Sal Rodriguez 🕷️

Sal Rodriguez 🕷️

@sal19.bsky.social

Freelance tech journalist based in San Francisco. Previously with WSJ, CNBC, Reuters and others. DMs open Signal: 281-409-3516 📧: sal.rodriguez19@gmail.com

2.1K followers117 following214 posts

Sal Rodriguez 🕷️
@sal19.bsky.social

A special moment from my time in Mexico was getting to eat one of the best tacos of my life with my cousin Claudia, who despite currently fighting breast cancer took the time to watch the #WorldCup with me. Read about her journey & how you can help here: open.substack.com/pub/the2026d...

open.substack.comTravel Dispatch: The Zócalo, the best taco in Mexico and Claudia's personal tournamentDodging pickpockets at Mexico's historic plaza, a New York steak taco and honoring my cousin Claudia as she braves her fight against breast cancer.
Sal Rodriguez 🕷️
@sal19.bsky.social

Ahead of yesterday’s kickoff, FIFA dropped its final team rankings. These rankings haven’t mattered much at previous tournaments, but in 2026, they’ll be used as the final tiebreaker for the third-place team standings. Here’s my analysis of the impact open.substack.com/pub/the2026d...

open.substack.comThe latest FIFA rankings are out. Here are the teams most affectedThe new rankings could play a role in determining which of the eight third-place teams advance to the Round of 32 at the 2026 World Cup.
Sal Rodriguez 🕷️
@sal19.bsky.social

I had AI agents comb through more than 500 World Cup rosters and more than 10,000 individual player records to identify every athlete who has competed at the tournament past the age of 38. What the AI found shows that this is the oldest #WorldCup ever the2026dispatch.substack.com/p/world-cup-...

the2026dispatch.substack.com40 is the new 30: How sports science helped create the oldest World Cup everThe 2026 World Cup will feature eight 40-something players. That's almost as many as the previous 22 tournaments combined.
Sal Rodriguez 🕷️
@sal19.bsky.social

Spain is one of the 2026 #WorldCup favorites. I got to chat with Spain Sporting Director Aitor Karanka about the team’s ambitions, an MLB he barely remembers and why the country chose Chattanooga, TN, for its base camp the2026dispatch.substack.com/p/spain-aito...

the2026dispatch.substack.comExclusive: Spain's sporting director on Chattanooga base camp, 2026 World Cup goalsAitor Karanka, Spain's sporting director, sat with The 2026 Dispatch to discuss why the World Cup contender picked Chattanooga, Tennessee, for its group-stage base camp.
Sal Rodriguez 🕷️
@sal19.bsky.social

Exactly 1 month ahead of the 2026 World Cup’s kickoff, I’m launching a Substack focused on the quadrennial tournament. I hope you consider subscribing ⚽️🙏🏽🎉 the2026dispatch.substack.com

the2026dispatch.substack.comThe 2026 Dispatch | Salvador Rodriguez | SubstackThe 2026 Dispatch is a newsletter focused on the 2026 World Cup in the U.S., Mexico and Canada. It provides coverage and analysis of the quadrennial event written by journalist Salvador Rodriguez. Cli...
Sal Rodriguez 🕷️
@sal19.bsky.social

I’m sad to leave all my wonderful friends and colleagues, but I’m so grateful I got to work with them again, learn so much and publish some incredible pieces that we’ll always be proud of.

Sal Rodriguez 🕷️
@sal19.bsky.social

AI companies, like OpenAI & Anthropic, are now paying creators to promote their products to social media users. Some, like Google & Microsoft, are offering creators as much as $500k for these ads, but some creators refuse to promote AI www.cnbc.com/2026/02/06/g... By @zachvallese.bsky.social

cnbc.comGoogle and Microsoft offer lucrative deals to promote AI, but even $500,000 won't sway some creatorsTech companies including Google and Microsoft are paying influencers hundreds of thousands of dollars to promote AI products.
Sal Rodriguez 🕷️
@sal19.bsky.social

Two years ago Meta shuttered its Facebook Workplace enterprise communication app. Today, a phoenix rose from those ashes, as several former Meta execs, including Sheryl Sandberg, are backing a new communications tool that is powered by AI www.cnbc.com/2026/02/04/s... By @lolavkm.bsky.social

cnbc.comSandberg, other Meta vets invest in AI workplace communications startupSlashwork is backed by former Meta executives Sheryl Sandberg, David Fischer, Carolyn Everson and Julien Codorniou, who led Facebook Workplace.
Sal Rodriguez 🕷️
@sal19.bsky.social

After CNBC and @ttp-updates.bsky.social contacted Apple and Google about dozens of nudify apps on their respective app stores, the two companies removed dozens of these services from their platforms, but several remain www.cnbc.com/2026/01/27/a... Check out this report by @lolavkm.bsky.social

cnbc.comApple, Google host dozens of AI ‘nudify’ apps like Grok, report findsA tech watchdog organization found 55 nudify apps on Google Play and 47 in the Apple App Store.
Sal Rodriguez 🕷️
@sal19.bsky.social

When President Trump introduced the Muslim travel ban 8 years ago, tech CEOs were some of the loudest critics against it. Now, as ICE agents kill protesters in Minnesota, the tech industry's silence is deafening www.cnbc.com/2026/01/26/a... by Lola Murti and @jennelias.bsky.social

cnbc.comTech's top CEOs mum after ICE killings, while leaders like Reid Hoffman, Yann LeCun speak outWhile a few leaders have voiced outrage, the tech sector has stayed widely silent after the second fatal shooting by Federal agents in Minneapolis this month.
Sal Rodriguez 🕷️
@sal19.bsky.social

Here's how the robotaxi market looks as we close out 2025 and look ahead at 2026, with Waymo ahead of the pack but Zoox and Tesla finally rolling to the starting line www.cnbc.com/2025/12/16/w... by @lorak.bsky.social @jennelias.bsky.social & @anniepalmer.bsky.social

cnbc.comRobotaxis in 2025: Waymo plots global expansion as Zoox, Tesla roll to the starting lineRobotaxis grew rapidly in 2025 with Waymo expanding fastest, Zoox debuting public rides and Tesla launching autonomous rides with human supervision.
Sal Rodriguez 🕷️
@sal19.bsky.social

Huge report today on the state of Meta's AI strategy, six months after Mark Zuckerberg's multi-billion dollar talent spending spree A must-read by @jonathanvanian.bsky.social for anyone curious about Meta's next move. Hint: It's proprietary and codenamed Avocado www.cnbc.com/2025/12/09/m...

cnbc.comFrom Llamas to Avocados: Meta's shifting AI strategy is causing internal confusionMeta’s push to develop its next frontier model, codenamed Avocado, under new AI leadership is creating internal friction as it races rivals OpenAI and Google.

Sal Rodriguez 🕷️ reposted

Bill Grueskin
@bgrueskin.bsky.social

From 🦙 to 🥑: "Zuckerberg was so optimistic last year about his Llama family of artificial intelligence models that he predicted they would become the 'most advanced in the industry.'" Now, "Meta is pursuing a new Llama successor, code-named Avocado." www.cnbc.com/2025/12/09/m...

cnbc.comFrom Llamas to Avocados: Meta's shifting AI strategy is causing internal confusionMeta’s push to develop its next frontier model, codenamed Avocado, under new AI leadership is creating internal friction as it races rivals OpenAI and Google.
Sal Rodriguez 🕷️
@sal19.bsky.social

YouTube is stuck between Google's AI ambitions & serving creators. No where is that fissure more palpable than YouTube's requirement that creators upload their gov ID and biometrics in exchange for a deepfake detection and removal tool www.cnbc.com/2025/12/02/y... By @zachvallese.bsky.social

cnbc.comYouTube's new AI deepfake tracking tool is alarming experts and creatorsA YouTube tool that uses creators' biometrics to remove AI-generated videos also allows Google to train its AI models on that sensitive data, experts told CNBC.
Sal Rodriguez 🕷️
@sal19.bsky.social

Waymo today added Minneapolis to its list of cities that it hopes to start serving in 2026. It's the latest sign that the Google sister company believes its robotaxis might soon be ready to brave cold weather www.cnbc.com/2025/11/20/w... by @jennelias.bsky.social

cnbc.comWaymo to begin manual drives in Minneapolis, Tampa and New Orleans, aims to open service in 2026If Waymo does begin operating in those markets next year, that would bring the robotaxi company's list of 2026 planned expansions to 15 cities.
Sal Rodriguez 🕷️
@sal19.bsky.social

A philosophical divide on how to build AI chatbots is emerging among tech heavy weights -- those willing to indulge AI erotica & seemingly conscious AI (OpenAI) & those against it (Microsoft) Here's my latest for CNBC: www.cnbc.com/2025/10/23/m...

cnbc.comMicrosoft AI chief says company won’t build chatbots for eroticaMicrosoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman said the software company won't build erotica AI services, the latest break with rival-partner OpenAI.