11-07-24 -

Taskrabbit takes over on-demand moving service Dolly in latest twist for form...
Taskrabbit has quietly absorbed the operations of Dolly, a Seattle-based on-demand marketplace for moving services. Dolly’s hiring page says the company “joined the Taskrabbit family in April of 2024” and describes Do...

11-07-24 -

Carbitex, makers of carbon fiber materials for footwear, raises $3.3M
Carbitex, a Kennewick, Wash.-based maker of flexible carbon fiber composites for footwear and luggage, raised $3.3 million in a recent funding found. Longtime investor Michael Marks, founding parter at San Francisco-based Celestea Capital and Carb...

11-06-24 -

Former Intellectual Ventures exec named CEO of startup destroying PFAS foreve...
After five years, four in-the-field clean-up demos, and more than a dozen lab tests, the “forever chemical” destruction startup Aquagga is ready to commercialize its technology with a new CEO at the helm. Dhileep Sivam is leadi...

11-06-24 -

Zillow Group revenue up 17% to $581M as rentals, mortgage units drive growth
Zillow Group beat estimates for its third quarter, reporting revenue of $581 million and adjusted earnings of $127 million.

11-06-24 -

Outreach cuts 9% of workforce in latest layoffs at Seattle sales automation s...
Outreach is trimming its headcount, laying off 9% of staff in another cost-cutting move. A company spokesperson confirmed the latest layoffs, which impacted more than 65 employees globally, mainly in go-to-market roles. Outreach is offering impact...

11-06-24 -

Jeff Bezos congratulates Trump on extraordinary comeback, wishes him success ...
Jeff Bezos wasted no time in sending his good wishes to President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday morning, hours after Trump’s stunning victory against Vice President Kamala Harris. In a rare post on X, the Amazon founder offered &#8...

11-06-24 -

Longtime Seattle engineering leaders raise $4.3M for new business automation ...
A pair of veteran Seattle engineers raised $4.3 million for Logic, a new startup that aims to help companies integrate AI into their workflows by leveraging existing internal knowledge and business documents. Steve Krenzel and Jess Garms have more...

11-06-24 -

Washington state voters reject initiatives that aimed to repeal capital gains...
Washington state voters rejected initiatives that would have axed a capital gains tax and a program to reduce carbon emissions. More than 63% of residents voted “no” on Initiative 2109, which would have struck down the state&am...

11-05-24 -

Amazon makes its live news debut as TV vet Brian Williams hosts election nigh...
Amazon’s foray into live news coverage began with a familiar voice and face. “Good evening. It’s been a while,” said Brian Williams, the longtime NBC Nightly News anchor, kicking off election night coverage ...

11-05-24 -

Amazons new holiday ad featuring a singing janitor strikes similar tune to Am...
Dreams apparently do come true, for more than one singing janitor. Amazon’s new holiday ad, titled “Midnight Opus,” tells the story of a theater janitor whose vocal talent is discovered by his colleagues as he sings h...

11-05-24 -

WATCH: Sea-Tac Airports self-driving wheelchairs are getting stymied by unexp...
Walking through Sea-Tac International Airport this week, I noticed a self-driving, electric wheelchair, on its way back through the concourse after taking a passenger to a gate. Recalling from GeekWire’s prior coverage that it was part o...

11-05-24 -

Seattle breaks into top 3 in new ecosystem ranking for early stage software s...
A new ranking of top U.S. ecosystems based on early stage funding data reflects Seattle’s continued strength in software-related innovation. Seattle was third in the software-as-a-service category among cities ranked by seed and Series A...

11-05-24 -

Will our AI creations ultimately achieve personhood? Heres how it could happen
Some say artificial intelligence will be humanity’s greatest helper. Others warn that AI will become humanity’s most dangerous rival. But maybe there’s a third alternative — with AI agents achieving the status of personho...

11-04-24 -

Uber for ocean intelligence startup wins Bellingham Angel Investors pitch com...
Astraeus Ocean Systems, an ocean data startup that plans to field a fleet of autonomous boats to gather and analyze information on environmental conditions, won the Bellingham Angel Investors’ Startup Pitch Competition.  The contest — awardin...

11-04-24 -

Former Gates Foundation leader lands $1.8M for engineered bamboo building mat...
Launching one’s first startup — maybe a domestic software company, for example — could certainly be daunting. But creating a company to produce a physical, engineered product with international manufacturing and sales...

11-04-24 -

Column: To navigate the promise and peril of AI, resist the urge to fall into...
Editor’s note: This is guest commentary from Dave Siegfried, CEO of Official AI, a Seattle startup building a marketplace designed to help people control their digital likeness and connect them with marketers interested in using AI-gener...

11-04-24 -

Bell Canada acquiring Seattle-area internet provider Ziply Fiber in $3.6B deal
Kirkland, Wash.-based fiber internet service provider Ziply Fiber agreed to be acquired by Bell Canada, a subsidiary of Canadian telecom giant BCE, in a deal valued around $3.6 billion. The deal will help Bell expand its reach into the Pacific Nor...

11-04-24 -

Expedia chairman Barry Diller on potential deal with Uber and Washington Post...
Expedia chairman Barry Diller told CNBC on Monday that a rumored acquisition of Uber is “just not going to happen.” A report from the Financial Times last month revealed that Uber had explored a potential bid ...

11-04-24 -

Tech Moves: Qualtrics taps Microsoft vet as CFO; F5 names innovation chief
— Qualtrics appointed Microsoft veteran Rachita Sundar as its chief financial officer and member of the executive leadership team. Sundar comes to Qualtrics from HubSpot, where she was senior vice president of finance. Previous to that r...

11-03-24 -

Get in the picture: High-tech Portal is a visual delight for those entering S...
Stepping into work never looked this good. A digital “moment of zen” has taken shape at a downtown Seattle office building, using cutting-edge technology and AI tools to showcase iconic photography from around the Pacific North...

11-03-24 -

Week in Review: Most popular stories on GeekWire for the week of Oct. 27, 2024
See the technology stories that people were reading on GeekWire for the week of Oct. 27, 2024.… Read More

11-02-24 -

You cant fact-check a feeling: UW researcher on AIs unexpected role in the 20...
For all the concern about deepfakes fooling the electorate, AI is having another impact on the 2024 campaign. In some cases, like heroic AI-generated images of the candidates, it’s less about veracity, and more about the vibe. “When AI...

11-01-24 -

Jeff Bezos unloads $3B worth of Amazon stock in latest sale
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is selling more than $3 billion worth of Amazon shares, according to a new regulatory filing revealed Friday, in his latest stock sale this year. Bezos had already sold more than $13 billion worth of Amazon stock in 2024....

11-01-24 -

Want a house in a neighborhood that matches your politics? Flyhomes releases ...
Seattle real estate startup Flyhomes has released a feature called NeighborVote that lets house hunters add politics to their search for a perfect new abode. The tool allows shoppers to query the site and identify whether a listing is in an area t...

11-01-24 -

No harsh mandates: Tech leaders on whats working with their hybrid return-to-...
Return-to-office policies are often controversial and emotionally charged — but do they have to be? Two tech leaders recently shared their approaches to hybrid work mandates that try to weave in trust, incentives and messaging that empha...

11-01-24 -

Report: Benioff in talks to sell Time; Salesforce CEO has called media much h...
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff is in talks to sell Time to Greek media company Antenna Group, CNBC reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. A Time spokesperson said there is no deal in place to sell the company, which Benioff acquired...

11-01-24 -

Ultra Safe Nuclear files for bankruptcy in a procedure aimed at facilitating ...
Seattle-based Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp. says it has filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition as part of a court-supervised process that will lead to its purchase through a public auction. The process also involves what’s known as a stalking...

11-01-24 -

The winning ideas at the UW computer science school annual research showcase
Some of the top computer science engineers at the University of Washington showed off their latest work this week at the annual Research Showcase hosted by The Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering. The e...

10-31-24 -

Amazon corporate headcount drops year-over-year as tech giant aims for effici...
Amazon continues to take a cautious hiring approach with its corporate workforce, following years of huge headcount growth. The company’s corporate headcount is “down slightly year-over-year,” according to Amazon CFO ...

10-31-24 -

AWS tops $10B in quarterly operating profits as Jassy cites reacceleration of...
Amazon’s cloud business isn’t done growing yet. Amazon Web Services posted $10.4 billion in operating income in the third quarter, up 50% from a year ago, surpassing $10 billion for the first time, and accounting for more than ...

10-31-24 -

Amazon stock jumps 6%; Q3 revenue up 11% to $158.9B; profits hit $15.3B; AWS ...
Amazon topped estimates for its third quarter earnings, reporting $158.9 billion in revenue, up 11% year-over-year, and earnings per share of $1.43. Profits jumped to $15.3 billion, from $9.9 billion in the year-ago period. Analysts expec...

10-31-24 -

Microsoft vet who founded beer delivery app IDd as Melinda French Gates new b...
The New York gossip sites are abuzz over Melinda French Gates’ love life this week, as the billionaire Seattle philanthropist was spotted holding hands with her new entrepreneur boyfriend. Page Six published photos of French Gates with P...

10-31-24 -

Ex-Zipwhip leaders back Ambassador, a conversational commerce software startup
Ambassador, a Seattle startup that helps brands acquire customers via “conversational commerce” software, recently added former Zipwhip leaders to its team to fuel growth. Ambassador targets brands who use its software to offer...

10-31-24 -

AI overwhelmingly prefers white and male job candidates in new test of resume...
As employers increasingly use digital tools to process job applications, a new study from the University of Washington highlights the potential for significant racial and gender bias when using AI to screen resumes. The UW researchers tested three...

10-31-24 -

OpenAIs ChatGPT search engine challenges Google and Microsoft, and further up...
Artificial intelligence pioneer OpenAI launched its own ChatGPT search engine on Thursday, positioning itself as a challenger to search titan Google and a direct competitor to the Bing search engine from its strategic partner Microsoft. Integrated...

05-03-24 -

Sen. Maria Cantwell says U.S. needs an AI bill for education
For the U.S. to maintain a competitive edge in the global artificial intelligence race, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) says there are lessons to take from post-World War II. Speaking at a Tech Alliance event in Seattle on Friday, the former tech ...

05-03-24 -

Anthropic courts Claude AI users (and devs?) with billboard across the street...
Driving home from the Technology Alliance annual lunch in Seattle today, we were momentarily distracted by the big orange billboard for Anthropic’s Claude AI chatbot, overlooking Highway 99 / Aurora Avenue. Sure, tech billboards are comm...

05-03-24 -

Seattle TV station says enough already with the AI and Photoshop-generated ze...
For fear of beating a not-dead, just-missing zebra, here’s another story about the story that won’t quit this week. In case you’ve been off Facebook, X and nearly every other social media platform since last Sunday, a...

05-03-24 -

Inside CoMotions new HQ: UWs entrepreneur program plants its roots in an inno...
The University of Washington this week held an open house to celebrate the new headquarters of CoMotion, the UW organization supporting startups and technology commercialization. The space spans one-and-a-half floors in Condon Hall and features so...

05-03-24 -

Internal memo: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella delivers a new mandate on security
This is the text of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s internal memo sent to employees Friday, May 3, about the company’s new security initiatives, expanding on Microsoft Security leader Charlie Bell’s public blog post on ...

05-03-24 -

Microsoft will base part of senior exec comp on security, add deputy CISOs to...
Microsoft is changing its security practices, organizational structure, and executive compensation in an attempt to address a series of major security breaches, under growing pressure from government leaders and big customers. The company said Fri...

05-03-24 -

Happy Space Day! Contest will offer kids a chance to visit Blue Origins rocke...
The first Friday in May is National Space Day, which makes today a fitting time to announce a contest that will give eight students an opportunity to tour Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket factory in Florida. The National SpaceKids Press Sq...

05-02-24 -

Venture Mechanics aims to boost Seattle-area startup ecosystem with incubator...
When Techstars suddenly pulled up stakes from Seattle earlier this year, Ron Wiener saw an opportunity to help fill a void. Wiener is the leader of Venture Mechanics, a unique company that is running a new incubator/accelerator program and organiz...

05-02-24 -

Super Nintendo World will bring Super Mario and Donkey Kong to life in theme ...
Video game fans will be able to step inside the worlds of Super Mario and Donkey Kong in a new “Super Nintendo World” theme park experience opening in Orlando, Fla., next year. The Nintendo experience is part of the planned Uni...

05-02-24 -

Tech Moves: Docker and Qualtrics leaders join Seattle startup Mason; Beyond a...
Mason, a Seattle startup that offers a hardware-software platform for companies managing device fleets, hired Webb Stevens as its new CEO and John Thimsen as its new CTO. Stevens is the former COO at Docker and previously held exec roles at Carta,...

05-02-24 -

Meet the startups that just graduated from Creative Destruction Labs accelera...
Creative Destruction Lab (CDL), a nonprofit that runs 13 startup accelerators across the world, just graduated another swath of early stage companies from its Seattle program. CDL launched its Seattle hub in 2021. The 9-month accelerator,...

05-02-24 -

Heres where the Amazon CEOs comments on unions crossed the line, according to...
It was legal for Amazon CEO Andy Jassy to say that unionization would make it tougher for employees to have direct connections with their managers, according to National Labor Relations Board administrative law judge. However, Jassy violated labor...

05-01-24 -

Asteroid hunters say theyve found 27,500 new prospects in search for space rocks
A team of asteroid hunters that includes researchers at the University of Washington says it has identified 27,500 new, high-confidence asteroid discovery candidates — not by making fresh observations of the night sky, but by sifting thr...

05-01-24 -

DoorDash rips Seattle over minimum wage law; reports record quarterly revenue...
DoorDash dedicated two large paragraphs of its first quarter earnings report and spent several minutes on a call with analysts to voice opposition against controversial minimum wage laws for delivery drivers in Seattle and New York City. The compa...

05-01-24 -

New startup group in Seattle aims to support Black founders and investors
A computer programmer and laboratory scientist are teaming up to help boost the number of Black founders and investors in tech startups. Evan Poncelet and Jesse Posey are the co-founders of Dreamward Ventures, a new Seattle-based emerging fund tha...