June 05, 2015
Tech Moves: Amazon AI leader joins Google Cloud; Meta taps new chief legal officer from Microsoft
January 06, 2026
Karthik Ramakrishnan. (LinkedIn Photo) — Karthik Ramakrishnan, who spent the past 14 years at Amazon where he helped develop the company’s AI strategy, has taken a VP role within the Data Cloud organization at Google Cloud. “We are entering the ‘Agentic Era,’ and my focus is helping this...
Ring around the parking lot: Amazon’s security company unveils a $5,000 surveillance trailer
January 06, 2026
A rendering of Ring’s new Mobile Security Trailer deployed in a parking lot, showing its solar-powered base and 360-degree camera designed to monitor commercial sites such as retail centers, construction projects, and outdoor events. (Ring Image) Amazon’s Ring is rolling out a $5,000...
Wi-Fi on the water: Washington State Ferries explores public internet service with new pilot program
January 06, 2026
(GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser) Washington State Ferries is taking an initial step toward offering public Wi-Fi service at ferry terminals and aboard vessels. The agency issued a report in December proposing a limited Wi-Fi pilot at a single terminal — Bremerton — and on a single vessel,...
Adaptive Biotechnologies spinout raising $15M to develop clinical sequencing tech
January 06, 2026
Digital Biotechnologies operates out of Adaptive Biotechnologies’ headquarters in Seattle. (Adaptive Photo) Digital Biotechnologies Inc., a new Seattle-based subsidiary of publicly traded immune medicine company Adaptive Biotechnologies, has raised fresh cash as part of an initial closing of a...
This plant-based chicken startup is bucking alt-protein trends with a new production milestone
January 06, 2026
The Rebellyous Foods team running the Mock 3 production system, from left: Founder and CEO Christie Lagally Bradburn, mechanical design engineer Cruz Philippe, and inventory and logistics manager David Miller. (Rebellyous Foods Photo) Seattle-based food technology startup Rebellyous Foods ended...
Microsoft acquires data analytics startup Osmos to fuel push into ‘autonomous data engineering’
January 06, 2026
Osmos CEO Kirat Pandya. (LinkedIn Photo) Microsoft announced Monday that it acquired Osmos, a Seattle startup that helps companies automate data engineering work. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Osmos’ team will join the engineering organization behind Microsoft Fabric, the tech giant’s...
Desney Tan leaves Microsoft after 21 years leading key research and healthcare initiatives
January 06, 2026
Desney Tan speaks at the 2018 GeekWire Summit. (GeekWire File Photo / Kevin Lisota) Desney Tan, who rose from researcher to corporate vice president and managing director of Microsoft Research, announced Monday that he’s leaving the company after 21 years. Tan became known in part for...
‘Designed to be addictive’: Study finds teens spend more than an hour per day on phones at school
January 05, 2026
(BigStock Photo) New research tied to the University of Washington School of Medicine adds to mounting concerns among educators about smartphone use in schools. U.S. adolescents between the ages of 13–18 spend more than one hour per day on phones during school hours, with “addictive” social...
Tech Moves: Amazon leader lands at Anthropic; Microsoft government affairs vet retires
January 05, 2026
Steven Maheshwary. (LinkedIn Photo) — Steven Maheshwary, a former generative AI leader at Amazon, is now a go-to-market lead in strategic partnerships at Anthropic, the AI giant behind Claude and backed by Amazon. On LinkedIn, Maheshwary described AI as “a catalyst for significant...
Amazon’s AI on the web, wrist, and phone: Tech giant chases consumer rivals with latest moves
January 05, 2026
Amazon says expanding Alexa further beyond the home will be a big focus in 2026. (Amazon Image) Amazon is expanding its consumer AI ecosystem beyond the smart speaker — bringing Alexa+ to the web, revamping its mobile app, and offering its first update on Bee since acquiring the wearable AI...
Amazon tees up new private label golf balls — here’s how they stack up against Titleist and Taylormade
January 04, 2026
Evergreen Golf Club instructor Austin Nutt takes a swing as he tries out Amazon’s new Amazon Basics golf balls that recently debuted on the company’s online marketplace. (GeekWire Photos / Taylor Soper) Amazon is taking a private-label swing on the golf course. The online retail giant started...
Week in Review: Most popular stories on GeekWire for the week of Dec. 28, 2025
January 04, 2026
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 Dec. 28, 2025. Sign up to receive these updates every Sunday in your inbox by subscribing to our GeekWire Weekly email newsletter. Most popular stories on...
GeekWire Podcast: Silver lining for Seattle in DJI ban, and a verdict on the 2007 Camry tech retrofit
January 03, 2026
Photo by Karl Greif on Unsplash This week on the GeekWire Podcast: The FCC delivered a massive shakeup to the drone industry right before the holidays, adding foreign-made drones (most notably from industry giant DJI) to its “Covered List” of national security threats. While the move...
Year in Space: Get ready for moon missions to take center stage in 2026
December 31, 2025
An artist’s conception shows the Orion spacecraft’s main engine firing during a lunar flyby, surrounded by eight auxiliary engines built by L3Harris’ Aerojet Redmond facility. (NASA Illustration) Lunar missions once felt like the domain of history books rather than current events, but an...
Is there an AI bubble? Investors sound off on risks and opportunities for tech startups in 2026
December 31, 2025
From top left, clockwise: Sheila Gulati, Cameron Borumand, Annie Luchsinger, Chris DeVore, Sabrina Albers (Wu), and Andy Liu. AI has attracted unprecedented levels of capital and attention. And questions are growing about the so-called AI bubble: Are too many startups chasing the same ideas? Are...
Coinme to resume WA state operations after reaching interim deal with regulators
December 31, 2025
Seattle cryptocurrency company Coinme said it reached an agreement with Washington state regulators to pause the temporary cease-and-desist order issued against it last month, clearing the way for the company to resume operations in the state. The Washington State Department of Financial...
The mother of all treatments: Mitera lands $1.75M to unlock the immune-tolerance secrets of pregnancy
December 30, 2025
Kevin Chow, co-founder, CEO and president of Mitera Biosciences. (Mitera Photo) Mitera Biosciences is taking a cue from one of nature’s most effective biological tricks: how a mother’s body avoids rejecting a fetus. The Bellevue, Wash.-based startup is emerging from stealth with $1.75 million...
How Microsoft is betting on AI agents in Windows, dusting off a winning playbook from the past
December 30, 2025
The cover of Microsoft’s 1990 annual report, showing Microsoft Word for Windows 3.0, reflected the company’s confidence as Windows was emerging as a true platform. [Editor’s Note: Agents of Transformation is an independent GeekWire series and 2026 event, underwritten by Accenture, exploring the...
Ex-Amazon AI engineer bets six figures of his own money to disrupt drug discovery
December 30, 2025
Rhizome Research team CEO and co-founder Xhuliano Brace. (Rhizome Photo) Xhuliano Brace quickly realized that venture capitalists weren’t going to write big checks for two under-30 founders pursuing what he describes as a “contrarian” approach to using AI to design new drugs. So he’s making...
New CEO leading Rad Power Bikes in the midst of e-bike seller’s bankruptcy proceedings
December 29, 2025
Angelina Smith. (LinkedIn Photo) Rad Power Bikes has a new CEO as the Seattle-based electric bike manufacturer navigates Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. Angelina “Angy” Smith, who has been chief financial officer at the company since April, assumed the leadership position earlier this...
Joe Nguyen named Seattle Chamber president and CEO after leaving Washington state Commerce role
December 29, 2025
Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Joe Nguyen. (Legislative Support Services Photo) Joe Nguyen is the new president and chief executive officer of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, the organization announced Monday. Less than a week after revealing that he...
Startup Radar: Meet four companies tackling insurance, hospitals, construction, and AI models
December 29, 2025
Clockwise from top left: Amera CEO Deep Kapur; Clara CEO Melinda Yormick; Oikyo CEO Saptak Sen; and Specbook AI CEO Gordon Hempton. Founders in the Seattle area are busy building software for health insurance, AI model tuning, construction processes, and hospital operations. Our latest...
‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ — but a lousy edit — if you click wrong version of holiday classic on Amazon
December 29, 2025
One of the versions of “It’s a Wonderful Life” on Amazon Prime Video. (Prime Video screen shot) Holiday cheers turned to jeers directed at Amazon last week as some film fans were surprised by a gutted version of the Christmas classic “It’s a Wonderful Life” on Prime Video. The 1946 film stars...
Seattle-area tech company sues New York acquisition advisor, alleging botched $5.2M deal
December 29, 2025
A Kirkland, Wash.-based tech company is suing its New York-based acquisition advisor, alleging it was pushed into a $5.2 million acquisition that was supposed to generate $1 million annually but has instead required ongoing cash infusions just to stay afloat. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of...
Week in Review: Most popular stories on GeekWire for the week of Dec. 21, 2025
December 28, 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 Dec. 21, 2025. Sign up to receive these updates every Sunday in your inbox by subscribing to our GeekWire Weekly email newsletter. Most popular stories on...
The stories that defined 2025: AI dreams, brutal realities, and Seattle tech at a turning point
December 27, 2025
An illustration by ChatGPT based on its interpretation of our year-end GeekWire Podcast discussion. The past year may go down as one of the most consequential in technology history, in both the Seattle tech community and the world. But in some ways, it’s not without precedent. As we sat down...
Blue Origin hires United Launch Alliance CEO Tory Bruno to head its national security group
December 27, 2025
United Launch Alliance CEO Tory Bruno, shown here at the Space Symposium in 2016, is joining Blue Origin. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle) Eleven years after United Launch Alliance CEO Tory Bruno partnered with Blue Origin to create a new rocket engine, he’s joining Jeff Bezos’ space venture as the...
Washington state Commerce chief Joe Nguyen is leaving, reportedly to lead Seattle Metro Chamber
December 26, 2025
Commerce Director Joe Nguyen speaks at the Tech Alliance State of Technology Luncheon in Seattle. (GeekWire File Photo / Todd Bishop) This story first appeared in the Washington State Standard. Joe Nguyen is stepping down as director of Washington state’s Department of Commerce and is...
Microsoft CTO to AI startups: Stop waiting for better models and ‘do the damned experiments’
December 26, 2025
Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott has some advice for AI startups waiting for the next breakthrough model: the technology can already do far more than most people are getting out of it, so stop waiting and start building. Also: real customer traction still matters more than online...
Is Stevens Pass open? Snowboarding software engineer builds simple site to answer big winter question
December 24, 2025
Stevens Pass ski resort has been unable to open due to poor weather and road conditions. (GeekWire File Photo / Kurt Schlosser) Anxious skiers and snowboarders refreshing social media and other websites for updates on Washington’s Stevens Pass have a new tool to track the resort’s delayed...
Seahawks test tactile device from Seattle startup that helps vision-impaired fans follow game action
December 24, 2025
A fan uses a OneCourt device while watching the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field. (Seahawks Photo) The Seattle Seahawks gave blind and low-vision fans a new way to follow game action this season as one of several teams testing a device from Seattle startup OneCourt. OneCourt’s laptop device...
Drone capital of the world? Seattle could be a big winner in the U.S. crackdown on DJI and others
December 24, 2025
Brinc’s Responder drone launches from its charging station. The Seattle company stands to benefit as new FCC restrictions limit Chinese drone makers. (Brinc Photo) New federal restrictions on foreign-made drones, announced this week, promise to boost Washington state as a hub for domestic drone...
Seattle startup Ambassador raises $7M to help companies analyze customer feedback with help from AI
December 24, 2025
Ambassador CEO Geoff McDonald. (Ambassador Photo) Seattle startup Ambassador raised $7 million to fuel growth of its software that helps companies track and act on customer feedback. Marketing and revenue teams use Ambassador to manage customer referrals, surveys, loyalty programs, email...
Cloud and AI infrastructure company Crusoe opens new office space in downtown Bellevue
December 23, 2025
Inside Crusoe’s offices in the Key Center building in Bellevue, Wash. (Crusoe Photo) Crusoe, the Denver-based cloud and AI infrastructure company, opened a new office in downtown Bellevue, Wash. The 7,400-square-foot space in the Key Center building at 601 108th Ave. NE is currently home to...
Google looks to buy its way out of the AI power crunch with $4.75B Intersect acquisition
December 23, 2025
GeekWire File Photo Google parent Alphabet’s $4.75 billion deal to acquire Intersect, a clean energy developer and data center infrastructure company, represents a major exit for a company that was headquartered for many years in the Pacific Northwest. More broadly for the industry, the deal...
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