When you think of the most popular city for tech jobs Silicon Valley most likely comes to mind. However, new data shows that other cities are emerging as tech hotbeds and they are even more affordable than California. Alex Mahavedan, Data Journalist at The Penny Hoarder joins Your Cheddar to discuss the top cities you may want to consider when looking for a tech job right out of college.
Mahavedan dug into data from an Abodo study and added regional price parity data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis to come up with the top ten most affordable cities. He was most surprised by Columbus, Ohio and St. Louis, Missouri. The most affordable city? Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania!
Mahavedan explains that Amazon has shortlisted both Indianapolis and Pittsburgh for its new headquarters, which is why many are looking at those particular cities as potential areas for tech growth. Plus, Raleigh, North Carolina is in the center of the "Research Triangle", a section of North Carolina with a large number of high tech companies.
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to block states from regulating artificial intelligence. He argues that heavy regulations could stifle the industry, especially given competition from China. Trump says the U.S. needs a unified approach to AI regulation to avoid complications from state-by-state rules. The order directs the administration to draw up a list of problematic regulations for the Attorney General to challenge. States with laws could lose access to broadband funding, according to the text of the order. Some states have already passed AI laws focusing on transparency and limiting data collection.
Waymo's self-driving taxis have been in the spotlight for both negative and positive reasons. This week, the automated ride-hailing taxis went viral after a San Francisco woman gave birth inside a Waymo taxi while on her way to the hospital. A Waymo spokesperson on Wednesday confirmed the unusual delivery. It said the company's rider support team detected unusual activity inside the vehicle and alerted 911. The taxi arrived safely at the hospital before emergency services. Waymo's popularity is growing despite heightened scrutiny following an illegal U-turn and the death of a San Francisco cat. The company, owned by Alphabet, says it is proud to serve riders of all ages.
OpenAI has appointed Slack CEO Denise Dresser as its first chief of revenue. Dresser will oversee global revenue strategy and help businesses integrate AI into daily operations. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently emphasized improving ChatGPT, which now has over 800 million weekly users. Despite its success, OpenAI faces competition from companies like Google and concerns about profitability. The company earns money from premium ChatGPT subscriptions but hasn't ventured into advertising. Altman had recently announced delays in developing new products like AI agents and a personal assistant.
President Donald Trump says he will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China. Trump said Monday on his social media site that he had informed China’s leader Xi Jinping and “President Xi responded positively!” There had been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips into China as it could help them to compete against the U.S. in building out AI capabilities. But there has also been a desire to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker Nvidia.
The end of 2025 is almost upon us. And it’s time to unpack Spotify Wrapped. On Wednesday, the music streaming giant delivered its annual recap — giving its hundreds of millions of users worldwide a look at the top songs, artists, podcasts and other audio they listened to over the past year. Spotify isn’t the only platform to roll out a yearly glimpse of data collected from consumers’ online lives. But since its launch about a decade ago, Wrapped has become one of the most anticipated. And Spotify is billing the 2025 edition to be the biggest yet, with a host of new features it hopes may also address some disappointments users had last year.