diff --git a/nx-dev/util-ai/package.json b/nx-dev/util-ai/package.json
index dd62437885..3ba6b2797a 100644
--- a/nx-dev/util-ai/package.json
+++ b/nx-dev/util-ai/package.json
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@nx/nx-dev/util-ai",
+  "private": true,
   "version": "0.0.1",
   "dependencies": {
     "@supabase/supabase-js": "^2.26.0",
diff --git a/nx.json b/nx.json
index cf7a475c3f..31fe57c0d0 100644
--- a/nx.json
+++ b/nx.json
@@ -139,18 +139,12 @@
     "e2e-ci--**/*": {
       "inputs": ["e2eInputs", "^production"],
       "parallelism": false,
-      "dependsOn": [
-        "nx:build-native",
-        "@nx/nx-source:populate-local-registry-storage"
-      ]
+      "dependsOn": ["@nx/nx-source:populate-local-registry-storage"]
     },
     "e2e-macos-ci--**/*": {
       "inputs": ["e2eInputs", "^production"],
       "parallelism": false,
-      "dependsOn": [
-        "nx:build-native",
-        "@nx/nx-source:populate-local-registry-storage"
-      ]
+      "dependsOn": ["@nx/nx-source:populate-local-registry-storage"]
     },
     "e2e-base": {
       "inputs": ["default", "^production"]
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 629e14dd30..65087545ed 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
   "homepage": "https://nx.dev",
   "private": true,
   "scripts": {
-    "build": "nx run-many --target build --parallel 8 --exclude nx-dev,typedoc-theme,tools-documentation-create-embeddings",
+    "build": "nx run-many --target build --parallel 8 --exclude nx-dev,typedoc-theme,tools-documentation-create-embeddings,nx-dev-util-ai",
     "commit": "czg",
     "check-commit": "node ./scripts/commit-lint.js",
     "check-format": "nx format:check --all",
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
     "check-lock-files": "node ./scripts/check-lock-files.js",
     "check-documentation-map": "ts-node -P ./scripts/tsconfig.scripts.json ./scripts/documentation/map-link-checker.ts",
     "check-codeowners": "ts-node -P ./scripts/tsconfig.scripts.json ./scripts/check-codeowners.ts",
-    "nx-release": "ts-node -P ./scripts/tsconfig.release.json ./scripts/nx-release",
+    "nx-release": "nx nx-release @nx/nx-source --parallel 8",
     "prepublishOnly": "node ./scripts/update-package-group.js",
     "local-registry": "nx local-registry @nx/nx-source",
     "documentation": "ts-node -P scripts/tsconfig.scripts.json ./scripts/documentation/generators/main.ts && pnpm check-documentation-map",
diff --git a/project.json b/project.json
index a191d8df29..b358d7a670 100644
--- a/project.json
+++ b/project.json
@@ -15,16 +15,26 @@
       "inputs": [
         {
           "input": "production",
-          "projects": [
-            "*",
-            "!nx-dev",
-            "!typedoc-theme",
-            "!tools-documentation-create-embeddings"
-          ]
+          "projects": ["tag:npm:public"]
+        }
+      ],
+      "dependsOn": [
+        {
+          "target": "build",
+          "projects": ["tag:npm:public"]
         }
       ],
       "command": "node ./scripts/local-registry/run-populate-storage.mjs",
       "outputs": ["{workspaceRoot}/build/local-registry/storage"]
+    },
+    "nx-release": {
+      "dependsOn": [
+        {
+          "target": "build",
+          "projects": ["tag:npm:public"]
+        }
+      ],
+      "command": "ts-node -P ./scripts/tsconfig.release.json ./scripts/nx-release"
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/scripts/nx-release.ts b/scripts/nx-release.ts
index 0f4a0027ce..71728df240 100755
--- a/scripts/nx-release.ts
+++ b/scripts/nx-release.ts
@@ -31,13 +31,6 @@ const VALID_AUTHORS_FOR_LATEST = [
     });
   }
 
-  const buildCommand = 'pnpm build';
-  console.log(`> ${buildCommand}`);
-  execSync(buildCommand, {
-    stdio: [0, 1, 2],
-    maxBuffer: LARGE_BUFFER,
-  });
-
   // Ensure all the native-packages directories are available at the top level of the build directory, enabling consistent packageRoot structure
   execSync(`pnpm nx copy-native-package-directories nx`, {
     stdio: isVerboseLogging ? [0, 1, 2] : 'ignore',
diff --git a/typedoc-theme/package.json b/typedoc-theme/package.json
index f9e039c51e..c7fd9ee8db 100644
--- a/typedoc-theme/package.json
+++ b/typedoc-theme/package.json
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@nx/typedoc-theme",
+  "private": true,
   "version": "0.0.1",
   "keywords": [
     "typedocplugin"