Business reporter

Ethan Baron

Ethan Baron is a business reporter for the Bay Area News Group and a native of Silicon Valley before it was Silicon Valley. Baron has worked as a reporter, columnist, editor and photographer in newspapers and magazines for 25 years, covering business, politics, social issues, crime, the environment, outdoor sports, war and humanitarian crises. He is a graduate of UC Berkeley with a BA in humanities and MA in journalism.

Report: Facebook found to be ‘central public infrastructure’ for criminals selling endangered wild animals

May 7, 2026 at 4:08 p.m.

Report cites 'loss of irreplaceable species such as elephants for their ivory, rhinos for their horns, pangolins for their scales, and countless parrots, primates, small mammals and reptiles for the...

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg presents Orion AR glasses at the Meta Connect annual event at the company headquarters in Menlo Park, California, on September 25, 2024.

Meta targeted older workers in 2025 layoffs, lawsuit claims

March 20, 2026 at 3:08 p.m.

The lawsuit alleges the Menlo Park tech giant created a special employee-rating category before the mass layoffs.

FILE – Elon Musk attends a memorial for conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)

Grok and other ‘nudification’ apps offered by Google and Apple put Silicon Valley at center of global outrage

February 21, 2026 at 7:10 a.m.

Apps that allow women and girls to be digitally stripped have sparked investigations from California to Europe.

For the first time this year California requires data brokers – companies that knowingly collect and sell consumer’s data to third parties – to report if they collect location data. (Illustration by Adriana Heldiz, CalMatters; iStock)

Delete Act: How to request personal information be purged in the New Year

December 30, 2025 at 1:08 p.m.

California legislative analysts concluded that data brokers offer valuable services, but also threaten people's rights and privacy.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg presents Orion AR glasses at the Meta Connect annual event at the company’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California, on September 25, 2024.

Lawsuit: Meta allowed sex-trafficking posts on Instagram as it put profit over kids’ safety

November 28, 2025 at 3:43 p.m.

'Meta allowed its products to infiltrate classrooms, disrupt learning environments, and contribute directly to the youth mental health crisis,' lawsuit claims.

Illustration by Jeff Durham / Bay Area News Group

Silicon Valley tech firms’ snug relationship with Trump deepens, bears fruit

November 3, 2025 at 7:53 a.m.

For tech CEOs, a new political reality means the relationship with the president holds outsized importance.

Lauren Gonzalves, a cancer care social worker, is seen at her home in Concord, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. Gonzalves uses the Counterforce website, which works with AI to help individuals dispute medical bills. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

Insurance company repeatedly denied her medical claim, then AI delivered victory

September 18, 2025 at 7:11 a.m.

Chatbot and appeal-letter generator offered by Counterforce Health app, co-founded by medical researcher after wife's denials.

Rick Parfitt talks about clearing flammable materials in a five foot perimeter at his home in Los Gatos, Calif., on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)

How to defend a home from wildfire: UC Berkeley researchers’ lessons from infernos

September 9, 2025 at 9:34 a.m.

Three key lessons for protecting homes from wildfire emerged, two of them applying to individual homeowners and one requiring community-wide action.

TOPSHOT – Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg testifies during a US House Committee on Energy and Commerce hearing about Facebook on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, April 11, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / SAUL LOEBSAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

Meta allowed AI bots on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp to have ‘sensual’ and ‘romantic’ chats with kids

August 19, 2025 at 10:27 a.m.

Revelations about how bots could talk to children on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and its Meta AI assistant were met with revulsion.

H-1B application documents in 2000 (Meri Simon/Bay Area News Group)

H-1B visas: Federal government mandates in-person interviews for overseas renewals

August 12, 2025 at 9:03 a.m.

Delays expected abroad and at home.

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