June 05, 2015
New deal for Microsoft and OpenAI: Reading between the lines of the secretive agreement
September 12, 2025
Sam Altman greets Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at OpenAI DevDay in San Francisco in 2023. (GeekWire File Photo / Todd Bishop) Microsoft and OpenAI signaled Thursday afternoon that they’ve agreed in principle on changing and continuing one of the defining partnerships of the AI era. Their...
Forget fusion (for a minute): This is where a clean energy expert is placing his near-term bets
September 12, 2025
A Seattle CityClub panel discusses clean energy at a Civic Cocktail event, from left: Lisa Stiffler, GeekWire; Gregg Small, Climate Solutions; Emily Moore, Sightline Institute; and Dan Schwartz, University of Washington. (Entwined Portraits Photo) There are all kinds of sexy, new...
Seattle unveils a ‘responsible AI plan’ to guide city’s tech use and boost the local economy
September 11, 2025
(GeekWire File Photo / Kurt Schlosser) Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell today announced a “responsible AI plan” that provides guidelines for the municipality’s use of artificial intelligence and its support of the AI tech sector as an economic driver. “We have some of the most remarkable AI assets...
University of Washington’s CoMotion tech transfer office lays off 3 employees
September 11, 2025
A wall in the new University of Washington CoMotion offices includes logos for some of the 285 companies that have spun out of the program. (GeekWire File Photo / Lisa Stiffler) CoMotion, the office that handles technology transfer at the University of Washington, has laid off three employees...
F5 paying $180M to acquire CalypsoAI to boost AI enterprise security offerings
September 11, 2025
The F5 Tower in downtown Seattle. (GeekWire File Photo / Kurt Schlosser) Seattle-based security and application delivery giant F5 will pay $180 million to acquire CalypsoAI, a startup founded in 2018 that helps companies secure their generative AI infrastructure. The deal is financed...
Microsoft exec hints at new Copilot features, saying AI will become more of a ‘team sport’
September 11, 2025
Jared Spataro, left, Microsoft’s chief marketing officer for AI at Work, speaks at the Microsoft Alumni Network Connect 2025 conference, in conversation with Bill Kirst, an AI ambassador and change manager for Adobe Technology Services. (GeekWire Photo / Maddie Stoll) REDMOND, Wash. — Microsoft...
Epstein ‘birthday book’ includes apparent letter from former Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold
September 11, 2025
Nathan Myhrvold, former Microsoft chief technology officer and co-founder of Intellectual Ventures. (GeekWire File Photo) A personal letter apparently written by former Microsoft tech leader Nathan Myhrvold was included in Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday book, made public this week by the House...
Spokane fintech startup Treasury4 acquires TreasuryGo
September 11, 2025
Treasury4, a Spokane, Wash.-based startup that sells software for treasury management, acquired TreasuryGo, a Seattle-area company offering similar financial technology tools. Terms were not disclosed. Founded in 2019, TreasuryGo has eight employees that will join Treasury4, which now employs...
World-first in Seattle: Train crosses floating bridge in a preview of future link between region’s tech hubs
September 10, 2025
A Link light rail train crosses the I-90 floating bridge over Lake Washington in Seattle under its own power during testing on Monday night. (Sound Transit Photo) Seattle’s reputation for innovation took a new track this week as a Link light rail vehicle crossed the I-90 floating bridge under...
UW computer science leaders push back on AI job fears: ‘The sky is not falling’
September 10, 2025
The 2025 Allen School graduating class inside Alaska Airlines Arena at the University of Washington. (Kerry Dahlen Photo via UW) Breathe easy, computer science majors. Everything’s going to be just fine. Leading professors at the University of Washington’s Paul G. Allen School of Computer...
Amazon reportedly developing augmented reality glasses for consumers and delivery drivers
September 10, 2025
(GeekWire Photo / Taylor Soper) Amazon is getting into the augmented reality glasses market, according to a report from The Information. The Seattle-based tech giant is reportedly developing its own smart glasses for both consumers and delivery drivers. The consumer glasses, set for...
Amazon’s Zoox reaches robotaxi milestone with launch of service in Las Vegas
September 10, 2025
(Zoox Photo) Zoox launched its fully autonomous ride-hailing services in Las Vegas on Wednesday, marking a milestone for the Amazon-owned company. It’s the first official city for Zoox, which joins Waymo and Tesla in the robotaxi race. Alphabet’s Waymo offers rides in San Francisco, Los...
Microsoft president calls on businesses and nonprofits to fight back against new taxes
September 10, 2025
Microsoft President Brad Smith (right) interviewed by Teresa Hutson, Microsoft executive and incoming board chair of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber, at the Chamber’s annual meeting in Seattle on Tuesday. (GeekWire Photos / Taylor Soper) Microsoft President Brad Smith continued...
Ex-Apple PhDs raise $10M, choose Seattle to build an AI foundation model that understands emotion
September 10, 2025
Nuance Labs co-founders Fangchang Ma (left) and Edward Zhang. (Nuance Labs Photo) I’ll give you some basic details about a new startup — and you can guess where the company is based. Founders are PhDs and former Apple engineers. Ambitious vision to build a foundation AI model. Just...
Waymo vehicles spotted on the road as testing starts in Seattle area
September 09, 2025
A Waymo vehicle spotted in downtown Bellevue, Wash., this week. (Photo courtesy of Andrea Talty) Waymo vehicles have hit the streets in the Seattle area. A week after announcing that the company was ready to begin testing and laying the groundwork for future autonomous taxi rides, Waymo’s...
A ‘righteous’ shift in patient power: At Microsoft alumni event, execs foresee AI reinventing healthcare
September 09, 2025
Mary Varghese Presti, corporate vice president, Microsoft Health & Life Sciences, with Truveta CEO Terry Myerson, former Microsoft executive. (GeekWire Photo / Maddie Stoll) REDMOND, Wash. — AI will transform healthcare in the next 1-2 years by connecting directly to personal medical records to...
Ad-services startup Xnurta opens new headquarters space in downtown Bellevue
September 09, 2025
Xnurta’s new headquarters space is in One Bellevue, an office tower in downtown Bellevue, Wash. (Xnurta Photo) Xnurta, a Bellevue, Wash.-based startup that uses AI to help brands and agencies manage their advertising on Amazon and other marketplaces, is opening a new U.S. headquarters space in...
Microsoft sets new RTO policy, requiring employees in the office 3 days per week
September 09, 2025
Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Wash. (GeekWire Photo) Microsoft is updating its flexible work expectations with a revised return-to-office policy that requires employees to be on-site three days per week — a shift that comes at a sensitive moment for the company’s workforce amid widespread...
Data be damned: Seahawks coach recounts ‘real-time’ call to ignore analytics model in close loss
September 09, 2025
Who needs analytics? Sometimes in football you have to trust your gut in real time, and Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald ran into that situation during the team’s season-opening loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. “It was a tough one,” Macdonald said during his radio show on...
Tech Moves: Seattle marketing vet lands at deepfake detection startup; Tanium names new CRO
September 09, 2025
Adriana Gil Miner. — Adriana Gil Miner, a longtime Seattle-area marketing leader, has joined Atlanta-based cybersecurity company Pindrop as its new chief marketing officer. Miner was previously CMO at marketing startup Iterable and has held leadership roles at multiple Seattle-area...
Microsoft inks AI infrastructure deal worth up to $19.4B with data center company Nebius
September 09, 2025
Nebius Group N.V., a spinoff of Russian tech giant Yandex that provides computing power, signed a deal with Microsoft worth up to $19.4 billion to provide data center capacity. Nebius will deliver dedicated GPU infrastructure capacity to Microsoft from its new data center in New Jersey...
Microsoft cuts 42 more jobs in Redmond, continuing layoffs amid AI spending boom
September 08, 2025
Microsoft has laid of more than 15,000 people in recent months. (GeekWire File Photo / Todd Bishop) Microsoft is laying off another 42 workers at its Redmond headquarters, according to a filing Monday, continuing a series of workforce reductions that have collectively impacted thousands of...
Tech Moves: PNNL names director; MicroVision taps CEO; PNW PR vet launches new firm; and more
September 08, 2025
Deborah (Deb) Gracio. (PNNL Photo) — Deborah (Deb) Gracio is taking over next month as director of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). Gracio has been with the U.S. Department of Energy lab for 35 years, currently in the role of associate laboratory director for national security....
Glowforge shuttering Seattle factory and laying off workers after moving some production back to U.S.
September 08, 2025
Glowforge co-founder and CEO Dan Shapiro, left, in the company’s Seattle production facility south of downtown in April. (GeekWire File Photo / Kurt Schlosser) Glowforge is closing its Seattle manufacturing facility and laying off workers, less than a year after moving production of some of its...
Find Ventures shuts down program that helped Washington startups land non-dilutive funding
September 08, 2025
Elizabeth Scallon, Find Ventures co-founder. (LinkedIn Photo) Find Ventures is closing due to funding challenges, six years after the startup program launched to support early stage tech companies and underrepresented entrepreneurs in Washington state. The organization was not able to secure...
Ex-Microsoft strategist running for Congress wants a ‘realistic’ approach to regulating and guiding AI policy
September 08, 2025
Illinois congressional candidate Nick Pyati. (Photo courtesy of Nick Pyati) A former Microsoft AI strategist is running for Congress in Illinois, positioning himself as a much-needed technology expert for a federal government he views as unprepared for the future. Nick Pyati is a Democratic...
For Pete’s sake, what does AI think of the play that haunts Seattle Seahawks fans — run or pass?
September 07, 2025
Former Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll on the sidelines in Seattle. Carroll is now coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. (GeekWire File Photo / Kevin Lisota) There’s been a lot of chatter heading into the new NFL season about how artificial intelligence will be an innovative new sideline tool for...
Week in Review: Most popular stories on GeekWire for the week of Aug. 31, 2025
September 07, 2025
Get caught up on the latest technology and startup news from the past week. Here are the most popular stories on GeekWire for the week of Aug. 31, 2025. Sign up to receive these updates every Sunday in your inbox by subscribing to our GeekWire Weekly email newsletter. Most popular stories on...
Elon Musk’s xAI plans Seattle hub with engineering jobs paying up to $440k
September 07, 2025
Elon Musk’s xAI startup is expanding to the Seattle region. (GeekWire File Photo / Kevin Lisota) Hold on to your engineers, Amazon and Microsoft — Elon Musk’s AI startup is coming to town. In a post this week on the billionaire’s X social media platform, xAI announced that it’s establishing a...
Podcast: OpenAI’s big Seattle deal; Steve Ballmer under NBA scrutiny; the irony in Google’s antitrust case
September 06, 2025
This week on the GeekWire Podcast: Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and his NBA team, the Clippers, face scrutiny over an alleged salary-cap dodge tied to star Kawhi Leonard. We unpack the report and Ballmer’s emphatic denial, while reflecting on his history in tech and sports. Also:...
Will the Mariners make the playoffs? Seattle data geek runs all the numbers with new website
September 06, 2025
Adam Jacobson, the data and baseball brains behind Grand Salami Time, a new website focused on Seattle Mariners analytics. (Photo courtesy of Adam Jacobson) There’s a lot of hope that goes into being a Seattle Mariners fan. Going deep on data and crunching numbers related to the team’s...
Seattle’s traveling math magician on why problem-solving matters more than ever in the age of AI
September 06, 2025
Jenny Quinn, executive director of the Seattle Universal Math Museum, shows off a solved Fibonacci sequence puzzle. (GeekWire Photo / Maddie Stoll) Jenny Quinn travels with math in her backpack. She unpacks it piece by piece: bright, 3D-printed shapes that click together into perfect...
Here’s what Bill Gates and Satya Nadella told President Trump at the White House tech summit
September 05, 2025
Microsoft’s Satya Nadella and Bill Gates were at the White House on Thursday night, part of a high-profile gathering of tech leaders who combined praise for President Donald Trump with promises to invest in U.S. infrastructure, manufacturing, and artificial intelligence. The discussion...
Geeks on deck: Startup leaders chat about favorite AI use cases, and their uniquely human strengths
September 05, 2025
Startup leaders at the GeekWire deck party in Seattle on Thursday, clockwise from top left: Augmodo founder and CEO Ross Finman; Wavely Diagnostics CEO Arna Ionescu Stoll; HouseWhisper CEO Luis Poggi; Loti co-founders Rebekah and Luke Arrigoni; and Caddi CEO Alejandro Castellano. (GeekWire Photos /...
Agtech startup launched by brothers in rural Washington raises cash to grow its irrigation tech
September 05, 2025
The FarmHQ team in 2024 with co-founders Connor Wallace (fourth from left) and David Wallace (center). (FarmHQ Photo) FarmHQ, an agtech startup based in rural Burlington, Wash., has raised $500,000 from investors to grow its irrigation technology business, bringing its total...
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