June 05, 2015
Fresh off $225M raise, live shopping company Whatnot will boost Seattle headcount in Amazon’s backyard
October 30, 2025
(Whatnot Photo) Live-shopping startup Whatnot plans to grow its new Seattle outpost following a $225 million funding round announced this week. The company aims to hire more than 75 employees in the region over the next six months — tripling its current local headcount — across product,...
Microsoft beats expectations, reports nearly $35B in Q1 capital spending amid Azure outage
October 29, 2025
GeekWire File Photo Microsoft reported fiscal first-quarter revenue and profits ahead of analysts’ expectations on Wednesday, with Azure revenue growth climbing to 40%. The earnings report came as the company continued to deal with the lingering effects of a widespread cloud outage that...
Microsoft’s Azure reports cloud outage, disrupting global customers including Alaska Airlines
October 29, 2025
Microsoft logo. (GeekWire Photo) An outage on Microsoft’s Azure cloud services Wednesday morning disrupted operations for customers worldwide including Alaska Airlines, Xbox users and Microsoft 365 subscribers. The incident came just ahead of Microsoft’s quarterly earnings call today and...
Amazon layoffs hit software engineers hardest in Washington
October 29, 2025
Amazon’s headquarters towers and The Spheres in Seattle. (GeekWire File Photo / Kurt Schlosser) Software development engineers make up the largest group of employees affected by Amazon’s latest round of layoffs in its home state. GeekWire reported Tuesday on a new filing from the Washington...
Microsoft’s Brad Smith makes nuanced AI pitch: Huge potential, real concerns, and a Jon Stewart clip
October 29, 2025
Former Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire and Microsoft President Brad Smith at the 2025 Cascade Innovation Corridor Conference. (GeekWire Photo / Lisa Stiffler) It’s rare for a tech executive to cue up a video mocking themselves — but that’s just what Microsoft President Brad Smith did on Tuesday...
Beta’s unique electric airplane flies into Seattle to wow state officials and aviation experts
October 29, 2025
The ALIA CX300 electric airplane from Beta Technologies on approach at Boeing Field in Seattle. (Steve Rice Photo) More than 117 years after Seattle residents first saw a flying machine in the sky, a unique aircraft over Jet City can still turn heads. That happened this week with the arrival...
With earnings on tap, Microsoft touches $4 trillion again after reaching OpenAI deal
October 29, 2025
Microsoft reports earnings Wednesday afternoon for the September quarter. (GeekWire File Photo / Todd Bishop) With a new OpenAI partnership in hand, Microsoft is going into its earnings report Wednesday afternoon with a resolution to one of the biggest questions about its business. The...
Worth a mention: Seattle tech vets take on Google Alerts with Alertmouse, a startup to track who’s talking about you
October 29, 2025
The co-founders of Alertmouse, from left: Nathan Kriege, Rand Fishkin and Adam Doppelt, along with Britt Klontz, founder of PR firm Vada Communications, who helped beta test the product. (LinkedIn Photos) A trio of veteran entrepreneurs have joined forces to create a new Seattle startup — and...
Radical’s full-size prototype for a stratospheric drone makes first flight
October 29, 2025
A prototype for Radical’s Evenstar stratospheric solar-powered airplane flies over its Oregon test range. (Radical Photo) Seattle-based Radical says it has put a full-size prototype for a solar-powered drone through its first flight, marking one low-altitude step in the startup’s campaign to...
Seattle startup TestSprite raises $6.7M to become ‘testing backbone’ for AI-generated code
October 29, 2025
TestSprite founders Yunhao Jiao (left) and Rui Li. (TestSprite Photo) In the era of AI-generated software, developers still need to make sure their code is clean. That’s where TestSprite wants to help. The Seattle startup announced $6.7 million in seed funding to expand its platform that...
Filing: Amazon cuts more than 2,300 jobs in Washington state as part of broader layoffs
October 29, 2025
GeekWire File Photo Amazon will lay off 2,303 corporate employees in Washington state, primarily in its Seattle and Bellevue offices, according to a filing with the state Employment Security Department that provides the first geographic breakdown of the company’s 14,000 global job cuts. A...
Amazon layoffs reaction: ‘Thought I was a top performer but guess I’m expendable’
October 28, 2025
Amazon’s headquarters campus in Seattle. (GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser) Reaction to a huge round of layoffs rippled across Amazon and beyond on Tuesday as the Seattle-based tech giant confirmed that it was slashing 14,000 corporate and tech jobs. We’ve rounded up some of what’s being said...
Bill Gates urges world to ‘refocus’ climate goals, pushes back on emissions targets
October 28, 2025
Cipher executive editor Amy Harder and Bill Gates at the Breakthrough Energy Summit in Seattle on Oct. 19, 2022. (GeekWire Photo / Lisa Stiffler) Less than two weeks ahead of the United Nations climate conference, Bill Gates posted a memo on his personal blog encouraging folks to just calm down...
Ferguson’s AI balancing act: Washington governor wants to harness innovation while minimizing harms
October 28, 2025
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson speaks at Seattle AI Week, at the AI House on Pier 70 along the city’s waterfront. (GeekWire Photo / Todd Bishop) Washington state Gov. Bob Ferguson is threading the needle when it comes to artificial intelligence. Ferguson made a brief appearance at the opening...
Helion gives behind-the-scenes tour of secretive 60-foot fusion prototype as it races to deployment
October 28, 2025
Stacks of pallets containing power units that deliver massive pulses of energy to Helion’s Polaris fusion generator. (Helion Photo) EVERETT, Wash. — In an industrial stretch of Everett is a boxy, windowless building called Ursa. Inside that building is a vault built from concrete blocks up to 5...
A tale of two Seattles in the age of AI: Harsh realities and new hope for the tech community
October 28, 2025
The opening panel at Seattle AI Week 2025, from left: Randa Minkarah, WTIA chief operating executive; Joe Nguyen, Washington commerce director; Rep. Cindy Ryu; Nathan Lambert, Allen Institute for AI; and Brittany Jarnot, Salesforce. (GeekWire Photo / Taylor Soper) Seattle is looking to celebrate...
Microsoft gets 27% stake in OpenAI, and a $250B Azure commitment
October 28, 2025
Sam Altman and OpenAI announced a new deal with Microsoft, setting revised terms for future AI development. (GeekWire File Photo / Todd Bishop) Microsoft and OpenAI announced the long-awaited details of their new partnership agreement Tuesday morning — with concessions on both sides that keep...
Cascadia’s AI paradox: A world-leading opportunity threatened by rising costs and a talent crunch
October 28, 2025
The downtown Seattle skyline. (GeekWire Photo / Lisa Stiffler) A new report exploring the potential for the Pacific Northwest to stake its claim as the global leader in responsible AI offers a paradoxical view. The Cascadia region, which includes Seattle, Portland and Vancouver, B.C., is...
Amazon confirms 14,000 corporate job cuts, says push for ‘efficiency gains’ will continue into 2026
October 28, 2025
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has been pushing to reduce bureaucracy across the company. (GeekWire Photo / Todd Bishop) Amazon confirmed Tuesday that it is cutting about 14,000 corporate jobs, citing a need to reduce bureaucracy and become more efficient in the new era of artificial intelligence. In...
Filing: Meta’s AI layoffs hit Washington offices in Bellevue, Seattle, Redmond
October 28, 2025
Meta’s office at Dexter Station in Seattle. (Meta Photo) Meta plans to lay off more than 100 employees in Washington state as part of a broader round of cuts within its artificial intelligence division. A new filing with the state’s Employment Security Department shows 101 employees impacted,...
Amazon reportedly set to lay off up to 30,000 corporate employees in massive workforce cut
October 27, 2025
A dog walker uses the park near The Spheres at Amazon’s headquarters campus. (GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser) Follow-up: Amazon confirms 14,000 corporate job cuts, says push for ‘efficiency gains’ will continue into 2026 Original story: Amazon is preparing to lay off as many as 30,000...
Office equipment from former Zulily HQ in Seattle donated to Goodwill for use across facilities
October 27, 2025
Office furniture from the former Zulily headquarters in Seattle. (Evergreen Goodwill Photo) Zulily may no longer be a dominant player in Seattle’s tech scene, but physical pieces of the online retailer will live on in Evergreen Goodwill facilities across the region. Hundreds of office chairs,...
Seattle studio PSL encodes its playbook into Lev, an AI co-founder that helps turn ideas into companies
October 27, 2025
(Lev screenshot) Pioneer Square Labs has launched more than 40 tech startups and vetted 500-plus ideas since creating its studio a decade ago in Seattle. Now it’s testing whether its company-building expertise and data on successful startup formulas can be codified into software — with help...
Tech Moves: Ex-Starbucks CTO retires; Microsoft vet joins Oracle Cloud; Amazon hardware leader departs
October 27, 2025
Deb Hall Lefevre. (LinkedIn Photo) — Deb Hall Lefevre, the longtime tech exec who was most recently CTO at Starbucks, announced her retirement on Sunday in a LinkedIn post. Hall Lefevre resigned from Starbucks last month, according to a Sept. 26 report from Reuters, which cited a memo sent to...
What it’s like to wear Amazon’s new smart glasses for delivery drivers
October 27, 2025
GeekWire’s Todd Bishop tries Amazon’s new smart delivery glasses in a simulated demo. SAN FRANCISCO — Putting on Amazon’s new smart delivery glasses felt surprisingly natural from the start. Despite their high-tech components and slightly bulky design, they were immediately comfortable and...
Week in Review: Most popular stories on GeekWire for the week of Oct. 19, 2025
October 26, 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 Oct. 19, 2025. Sign up to receive these updates every Sunday in your inbox by subscribing to our GeekWire Weekly email newsletter. Most popular stories on...
From stress relief to self-discovery: UW researchers reveal the deeper impact of video games
October 26, 2025
(GeekWire File Photo) When I was a kid, my mom used to call my Nintendo the “anti-social idiot box.” The widespread assumption back then was that video games, in any format, were a new and particularly efficient way to waste time and money while also becoming an obsessed shut-in. Over the...
The Great Rewiring: How the pandemic set the stage for AI — and what’s next
October 25, 2025
Colette Stallbaumer, co-founder of Microsoft WorkLab and author of WorkLab: Five years that shook the business world and sparked an AI-first future. (GeekWire Photo / Todd Bishop) From empty offices in 2020 to AI colleagues in 2025, the way we work has been completely rewired over the past five...
Amazon nails the fundamentals with first NBA broadcast — with a sports betting twist
October 25, 2025
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is interviewed during Amazon’s first-ever live streamed NBA game on Friday. (Screenshots via Prime Video stream) “It is here, it is real, it is happening,” said play-by-play announcer Ian Eagle. “The NBA on Prime.” And with that, Amazon’s foray...
Alaska Airlines will ‘diagnose our entire IT infrastructure’ after latest outage disrupts 49,000 passengers
October 25, 2025
(Alaska Airlines Photo) Alaska Airlines already tried to shore up its IT infrastructure after an outage in July forced the Seattle-based company to ground flights across the country. Apparently, it wasn’t enough. Alaska was hit with another major outage on Thursday, leading to a ground...
‘We cannot save the ocean alone’: Inaugural event in Seattle tackles complexity of maritime sustainability
October 25, 2025
The Statsraad Lehmkuhl, a 111-year-old Norwegian tall ship that is traveling the globe to raise awareness of ocean health and science as part of the One Ocean Expedition. (GeekWire Photo / Lisa Stiffler) Hundreds of global leaders gathered in the Pacific Northwest this week for...
Out of Office: Amazon design technologist makes ‘robot art’ and the tools to help others be creative
October 24, 2025
Amazon design technologist Maksim Surguy writes code to create precise works of art. (Photo courtesy of Maks Surguy) Out of Office is a new GeekWire series spotlighting the passions and hobbies that members of the Seattle-area tech community pursue outside of work. Name: Maksim...
Amazon and the media: Inside the disconnect on AI, robots and jobs
October 24, 2025
Tye Brady, chief technologist for Amazon Robotics, introduces “Project Eluna,” an AI model that assists operations teams, during Amazon’s Delivering the Future event in Milpitas, Calif. (GeekWire Photo / Todd Bishop) SAN FRANCISCO — Amazon showed off its latest robotics and AI systems this week,...
Alaska Airlines cancels 360 flights, says significant IT outage was due to ‘failure’ at a data center
October 24, 2025
Travelers at Sea-Tac Airport try to find their luggage following a major outage at Alaska Airlines that began Thursday afternoon. (GeekWire Photo / Todd Bishop) Follow-up: Alaska Airlines will ‘diagnose our entire IT infrastructure’ after latest outage disrupts 49,000 passengers Alaska...
Tim Chen was deemed ‘too nerdy’ for venture capital. Now he runs one of the hottest startup funds in tech.
October 24, 2025
Tim Chen. (Photo courtesy of Chen) When Tim Chen tried to break into venture capital six years ago, multiple firms in Seattle turned him down. “Nobody wanted to hire me,” he recalled in an interview with GeekWire. “I was too technical, they said. Too nerdy.” Chen, a University of Washington...
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