Berkeley Commons, while it was under construction along Aquatic Park in 2024. File photo: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside/CatchLight Local

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After failing to lease out Berkeley Commons — the two gleaming lab buildings that went up a couple years ago along Aquatic Park, intended as a life sciences campus — the owners are making a pivot and marketing the buildings to the AI industry. The move comes as the artificial intelligence giant OpenAI is expanding into the East Bay with an office lease in Richmond. (SF Business Times)

UC Berkeley professor Satish Rao — who teaches mathematics, probability and pedagogy in the electrical engineering and computer sciences department — is running for governor of California. (Daily Cal)

A driver struck a pedestrian in her 80s in North Berkeley, on Hearst Avenue at Grant Street, and seriously injured her. (Berkeley Scanner)

A “suspicious suitcase” that briefly caused a street to be blocked off in North Berkeley turned out to be a smoke alarm. (Berkeley Scanner)

UC Regent Jay Sures went on Fox News to denounce a UC Berkeley student group’s decision to host Israa Jaabis, a pro-Palestinian activist previously convicted in an Israeli car bombing, in a virtual livestream. (Daily Cal)

Berkeley High students had a 23% acceptance rate at UC Berkeley in 2025-26, compared with the average acceptance rate for in-state applicants of 10%. (SF Chronicle)

A Lego Campanile is in the works. (Daily Cal)

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Berkeleyside is Berkeley, California’s independently-owned local news site. Learn more about the Berkeleyside team. Questions? Email editors@berkeleyside.org.
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