Latest news with #CharlesChen
San Francisco Chronicle
01-07-2025
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
Pizzeria calls it quits after 17 years, plus more Bay Area restaurant closings
The following is a list of notable Bay Area restaurants that closed in June. Click here for a list of May closings. Rotten City Pizza has closed following a 17-year run in Emeryville, E'Ville Eye reports. Owner Jonas Bernstein confirmed the closing to the outlet, blaming the current economics of running a restaurant. Workers have launched a crowdfunding campaign to keep the pizzeria alive. Oakland's hip French restaurant the Rendez-Vous is unexpectedly closing. In an Instagram post, its owners wrote that "unforeseen circumstances' forced the sudden decision but did not elaborate. The chic restaurant, which the Chronicle named one of the Bay Area's most beautiful new restaurants in 2022, served French dishes like a Nicoise salad with tuna loin, a classic coq au vin and beet-cured halibut. Bay Area barbecue chain Armadillo Willy's unexpectedly shut down three of its final four locations in mid-June, SFGATE reported. (The Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but operate independently). The brand announced via Instagram that its San Jose, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale locations were officially closed. The post thanked patrons and staff for their support for more than 40 years. The sole remaining location in San Mateo will continue to carry the company's legacy onward. Khana Peena has served its final northern Indian plates, East Bay Nosh reported. The neighborhood restaurant was a popular fixture on Berkeley's stretch of Solano Avenue. You can still find the sought-after tandoori chicken legs and chapati at the restaurant's sibling location in North Oakland. It's a wrap, at least locally, for the wildly popular Basuku Cheesecakes. Owner and baker Charles Chen and his unimaginably creamy cheesecakes made their final appearance at Palo Alto's Vina Enoteca after he announced the end of his baking project earlier this year. Chen told the Chronicle that he was moving to Asia to focus on his restaurant consulting work. The Ferry Building's Grande Crêperie, a popular Parisian-style café, shut down when its lease expired on June 30. Owners Patrick and Joanna Ascaso told the Chronicle the closure was unexpected and had hoped to renew their lease; in a statement to the Chronicle, Ferry Building management said they were letting the lease expire. Grand Crêperie specialized in sourdough crepes, pastries and coffee, all of which lured long lines of customers. Walnut Creek's Nusantaran restaurant has closed for good after months of inactivity. SanDai owner Nora Haron officially put an end to her Singaporean-Indonesian project in June. The restaurant was regularly packed during weekend dinner service, but midweek business was ultimately insufficient. Dishes included beef rendang topped with pineapple, fish fried rice and a raviolo stuffed with tiger prawn in a red broth. Its joint coffee shop, Kopi Bar, has also shut down, though Haron is looking at opening more cafés in the future. One Market, the 32-year-old restaurant at the end of Market Street on the Embarcadero, closed June 11. Co-founder Michael Dellar told the Chronicle the decision was due in part to his retirement, but also to a slow pandemic recovery downtown. There were plans to sell the restaurant to current management, but the deal didn't materialize and a different buyer wasn't found. The restaurant held a Michelin star from 2008 through 2012.
National Post
17-06-2025
- Business
- National Post
Acorn Secures $12.3 Million to Reimagine Workforce Development with AI
Article content Acorn's AI-powered platform delivers career development employees were promised Article content but never received Article content VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Acorn, the AI-powered performance and learning management platform, today announced its $12.3 million USD Series A funding round led by Level Equity. This investment will accelerate Acorn's geographic expansion, enhance product development and grow strategic partnerships. The company also launched Capabilities AI, new software that automatically maps capabilities frameworks to job descriptions and creates personalized career development plans in minutes rather than months. 'Acorn is bridging the gap between learning and performance with an AI-native solution that's both timely and differentiated,' said Charles Chen, Partner at Level Equity. Article content 'Acorn is bridging the gap between learning and performance with an AI-native solution that's both timely and differentiated,' said Charles Chen, Partner at Level Equity. 'In a market saturated with many legacy technologies, Acorn's focus on business-specific capabilities over generic skills gives organizations a clear path to measuring and driving employee impact. We're proud to back the Acorn team as they scale a category-defining platform transforming workplace performance.' Article content The ' 2025 Corporate Performance and Learning Survey ' reveals a workforce at odds with traditional HR systems: Article content Only 29% of employees are 'very satisfied' with how their company evaluates performance. One in four employees question their value to their organization after performance reviews. Nearly 80% of senior leaders admit employees must leave to advance their careers. Article content Further compounding these issues, 44% of respondents question the fairness of the current metrics used to measure employee competency. They also noted the lack of integration with performance management tools and of a centralized system to manage competencies as top barriers to the success of their program. This disconnect between learning and performance platforms contributes to low engagement and ineffective development programs. Article content Capabilities AI: A New Approach to Corporate Learning Article content Acorn Capabilities AI redefines corporate learning by identifying the core capabilities required for success in each role and automatically generating employee development plans that are aligned with business strategy. The platform provides a common language for learning, recruitment and career mobility, enabling organizations to build customized capability frameworks in just minutes. Article content 'Corporate learning has been broken for a long time now,' said Blake Proberts, CEO and Founder of Acorn. 'Most organizations still aren't showing people what they need to do in their roles. By using AI to build capability frameworks and map learning content to those capabilities within Acorn, development becomes relevant, timely, and useful. It's how we move past tickbox training with low engagement to learning that truly drives performance.' Article content Pioneering Performance Learning Management Systems (PLMS) Article content Seeing the need to unify performance and learning, Acorn launched the PLMS category in 2023. This unified approach addresses the limitations of traditional Learning Management Systems (LMS) by mapping role-specific capabilities to measurable outcomes. Article content 'The HR landscape is shifting. Organizations are seeking solutions to integrate eLearning and performance management,' said Grace Savides, Senior Market Research Analyst at G2. 'More companies are aligning their L&D and performance initiatives to respond effectively to the ever-growing skills gap and demands for faster growth.' Article content Additional Resources Article content About Acorn Article content Acorn PLMS (Performance Learning Management System) is the AI-powered performance and learning management platform. With a proprietary library of over 1,600 capabilities and 4,800 proficiency levels, Acorn helps organizations define the capabilities that matter, map them to roles and learning content, and build personalized development plans. By showing learners how to succeed in their roles and enabling leaders to have meaningful performance conversations, Acorn empowers L&D, HR, and people leaders to create clear career pathways and prove the business impact of learning. Article content About Level Equity Level Equity is a lower middle market private investment firm focused on providing capital to rapidly growing software and technology-enabled businesses. Level provides long-term capital across various transaction types in support of continued growth. The firm has raised over $4.5 billion in committed capital for their closed funds and co-investments, and has made over 125 investments since its inception. Article content Article content Article content Article content Contacts Article content Media Contact Article content Article content Article content Article content
New York Post
14-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Bombshell report suggests ‘Chinese spies' infiltrated Stanford University
A bombshell report out of Stanford University shed light on the influence of spies from the Chinese Communist Party that the student newspaper says have likely infiltrated the prestigious institution and other universities nationwide to gather intelligence. The report, published by the Stanford Review , tells the story of a Stanford student working on sensitive research at the school – and given the name 'Anna' to protect her identity – receiving unexpected messages from a man with the alias Charles Chen asking about seemingly harmless topics like networking opportunities. Those messages soon took a 'strange turn,' according to the outlet when Chen's questions became more personal, asking Anna if she spoke Mandarin, encouraging her to visit Beijing on a trip he would pay for, and referencing details she had never disclosed to him. Charles advised Anna on how to enter China briefly enough to avoid visa scrutiny from authorities, told her to only communicate through the CCP-monitored WeChat and told her to delete screenshots. 'Under the guidance of experts familiar with espionage tactics, Anna contacted authorities,' the article explains. 7 A report from the Stanford Review, a student newspaper at Stanford University, claims spies from the Chinese Communist Party have infiltrated the school. Getty Images 'Their investigation revealed that Charles Chen had no affiliation with Stanford. Instead, he had posed as a Stanford student for years, slightly altering his name and persona online, targeting multiple students, nearly all of them women researching China-related topics. According to the experts on China who assisted Anna, Charles Chen was likely an agent of the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS), tasked with identifying sympathetic Stanford students and gathering intelligence.' Fox News Digital spoke to students involved in the article who explained that there are three major takeaways from the findings of the report. 7 'He had posed as a Stanford student for years, slightly altering his name and persona online, targeting multiple students, nearly all of them women researching China-related topics,' the article said. Getty Images 'Number one, what we saw was a full apparatus for extracting information so they would hit the students they wanted, then two, they would administer loyalty tests and three they would demand the information be sent back,' one of the students said. In some cases, if the students refuse to provide information to the CCP, their parents are threatened back home and sometimes interrogated by police, according to the students who spoke to some Chinese international students. 'To be very clear, what they said is that every Chinese international student at any time can be asked by the CCP to disclose their research information,' Fox News Digital was told. 7 According to the students who spoke to some Chinese international students, their parents were threatened back home if the students did not provide information. REUTERS 'So what that looks like is, potentially weekly calls with the Chinese ambassador back in China, where they will explain what research they're doing and if it is particularly sensitive technologies like AI and robotics. This is where the majority of the CCP targeting is happening. They'll ask them to send back not just public information, they'll also send back internal lab reports, future directions of the research, recorded conversations with the professor, the methodologies, the other participants in the research, particularly if they're Chinese international students so they can look for other ones.' The Stanford Review story points out that the House Select Committee on China sent a letter to Stanford last year warning of the risks that China poses to STEM research. The article also explained how concerns about a Chinese spy presence in China have 'quietly persisted' for 'years' and claimed that several people who were contacted were too afraid to speak publicly. 7 The story acknowledges that the House Select Committee on China sent a letter to the school last year warning of the risks that China poses to STEM research. AP 'One student who experienced espionage firsthand was too fearful to recount their story, even via encrypted messaging,' the article states. ''The risk is too high,' they explained. 'Transnational repression, $64 million in Chinese funding , and allegations of racial profiling have contributed to a pervasive culture of silence at Stanford and beyond.' The authors of the article, after interviewing dozens of people in and around the university, summed up their findings by saying, 'The CCP is orchestrating a widespread intelligence-gathering campaign at Stanford.' 'In short, 'there are Chinese spies at Stanford.'' Fox News Digital spoke to former California GOP Congressman Michelle Steel about the report, and she explained that hundreds of millions of dollars are pouring in from China to prestigious universities. She called the situation 'very dangerous.' 'President Trump is totally right,' Steel said. 'China is the biggest threat to all other industries, but especially universities.' 7 'President Trump is totally right,' Congressman Michelle Steel said. 'China is the biggest threat to all other industries, but especially universities.' via REUTERS Hudson Institute senior fellow Michael Sobolik, who recently published an article urging the U.S. to 'stop giving Beijing an advantage through TikTok,' told Fox News Digital that 'sunlight is the best disinfectant' in this situation. 'If Stanford is worried about foreign espionage and coercion on its campus – and it should be – then its leadership will need to call it out publicly,' Sobolik said. 'Thus far, woke politics have deterred Stanford from speaking out. That's insane, and it rebounds to Beijing's benefit. The CCP is one of the most racist political organizations in the world, and it hides behind the Chinese people as a shield,' he continued. 'If Americans are afraid to call the party out, we implicitly advance the CCP's narrative that there's no difference between the Chinese people and the CCP.' 7 'If Stanford is worried about foreign espionage and coercion on its campus – and it should be – then its leadership will need to call it out publicly,' Hudson Institute senior fellow Michael Sobolik said. Getty Images In a statement, Stanford University said it 'takes its commitment to national security with the utmost seriousness, and we are acutely aware of the threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party to all research universities.' 'Stanford has rigorous policies and processes in place to ensure that research by its faculty and students is conducted in a manner that safeguards America's interests. Stanford does not conduct classified or secret research,' the statement continued. 'Stanford has a university-wide process for reporting threats to research security, and carefully assesses all reports. Stanford consults with federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies to ensure our policies and procedures are rigorous and protect national security.' The university added that it is 'looking into' the Stanford Review report and has reached out to federal law enforcement, adding that it is 'very important to distinguish between threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party, and Chinese and Chinese-American faculty and students who are at Stanford to learn and contribute to the generation of knowledge, and are valued members of our community.' 7 The university said it is 'looking into' the report and has reached out to federal law enforcement. Getty Images Steel and the Stanford students told Fox News Digital that while it is important not to generalize and make assumptions about all Chinese students, it is the students from China who are ultimately the victims in this situation as they are coerced and sometimes punished by the CCP. 'We really have to protect these innocent students, innocent Chinese Americans, but at the same time we really have to vet those students coming in or anybody, even diplomats, they're coming in, we really have to vet them,' Steel said. Fox News Digital reached out to the Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C., for comment on the report and received a statement denying the allegations. 'The above reports are full of false information, delusional speculation, political lies and ideological prejudice,' spokesperson Liu Pengyu said. 'China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposes this.' 'China-US educational cooperation has not only expanded the channels for students of the two countries and enhanced the understanding between the two peoples, but also promoted the economic prosperity and scientific and technological innovation of the United States, which is in the interests of both sides,' the statement continued. 'We urge the US to stop generalizing national security, stop slandering Chinese students, and stop stigmatizing, politicizing and instrumentalizing normal educational exchanges. Effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese students studying abroad, and do not take discriminatory and restrictive measures against Chinese students.'
San Francisco Chronicle
13-05-2025
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
A cheesecake phenomenon bids farewell to the Bay Area
The Bay Area has four more weeks to enjoy one of the region's most sought-after cakes. Basuku Cheesecakes, whose Japanese-style Basque burnt cheesecakes exploded in popularity during the pandemic, is shutting down after five years. Owner Charles Chen is moving to Asia after several years of traveling back and forth for restaurant consulting work. 'The whole thing is a little bittersweet,' said Chen. 'I'm still selling out every week. It just came time to make a personal decision.' Chen, an industry consultant, started selling cheesecakes on Instagram during the pandemic shutdown. The lush, rich cakes quickly became the dessert of the moment and sold out rapidly at popups and restaurants. Chen expanded his repertoire to include flavors like black sesame, roasted banana, yuzu and passionfruit. Basuku became so popular it spawned fake imitations. Former Chronicle restaurant critic Soleil Ho wrote of the cake's 'intense caramel aroma' and 'phenomenal' texture, 'reminiscent of when you leave a triple-creme soft cheese out on the kitchen counter and its fat wilts and softens, leaving you with something you can effortlessly scoop up and smear on a cracker with a spoon. Despite the cake's popularity, it was a challenging business to sustain. Chen has made every laborious cheesecake himself over the last five years, driving them to pickup locations all over the Bay Area. He has been wary of expanding into a permanent space in the costly Bay Area. 'I see people who have moved on from the popup stage to brick-and-mortar stage and aren't maybe as successful as they thought they were going to be,' he said. 'There's a massive financial strain at that point, which becomes a personal strain.' Chen also tried unsuccessfully to find a local bakery to license the cakes and sell them in his absence. (He does now sell them in Japan and soon will expand to Taipei.) Basuku will offer several more sales in the coming weeks at its regular pickup locations at Vina Enoteca in Palo Alto, Dolores Deluxe in San Francisco and Commis in Oakland. Check Instagram for dates and ordering information. This isn't to say that local fans will never get to taste Basuku cheesecakes again. If Chen is back in the Bay Area, he may host sporadic popups.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bombshell report suggests 'Chinese spies' infiltrating prestigious US university: 'Widespread campaign'
A bombshell report out of Stanford University shed light on the influence of spies from the Chinese Communist Party that the student newspaper says have likely infiltrated the prestigious institution and other universities nationwide to gather intelligence. The report, published by the Stanford Review, tells the story of a Stanford student working on sensitive research at the school – and given the name "Anna" to protect her identity – receiving unexpected messages from a man with the alias Charles Chen asking about seemingly harmless topics like networking opportunities. Those messages soon took a "strange turn," according to the outlet when Chen's questions became more personal, asking Anna if she spoke Mandarin, encouraging her to visit Beijing on a trip he would pay for, and referencing details she had never disclosed to him. Charles advised Anna on how to enter China briefly enough to avoid visa scrutiny from authorities, told her to only communicate through the CCP-monitored WeChat and told her to delete screenshots. Blue State Governor Touts Meeting With Ccp Official Cozying Up To Dems: 'Grateful For The Opportunity' "Under the guidance of experts familiar with espionage tactics, Anna contacted authorities," the article explains. Read On The Fox News App "Their investigation revealed that Charles Chen had no affiliation with Stanford. Instead, he had posed as a Stanford student for years, slightly altering his name and persona online, targeting multiple students, nearly all of them women researching China-related topics. According to the experts on China who assisted Anna, Charles Chen was likely an agent of the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS), tasked with identifying sympathetic Stanford students and gathering intelligence." Fox News Digital spoke to students involved in the article who explained that there are three major takeaways from the findings of the report. "Number one, what we saw was a full apparatus for extracting information so they would hit the students they wanted, then two, they would administer loyalty tests and three they would demand the information be sent back," one of the students said. In some cases, if the students refuse to provide information to the CCP, their parents are threatened back home and sometimes interrogated by police, according to the students who spoke to some Chinese international students. New Report Warns Of Growing National Security Threat To U.s. As China Builds Ai: 'Significant And Concerning' 'To be very clear, what they said is that every Chinese international student at any time can be asked by the CCP to disclose their research information," Fox News Digital was told. "So what that looks like is, potentially weekly calls with the Chinese ambassador back in China, where they will explain what research they're doing and if it is particularly sensitive technologies like AI and robotics. This is where the majority of the CCP targeting is happening. They'll ask them to send back not just public information, they'll also send back internal lab reports, future directions of the research, recorded conversations with the professor, the methodologies, the other participants in the research, particularly if they're Chinese international students so they can look for other ones." The Stanford Review story points out that the House Select Committee on China sent a letter to Stanford last year warning of the risks that China poses to STEM research. The article also explained how concerns about a Chinese spy presence in China have "quietly persisted" for "years" and claimed that several people who were contacted were too afraid to speak publicly. "One student who experienced espionage firsthand was too fearful to recount their story, even via encrypted messaging," the article states. "'The risk is too high,' they explained. "Transnational repression, $64 million in Chinese funding, and allegations of racial profiling have contributed to a pervasive culture of silence at Stanford and beyond." The authors of the article, after interviewing dozens of people in and around the university, summed up their findings by saying, "The CCP is orchestrating a widespread intelligence-gathering campaign at Stanford." "In short, 'there are Chinese spies at Stanford.'" Newsom's Ties To Ccp Under Microscope In New Book Exposing Alleged Corruption: 'Fleeced American Citizens' Fox News Digital spoke to former California GOP Congressman Michelle Steel about the report, and she explained that hundreds of millions of dollars are pouring in from China to prestigious universities. She called the situation "very dangerous." "President Trump is totally right," Steel said. "China is the biggest threat to all other industries, but especially universities." Hudson Institute senior fellow Michael Sobolik, who recently published an article urging the U.S. to "stop giving Beijing an advantage through TikTok," told Fox News Digital that "sunlight is the best disinfectant" in this situation. "If Stanford is worried about foreign espionage and coercion on its campus – and it should be – then its leadership will need to call it out publicly," Sobolik said. "Thus far, woke politics have deterred Stanford from speaking out. That's insane, and it rebounds to Beijing's benefit. The CCP is one of the most racist political organizations in the world, and it hides behind the Chinese people as a shield," he continued. "If Americans are afraid to call the party out, we implicitly advance the CCP's narrative that there's no difference between the Chinese people and the CCP." In a statement, Stanford University said it "takes its commitment to national security with the utmost seriousness, and we are acutely aware of the threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party to all research universities." "Stanford has rigorous policies and processes in place to ensure that research by its faculty and students is conducted in a manner that safeguards America's interests. Stanford does not conduct classified or secret research," the statement continued. "Stanford has a university-wide process for reporting threats to research security, and carefully assesses all reports. Stanford consults with federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies to ensure our policies and procedures are rigorous and protect national security." The university added that it is "looking into" the Stanford Review report and has reached out to federal law enforcement, adding that it is "very important to distinguish between threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party, and Chinese and Chinese-American faculty and students who are at Stanford to learn and contribute to the generation of knowledge, and are valued members of our community." Steel and the Stanford students told Fox News Digital that while it is important not to generalize and make assumptions about all Chinese students, it is the students from China who are ultimately the victims in this situation as they are coerced and sometimes punished by the CCP. "We really have to protect these innocent students, innocent Chinese Americans, but at the same time we really have to vet those students coming in or anybody, even diplomats, they're coming in, we really have to vet them," Steel said. Fox News Digital reached out to the Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C., for comment on the report and received a statement denying the allegations. "The above reports are full of false information, delusional speculation, political lies and ideological prejudice," spokesperson Liu Pengyu said. "China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposes this." "China-US educational cooperation has not only expanded the channels for students of the two countries and enhanced the understanding between the two peoples, but also promoted the economic prosperity and scientific and technological innovation of the United States, which is in the interests of both sides," the statement continued. "We urge the US to stop generalizing national security, stop slandering Chinese students, and stop stigmatizing, politicizing and instrumentalizing normal educational exchanges. Effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese students studying abroad, and do not take discriminatory and restrictive measures against Chinese students."Original article source: Bombshell report suggests 'Chinese spies' infiltrating prestigious US university: 'Widespread campaign'
