June 29, 2024
Column: Bezos lost in PR space as Blue Origin’s all-female launch backfires
April 18, 2025
Billionaire Jeff Bezos takes questions in front of Blue Origin’s mock-up for the New Shepard spaceship’s crew capsule in 2017. (GeekWire File Photo / Kevin Lisota) Editor’s note: This guest post is written by Aaron Cohen, a longtime PR and brand executive. Cohen originally wrote about this topic...
Interlune wins $4.8M grant for Texas center focusing on simulated moon dirt
April 18, 2025
An artist’s conception shows Interlune’s robotic regolith harvester on the moon. (Interlune Illustration) Seattle-based Interlune has won a grant of up to $4.84 million from the Texas Space Commission to open a center of excellence at NASA’s Johnson Space Center that would focus on simulated...
Startup radar: Early stage companies use AI to boost coaching, data analysis, healthcare, and more
April 18, 2025
From top left, clockwise: Trellis Health CEO Estelle Giraud, SelfFull CEO Anya Smith; Eve Wealth CEO Sadie Raney; Tursio CEO Alekh Jindal; and Omnivista CEO Anand Tyagi. From AI to crypto, to voice agents and pregnancy apps — our latest startup radar features another intriguing batch of early...
Seattle hardware startup Mason navigates tariff uncertainty with ‘elastic’ supply chain strategy
April 17, 2025
Mason CEO Jim XIao. (LinkedIn Photo) Seattle startup Mason is seeing impacts from the tariff chaos on multiple levels. The company, which sells customized mobile devices for businesses with frontline workers, is one of many hardware makers rethinking their overseas manufacturing...
Tech Moves: Smartsheet names chief product officer; Meta vet joins Tech Alliance; and more
April 17, 2025
Pratima Arora. (Smartsheet Photo) — Pratima Arora has been named chief product officer at Smartsheet, a new senior executive role at the Bellevue, Wash.-based enterprise software giant. A longtime product and technology leader, Arora will be responsible for Smartsheet’s product management,...
From earthworms to heat shields: Trailblazing STEM educator teaches outside the textbook
April 17, 2025
Science teacher Scott McComb with students at Raisbeck Aviation High School. (Raisbeck Aviation Photo) Of all their inquiries, there’s one question the students at Raisbeck Aviation High School never ask science teacher Scott McComb. And that is, “When am I going to use this in real...
Analysis: Seattle crosswalk hack more mischievous than malicious — but not entirely harmless
April 17, 2025
An audio-enabled crosswalk button in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood was altered to sound like Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. (GeekWire Photo / Taylor Soper) The audio enhancement feature at public crosswalks is normally meant to assist the visually impaired by providing notifications to...
Portland startup Graze raises $1M to help people build Bluesky feeds
April 16, 2025
Graze co-founders Peat Bakke (left) and Devin Gaffney. (Graze Photo) Graze, a Portland startup looking to capitalize on the growth of Bluesky, raised $1 million in a pre-seed round led by Betaworks and Salesforce Ventures. Founded less than a year ago, Graze offers tools to help Bluesky...
Seattle crosswalk buttons hacked to sound like Jeff Bezos; SDOT exploring ‘stronger security measures’
April 16, 2025
An audio-enabled crosswalk button in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood that’s been altered to sound like Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is speaking. (GeekWire Photo / Taylor Soper) Editor’s note: This story was updated with comment from the Seattle Department of Transportation. Don’t cross...
TrueMedia is back: Deepfake detection tool revived, now managed by Georgetown University
April 16, 2025
(TrueMedia.org Image) TrueMedia.org, the nonprofit founded in Seattle that built AI tools to identify and combat deepfakes, is being revived. Researchers at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy will take over development of TrueMedia’s technology, according to an...
Suffering from ‘Tesla Regret Syndrome’? Spoof ad from Seattle group is latest dig at Elon Musk
April 16, 2025
A Seattle-based activist group that has been taking part in protests aimed at Elon Musk and Tesla showrooms in the city has produced a new spoof commercial to drive home how it thinks owners of the electric vehicles might be feeling these days. Troublemakers calls the condition “Tesla...
Geeks Give Back: These community builders help strengthen Seattle’s tech ecosystem
April 16, 2025
The 2025 GeekWire Awards Geeks Give Back honorees, from left: Chaitra Vedullapalli, Aviel Ginzburg and Emer Dooley. Being part of a community is what the GeekWire Awards are all about — the chance to come together to celebrate Pacific Northwest tech innovators and entrepreneurs and their...
Business communications company Aircall opens Seattle-area office
April 16, 2025
Aircall CEO Scott Chancellor. (Aircall Photo) Aircall has opened its newest office in Bellevue, Wash., marking the company’s ninth global location as it looks to boost its AI-related innovation. The enterprise communications company established the office in downtown Bellevue earlier this year...
Climate-focused venture firm Stepchange raises $7M to back startups with ‘immediate’ impact
April 16, 2025
Stepchange co-founders Anay Shah, left, and Ben Eidelson. (Stepchange Photo) Seattle-based venture firm Stepchange announced that it closed its first fund, raising $7 million to invest in climate-focused startups. The fund is targeting four sectors: consumer and commercial transportation; the...
Washington state lawmakers propose capital gains tax increase
April 15, 2025
(Bigstock Photo) A new bill proposal would increase Washington’s capital gains tax by adding a 2.9% surtax on annual investment profits over $1 million, increasing the effective rate for high earners. The legislation is part of various new tax increase proposals meant to address the state’s...
Microsoft pledges $1M to new PAC in latest push against proposed taxes in Washington state
April 15, 2025
The Microsoft campus in Redmond, Wash. (GeekWire File Photo / Todd Bishop) Microsoft is intensifying its opposition to proposed taxes in Washington state with additional funding. The Redmond, Wash.-based tech giant has pledged $1 million to a new PAC called Washington Coalition for...
Filing: Seattle VC firm Ascend raising third fund to back more startups in Seattle and beyond
April 15, 2025
Ascend founder Kirby Winfield. (GeekWire File Photo / Taylor Soper) Seattle venture capital firm Ascend is raising its third fund, according to new SEC filings made public Tuesday. Ascend founder Kirby Winfield declined to comment. Ascend, which backs early stage tech startups primarily...
Detecting deepfakes: Seattle startup Loti lands $16.2M to give celebs, consumers digital protection
April 15, 2025
Loti CEO Luke Arrigoni. (Loti Photo) Public figures see both opportunity and threats from generative AI. Seattle startup Loti is helping them navigate both. The company on Tuesday announced a $16.2 million Series A round led by Khosla Ventures. Loti helps celebrities, politicians, and...
Seattle startup Potato lands $4.5M to automate science experiments using AI assistants and robots
April 15, 2025
Potato co-founders Nick Edwards, left, and Ryan Kosai. (Potato Photo) With $4.5 million in fresh funding, Seattle-area startup Potato is sprouting big plans to disrupt scientific research with a fully automated experimental process. The 2-year-old company has released a platform that serves...
AI for greenhouses: Seattle startup IUNU raises $20M for tech that monitors plants
April 15, 2025
Cameras mounted on IUNU’s Trolley Mast Imaging System capture daily images inside a greenhouse where tomatoes are being grown. (IUNU Photo) IUNU, a Seattle startup using AI and machine vision to monitor greenhouse efficiency, raised $20 million in new funding, the company announced...
Tableau’s new AI agents aim to bridge a data confidence gap
April 15, 2025
(Tableau Image) A new Salesforce survey released today reveals that most U.S. business leaders feel increased pressure to back their arguments with data — but their trust in that very data has declined dramatically since 2023. Salesforce is using the survey findings to pitch...
This Seattle startup uses AI to help mortgage lenders compete with industry giants
April 15, 2025
Some of the Friday Harbor team, from left: Montana Gau, Ciro Chang, Dan Goldman, Jesse Collins, Paddy Quinn, and Theo Ellis. (Friday Harbor Photo) Mortgage giants such as Rocket and United Wholesale Mortgage have thousands of employees and technical staff. Seattle startup Friday...
Melinda French Gates’ new book draws lessons from loss, and looks to what’s next
April 15, 2025
Melinda French Gates’ new book, “The Next Day,” describes major challenges the philanthropist has confronted over the course of six decades. (Photo of Gates by Jason Bell) Yes, Melinda French Gates has an estimated net worth of nearly $30 billion, runs an organization with ambitious goals to...
CoStar CEO says Zillow has ‘overplayed its hand’ in fight over access to real estate listings
April 14, 2025
CoStar Group CEO Andy Florance. (CoStar Photo) This story originally appeared on Real Estate News. CoStar CEO Andy Florance says Zillow’s move to ban certain private listings is self-serving and that the leading home search site has “overplayed its hand.” The comments came in a letter sent...
Tech Moves: T-Mobile names chief accounting officer; Plug and Play picks leaders; and more
April 14, 2025
T-Mobile’s Daniel Drobac. (LinkedIn Photo) — Daniel Drobac has been promoted to chief accounting officer at T-Mobile, effective May 1, according to a regulatory filing. Drobac has been with the Bellevue, Wash.-based wireless carrier for almost eight years, serving as vice president, accounting...
Overland AI unveils self-driving vehicle for military that goes 35 MPH and navigates off-road terrain
April 14, 2025
(Overland AI) Seattle startup Overland AI debuted its own autonomous tactical vehicle designed to navigate off-road terrain for military use. The vehicle, dubbed “ULTRA,” reaches a top speed of 35 MPH and has a 1,000-pound payload capacity. It can travel for 100 miles. The vehicle is built...
Seattle startup Juicer Energy, led by ex-OfferUp CEO, aims to boost EV charging infrastructure
April 14, 2025
Juicer installs EV charging infrastructure at apartment buildings, hotels, and businesses. (Juicer Photo) Electricity is all around us. So why aren’t there enough places to charge electric vehicles? It’s a question Nick Huzar asked himself after the OfferUp co-founder and former CEO was...
GeekWire Awards: Individual tickets now on sale for annual event honoring best in Pacific NW tech
April 14, 2025
Inside the 2024 GeekWire Awards at Showbox Sodo. (GeekWire File Photo / Kevin Lisota) Don’t miss out on celebrating the best in Pacific Northwest tech — individual tickets for the upcoming GeekWire Awards are now on sale. Grab a seat here! Our annual celebration of the leading...
Blue Origin’s all-female space mission sends celebrities and scientists on a suborbital trip
April 14, 2025
Jeff Bezos extends his arms to hug his fiancee, Lauren Sanchez, at the end of an all-female suborbital spaceflight, with Blue Origin trainer Sarah Knights standing by. (Blue Origin via YouTube) Six women rode Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket ship today on a short suborbital space trip that was...
The future of media is intelligent and interactive: How AI will change how we consume content
April 14, 2025
Linkedin co-founder Reid Hoffman last year created an AI version of himself and hosted a Q&A conversation with “REID AI.” (Screenshot via YouTube) Editor’s note: This is a guest post written by Oren Etzioni, former CEO of the Allen Institute for AI, co-founder of Seattle startup Vercept, and...
Week in Review: Most popular stories on GeekWire for the week of April 6, 2025
April 13, 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 April 6, 2025. Sign up to receive these updates every Sunday in your inbox by subscribing to our GeekWire Weekly email newsletter. Most popular stories on...
Individualist Era: The newest powerbroker in workplace technology is … you
April 12, 2025
Brooke Shepard. Editor’s note: This guest post is written by Brooke Shepard, a former marketing executive at Salesforce and Tableau. This might feel like another article about AI, but really it’s about independence, work, and tacos. I should probably start with tacos. They have been on my...
Former Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold on Bill Gates, AI buzz, and his 2,500-page pastry book
April 12, 2025
Nathan Myhrvold, CEO of Intellectual Ventures and former Microsoft CTO, speaks at GeekWire’s Microsoft@50 event at Town Hall Seattle. (GeekWire Photo / Kevin Lisota) This week on the GeekWire Podcast, we’re featuring highlights from a live interview with Nathan Myhrvold, CEO of Intellectual...
Microsoft and B.C. startup ink massive carbon removal deal targeting pulp and paper mills
April 11, 2025
Microsoft’s east campus in Redmond, Wash. (GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser) Microsoft and CO280, a Vancouver, B.C.-based startup, today announced a 12-year deal to capture and store carbon emitted from a U.S. pulp and paper mill. The tech company will pay for the removal of 3.685 million metric...
Dropzone unveils AI ‘security mentor’ browser extension that supports cybersecurity analysts
April 11, 2025
Dropzone AI CEO Edward Wu. (Dropzone Photo) Seattle-based cybersecurity startup Dropzone AI just launched a new free tool that aims to give security analysts an AI co-worker in their browser. The tool, called “Coach,” analyzes alerts from applications such as CrowdStrike and offers real-time...
