Massachusetts urged to hire a chief marketing officer to stem talent loss Experts say the $305 million Mass Wins Act doesn't mention marketing the state, even as graduates and businesses continue to leave. We just assume they all know about its merits.

Here in MA, we don’t think we need to shape a brand and a marketing message for people considering coming here to work, staying here after graduation, or moving their business here. We just assume they all know about our merits.

www.masslive.com/news/2026/04... — via @masslive.bsky.social

Just 15 runners lined up at the starting line for the first Boston Marathon in 1897.

David Grilk hopes to get nearly that many robots to participate in a race he’s planning for Sunday in Boston’s Seaport. There are two categories: humanoids and quadrupeds.

www.masslive.com/news/2026/04...

As the Artemis II crew rockets back to earth after a record-setting journey around the moon, there’s a gray box in the capsule that contains technology made by a Boston biotech startup that has hit some important milestones of its own.

www.masslive.com/news/2026/04... — via @masslive.bsky.social

These AI Whiz Kids Dropped Out of College and Got Investors to Pay Their Bills Venture capitalists are stepping in to cover expenses like rent while dropouts from Harvard to Stanford chase their startup dreams.

In the @wsj.com: Cambridge venture capitalist Dave Blundin spent $5.4 million of his own money last year to buy six-unit apartment building near MIT to house some of the founders his firm, Link Ventures, has backed. (Link pays half the rent.)

www.wsj.com/tech/ai/ai-c...

More secretive than Wonka? Mysteries abound at the biggest candy factory in Mass. The only candy factory in the state that is still mass producing candy on a national scale is just outside of Central Square in Cambridge. And change is afoot in its executive ranks.

The only candy factory in the state that is still mass-producing candy on a national scale is just outside Central Square in Cambridge... and it seems like change is afoot in the executive ranks of that company.

www.masslive.com/boston/2026/... — via @masslive.bsky.social

Whoop co-founder John Capodilupo is focused on a new challenge: tracking health indicators with a device that attaches to the rim of a toilet. He’s a co-founder of Throne, a Texas startup that describes itself as “Whoop for your poop.”

www.masslive.com/news/2026/03... — via @masslive.bsky.social

Wrote about BOS-based Merlin Labs, working on autonomous tech for aircraft, earlier this year on @masslive.bsky.social. The company just started trading on NASDAQ this week, raising $200 million in a SPAC deal:

www.masslive.com/news/2026/01...

This past Saturday, when I should have been cleaning up the yard and folding some laundry, I was instead gazing into my laptop in the kitchen, finishing up a (free!) certificate program in artificial intelligence.

Here's what I learned:

www.masslive.com/news/2026/03...

The underground student group at Harvard and MIT that VCs are desperate to access College students are leading five new initiatives that have already produced successful startups, drawing no‑questions‑asked investments from venture capital firms.

The underground student group at Harvard and MIT that VCs are desperate to access

Would be big, if it happens....

Y Combinator's CEO is mulling a return to Cambridge

www.masslive.com/news/2026/03... — via @masslive.bsky.social

Six international companies are relocating to Boston as part of an artificial intelligence health care accelerator, backed by Sheba Medical Center in Israel.

www.masslive.com/news/2026/03... — via @masslive.bsky.social

Crazy stat: Whoop's acceptance rate for job applicants is 0.13%.

Harvard, where Whoop's co-founders went to college, has a 3.6% acceptance rate.

Link below is the Whoop press release today announcing 600 new jobs.

www.whoop.com/us/en/press-...

The more snow, the better for Teradar, a Boston startup that’s building new technology for military and civilian vehicles.

www.masslive.com/news/2026/03... — via @masslive.bsky.social

Apparently P.E.T.A. just sent a letter to President Trump asking him to replace the working dogs in the military (as well as police force K-9s) with robot dogs like Spot from Boston Dynamics.

Official data doesn’t capture it, and it may be tough to believe as you’re digging out from this week’s blizzard, but it’s a fact: some people who leave Massachusetts eventually boomerang back.

I spoke to a handful of them:

www.masslive.com/news/2026/02... — via @masslive.bsky.social

Fascinating piece from Juliet Schulman-Hall at
@masslive.bsky.social:

This New England college campus is on the market — and the price tag is $0

www.masslive.com/education/20...

As Mass. continues to mark the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, the Worcester area is counting down to a milestone of its own: the centennial of Robert Goddard’s pioneering liquid‑fueled rocket launches in March 1926.

www.masslive.com/news/2026/02... — via @masslive.bsky.social

At launch event for new AI council, Gov. Healey says state employees will get access to ChatGPT Gov. Maura Healey announced the three-year, $4.3 million annual deal with OpenAI at a Thursday event launching the Massachusetts AI Coalition.

Here's what happened at the launch event for the new Massachusetts AI Coalition, held last night at Whoop HQ in Kenmore Square...

www.masslive.com/news/2026/02... — via @masslive.bsky.social

Exclusive | A Nuclear-Power Startup Says It Can Rouse the Slow-Moving Industry Alva Energy has the support of former Intel chief Pat Gelsinger, whose venture firm led its recent $33 million fundraising round.

This is wild... the @wsj.com writes 900 words about a nuclear power startup, Alva Energy, that just raised $33M and has former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger among its backers... but forgets to mention where it is located. (Cambridge, MA!)

www.wsj.com/business/ene...

Waymo wants to bring robot taxis to Boston. Are we ready? Here are five things to know as California-based Waymo tries to launch its driverless taxi service in Massachusetts.

Last week, Waymo announced it had raised $16 billion in fresh capital... and that it intends to launch its driverless taxi service in Boston.

Here are five things to know as that process plays out in Massachusetts.

www.masslive.com/business/202... — via @masslive.bsky.social

Massachusetts is losing the battle to keep its residents, and officials need to act fast Six Massachusetts families explain how they escaped $1 million home prices and found better lives in North Carolina, Maine and New Mexico.

Exit interviews: Talking to people who've left Massachusetts. The top three factors that influenced their decision probably won’t surprise you...

www.masslive.com/news/2026/02... — via @masslive.bsky.social

Elon Musk’s AI company is hiring people in Mass. Employees of Elon Musk's xAI hosted one of the first gatherings of the new Massachusetts AI Coalition. They held it at the Tesla dealership in Back Bay.

At the Tesla showroom in BOS last Wed, employees from xAI hosted one of the first gatherings of the recently-formed Massachusetts AI Coalition, a group created to support artificial intelligence companies.

Here's what I know:

www.masslive.com/news/2026/01... — via @masslive.bsky.social

The 26 Most Influential People in Music in 2026  - SPIN The way we see it, 2026 is going to be a monumental battle with AI for the music industry’s soul. As it seemingly seeps into every nook and cranny of the Festival founders, people who use AI for good ...

Two Mass. residents show up on the new Sping Magazine list of the 26 most influential people in music:

www.spin.com/2026/01/the-...

(from Suno + Berklee College of Music)

Is this job post a hint about the future of robot-maker Boston Dynamics? A recent Boston Dynamics job post “reads like prep for a spin-out to me,” said one Boston investment banker.

In December, a job opening appeared that could offer a hint about what comes next for Boston Dynamics, which is owned by the South Korean car maker Hyundai Motor Group.

www.masslive.com/business/202... — via @masslive.bsky.social

#robotics

These AI startups just made a major bet on Boston's tech talent Anthropic and Lovable have rented space in Cambridge and Boston, and begun hiring employees who live locally.

Two of the #AI industry’s most valuable startups have quietly planted their flags in the Boston area: Anthropic, which makes the chatbot Claude, and Lovable, which makes an AI "vibe coding" tool. Here's who they've hired...

www.masslive.com/news/2026/01... — via @masslive.bsky.social

Just launched today by Whoop, the Boston-based fitness band maker: the Massachusetts AI Coalition (complete with clever logo!)

www.whoop.com/us/en/press-...

Also includes Suno, Lovable, DraftKings, Wayfair, HubSpot, Klaviyo, Circle, Blitzy, Jellyfish, Formlabs + more co's....

Could we quit complaining and be Massachusetts boosters ... just this once? If you’re a resident of Massachusetts, you can undoubtedly add to this list of problems that our state has. But what if we tried seeing the Dunkin' cup as half full in 2026?

For one year — just one year! — What if we all tried to be Mass. boosters, rather than Mass. criticizers, Mass. fault-finders or plain old Massholes?

www.masslive.com/news/2026/01... — via @masslive.bsky.social

Massachusetts startup developing AI copilots for military aircraft to go public Boston-based Merlin Labs is developing AI copilots for military aircraft. And it's set to go public.

BOS-based Merlin Labs hopes to go public this year. The company is developing "AI copilots" for military planes like an aerial refueling tanker and a four-engine cargo and passenger plane. And it is testing with Cessna Caravans as well.

www.masslive.com/news/2026/01... — via @masslive.bsky.social

Meet a U.S. Start-Up Trying to Break China’s Rare-Earth Monopoly

BOS-based startup, with production facility in NH:

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/29/b...

What it’s like to take the stage with the Boston Pops at the holidays Reading at a Holiday Pops performance is one of those only-in-Boston opportunities — like tossing out the first pitch at Fenway — that felt too good for a MassLive columnist to pass up, despite the pr...

This was one of those only-in-Boston opportunities — like tossing out the first pitch at Fenway — that felt too good to pass up, despite the pressure.

www.masslive.com/destinations... — via @masslive.bsky.social #merrychristmastoall #andtoallagoodnight