Week ending Feb 6, 2026 - Oregon startup news

Oregon isn’t building the next Silicon Valley. But this week made me a lot more bullish on Oregon becoming a real center of AI excellence — because it’s not just startups, it’s the whole stack: accelerator momentum, community energy, education, hardware, and the infrastructure that makes AI actually work. TIMESTAMPS00:00 Oregon startup news intro01:00 Everyone wants to build the next Silicon Valley02:29 Oregon AI Accelerator06:08 Call to AI action09:45 Oregon as an AI hub13:25 Skip Newberry on AI opportunity15:20 SecretsLINKS- https://siliconflorist.com/2026/02/03/oregon-ai-accelerator-reveals-inaugural-cohort/- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/aj-green-ai_psa-calling-all-portland-community-builders-activity-7424175984284909568-SKp4- https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/news/2026/02/03/oregon-ai-osu-roy-haggerty-john-harkness.html- https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/news/2026/02/05/oregon-ai-opportunities-tao.htmlFIND RICK TUROCZY ON THE INTERNET AT…- https://patreon.com/turoczy- https://linkedin.com/in/turoczy- Portland Oregon startup news on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/portland-oregon-startup-news-silicon-florist/id1711294699- Portland Oregon startup news Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2cmLDH8wrPdNMS2qtTnhcy?si=H627wrGOTvStxxKWRlRGLQ- Startup Stories on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/1Tk7bbzaNYowGouI9ucKC3- Startup Stories on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/startup-stories-with-silicon-florist/id1849468494- The Long Con on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-long-con/id1810923457- The Long Con on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/48oglyT5JNKxVH5lnWTYKA- https://bsky.app/profile/turoczy.bsky.social- https://siliconflorist.substack.com/- https://pdxslack.comABOUT SILICON FLORIST ----------For nearly two decades, Rick Turoczy has published Silicon Florist, a blog, newsletter, and podcast that covers entrepreneurs, founders, startups, entrepreneurship, tech, news, and events in the Portland, Oregon, startup community. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a startup or tech enthusiast, or simply intrigued by Portland's startup culture, Silicon Florist is your go-to source for the latest news, events, jobs, and opportunities in Portland Oregon's flourishing tech and startup scene. Join us in exploring the innovative world of startups in Portland, where creativity and collaboration meet.ABOUT RICK TUROCZY ----------Rick Turoczy has been working in, on, and around the Portland, Oregon, startup community for nearly 30 years. He has been recognized as one of the “OG”s of startup ecosystem building by the Kauffman Foundation. And he has been humbled by any number of opportunities to speak on stages from SXSW to INBOUND and from Kobe, Japan, to Muscat, Oman, including an opportunity to share his views on community building on the TEDxPortland stage (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj98mr_wUA0). All because of a blog. Weird.https://siliconflorist.com#pdx #portland #oregon #startup #entrepreneur