June 29, 2024
Microsoft shareholders reject call to invest in Bitcoin, but company doesn’t entirely rule it out
December 10, 2024
Amy Hood, Microsoft’s chief financial officer, left, with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella during the company’s virtual shareholder meeting on Tuesday morning. (Screenshot via webcast) Microsoft shareholders turned down a proposal calling on the company to consider diversifying its investments by...
Former Amazon leader’s supply chain tech startup Auger names 11 execs after $100M Series A round
December 10, 2024
Former Amazon and Flexport executive Dave Clark is the founder and CEO of Auger, a new supply chain technology startup. (Auger Photo) Dave Clark isn’t fooling around. Auger, the supply chain technology startup founded by the former Amazon Worldwide Consumer CEO, named its initial 11-person...
Microsoft shareholders reject proposals to further study AI’s risks to its business
December 10, 2024
L-R: Microsoft CFO Amy Hood, CEO Satya Nadella, President and Vice Chair Brad Smith and VP of Investor Relations Brett Iversen field questions at the company’s virtual annual meeting. (Screenshot via webcast). Microsoft investors turned down six shareholder proposals at its annual meeting...
Last chance for GeekWire Gala tickets — join us this week at Seattle’s geekiest holiday party
December 10, 2024
The scene from a past GeekWire Gala in downtown Seattle. (GeekWire File Photo) Like a seasoned holiday shopper, you’ve proven you’re a top-notch procrastinator. But time’s up, and now you need to grab tickets to the GeekWire Gala, our annual holiday extravaganza taking place this Thursday in...
Tech Moves: Microsoft vet joins Expedia as new product chief; Avanade names president
December 10, 2024
Shilpa Ranganathan. (Expedia Group Photo) Shilpa Ranganathan is back at Expedia Group as its new chief product officer. Ranganathan spent the past 16 years at Microsoft, most recently as a corporate vice president on the senior leadership team of Windows. Her first stint at Expedia was...
Protect produce: New startup in Seattle aims to make food last longer with high-tech fridge
December 10, 2024
Tomorrow says its technology can make produce, such as lettuce, last longer in the fridge. (Tomorrow Photo) Buying fresh produce and cooking at home can be a healthy proposition, but storing food in the fridge can lead to waste when the berries go bad and cucumbers lose their crunch. Now a...
Vacasa founder raises $10.1M for new startup that targets vacation rental property owners
December 10, 2024
Fairly co-founders, from left: Subechya Person, Eric Breon, and Jeff Flitton. (Fairly Photo) The founder and former CEO of Vacasa is leading a new, Portland, Ore.-based vacation rental platform called Fairly, which emerged from stealth mode Tuesday with $10.1 million in pre-seed funding. CEO...
Amazon Autos is up and running as e-commerce giant aims to simplify car-buying experience
December 10, 2024
Amazon Autos allows customers to complete an entire car-buying transaction on Amazon’s website and then pick up the vehicle from a local dealership. (Amazon Photo) Amazon is entering the automotive market with the public beta launch Tuesday of Amazon Autos, a service that allows customers in 48...
For Nobel Prize winner David Baker, it’s back to the lab as protein pioneer helps launch more startups
December 09, 2024
David Baker, head of the Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington. (UW Photo) Life is a little different for these days for David Baker, given that he won a share of this year’s Nobel Prize in chemistry. Baker will accept the Nobel Prize award in Stockholm, Sweden on...
Industrious to open new co-working space in Seattle near tech-heavy South Lake Union
December 09, 2024
Dexter Landing will be home to a new Industrious co-working space. (Industrious Photo) Co-working company Industrious is opening its fifth Seattle-area location with a space in Dexter Landing, an office development near the South Lake Union neighborhood. Located at 1100 Dexter Ave. N.,...
Microsoft shares new data center design featuring a closed-loop water system for cooling
December 09, 2024
Illustration of the Microsoft’s closed-loop system for future data centers that will recycle water for cooling its computing operations. (Microsoft Image) Microsoft revealed details of new approach to cooling data centers that won’t lose water to evaporation. The strategy will...
Uncommon Thinkers: Hanna Hajishirzi’s open approach to AI challenges the industry’s norms
December 09, 2024
Hanna Hajishirzi in her office at the Allen Institute for AI in Seattle. (GeekWire Photo / Todd Bishop) Editor’s note: This series profiles five of the Seattle region’s “Uncommon Thinkers”: inventors, scientists, technologists and entrepreneurs transforming industries and driving positive change...
Hidden AI revolution: Why leaders must address covert adoption of new tech
December 08, 2024
Mark Briggs. As a parent of young teens during the emergence of social media and smartphones in the early 2010s, I failed to fully grasp the impact of this “cool new tech” or have meaningful discussions with my kids about it. Setting limits on screen time and minimum ages for smartphones and...
Week in Review: Most popular stories on GeekWire for the week of Dec. 1, 2024
December 08, 2024
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. 1, 2024. 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: Amazon Nova, the future of AI, and more from the AWS re:Invent show floor
December 07, 2024
AWS re:Invent brought 60,000 people to Las Vegas this week. (GeekWire Photo / Todd Bishop) LAS VEGAS — Amazon’s artificial intelligence strategy came into focus this week with the unveiling of Amazon Nova, its new family of homegrown AI models, a new Amazon Bedrock marketplace, and more news...
Seattle-area fintech startup Finagraph merges with LeaseCrunch
December 06, 2024
Finagraph, a Bellevue, Wash.-based startup that develops financial data analysis software, merged with LeaseCrunch, a Milwaukee, Wi.-based company that sells accounting software. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Founded in 2010, Finagraph automates financial data collection and analysis...
Ask the Expert: What are my career options at a slow-growing software-as-a-service company?
December 06, 2024
Hello, GeekWire readers. I’m excited to announce that we’re launching a new business advice column, featuring different experts from the Pacific Northwest tech community, answering questions about an array of topics. It’s inspired by common questions from tech workers and entrepreneurs. We’ll be...
Unknown system outage impacts vehicle licensing offices across Washington state
December 05, 2024
A sign notifying customers of a statewide outage at an auto licensing facility in Seattle on Thursday. (GeekWire Photo / Kevin Lisota) Update, 4:28 p.m. PT: The issue has been resolved and vehicle licensing offices are up and running again. The problem was related to a server issue that only...
Smartsheet revenue up 17% to $286.9M in Q3 as enterprise giant preps to go private
December 05, 2024
Smartsheet CEO Mark Mader at the company’s ENGAGE customer conference in September 2023. (Smartsheet Photo) Smartsheet reported its third quarter earnings, with revenue rising 17% to $286.9 million and GAAP net income of $1.3 million, up from a $32.4 million loss in the year-ago period....
First Mode explores strategic alternatives as Anglo American stops funding clean energy company
December 05, 2024
First Mode CEO Julian Soles speaks at the February opening of a Seattle factory. (First Mode Photo) First Mode, a Seattle clean tech company aiming to reduce carbon emissions for mining trucks and other heavyweight vehicles, is in asset acquisition talks after a decision by its majority...
Now here’s a PC name for a snowplow in a tech town: Ctrl + Salt + Delete
December 05, 2024
Microsoft’s hometown is now home to an especially geeky snowplow. Residents of Redmond, Wash., chose “Ctrl + Salt + Delete” as the runaway favorite among monikers submitted for its fleet of five plows. With the tech giant’s headquarters occupying some of the 152 miles of Redmond roads...
Microsoft releases preview of voice-enabled ‘Copilot Vision’ AI browsing companion for Edge
December 05, 2024
A Copilot sign on Microsoft’s Redmond campus. (GeekWire Photo / Todd Bishop) A new opt-in Microsoft Edge feature, released in limited preview today, augments the browsing experience with AI that “sees” the same page the user is viewing, interacting via voice to offer thoughts and...
Redmond, Wash., police partnering with Brinc on drone tech as part of first responder program
December 05, 2024
A drone over the city of Redmond, Wash., where the police department uses the technology to aid first responders. (Redmond PD Photo) The Redmond (Wash.) Police Dept. is partnering with Seattle-based drone provider Brinc and California-based Skydio as part of the department’s Drones as First...
Uncommon Thinkers: TerraPower Isotopes’ Chris Dunckley spearheads pursuit of ultra-rare element
December 05, 2024
Chris Dunckley (left), TerraPower Isotopes’ director of chemistry and engineering, with senior radiochemist Alexia Cosby in the startup’s Everett, Wash., lab. (TerraPower Photo) Editor’s note: This series profiles five of the Seattle region’s “Uncommon Thinkers”: inventors, scientists,...
Tech Moves: F5 and Esper hire marketing leaders; Amperity adds chief revenue officer
December 05, 2024
John Maddison, chief product marketing and technology alliances officer for F5. (F5 Photo) — Seattle-based networking and security giant F5 hired John Maddison as chief product marketing and technology alliances officer. Maddison was previously at California-based computer and network security...
Inflection, a Seattle startup that automates marketing for B2B companies, raises $7.6M
December 05, 2024
Aaron Bird. Seattle-based startup Inflection confirmed that it raised $7.6 million in new funding from existing investors to supercharge its software that helps B2B companies automate marketing tasks. GeekWire previously reported on the investment in June. Founded in 2021, Inflection aims...
A taste of space on Earth: Astronaut training startup raises $4M to market way-out experiences
December 05, 2024
Brienna Rommes, Orbite’s chief astronaut trainer, guides participants in the Astronaut Orientation program through a presentation on spaceflight. (Photo Courtesy of Magali Maricot) Seattle-based Orbite says that it’s completed a $4 million funding round and sealed a strategic deal with Accor,...
Jeff Bezos is ‘very optimistic’ about Trump — and that Blue Origin will be bigger than Amazon
December 04, 2024
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said he was “very optimistic” about President-elect Donald Trump’s return to office, saying that he thinks Trump is “calmer” and “more confident and more settled” this time around. In a rare and lengthy interview Wednesday at The New York Times’ DealBook Summit,...
Amazon chipping in $10M in tips for customers who thank their delivery drivers during the holidays
December 04, 2024
(Amazon Photo) The season of giving should also be a season of thanking — especially for the delivery drivers making sure packages get to their destinations on time. Amazon is once again encouraging customers to thank its drivers with a U.S. holiday promotion that includes a $5 tip from the...
Amazon expands Bedrock with new AI model marketplace, a day after unveiling its own ‘Nova’
December 04, 2024
Swami Sivasubramanian, Amazon VP of AI and Data, at AWS re:Invent. (GeekWire Photo / Todd Bishop) LAS VEGAS — Unveiling Amazon’s homegrown Nova artificial intelligence models yesterday, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy made a point of saying the company was still committed to offering a broad choice of...
How Amazon’s new AI-powered Kindle Scribe summarized my handwritten review of the device
December 04, 2024
AI on Amazon’s second-generation Kindle Scribe summarizes my handwritten review of the device. See full text below. (GeekWire Photo / Todd Bishop) Amazon is releasing its second-generation Kindle Scribe this morning, and I’ve been putting a review unit to the test for the past few days,...
‘Chamber of Connection’ launches in Seattle to help tech transplants and others adjust to their new city
December 04, 2024
The goal of the “U.S. Chamber of Connection” is to make transplants feel at home in their new city, including Seattle, where the organization is launching its pilot. (GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser) Moving to a new city has its challenges. Moving to Seattle is often viewed as especially...
Veeam Software, which recently relocated its HQ to the Seattle area, reaches $15B valuation
December 04, 2024
Veeam COO Matthew Bishop, left, and CEO Anand Eswaran. (GeekWire Photo / Todd Bishop) Veeam Software, a leading data protection and ransomware recovery company, announced that it is now valued at $15 billion following a $2 billion secondary share sale. The secondary sale was led by TPG, with...
A list of logistics startups in Seattle, a ‘world-class’ hub for supply chain software talent
December 04, 2024
The Seattle waterfront and Port of Seattle properties, with a container ship and West Seattle in the background. (GeekWire Photo / Taylor Soper) Buoyed by longtime logistics giants such as Amazon and the rapid rise of trucking startup Convoy, the Seattle region has emerged as a major epicenter...
Used e-bike trade-in program at Rad Power Bikes stores aims to broaden electric mobility access
December 04, 2024
Upway refurbishes and resells traded in e-bikes from numerous brands across the U.S. (Upway Photo) Seattle-based Rad Power Bikes is partnering with Upway, a marketplace for new and pre-owned electric bikes, to allow customers to trade in their current rides for a discount on upgraded models at...
