Senior Writer at Forbes covering AI. Previously: BuzzFeed News. East Bay native. Tips: rnieva@forbes.com or Signal at username Rnieva.26https://bsky.app/profile/richardnieva.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/richardnieva.bsky.social/post/3mk6jglnuy22wHere’s a fun one: The next big AI dataset is…Google’s garbage. The company is partnering with Mill, which makes a smart trash bin, to train the startup’s AI on food waste from Google’s campus. https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardnieva/2026/04/22/google-mill/23 Apr 2026 17:19 +0000at://did:plc:f6fekmmib3xmvynplrnuh4mn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mk6jglnuy22whttps://bsky.app/profile/richardnieva.bsky.social/post/3mj3nn3q3322lI chatted with AWS CEO Matt Garman, who says the company is “bullish” on the Middle East, despite recent drone strikes that have damaged data centers. He also touched on the OpenAI deal, hoping it will improve Amazon’s Trainium chips https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardnieva/2026/04/09/amazons-aws-chief-is-bullish-on-middle-east-despite-conflict/09 Apr 2026 20:31 +0000at://did:plc:f6fekmmib3xmvynplrnuh4mn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mj3nn3q3322lhttps://bsky.app/profile/richardnieva.bsky.social/post/3mhjckz23gs2pThis year I’m taking over our Next Billion-Dollar Startups list. We want to highlight the best up-and-comers. If your company’s valuation is under $1B, apply here! https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardnieva/2026/03/20/next-billion-dollar-startups-2026-nominations-are-open/20 Mar 2026 20:00 +0000at://did:plc:f6fekmmib3xmvynplrnuh4mn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhjckz23gs2phttps://bsky.app/profile/richardnieva.bsky.social/post/3mhe6cmpqus2yVercel, the web hosting and deployment company, hit run rate revenue of $340 million at the end of February. And its $300 million funding round in September has made founder Guillermo Rauch a billionaire, worth an estimated $2.1 billion. https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardnieva/2026/03/17/vercel-guillermo-rauch/18 Mar 2026 19:00 +0000at://did:plc:f6fekmmib3xmvynplrnuh4mn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhe6cmpqus2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/richardnieva.bsky.social/post/3mgsewq5klk27New: Replit has raised $400 million at a $9 billion valuation, and is releasing its new coding agent. The goal is to make vibe coding more like you’re doodling on a white board. Paul Graham, an early investor, thinks it will “redefine” the term. https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardnieva/2026/03/11/meet-the-9-billion-ai-company-reimagining-vibe-coding-replit-amjad-masad/11 Mar 2026 17:11 +0000at://did:plc:f6fekmmib3xmvynplrnuh4mn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mgsewq5klk27https://bsky.app/profile/richardnieva.bsky.social/post/3me2fyaktck2oFor our cover story on Sam Altman, we sat down with him for two wide-ranging interviews. We couldn’t fit everything into the final profile. Here’s some of what we discussed, from Elon and Trump to robotics and vaccines. w/ Anna Tong https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardnieva/2026/02/04/sam-altman-on-elon-musk-donald-trump-robotics-fatherhood-and-more/04 Feb 2026 17:35 +0000at://did:plc:f6fekmmib3xmvynplrnuh4mn/app.bsky.feed.post/3me2fyaktck2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/richardnieva.bsky.social/post/3mdxtevde5s2oNEW: We profiled Sam Altman for the cover of Forbes Magazine. For the story, we talked to Bob Iger, Masa Son, Satya Nadella, Brian Chesky, Paul Graham and more. Graham’s take was resonant: “He’s good at getting people to do what he wants.” w/ Anna Tong https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardnieva/2026/02/03/sam-altman-explains-the-future/03 Feb 2026 16:57 +0000at://did:plc:f6fekmmib3xmvynplrnuh4mn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mdxtevde5s2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/richardnieva.bsky.social/post/3majd4lkvas2iNew: OpenAI wanted GPT-5 to be less warm and agreeable than its predecessor GPT-4o, but a group of users says the change was disruptive, particularly for people with autism, ADHD and special needs. https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardnieva/2025/12/19/openai-chatgpt-4o/21 Dec 2025 18:13 +0000at://did:plc:f6fekmmib3xmvynplrnuh4mn/app.bsky.feed.post/3majd4lkvas2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/richardnieva.bsky.social/post/3m6pevlmrjk2dI chatted with Anthropic’s Mike Krieger about the company’s enterprise strategy. He said Claude usage is sticky: 60% of business customers are using more than one Claude product. https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardnieva/2025/11/28/anthropic-enterprise-claude/28 Nov 2025 17:11 +0000at://did:plc:f6fekmmib3xmvynplrnuh4mn/app.bsky.feed.post/3m6pevlmrjk2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/richardnieva.bsky.social/post/3m5mhqh7dpk2wScoop from @iainmartin.bsky.social, @rashis.bsky.social and me: Swedish vibe-coding startup Lovable is in talks to raise at a $6 billion valuation. https://www.forbes.com/sites/iainmartin/2025/11/14/vibe-coding-startup-lovable-in-talks-to-raise-at-6-billion-valuation/14 Nov 2025 19:58 +0000at://did:plc:f6fekmmib3xmvynplrnuh4mn/app.bsky.feed.post/3m5mhqh7dpk2whttps://bsky.app/profile/richardnieva.bsky.social/post/3m4vics56ps2uNew: I profiled Sierra, the $10B AI customer service startup from Bret Taylor and Clay Bavor, which wants to make AI agents the primary way businesses interact with customers. For the piece, I talked to their old bosses, Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardnieva/2025/11/05/sierra-bret-taylor-clay-bavor/05 Nov 2025 16:37 +0000at://did:plc:f6fekmmib3xmvynplrnuh4mn/app.bsky.feed.post/3m4vics56ps2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/richardnieva.bsky.social/post/3m4gkxlcao22sNew: With Mercor’s new fundraise and $10 billion valuation, its founders become the world’s youngest self-made billionaires at age 22, younger than Mark Zuckerberg was when he hit that status at age 23 two decades ago. https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardnieva/2025/10/30/mercor-youngest-self-made-billionaires/30 Oct 2025 18:15 +0000at://did:plc:f6fekmmib3xmvynplrnuh4mn/app.bsky.feed.post/3m4gkxlcao22shttps://bsky.app/profile/richardnieva.bsky.social/post/3m3i7rhxq6227New: We interviewed elderly people who are chatting with AI bots in nursing homes and at home to combat loneliness. “[The calls are] not about anything that's really important, but it gives me something to do,” one senior said. With @rashis.bsky.social https://www.forbes.com/sites/rashishrivastava/2025/10/18/lonely-seniors-are-turning-to-ai-bots-for-companionship/18 Oct 2025 16:35 +0000at://did:plc:f6fekmmib3xmvynplrnuh4mn/app.bsky.feed.post/3m3i7rhxq6227https://bsky.app/profile/richardnieva.bsky.social/post/3m2rib2jdo22oI chatted with AMD’s senior vice president of AI about the company’s massive deal with OpenAI, and how AMD’s software efforts played a part in scoring the agreement. https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardnieva/2025/10/09/amd-openai-chip-software/09 Oct 2025 15:35 +0000at://did:plc:f6fekmmib3xmvynplrnuh4mn/app.bsky.feed.post/3m2rib2jdo22ohttps://bsky.app/profile/richardnieva.bsky.social/post/3m22t2sjbd22mNew: Grafana Labs, which helps companies monitor their data and internal systems, has hit $400 million in ARR and closed a tender offer of up to $150 million. https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardnieva/2025/09/30/grafana-labs-revenue-tender-offer/30 Sep 2025 15:17 +0000at://did:plc:f6fekmmib3xmvynplrnuh4mn/app.bsky.feed.post/3m22t2sjbd22mhttps://bsky.app/profile/richardnieva.bsky.social/post/3lzocu6vvdk2wWe chatted with European startup founders who think Trump’s $100,000 H-1B visa fee could be a boon for the region: “We almost say thank you to Trump, in a way. He’s really helping us keep our talent.” With @rashis.bsky.social https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardnieva/2025/09/25/trump-h1b-visa-fee-european-ai-startups/25 Sep 2025 15:55 +0000at://did:plc:f6fekmmib3xmvynplrnuh4mn/app.bsky.feed.post/3lzocu6vvdk2whttps://bsky.app/profile/richardnieva.bsky.social/post/3lz4mxocvs22cNew: Databricks is launching a startup accelerator for seed and pre-seed companies, offering up to $250,000 to startups in the form of funding and credits https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardnieva/2025/09/17/databricks-startup-accelerator/18 Sep 2025 15:08 +0000at://did:plc:f6fekmmib3xmvynplrnuh4mn/app.bsky.feed.post/3lz4mxocvs22chttps://bsky.app/profile/richardnieva.bsky.social/post/3lxwtxviwe22qI profiled Mercor, which is gunning to make a move in AI data training, especially after Meta’s deal with Scale AI. “It just doesn't happen too often in startups where your biggest competitor gets torpedoed overnight,” Mercor’s cofounder says. https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardnieva/2025/09/03/ais-next-job-recruiting-people-to-train-more-ai/03 Sep 2025 14:33 +0000at://did:plc:f6fekmmib3xmvynplrnuh4mn/app.bsky.feed.post/3lxwtxviwe22qhttps://bsky.app/profile/richardnieva.bsky.social/post/3lxwto4qfvc2qFor our 10th annual Cloud 100, AI is unsurprisingly dominant. OpenAI and Anthropic took the top two spots, and Cursor parent Anysphere made a strong debut in the top 10. https://www.forbes.com/lists/cloud100/03 Sep 2025 14:27 +0000at://did:plc:f6fekmmib3xmvynplrnuh4mn/app.bsky.feed.post/3lxwto4qfvc2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/richardnieva.bsky.social/post/3lww7if3phc2uNew: Anthropic is making its first foray into government social work, partnering with a Founders Fund-backed startup called Binti to provide social workers with AI tools for paperwork. https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardnieva/2025/08/20/anthropic-binti-social-work/21 Aug 2025 15:01 +0000at://did:plc:f6fekmmib3xmvynplrnuh4mn/app.bsky.feed.post/3lww7if3phc2u