pivoting

This summer, after Meta made a $14 billion investment in Scale AI and poached its 28-year-old founder, Alexandr Wang, and after A-list clients like OpenAI and Google halted work with the startup, a worker for Scale AI anxiously asked ChatGPT what it thought of his company’s fate. He knew the…

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Matthew Hassett, founder and CEO of Loftie. The company makes its products, including a digital clock and lamp designed to promote sound sleep, in China. As a result of Trump’s tariffs, selling inside the US has become more expensive for Loftie.…