Publisher & columnist · Cross-cutting op-eds and 'veteran take' sidebars

Hank Reed

The pen name of the publisher of BizTechDaily: a software founder with multiple exits. Writes about technology, markets, and what gets lost in the rush.

Hank Reed is the pen name of the person who runs BizTechDaily, a software founder with multiple exits and decades of building and selling software. He writes the site's columns under that name. Curious about how things work, skeptical of the pitch, and sympathetic to the people doing the actual work.

Articles by Hank Reed

The Data Center Build-Out Has a Voter Problem Now
Big Tech

The Data Center Build-Out Has a Voter Problem Now

Every data center ban on Ohio's ballot passed on Tuesday, along with bans in Kansas, Florida and California. Hank Reed on why an industry committing hundreds of billions to compute has treated local consent as paperwork, and the one measure on the ballot that looked like a deal.
Reddit Is Closing the Door Because Google Stopped Sending Visitors
Big Tech

Reddit Is Closing the Door Because Google Stopped Sending Visitors

Reddit says search referrals fell by about a million a week in October and plans to require logins, starting with tests outside the US. Steve Huffman blames Google's AI Mode. Hank Reed on what happens to the open web when the biggest site on it decides search is no longer worth it.
AI Hasn't Paid Off Outside Tech Yet. Look at How Little Companies Spend on It
AI & ML

AI Hasn't Paid Off Outside Tech Yet. Look at How Little Companies Spend on It

Apollo's chief economist says AI has delivered zero financial payoff to the S&P 500 outside the biggest tech companies. Anthropic's S-1, filed the next day, says its Fortune 500 customers spend on average less than 0.1% of their expenses with it. Hank Reed on why both can be true.
Your AI Model Comes With an Expiration Date Now
AI & ML

Your AI Model Comes With an Expiration Date Now

OpenAI retires dozens of models between October 23 and February 26, Anthropic retires Claude Sonnet 4.5 fourteen months after launch, and Google calls its shutdown dates the earliest possible. Hank Reed on treating a model like a dependency with a shelf life, and budgeting the migrations.
The Reverse Acquihire Leaves Somebody Holding the Company
Startups & Funding

The Reverse Acquihire Leaves Somebody Holding the Company

Google reportedly paid $2.7 billion in 2024 to license Character.AI's technology and hire its founders. Two years later the company it left behind is in bankruptcy with a $20 million opening bid. Hank Reed on the deal structure big tech keeps using, and what it leaves for everyone who stays.
Washington Renamed AI "Super Intelligence." Your Contracts Still Say AI.
Policy & Regulation

Washington Renamed AI "Super Intelligence." Your Contracts Still Say AI.

An executive order tells federal agencies to say "Super Intelligence" where they used to say AI, and defines the new term by pointing at the old one. Hank Reed on living with two vocabularies, and why the definition due in November matters more than the name.
Setting AI in Stone
Big Tech

Setting AI in Stone

Etched raised at $10.3 billion for transformer-only chips. AMD just bought Taalas, which etches model weights into transistors. Hank Reed on an industry betting that AI has stopped moving.
Should Washington Own a Slice of the AI Labs?
Markets & Money

Should Washington Own a Slice of the AI Labs?

Sam Altman floated routing 5% of the leading AI firms' equity into an Alaska-style public fund. Hank Reed on whether that is the public capturing AI's upside or the labs buying protection.
The Commerce Department Just Became the FDA of AI
Big Tech

The Commerce Department Just Became the FDA of AI

The US government used export-control authority to force Anthropic to disable Fable 5 and Mythos 5 worldwide. Hank Reed on what just changed for every frontier-model launch from here on.
The Week Nvidia Stopped Acting Like a Vendor
Big Tech

The Week Nvidia Stopped Acting Like a Vendor

Spark for laptops, Vera for the data center, equity stakes in the labs that buy its GPUs. Hank Reed on the week Nvidia stopped being a chip company and started being a platform.
Circular Reasoning: The AI Boom Is Starting to Fund Itself
Markets & Money

Circular Reasoning: The AI Boom Is Starting to Fund Itself

Memory makers are now equity investors in the AI lab that buys their chips. Hank Reed on why circular financing is the oldest tell in the bubble playbook.
Nvidia Reported Record Everything. The Stock Fell Anyway. That Tells You Something.
Markets & Money

Nvidia Reported Record Everything. The Stock Fell Anyway. That Tells You Something.

Nvidia posted record $81.6B revenue, record Data Center, $80B buyback, dividend bump. The stock fell after hours. The print is great; the market reaction is worth paying attention to.