Sal Rodriguez 🕷

Do you think AI can fall in love? Over the past 6 months, I traveled across the U.S. to interview people who’ve formed emotional relationships with chatbots. These AI companions serve as friends and romantic partners. Here is what I found cnbc.com/2025/08/01/hum…

@sherman4949 Brings to mind one of my favorite tech memes

When do they change the company name again

@tim_bays For better or worse, yes

We'll always have... what the fuck this was

Sure seems like Meta is sunsetting its once ambitious play to build out the metaverse

Not sure what comes next, but I’m open to a variety of opportunities in a number of locations. Feel free to reach out.

I’m sad to leave all my wonderful friends and colleagues, but I’m so grateful I got to work with them again, learn so much and publish some incredible pieces that we’ll always be proud of.

Hi world, I was among those let go from CNBC this week, bringing to end my second stint at the consumer news and business channel and my first as an editor.

Waymo opens its robotaxi service to "select riders" in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Orlando, expanding its operations to 10 US cities (@lorakolodny / CNBC) cnbc.com/2026/02/24/way… #a260224p37" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">techmeme.com/260224/p37#a26… 📥 Send tips! techmeme.com/contact

Salesforce employees call on CEO Benioff to cancel ICE ‘opportunities’ cnbc.com/2026/02/10/sal… By @jordannovet

Alphabet calls out new AI-related risks in latest financial filings cnbc.com/2026/02/09/alp… by @jenn_elias

Databricks raised $5B in funding and $2B in new debt at a $134B valuation and says its annualized revenue exceeded $5.4B for the January quarter, up 65% YoY (@jordannovet / CNBC) cnbc.com/2026/02/09/dat… #a260209p25" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">techmeme.com/260209/p25#a26… 📥 Send tips! techmeme.com/contact

AI companies, like OpenAI & Anthropic, are now paying creators to promote their products to social media users. Some, like Google & Microsoft, are offering creators as much as $500k for these ads, but some creators refuse to promote AI cnbc.com/2026/02/06/goo… By @zachvallese

@JoannaStern Congrats Joanna 🙌🏽🎉

Some personal news. For real. I’m doing one of these. Deep breath… After 12 years at The Wall Street Journal, I’m leaving. Twelve! I’m starting my own consumer-tech media company, building a new home with the same mission I've always had: help real people navigate the tech (and AI) changing their lives. I’m so excited and so terrified! I can’t wait to start building and hiring. If you want to follow along (and be first to hear what’s next), sign up at the link below and subscribe on YouTube. No holding small, puffy microphones. I promise. Probably. It would make for a great exit story if I said I was leaving the Journal because of some big fallout—and the office printer system slowly poisoned me. The Journal changed my life. I’ve learned from the best journalists in the business, made lifelong friends and was given the freedom to take risks and make at least six stipples of myself—and one of my dog. Thank you to the many people I can’t possibly list here and to everyone who watched my WSJ videos, read the columns, argued with me in the comments and made this the most fun job in the world.

Two years ago Meta shuttered its Facebook Workplace enterprise communication app. Today, a phoenix rose from those ashes, as several former Meta execs, including Sheryl Sandberg, are backing a new communications tool that is powered by AI cnbc.com/2026/02/04/san… By @lolavkm

Nvidia, OpenAI appear stalled on their mega deal. But the AI giants still need each other cnbc.com/2026/02/03/nvi… by @kifleswing

An interview with Mozilla president Mark Surman about plans to deploy its ~$1.4B in reserves to fund an AI "rebel alliance" to challenge companies like OpenAI (@ashleycapoot / CNBC) cnbc.com/2026/01/27/moz… #a260127p40" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">techmeme.com/260127/p40#a26… 📥 Send tips! techmeme.com/contact

After CNBC and @TTP_updates contacted Apple and Google about dozens of nudify apps on their respective app stores, the two companies removed dozens of these services from their platforms, but several remain cnbc.com/2026/01/27/app… Check out this report by @lolavkm

When President Trump introduced the Muslim travel ban 8 years ago, tech CEOs were some of the loudest critics against it. Now, as ICE agents kill protesters in Minnesota, the tech industry's silence is deafening cnbc.com/2026/01/26/ale… By @lolavkm & @jenn_elias

Nvidia set to supplant Apple as TSMC’s top customer, signaling chip industry’s ‘changing dynamic’ cnbc.com/2026/01/26/nvi… by @kifleswing

VR winter is here cnbc.com/2026/01/24/met… By @JonathanVanian

Waymo today announced its first market expansion of 2026: Miami cnbc.com/2026/01/22/way… by @lorakolodny