Scott Budman
Scott Budman is an Emmy Award-winning business and technology reporter for NBC Bay Area who focuses on how shifts in Silicon Valley’s economy and innovation affect everyday life, from artificial intelligence to electric vehicles and the cost of living. His auto coverage sits inside that broader lens, tying electric vehicle trends, gas prices and regulation to business performance and consumer impact rather than treating cars in isolation. He has reported on issues such as the U.S. ban on Polestar, a Chinese-owned electric vehicle maker, framing the story around trade, competition and access to new technology.
Business and Technology in Silicon Valley
Budman reports on business and technology for NBC Bay Area’s evening newscasts and is described as a go-to voice for breaking news in Silicon Valley. His coverage frequently centers on major tech companies, emerging startups and the financial currents that shape the region’s economy. In his report on a new biotech startup at Stanford run by thousands of AI agents, he focuses on how novel technical architectures could change how companies operate rather than on the technology in isolation.
At the OpenAI developer conference, he covers both the unveiling of new AI agents and the protests outside, showing how product launches intersect with public concern and regulation.
Economic indicators are a recurring part of his beat. In a recent story on Bay Area residents struggling as prices continue to rise, he anchors the piece in inflation data and hiring numbers but spends most of the time on how higher prices force shoppers to adjust their behavior. His reporting on the housing market tracks investor activity, explaining how a rising share of purchases by corporations and other investors changes the landscape for typical homebuyers.
Across these stories, Budman brings together company decisions, economic data and on-the-ground consequences for workers, consumers and local institutions.
Artificial Intelligence and Digital Risk
Artificial intelligence is one of Budman’s core subjects, and he covers it as both a business driver and a source of new risks. His piece on the AI-generated venomous snake image, which triggered a neighborhood warning and search, is framed around how people can detect fake content and protect themselves from misinformation. In that report, he uses a concrete local incident to explain the wider problem of synthetic media, emphasizing practical checks and skepticism rather than abstract debates.
Budman also tracks AI’s institutional and corporate dimensions. In his coverage of Bay Area leaders and tech CEOs discussing AI concerns, he focuses on what executives and public officials say about safety, regulation and long-term impact, not just on new products or valuations.
His reporting on AI agents at startups and at OpenAI events highlights how automation is being built into core business processes, while giving airtime to protesters and critics who question the social and economic consequences. This mix of technical detail, corporate strategy and public reaction distinguishes his AI coverage from generic technology reporting that centers only on product features.
Electric Vehicles, Energy Prices and the Auto Economy
Within the auto space, Budman’s work concentrates on electric vehicles, fuel costs and the broader energy economy. When gas prices spike, he connects price movements to lived effects, such as a Bay Area food bank struggling with nearly $10-per-gallon diesel because its delivery trucks depend on affordable fuel. In coverage that accompanies headlines about California gas prices nearing all-time records and Bay Area prices jumping by about 70 cents in a month, he treats fuel costs as both a story about household budgets and a driver of business decisions.
His reporting on surging demand for electric vehicles comes with a business and consumer focus, described as “a closer look at the electrifying trend” and presented through his analysis on NBC Bay Area. He relates EV interest to sustained high gas prices and broader shifts in consumer sentiment, positioning electric cars as a financial and technological choice rather than a lifestyle accessory. Stories like his report on the U.S. ban on Polestar, a Chinese-owned EV maker, extend that approach into policy and trade, showing how regulatory decisions can reshape competition and limit choices for buyers even as automakers invest in new technology.
Cost of Living, Housing and Local Impact
Budman frequently uses business and economic stories to explain the pressures of living and working in the Bay Area.
In his inflation coverage, he presents data on price increases and hiring alongside interviews and scenes of residents cutting back or changing habits, making macroeconomic trends concrete. His housing market reporting highlights the rising share of home purchases by investors and the implications for affordability, noting that investor buying is at its highest level since 2000 in parts of the region.
He often brings institutions into these narratives to show how economic shifts play out beyond individual households. The story about high fuel prices hitting a local food bank illustrates how nonprofits face operational strain when energy costs rise, linking diesel prices to food delivery and community support.
Across business, auto and housing coverage, Budman’s through-line is clear: he treats technology and economic news as stories about people, tracing how decisions made by companies, investors and policymakers ripple through consumer choices, neighborhood stability and the regional safety net.
Beyond NBC Bay Area’s newscasts, Budman shares business and technology reporting on Bay Area radio and writes regularly for a national business publication and other online outlets, extending his analysis to audiences beyond local TV. His long tenure in business and technology journalism and recognition as an Emmy Award-winning reporter give his coverage authority, but the work itself is defined by clear explanations, concrete examples and consistent attention to how economic and technological change reaches ordinary people.
4 more automobile journalists.
Aarian Marshall
Aarian Marshall is a staff writer at WIRED who stands out for covering how cars, software, and policy collide. She writes on transportation systems and cities, from the auto industry to broader mobility systems. Before WIRED, she reported on cities and urban policy for The Atlantic’s CityLab. Her beat runs from electric vehicles, fuel prices, tariffs, and car-buying decisions to autonomous vehicles, robotaxis, and software-defined cars. She reports with a systems view, linking policy shifts, technical failures, and urban life to what happens on streets, in repair shops, and at the pump.
Abby Smith
Abby Smith’s most distinctive work combines motorsports coverage with live digital and radio reporting. She is Digital Director at KRDO13 and covers the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, including race updates, weather shifts, breaking developments and ways to follow the action. Her beat also includes automotive news, crime, public safety, politics, city government and community life. Notable work includes coverage of homicide arrests, a major drug bust, a presidential address about the war with Iran, a family’s effort to bring Stephen Hubbard home, a state governor candidate and a city security ordinance. She also reports on fitness, school spirit and station staff. Smith writes in a concise, factual style shaped by investigative documentary experience. She turns live events, official announcements and daily developments into clear coverage across digital and radio platforms.
Adele Peters
Adele Peters covers climate solutions and other structural problems as design and policy questions, focusing on what can work in practice. She is a senior writer at Fast Company, where she reports on energy, transportation, housing, materials, agriculture, corporate sustainability, and social impact. Her stories examine climate technologies, grid resilience, electric vehicles, renewable energy, modular construction, homelessness, affordable housing, compostable materials, regenerative agriculture, and ecosystem restoration. She looks at whether projects can scale, their real-world constraints, and their measurable effects. She interviews political and philanthropic leaders, startup founders, and climate tech entrepreneurs, anchoring stories in what is being built and tested. She has written more than 3,000 stories and contributed to Worldchanging: A User’s Guide for the 21st Century and State of Housing Design 2023.
Adrian Leung
Adrian Leung writes engineering-led coverage of Chinese electric vehicles and performance cars for CarNewsChina. He focuses on new energy vehicles, battery systems, powertrains, electric platforms, high-end domestic brands, and track-ready models, and he explains technical details in plain language for non-specialist readers. His reporting treats new models as hardware and systems stories, with precise figures on range, battery capacity, chassis layout, motor outputs, weight, and acceleration. He also covers the Chinese auto industry’s finances and technology roadmap, including sector profits, vehicle volumes, and solid-state battery timelines. His background in Electrical and Computer Engineering shows in the way he writes about vehicle electronics and battery management.