The vibes in SF feel pretty frenetic right now. The divide in outcomes is the worst I've ever seen. Over the last 5yrs, a group of ~10k people - employees at Anthropic, OpenAI, xAI, Nvidia, Meta TBD, founders - have hit retirement wealth of well above $20M (back of the envelope AI estimation). Everyone outside that group feels like they can work their well-paying (but <$500k) job for their whole life and never get there. Worse yet, layoffs are in full swing. Many software engineers feel like their life's skill is no longer useful. The day to day role of most jobs has changed overnight with AI. As a result, 1. The corporate ladder looks like the wrong building to climb. Everyone's trying to align with a new set of career "paths": should I be a founder? Is it too late to join Anthropic / OpenAI? should I get into AI? what company stock will 10x next? People are demanding higher salaries and switching jobs more and more. 2. There’s a deep malaise about work (and its future). Why even work at all for “peanuts”? Will my job even exist in a few years? Many feel helpless. You hear the “permanent underclass” conversation a lot, esp from young people. It's hard to focus on doing good work when you think "man, if I joined Anthropic 2yrs ago, I could retire" 3. The mid to late middle managers feel paralyzed. Many have families and don't feel like they have the energy or network to just "start a company". They don't particularly have any AI skills. They see the writing on the wall: middle management is being hollowed out in many companies. 4. The rich aren’t particularly happy either. No one is shedding tears for them (and rightfully so). But those who have "made it" experience a profound lack of purpose too. Some have gone from <$150k to >$50M in a few years with no ramp. It flips your life plans upside down. For some, comparison is the thief of joy. For some, they escape to NYC to "live life". For others still, they start companies "just cuz", often to win status points. They never imagined that by age 30, they'd be set. I once asked a post-economic founder friend why they didn't just sell the co and they said "and do what? right now, everyone wants to talk to me. if i sell, I will only have money." I understand that many reading this scoff at the champagne problems of the valley. Society is warped in this tech bubble. What is often well-off anywhere else in the world is bang average here. Unlike many other places, tenure, intelligence and hard work can be loosely correlated with outcomes in the Bay. Living through a societally transformative gold rush in that environment can be paralyzing. "Am I in the right place? Should I move? Is there time still left? Am I gonna make it?" It psychologically torments many who have moved here in search of "success". Ironically, a frequent side effect of this torment is to spin up the very products making everyone rich in hopes that you too can vibecode your path to economic enlightenment.

So damn cool…

Heck Yeah!

Tesla’s Giga Texas water use jumped more than 200 million gallons — by about 60% — in two years, as massive chip plant proposal raises concerns about Austin’s strained supply. bit.ly/47WI3eD

I’m super excited to share this news with the world! Solving the problem of efficient intelligence hardware is what we care about; this requires creativity and exploring a lot of unexplored or under-explored lines of thought. These grants are for academic researchers and they have no strings attached. Use the funds to generate unconventional ideas on how to solve the problem. I’m personally excited to see the proposals! Click the link and apply.

Right-wing Trump keeps attacking right-wing Massie for one reason: Massie demands accountability for men who rape children. Remember, that is the source of Trump’s hate for him. MAGA: come for the gas prices & body bags, stay for the very manly defense of pedophiles.

It’s important that you understand what happened last night. Last night, Stephen Colbert interviewed Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico, a candidate who, by all accounts, is on track in the polls to flip Texas blue. In response, Trump’s FCC reportedly threatened CBS if the interview aired. CBS caved and pulled the segment, citing “financial reasons.” In modern American history, no president has been more hostile to free speech than Donald Trump. But censorship always backfires. Here’s the full segment Trump didn’t want you to see.

Donald Trump is suing the federal government for $10 billion. That is your money. Never in our history have we seen something like this. The billionaire President always has a new plan to make himself richer, but never a plan to make your bills more affordable.

.@Jason said 10 times that he only knew Epstein in the 90s. He was actually helping Epstein through the 2000s and 2010s, even after the child sex trafficking conviction. Man starts VR company, donates to Trump: "Total moron, no moral compass!" Man rapes children: "hey pal!"

RT @mehdirhasan: It is difficult to describe what kind of morally depraved, malignantly narcissistic mindset you have to have to only ‘feel…

A $1M grant from the Prebys Foundation helps SDSU researchers and grad students continue vital STEM work as federal funding declines. Private support is keeping discovery alive. Read more: sdsu.edu/news/2025/09/resear…

5 short rules to lead effectively: 1. Show up early 2. Keep your word 3. Get your hands dirty 4. First curious, then decisive 5. Take the risk, give the credit Leading isn’t easy, but it’s not complicated.

I’m looking forward to seeing our community’s first female president.

Keep the Peter faith SD. Our fans this year were special. We live in San Diego. Our MLB title will come soon too.

You can build with flash, or you can build with substance. San Diego is better dot com. Building the best damn innovation ecosystem on the planet. #sandiego.

LA and NY has Tech Week San Diego has Innovation Day 3,000 founders & VCs are gathering next Tuesday at Petco Park Full scoop in newsletter.

San Diego is building a better (with no aspirations of bigger) version of Silicon Valley. #5 venture market and growing with substance, breadth and depth. Sandiegoisbetter dot com.

Integrity matters.

Exciting news! GOVX is a Military Community Sponsor of IDSD, a Petco Park takeover of tech, life sci, arts, and culture. In honor of our military community during Independence Week, GOVX's sponsorship covers the cost of Veteran tickets. Get yours today: bit.ly/3QWaQaJ