pleased with progress on diversity, but pushing for more

Troy Wolverton @troywolv.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

@sarahlacy.com has been a high-profile tech journalist covering Silicon Valley's venture and startup scene and a startup founder herself. For her latest act, she's taken on something slightly different — operating @bestbookstore.bsky.social — but she still has plenty of ambition.

How Sarah Lacy went from founder to bookseller

Ex-tech reporter recently opened store in Union Square.

Troy Wolverton @troywolv.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

One of the main arguments voiced by opponents of the proposed billionaire tax here in California is that it will drive the ultra-wealthy to leave the state. That fear, says initiative co-author @bdgesq.bsky.social, is overblown. In an interview with the @sfexaminer.bsky.social Galle explained why.

Billionaire tax author says fears about it unfounded

Few of the ultra-wealthy are likely to leave, he says.

Reposted by Troy Wolverton

Anthony Moser @anthonymoser.com · 07/02/2026

like i love this story and I think it reveals something important. the atari is encoding a ton of information about the rules of chess explicitly in a very small amount of data, and the associational model, despite a much larger amount of data & computation, does not effectively model the game

ChatGPT "Absolutely Wrecked" at Chess by Atari 2600 Console From 1977

Despite all its advances, ChatGPT still, seemingly, is less smart than an Atari simulator on beginner mode.

Troy Wolverton @troywolv.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

You might have heard there's going to be a March for Billionaires in San Francisco on Saturday. Yes it's real, and no it's not satire. I spoke with the guy behind it, an AI startup founder here in The City who opposes a proposed billionaire tax and thinks billionaires are getting a bad rap.

Billionaires march leader ID'd, says effort sincere

Startup founder not billionaire, but supports them.

Troy Wolverton @troywolv.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

Generative and other kinds of AI have numerous harmful effects. In a recent paper, Boston University professors @hartzog.bsky.social and @jessicasilbey.bsky.social identify and highlight a new concern: AI is sabotaging democracy by destroying the institutions that undergird it.

Researchers: How AI undermining democracy

Paper argues tech threatens democratic foundations.

Reposted by Troy Wolverton

Oliver Darcy @oliverdarcy.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

Harvard professor Steven Levitsky, who studies democracy backsliding, on Don Lemon's arrest: “This is a new dimension. In democracies, journalists don't get arrested. In authoritarian regimes, journalists get arrested." More in @status.news: www.status.news/p/don-lemon-...

Troy Wolverton @troywolv.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

I don't know who needs to hear this, but I stand with Don Lemon @donlemonofficial.bsky.social and Georgia Fort @bygeorgiafort.bsky.social — and against this blatant attack on the First Amendment.

Statement from the Freedom of the Press Foundation's Chief of Advocacy Seth Stern decrying the arrests of Don Lemon and Georgia Fort as "naked attacks on the freedom of the press."

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Reposted by Troy Wolverton

Freedom of the Press Foundation @freedom.press · 30/01/2026

The government’s arrests of journalists @donlemonofficial.bsky.social and @bygeorgiafort.bsky.social are attacks on freedom of the press. Two federal courts flatly rejected prosecuting Lemon, but instead of accepting that humiliating defeat, the government has now doubled down. Read our statement:

Statement from FPF Chief of Advocacy Seth Stern:

“The government’s arrests of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort are naked attacks on freedom of the press. Two federal courts flatly rejected prosecuting Lemon because the evidence for these vindictive and unconstitutional charges was insufficient, and Lemon has every right to document news and inform the public. Instead of accepting that humiliating defeat, the government has now doubled down.

“These arrests, under bogus legal theories for obviously constitutionally protected reporting, are clear warning shots aimed at other journalists. The unmistakable message is that journalists must tread cautiously because the government is looking for any way to target them. Fort’s arrest is meant to instill the same fear in local independent journalists as big names like Lemon.

“The answer to this outrageous attack is not fear or self-censorship. It’s an even stronger commitment to journalism, the truth, and the First Amendment. If the Trump administration thinks it can bully journalists into submission, it is wrong. We’ve recently seen that even in the Trump era, public pressure still can work. It’s time to do it again. News outlets across the political spectrum need to loudly defend Lemon’s and Fort’s rights. Journalists are not making themselves the story, Trump is.”

Reposted by Troy Wolverton

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 26/01/2026

Just say the government is lying. The goal of journalism should be to inform, not gaslight.

Reposted by Troy Wolverton

Trans News Network @transnews.network · 01/01/2026

In this in-depth interview Billie Jean Sweeney — a former editor at The New York Times — details how the paper shifted towards openly promoting anti-trans hatred, why this was directed from the very top, how some staff pushed back and the immense damage done by the NYT legitimizing bigotry.

transnews.network

'A directive from above': Former NYT editor lays out how the paper pushes anti-trans bigotry

In this in-depth interview, former New York Times editor Billie Jean Sweeney details how the paper shifted towards openly promoting anti-trans hatred, how some staff tried to stop it, how it's directe...

Reposted by Troy Wolverton

Sherrilyn Ifill @sifill.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

God this is so utterly despicable. Trump is “he was no angel”- ing a journalist who was murdered and dismembered with a bone saw by agents of an authoritarian regime.

Reposted by Troy Wolverton

Megan Greenwell @greenwell.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

If I were editing a column about Charlie Kirk’s political genius, I would tell the writer he needed to quote Kirk’s actual political beliefs. If the writer responded that doing so would weaken or distract from his argument, it’d be a pretty good sign that the column was not ready for prime time.

Reposted by Troy Wolverton

Patton Oswalt @pattonoswalt.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

So glad ICE is in Chicago. The city is a lawless hell-scape. Blues musicians wrecking hundreds of police cars. High schoolers doing weird scientific sex experiments. Kids home alone during the holidays. Women killing their husbands and lovers and then SINGING about it sassily. This has to stop.

Troy Wolverton @troywolv.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

Venture capitalists responded to George Floyd's 2020 death by stepping up their investments in Black-founded startups, according to a new study. But in retrospect, what happened ended up looking a lot like "tokenism," the researchers say.

Study: VCs engaged in ‘tokenism’ after Floyd death

Black-led startups saw surge in funding, then drop.

Troy Wolverton @troywolv.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

In a recent study of the reasoning abilities of generative AI systems, a team of researchers at Arizona State concluded that large language models like OpenAI's GPT-5 don't really reason at all. Their study builds on other recent research that casts doubt on AI's reasoning abilities.

Researchers: AI reasoning a ‘brittle mirage’

Models fail to solve problems outside their training, study contends.

Reposted by Troy Wolverton

BeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

media doesn't have to pretend that every statement from Donald Trump, a serial liar with a long record of proven falsehoods, has to be evaluated in a vacuum.

Troy Wolverton @troywolv.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

The yearslong battle over public access to the Bay Area's Martins Beach — via a road venture capitalist Vinod Khosla tried to close — will continue on for at least a little while longer.

Martins Beach case delayed again for negotiations

Lawyers for state, VC Khosla sought more time.

Troy Wolverton @troywolv.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

This is a very good piece by Miriam Jordan of @nytimes.com. But it's frankly journalistic malpractice at this point to not call Trump's lies just that. Instead, we get Jordan saying Trump "amplified a baseless claim by his running mate, JD Vance, that Haitians there were stealing and eating pets."

An Ohio City Faces a Future Without Haitian Workers: ‘It’s Not Going to Be Good’

Troy Wolverton @troywolv.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

California Asm. Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (@rbkforassembly.bsky.social) has been trying for three years to push through a bill to offer some protections against discrimination by automated decision systems. I took a look at the fight over her latest effort — AB 1018.

Bill regulating AI decision systems draws fire

Business groups prioritizing defeating California AB 1018.

Reposted by Troy Wolverton

Thomas Lecaque @tlecaque.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

"How bad slavery was" is worse. Much worse. Much worse than you think, much worse than you're taught, much worse than museums depict. Worse.

Troy Wolverton @troywolv.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

In talking with family and friends — even people who are very technologically literate — it's pretty clear that many don't understand how systems like ChatGPT work or their limitations and risks. So, I put together a guide — a "Things to Think About" when using generative AI chatbots.

Keep these ChatGPT limitations, risks in mind

Remember these tips on how chatbots work, fall short.

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Reposted by Troy Wolverton

R.J. Cross @rj-x.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

As I said to @troywolv.bsky.social, don't use chatgpt when you need to be right about something. It's not, in fact, an all-knowing orb. (Fun convo, fun piece) www.sfexaminer.com/news/technol...

Keep these ChatGPT limitations, risks in mind

Remember these tips on how chatbots work, fall short.

Troy Wolverton @troywolv.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

The widespread disappointment with OpenAI's new GPT-5, sparked in part by it making similar mistakes as its predecessors, highlighted the gulf between the massive hype that's being used to sell these generative AI systems and their actual capabilities.

GPT-5 debut spotlights AI’s hype-reality gap

OpenAI’s “PhD-level” intelligence made dumb errors.

Troy Wolverton @troywolv.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

While some of the biggest companies in tech have put in place mandatory in-office policies, many large San Francisco tech companies are doing the opposite. I took a look at how local tech companies are now thinking about in-office and remote work.

Many SF tech companies sticking with remote work

Dropbox, Pinterest, Figma and more remain committed.

Reposted by Troy Wolverton

A.R. Moxon @juliusgoat.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

The phrase “ parents have a legitimate concern about integration of races in schools and as a party, we haven’t done a very good job of listening to those concerns.” would shock and offend I would hope. A similar statement about trans kids should also shock and offend.

Troy Wolverton @troywolv.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

This is heartrending and horrifying — and oh, so human.

Reposted by Troy Wolverton

San Francisco Examiner @sfexaminer.bsky.social · 05/07/2025

Far from achieving some kind of super intelligence, even the most advanced generative AI systems — the so-called “reasoning” or “thinking” models — struggle to reason beyond a certain level of complexity.

Studies: AI ‘reasoning’ models might not be

Artificial intelligence struggles with more complex, novel problems.

Reposted by Troy Wolverton

David Roberts @volts.wtf · 02/07/2025

Elon Musk casually, and illegally, dismantled USAID. According to a new study in the Lancet, that action will lead to *14 million* premature deaths between 2025 and 2030. Again: Elon Musk is directly responsible for 14 million coming deaths. 4.5 million will be children.

Evaluating the impact of two decades of USAID interventions and projecting the effects of defunding on mortality up to 2030: a retrospective impact evaluation and forecasting analysis

USAID funding has significantly contributed to the reduction in adult and child mortality across low-income and middle-income countries over the past two decades. Our estimates show that, unless the a...

Reposted by Troy Wolverton

Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

A political movement driven by reasonable concerns about sports and medicine would have no problem admitting that trans people face discrimination. The fact that "gender criticals" constantly deny basic realities is sign 1,087 that they are in fact driven by bigotry.

Troy Wolverton @troywolv.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

The rapid development and adoption of AI technologies has resulted in huge demand for electricians. I spoke with union leaders and members in different parts of the country about what they're seeing — and how electricians in ground zero of the AI boom aren't benefiting from it.

AI boom boosting electrician demand — outside SF

In AI’s ground zero, electrical work hard to find.

Reposted by Troy Wolverton

Solomon @solomonrmissouri.com · 10/06/2025

www.mediaite.com/media/news/b...

Bob Costas Condemns Mainstream Press for Doing ‘MAGA Media’: ‘There Really Isn’t Two Sides’

Legendary sportscaster Bob Costas blasted the media over its handling of President Donald Trump's second term during an awards ceremony on Monday night.

Troy Wolverton @troywolv.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

The debate over AI safety didn't end with California Gov. Gavin Newsom's veto of last year's controversial Senate Bill 1047 from state Sen. Scott Wiener. A new bill that's essentially a derivative of SB 1047 is progressing through New York's legislature.

NY AI safety bill picks up from Wiener’s

Bill author tries to apply lessons from SB 1047 fight.

Troy Wolverton @troywolv.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

AI boosters argue we shouldn't worry about it boosting carbon emissions, because future AI will be "fixing the climate," as Sam Altman put it. But critics say boosters are blurring the lines between what they're developing and what might really help in the climate fight.

Why ChatGPT is unlikely to solve climate change

Critics say boosters conflating different types of AI.

Reposted by Troy Wolverton

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 22/05/2025

very cool that for ten years people at the heights of political commentary insisted to the point of rage that the paramount threat to free speech was “censorious” college students

Troy Wolverton @troywolv.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

Salesforce used to loudly tout its climate goals, investments and progress towards reducing its emissions. But when it recently made a change to its emissions targets — retreating from two key ones — it was much less vocal about it.

New Salesforce climate goals quietly lower bar

Company no longer promising absolute emissions drop.

Troy Wolverton @troywolv.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

In their new book, "The AI Con," out today, @emilymbender.bsky.social and @alexhanna.bsky.social seek to pierce the hype bubble surrounding artificial intelligence. I spoke recently with Bender and Hanna about the book and how they hope to help people have a clearer eyed view of AI.

Book aims to spotlight, combat ‘The AI Con’

AI critics highlight tech’s hype, harms.

Troy Wolverton @troywolv.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

The latest court battle involving venture capitalist Vinod Khosla over public access to the Bay Area's Martins Beach was set to go to trail late last month. It got put on hold instead. Here's why.

Khosla, state postpone Martins Beach case

Two sides delay trial for settlement talks.

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Reposted by Troy Wolverton

David Lazarus @davidlaz.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

In plain English, he led the charge against hiring women, minorities and the disabled

Troy Wolverton @troywolv.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

Last year, a team of researchers sounded the alarm about how the growing use of AI was leading to increasing amounts of water consumption. In recent months, a pair of new reports have indicated that AI will require even more water in coming years than those first researchers estimated.

AI could be even thirstier than expected

Water use expected to soar in coming years.

Troy Wolverton @troywolv.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

Just as it's backing off from its past support for DEI, Uber also appears to be distancing itself from the climate-change fight. It's eliminated all mention of "climate" from its latest proxy statement and deleted links to its past years' ESG reports from its web site. A little scoop from me:

Uber is minimizing its references to climate, too

SF company also deletes ESG reports from website.

Reposted by Troy Wolverton

Mark Harris @markharris.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

I hate to be that guy, but this is the five-alarm fire, and every elected Democrat and frankly, every Washington reporter should be ringing the bell. If it can happen to him, it can happen to anyone. Nobody with a voice should give this administration a moment’s peace about it.