Joshua Bote
As seen in:
Gazetteer,
MSN,
MSN Australia,
MSN India,
Yahoo Entertainment,
Yahoo Life,
MSN South Africa,
USA Today,
Yahoo Canada,
Yahoo News,
NPR
and
associate editor @ sf.gazetteer.co / joshua.8073 on signal 🇵🇭🏳️🌈
Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Joshua Bote
Tyga’s ‘$tarface’ is full of the AI Fenix Flexin used
The CEO of Treblo, the AI music-making software that Fenix Flexin used for his Billboard-charting track “Rubberz,” confirmed that a whole lot of Tyga’s latest album $tarface is “almost certainly” generated using the software. Ryan Tremblay told Gazetteer SF Thursday morning that after putting the album through his company’s in-house detector app, most of the tracks were “probably or very likely” generated using his company’s service.
Jollibee Watch: July 31 will forever be known as Jollibee Day
The soon-to-open Jollibee entrance on Market St. July 14, 2026. Photo: Joshua Bote/Gazetteer SF After countless false alarms, a run-in with a Jollibee employee or two, a couple dozen frantic emails to a beleaguered Jollibee spokesperson, and some challenging conversations with colleagues and loved ones concerned about my well-being, we can finally, FINALLY report that the Market Street Jollibee is going to open on July 31, a person familiar confirmed with Gazetteer SF.
Sam Altman wants to sell you these sneakers for $160, plus tax and biometric data
We tried on the Cyto XLiftoffs, the limited-edition sneakers from Sam Altman’s “human verification” startup. The shoes are only available to those who scan their eyes at an Orb.
Everlane faces eviction from San Francisco HQ
An interior of Everlane’s Valencia Street store. Photo: Everlane The clothing brand Everlane is being sued to vacate its San Francisco headquarters by its longtime landlord, who claims that the brand has not paid its overdue rent.
Fog City Flea will temporarily close Ferry Building store for downsizing
Fog City Flea Trading Post in the Ferry Building. Photo: Joshua Bote / Gazetteer SF Fog City Flea Trading Post, a flea market-style shoppy shop for apparel, charming knickknacks, and crafts sold primarily by local designers, is closing its popular Ferry Building location and will be reopening later this year in a smaller space.
In 1998, these SF men got a tattoo to snag free tacos for life. Here's what happened after.
Twenty-two years ago, Casa Sanchez in San Francisco estimated that its notorious tacos-for-tattoos deal would cost somewhere in the ballpark of $5.8 million. Martha Sanchez, who came up with the deal, arrived at that pricey estimate after the promotion was already underway. Assuming that the 50 or so inked-up people stayed in San Francisco for their lifetimes and got an eight-buck meal every week, the figure would be staggering.
Office phone booths need permits in San Francisco. Yes, really
By Joshua BotePublished Feb. 01, 2024 • 3:09pm That airtight phone booth where you escape to take sensitive calls at work? It could be illegal. Prefab privacy booths—those soundproof, refrigerator-sized pods that have become near-ubiquitous in San Francisco offices—aren’t as plug-and-play as many building owners and company managers may have assumed. The Standard has learned that, according to San Francisco building code, these booths actually need a safety permit issued by the city.
Craig Who? TikTok Is the Hot New Place for San Francisco Rentals
By Joshua BotePublished Jan. 31, 2024 • 5:00am Renting a home in San Francisco is, to put it gently, a nightmare, littered with Craigslist scams, dozens of tenants competing for places and rushed tours from indifferent property managers. Adriana Popescu, a 20-year-old student at the University of San Francisco, avoided that by going straight to TikTok.
Waymo Robotaxis Could Invade Bay Area Freeways Soon
Waymo is gearing up for a dramatic statewide expansion that would see the company’s fleet of driverless cars spanning much of the Bay Area and a major portion of Los Angeles County—and using freeways to ferry passengers around. The Alphabet-owned robotaxi company—the clear leader in the emergent industry following Cruise’s well-documented downfall—filed a letter with the California Public Utilities Commission Jan.
Lesbian Tech Event Exits San Francisco After Neighbor Complaints
After a decade in San Francisco, Lesbians Who Tech, the longtime conference for lesbians and allies in the technology industry, is exiting the city’s Castro District for good and moving on to New York—an end to a rocky few years for the event and residents and business owners alike in the historically gay neighborhood.
Techies Still Living In Bed-Sized Pods in Downtown San Francisco
A Downtown San Francisco building being investigated for housing techies in illegal $700 a month sleeping pods is still operating, according to residents at the property. Brownstone Shared Housing, the firm managing the development at 12 Mint Plaza, opened the property in June 2023. In September, the city’s Department of Building Inspection opened up an investigation into whether the developers had the proper permits to build the pods—a process that is still ongoing.
Google Engineer Murdered Wife in Santa Clara Home, Police Say
A Google worker is facing a murder charge for beating his wife to death this week in an attack that left their bedroom covered in blood, prosecutors say. Liren Chen, 27, allegedly punched his wife in the head repeatedly at their home on Valley Way in Santa Clara, police said in court records. While Chen’s wife’s name is redacted in the documents, property records show that Chen was married to Xuanyi Yu and that the couple owned a home at 714 Valley Way.
SF Recruiting Startup Slashes Jobs a Week Into 2024
At the end of 2023, tech industry observers told The Standard that layoffs in the Bay Area would likely persist into the new year—even as the year overall looks to be more promising for hiring and retaining talent. Among the first businesses to kick off those layoff rounds, hitting less than a week into 2024, is San Francisco-based hiring company Lever, which recently cut a slew of workers.
State Lawmaker Wants To Start Ticketing SF Robotaxis
Business Written by Joshua BotePublished Jan. 05, 2024 • 4:00pm Assemblymember Phil Ting is in the process of rolling out legislation that would further regulate driverless vehicles. | Source: Olivia Mayeda/The Standard After a disastrous year for Cruise, one California lawmaker wants more scrutiny on the robotaxi industry coming into 2024—and is preparing legislation that would treat robotaxis the same as human-operated vehicles when they speed or commit other moving violations.
I Got a ‘Free’ 55-Inch Television. Here’s What I Gave Up
A Los Angeles-based startup by the name of Telly came in hot last year with a Faustian bargain: The company would give you a free 55-inch TV in exchange for the privilege of serving you nonstop ads and accessing (and probably selling) your viewing data. It was a pitch that generated tons of noise and skepticism. The tradeoff, many observers rightfully reasoned, did not seem worth it. Why let a Trojan horse of a TV into your house when serviceable 55-inch sets now sell for a few hundred bucks?
Cruise Imploded in 2023. Can the Robotaxi Industry Recover in 2024?
The robotaxi revolution had its Icarus moment in 2023. In August, California regulators gave the go-ahead to allow General Motors’ Cruise and Alphabet’s Waymo to send their driverless vehicles onto the roads of San Francisco 24/7, collecting fares for rides. Proponents heralded the moment as a breakthrough that took years of research and hundreds of millions of dollars.
Pro-Palestinian Protestors Gather in San Francisco's Union Square
News Written by The Standard Staff and Joshua BoteUpdated at Dec. 23, 2023 • 3:05pmPublished Dec. 23, 2023 • 2:33pm Hundreds of protestors call for an end to the Israel-Hamas War around the giant Christmas tree in Union Square. | Source: Joshua Bote/The Standard Hundreds of protestors, many wearing keffiyeh, surrounded the Union Square Christmas tree in San Francisco for a protest Saturday afternoon.
These Were 2023's Best-Paying San Francisco Tech Companies
Even in down years like 2023, when there were layoffs and startup shutdowns aplenty, software engineer salaries remain the envy of pretty much every other industry. Nowhere is that more clear than in San Francisco and Silicon Valley, where most of the industry’s flagship companies are headquartered. Median compensation in the Bay Area for software engineers leads the entire country at $249,000, according to data from Levels.fyi.
Stylists Dish on How To Glow Up a Swagless SF Tech Bro
Starting around 2010, shows like Silicon Valley and movies like The Social Network shaped the basic male San Francisco tech worker aesthetic: a sea of gray Patagonia vests and neutral zip-up hoodies, beat-up jeans, flip-flops or woolen Allbirds sneakers, utility backpacks and disheveled T-shirts with company branding.
San Francisco Biotech Firm Invitae Slashes 235 Local Jobs
San Francisco genetic data startup Invitae has slashed its local headcount by more than 200 employees—a troubling indication that layoffs have yet to fully abate in the hard-hit tech industry. According to a WARN notice filed to state regulators and obtained by The Standard, 235 workers in Invitae’s San Francisco headquarters were cut earlier this month across technical, recruiting, human resources and sales departments, including some director-level staffers.
Want An Apple Watch For the Holidays? You May Be Out of Luck Original
Time’s almost up on most new Apple Watch sales in the United States. Starting this week, Apple is halting sales of its flagship Apple Watches—the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2—after federal regulators approved an import ban on the products amid a patent dispute. In October, the U.S. International Trade Commission upheld a ruling made in January by a federal judge that Apple infringed upon health technology firm Masimo’s pulse oximetry tech.
Cruise's Layoffs Reveal Lingering Impact of San Francisco Crash
Cruise’s announcement Thursday that it would cut around a quarter of its staff came at the tail-end of months of chaos and what a laid-off employee characterized as an internal lack of transparency at the company that helped sow distrust internally. The sacking of around 900 employees is the latest blow to the General Motors-owned company still reeling from the impact of an Oct.
Will Tech Layoffs Continue in 2024? Here’s What Experts Say
By signing up for our newsletter, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
Worried About 2024 Tech Layoffs? Here’s What Experts Say
Less than a week into 2023, Salesforce cut 8,000 employees from its workforce, many in San Francisco. Amazon sacked 8,000 workers of its own. Soon after, Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, would slash another 10,000 workers after laying off 11,000 a few months before.
San Francisco Startup Once Valued at $11B Slashes Nearly a Third of Staff
By signing up for our newsletter, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
SF Startup Once Valued at $11B Slashes 29% of Staff
Bolt, the San Francisco-based e-commerce startup that was once valued at $11 billion, is laying off more than 100 employees—in another end-of-year blow to a tech industry that has dealt with a mounting wave of job cuts in 2023. Sources close to the company told The Standard that 29% of Bolt staff were laid off last week. A spokesperson for the company declined to comment.
Cruise Execs Fired Amid Probe into San Francisco Robotaxi Crash
Nine executives at Cruise left the company Wednesday amid an ongoing investigation into the company's handling of an incident in San Francisco where a woman was hit and dragged by a Cruise vehicle.
Surgeon Sues Crypto Firm After $348K Hack
An Indiana surgeon is taking embattled cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase to court in San Francisco after losing more than $340,000 in digital currency in a hack. A lawsuit filed last week in San Francisco Superior Court says that hackers broke into vascular surgeon Ricardo Vasquez’s Coinbase wallet and transferred $348,407 worth of various cryptocurrencies to accounts not related to him—fronting $40,000 of their own money to do so.
Cruise Courted Supporters Before Crash. Now Many Double Down
When Cruise appeared in front of the California Public Utilities Commission in August seeking approval for an unlimited expansion of its robotaxi service in San Francisco, the scene was thick with yellow-shirted supporters of the nascent autonomous vehicle industry. The General Motors-owned company had been preparing for the moment for months. It secured nearly 40 letters of support from a broad coalition of disability groups, local business associations, elected officials and private citizens.
SF Businesses Decry City for ‘Callous and Calculated’ APEC Plans
Carla Mays, the CEO of consulting firm Smart Cohort, is no stranger to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. In fact, she was in Seattle earlier this year as part of the meetings held in the lead up to November’s main conference in San Francisco. But she wasn’t prepared for the impact it would have on her SoMa-based business, largely because of a lack of communication.
Bay Area Tech Firm Slashes 393 Jobs Amid Year-End Layoffs Blitz
Silicon Valley payment management company Bill has slashed hundreds of employees from its payroll, continuing a relentless year-end layoff blitz in the tech sector.
San Francisco Tech Company Lays Off Nearly 300 Workers in Second Downsizing This Year
By signing up for our newsletter, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
Twilio Cuts Nearly 300 Workers in 2nd 2023 Round
Business Written by Joshua BotePublished Dec. 04, 2023 • 12:09pm A billboard advertising cloud communications company Twilio in San Francisco. | Source: Don Feria for The Standard Twilio, the San Francisco-based corporate communications firm, has conducted its second layoff round of 2023—an end-of-year belt-tightening that appears to be hitting the technology industry with brute force.
General Motors Is Pulling Away From Cruise. What Happens Now?
For much of Mary Barra’s term as chief executive officer of General Motors, she’s branded the stalwart automaker—in earnings calls, marketing and public appearances—as a player in the technology space. Core to GM’s transition was spending a pretty penny to snag Cruise in March 2016, which, at that point, was just a fledgling startup fresh out of the Y Combinator incubator.
Tech Company Lays Off 1,200 Bay Area Workers After Deal
Broadcom, a Silicon Valley chipmaker with six decades of history under its belt, is laying off more than a thousand employees after finalizing a blockbuster acquisition of cloud technology company VMware. According to a WARN notice filed earlier this week by company vice president Jill Turner, Broadcom will lay off 1,267 employees at VMware’s Palo Alto campus starting in January 2024. The full extent of the layoffs is not clear.
San Francisco Gaming Firm Cuts 265, Ends Peter Jackson Deal
Unity is laying off 265 workers as part of a broader corporate tightening, capping off a major rough patch for the San Francisco-based game development firm. A Unity spokesperson confirmed the headcount reduction to The Standard on Tuesday but declined to provide further details about the cut or affected workers’ severance agreements. The news was first reported by Reuters.
San Francisco Startup May Help Dogs Live Longer, FDA Says
A San Francisco biotech startup has received some official validation from federal regulators that it can do the once unthinkable: Keep your dog alive and healthy for longer. Loyal, the company in question, just received notice from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that its experimental treatment—a drug called LOY-001—can extend the lifespans of larger dogs, which tend to live shorter lives than their more diminutive counterparts.
Who Are the OpenAI Board Members Who Fired CEO Sam Altman?
The smoke has yet to clear from Sam Altman’s shocking ouster as CEO of OpenAI, but details are starting to dribble out.
San Francisco ‘Party Animal’ VC Mike Rothenberg Guilty of Fraud
Free massages for startup founders, hot-air balloon rides in Napa, box seats at Golden State Warriors games: Such was the life for those in the constellation of Rothenberg Ventures, a venture capital firm that was the toast of the Silicon Valley world during its brief heyday in the mid-2010s. The company’s excessive practices became notable enough to be skewered by an episode of HBO tech satire Silicon Valley.
What Sam Altman Said at APEC a Day Before OpenAI Firing
To say that Sam Altman’s firing from ChatGPT maker OpenAI Friday came as a shock would be an understatement. The last few weeks have been wildly lucrative for OpenAI, fresh off its inaugural DevDay, where it launched a beefed-up GPT-4 large language model for ChatGPT and a future of custom AI agents. Reports also hinted at the possibility of OpenAI snagging an $80 billion valuation.
APEC in San Francisco: Tech CEOs Tout AI's Potential and Risks
The second day of the APEC CEO Summit was marked by last-minute cancellations of some of the highest-profile scheduled speakers. Chinese President Xi Jinping, set to give a talk Thursday morning, canceled at the last minute, instead offering a statement on the CEO Summit’s website. He was present at the main APEC leaders' meeting. Elon Musk, too, pulled out at the 11th hour after being slated to speak with Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. He also attended an event for Xi on Wednesday evening.
San Francisco Real Estate Startup Closes Due to Financial Woes
Zeus Living, an emergent short-term rental startup headquartered in San Francisco, is shutting down for good, after eight years of operations and $150 million in venture capital funding. A letter obtained by The Standard this week indicates that property owners will be transitioned over to a property tech startup called Blueground, which has a business model similar to Zeus Living’s. As part of the business closure, the company is laying off its staff of around 120 people.
Newsom Stumps, Tech CEOs Vamp
As President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping met for the first time in a year about 30 miles south of Downtown San Francisco—a tense reunion encompassing a far-reaching set of topics that could have global implications—a sense of turmoil prevailed right outside the doors of the APEC CEO Summit.
Amid Climate Clash, Bay Area Climate Startups Make APEC Pitch
Blocks away from the Moscone Center, which is hosting this week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, workers at San Francisco startup Epic Cleantec poured beers made of recycled toilet and bathwater from a San Francisco high-rise.
This AI Assistant Just Passed the California Driving Test
Skip to main content As of last year, some California residents are able to take the written part of their driving test online-theoretically cutting down the time spent at an infamously disliked public institution.
Here’s How Many Workers Amazon Laid Off in San Francisco
This site uses various technologies, including third-party cookies, pixels, and codes, to personalize our website functionalities, measure website usage and performance and provide targeting advertising. Information about your site visit may be stored or shared with third parties as identified in our Privacy Policy . By continuing to use this website you consent to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use .
Tech Layoff Spree Continues with Amazon Cuts in San Francisco
The year-end layoff push continues with e-commerce conglomerate Amazon dropping dozens of workers in its San Francisco office. According to California Employment Development Department documents known as WARN notices, Amazon reported that it would issue pink slips to 57 employees at its 188 Spear St. offices. The layoffs primarily affect technical and business positions—such as software development engineers and technical product managers.
San Francisco Unicorn Startup Cuts Staff Weeks After Scandal
Carta, the San Francisco equity management startup hit with a series of stunning exposés and allegations of wrongful termination and harassment from former employees, slashed multiple jobs this week. The extent of the employee reduction and which departments were affected remain unclear. A spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Block, Jack Dorsey-Owned Tech Firm, Slashes 1,000 More Jobs
Business Written by Joshua BotePublished Nov. 08, 2023 • 1:56pm Point-of-sale service Square is one of the flagship products of Block, the company led by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey. | Source: Smith Collection/Gado Block, the Jack Dorsey-led financial services technology firm formerly based in San Francisco, is letting go of at least a thousand employees.
Is ChatGPT Down? OpenAI Chatbot Down for Second Time in Day
Business Written by Joshua BotePublished Nov. 08, 2023 • 12:49pm The OpenAI logo displayed on a phone screen and ChatGPT website displayed on a laptop screen. | Source: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images ChatGPT, perhaps the most popular publicly available artificial intelligence-powered chatbot, is down for the second time Wednesday.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Joshua
Contact Joshua, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack