05-24-23 -

Tech Moves: RealNetworks appoints president; Athira adds CFO; and more
— Seattle-based digital media company RealNetworks named Chris Wheaton as president, chief operating officer, and chief financial officer. Wheaton joined RealNetworks in March and was previously CFO at Bsquare and the Pacific Science Center. Re...

05-23-23 -

Relic Entertainment, the Vancouver studio behind Company of Heroes, lays off ...
The Canadian video game studio behind the Company of Heroes and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War series is laying off 121 employees. Relic Entertainment, headquartered in Vancouver, B.C., announced the layoffs Tuesday. “The combination of significa...

05-23-23 -

Dungeons & Dragons in 2023: Wizards of the Coast reveals Planescape revival a...
Wizards of the Coast held a press summit earlier this month to announce plans for the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop role-playing game for the next six months, which includes a revival of the Planescape campaign setting, as well as its effort...

05-23-23 -

Microsoft Store will use AI to summarize app reviews by customers
Is this the future of online customer reviews? Microsoft this morning said it will use generative artificial intelligence to automatically summarize app reviews by customers. “We are making it faster and easier for customers to scan revi...

05-23-23 -

Microsoft Bing will become ChatGPTs default search engine in latest OpenAI co...
Microsoft says Bing will become the default search engine for OpenAI’s ChatGPT, giving the popular generative AI chatbot “timelier and more up-to-date answers with access from the web,” including citations. Currently,...

05-23-23 -

Microsofts new Windows Copilot will offer centralized AI assistance in deskto...
Updated with details from Microsoft Build. Microsoft will incorporate generative artificial intelligence into its widely used PC operating system with a new feature called “Windows Copilot.” The feature, announced at the compan...

05-23-23 -

Amazon takes aim at Apple and Google with the $230 Fire Max 11, its biggest t...
Amazon is going big with its newest tablet. The Seattle tech giant on Tuesday debuted the $230 Fire Max 11, its biggest tablet ever that ramps up competition with Apple’s iPad and Google’s newly released Pixel Tablet. The Fire ...

05-22-23 -

Amazon responds to walkout plan: We respect our employees rights to express t...
Amazon responded to reports Monday that some employees at the company’s corporate headquarters in Seattle plan to walk off the job to protest recent actions at the company, including layoffs and a return-to-office mandate. “We ...

05-22-23 -

Climate tech startup led by former Nike sustainability leader raises cash
The news: Portland, Ore., startup Ren Energy has raised $2.3 million, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company declined to comment on the filing when contacted by GeekWire. The pitch: Ren helps corporatio...

05-22-23 -

Reports: Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez engaged
Jeff Bezos and his girlfriend Lauren Sanchez are reportedly engaged, four years after the couple first went public with their relationship. Multiple reports surfaced on Monday citing unnamed sources. The New York Post’s Page Six pinned t...

05-22-23 -

Its not just about bringing workers back to the office: 10 indicators of a do...
The COVID-19 pandemic brought about significant transformations to cities worldwide. The road to recovery is complex and not always predictable.  Some cities such as Salt Lake City or Bakersfield, Calif., are now seeing more downtown activity tha...

05-22-23 -

Bellevue students artwork among 55 finalists in Doodle for Google contest
A student at the International School in Bellevue, Wash., is among the finalists in the Doodle for Google contest, and if her artwork receives enough votes it could end up being featured on the Google homepage. The theme for K-12 students was &...

05-22-23 -

Amazon Kindle Scribe gets lasso select, cut and paste, native crosswords, and...
A new update promises to make Amazon’s Kindle Scribe better for notetaking. Released this morning, the update (Version 5.16.2) includes a lasso tool that lets users select handwritten text on the device to move, copy, cut, and paste. It&...

05-22-23 -

Drink in hand: Amazon adds age verification to its palm-scanning tech to spee...
Amazon is adding age verification to its Amazon One palm-scanning technology to remove another checkout friction point and allow customers to purchase alcohol with a wave of their hand. Amazon One enables users to enter and pay at some establishme...

05-22-23 -

Compliance automation startup Strike Graph lands $7M to expand certification ...
The news: Compliance automation company Strike Graph raised $7 million to expand its certification offerings. The Seattle startup, spun out of Madrona Venture Labs, makes software that helps companies simplify and lower the cost of various certif...

05-22-23 -

Gates Foundation launches AI Grand Challenge, as it weighs risk and reward in...
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is offering up to $100,000 each to projects that test new ways of using AI to overcome everyday obstacles and solve seemingly intractable problems in low- and middle-income countries. In a request for pr...

05-21-23 -

SpaceX sends Axioms crew, including two Saudis, to do research on space station
SpaceX and Axiom Space teamed up today to send four spacefliers — including the first Saudi woman in orbit — to the International Space Station for a 10-day trip focusing on zero-gravity research. SpaceX’s two-stage F...

05-21-23 -

Week in Review: Most popular stories on GeekWire for the week of May 14, 2023
See the technology stories that people were reading on GeekWire for the week of May 14, 2023.… Read More

05-20-23 -

AI, startups, and Star Wars: Conversations from the 2023 GeekWire Awards
The theme at this week’s GeekWire Awards was Star Wars, but we didn’t need to go to a galaxy far, far away to find the force that promises to reshape the technology industry. The potential of AI was on the minds of many finalis...

05-20-23 -

Seattle Seahawks legend, NASA astronaut, Love is Blind star share wisdom at t...
Teamwork. Culture. Empowerment. Those were prevailing themes at the 2023 GeekWire Awards Thursday evening in Seattle, where we celebrated the Pacific Northwest tech community and heard from a bevy of speakers who shared their wisdom on stage. Kayl...

05-19-23 -

Jeff Bezos huge sailing yacht has a carved figurehead that looks a lot like h...
Jeff Bezos has finally been spotted aboard the $500 million sailing yacht that he’s been rumored to be the owner of for years. And the vessel has an added design touch that has the celebrity press worked up like a rough sea. The Amazon f...

05-19-23 -

Photos: Geeking out inside the GeekWire Awards with surprise guests, a lovabl...
Bee boop beep beep boo dee doo weeeeeeeee! We couldn’t have said it better ourselves, R2-D2. The 2023 GeekWire Awards were worth chirping about Thursday night — in droid speak, chatbot, or any other language — as the Seattle communit...

05-19-23 -

Blue Origin-led team wins $3.4B contract for NASAs second lunar landing system
An industry team led by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture has won a $3.4 billion NASA contract to provide a second type of landing system for crewed as well as uncrewed lunar landings. The decision announced today settles a years-lon...

05-19-23 -

Tech Moves: Zillow and Docusign tap new CFOs; Remitly hires design chief; and...
— Zillow Group named Jeremy Hofmann as its new chief financial officer. Hofmann, previously SVP of corporate development and strategy, replaces Allen Parker, who has transitioned to an advisory role and will stay in that role through the first q...

05-19-23 -

GeekWire Awards 2023 revealed: Community honors top innovation in Pacific Nor...
A Star Wars theme complemented the rising stars on hand as light sabers glowed and a galaxy of lights twinkled overhead during the GeekWire Awards on Thursday in Seattle. We celebrated the top innovators, entrepreneurs, scientists and educators in...

05-18-23 -

Auction hosting site Auction.io acquires home-bidding platform Doorsey
— Dallas, Texas-based auction software company Auction.io acquired real estate tech platform Doorsey. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

05-18-23 -

Ex-CFO of Seattle startup indicted after allegedly moving $35M in company fun...
Federal prosecutors on Wednesday indicted the former chief financial officer of a Seattle-based e-commerce startup for wire fraud. Ex-Fabric CFO Nevin Shetty funneled around $35 million in company funds to a crypto business he controlled, accordin...

05-18-23 -

Review: Firmament, new game from Myst creators, is a beautiful throwback to t...
Firmament feels like it was thrown into a time capsule at some point around 1993, with beautiful vistas, a haunting storyline, and a difficulty curve like the side of a skyscraper. If you’re in the market for a truly difficult puzzle-adventure g...

05-18-23 -

Allen Institute takes on a supporting role in experiment to grow stem cells i...
Space: The final frontier … for stem cells? Seattle’s Allen Institute for Cell Science says cells from its collection are going into space for the first time on a private mission to the International Space Station. The Allen Ce...

05-18-23 -

Google to pay nearly $40M to Washington state after lawsuit over location tra...
Google will pay Washington state $39.9 million after a lawsuit brought by Attorney General Bob Ferguson accused the tech giant of deceptive practices in its location tracking. Ferguson’s office announced the resolution on Thursday to the...

05-18-23 -

GeekWire Awards FAQ: Meet the finalists, and what to know if youre coming to ...
The much-anticipated GeekWire Awards takes place tonight, May 18, in Seattle, at the Showbox SoDo in Seattle. Read the FAQ below for key information if you’re coming to our annual event that celebrates the top innovators, entrepreneurs, ...

05-18-23 -

Seattle startup studio Pioneer Square Labs raises $20M for third fund, bets b...
The news: Pioneer Square Labs raised a $20 million third fund for its startup studio. Founded in 2015, the Seattle-based firm is one of more than 800 studios that generate ideas and recruit people to lead new companies. PSL, which also operates a ...

05-18-23 -

Employee insights startup Groopit raises $3.5M, plans to develop generative A...
The news: Employee data crowdsourcing startup Groopit landed $3.5 million to fuel its go-to-market strategy. The product: The Seattle company lets business leaders collect and share info about sales, products, customers, competitors, and strategic...

05-18-23 -

OncoResponse lands $27M to advance development of antibody-based treatments f...
— Seattle biotech company OncoResponse landed $27 million to advance the development and testing of its antibody-based immunotherapy treatments that fight cancer.

05-17-23 -

Can climate change be funny? Bill Nye gets laughs in a show about humankinds ...
I was a little anxious going to an evening talk about climate change. I wondered in advanced what elixir of melatonin, Benadryl and CBD gummies would be required to get me to sleep after 90 minutes of recounting how screwed we are. My worries were...

05-17-23 -

Heptio founder leads Stacklok, a new software supply chain startup that just ...
Cloud computing vets Craig McLuckie and Luke Hinds are leading a new startup that helps enterprises vet software supply chains amid a rise in cyber-breaches stemming from open-source code. Stacklok emerged from stealth mode Wednesday, announcing $...

04-07-23 -

Vote for Deal of the Year: Affini-T Therapeutics, Bungie, Copper, First Mode,...
The finalists for Deal of the Year at the 2023 GeekWire Awards all struck big transactions to help fuel their companies focused on cancer therapies, gaming, clean energy, data analytics, and money management. The finalists in the category are Affi...

04-07-23 -

University of Washington professors on using ChatGPT in the classroom
AI-powered chatbots are already changing how professors teach, said University of Washington educators during a panel discussion Wednesday. “Our role is to help guide people to understand how these tools can operate, where we can be led astray a...

04-06-23 -

Icebergs ahead? OceanGate plans to get an early start on this years Titanic d...
OceanGate Expeditions, which has conducted dives to the site of the Titanic shipwreck in 2021 and 2022, says it will begin its trips a month earlier this year, in May — a schedule change that strikes a chord with history. “May ...

04-06-23 -

USNC-Tech wins NASA funding to flesh out proposal for nuclear deep-space probe
Seattle-based USNC-Tech has gotten the green light from NASA to continue development of a rapid-response spacecraft that would use a nuclear-powered propulsion system for deep-space exploration. The company’s proposed Nyx mission is one ...

04-06-23 -

Seattle-area office market clearly struggling and highly volatile
Tech layoffs and hiring freezes continue to impact the commercial real estate market in and around Seattle, according to a new report from Kidder Mathews. “The regional office market is clearly struggling and highly volatile at present, ...

04-06-23 -

Washington state lawmakers unanimously approve law to limit robocalls, hold t...
The Washington state Senate on Wednesday unanimously approved legislation to limit robocalls and empower residents and the state’s attorney general to sue companies over unwanted calls. In February, the House also unanimously voted for H...

04-06-23 -

Robotics data startup led by former Amazon drone engineers emerges from steal...
Benji Barash and Yves Albers-Schoenberg experienced the challenges of robotics development while working on Amazon’s ambitious drone project. Now the engineers are leading a new startup aiming to address some of the pain points they face...

04-05-23 -

Seattle evaluating its own capital gains tax following new state law
A controversial capital gains tax was recently ruled constitutional by the Washington state Supreme Court. Now the City of Seattle is considering implementing its own capital gains tax to help ease an anticipated revenue shortfall. Seattle council...

04-05-23 -

Energy startup CTFusion folds as co-founders land at rival Zap
CTFusion, a spinoff from the University of Washington, has flipped off the reactor and folded up shop. But the startup’s expertise is not lost: three of its four co-founders have taken roles at former rival Zap Energy. In the fall, the S...

04-05-23 -

AI makes its mark in Innovation of the Year category at the 2023 GeekWire Awards
If there’s any doubt that 2023 is the Year of Artificial Intelligence, this should put it to rest. Novel and clever inventions and implementations of AI, robotics, automation, and productivity are the common thread among the five finalis...

04-05-23 -

Tech leaders form alliance to help fuel robotics work in the Pacific Northwest
A trio of tech leaders joined forces to promote the creation of robotics startups in the Pacific Northwest, encouraged by the advancements in artificial intelligence and the growing demand for labor. The Northwest Robotics Alliance was co-founded ...

04-05-23 -

Tech Moves: Payscale adds president and CTO; Factor appoints CEO; and more
— Compensation data company Payscale hired two new executives: Nolan Farris as president and chief operating officer, and Raj Cherukuri as chief technology officer. — Gwen Hall was appointed CEO of of Factor, a Seattle-based in...

04-05-23 -

How power is blazing a trail for Americas space effort and for nuclear startups
As more and more hardware goes into Earth orbit, and eventually to the moon and Mars, where will the power to run all those machines come from? That’s one of the questions under consideration at a State of the Space Industrial Base works...

04-05-23 -

Minh Le, former Silicon Valley Bank leader in Seattle, joins Stifel Bank as m...
Longtime Seattle-area tech mainstay Minh Le has joined Stifel Bank as managing director, following a 14-year career with Silicon Valley Bank. “It’s been a wild last few weeks, and I couldn’t be more proud of my team and my colleagues...