Microsoft and Amazon are rivals in the cloud, but on the same page when it comes to Washington's housing crisis — literally, in the case of a joint op-ed and full-page ad in The Seattle Times. Read More
This week on the GeekWire Podcast: Newly unsealed court documents reveal the behind-the-scenes history of Microsoft and OpenAI, including a surprise: Amazon Web Services was the Silicon Valley AI lab's original partner. We tell the story behind the story, explaining how it came to light. Read More
Seattle's ORCA transit system is rolling out an upgrade that will let riders pay fares by tapping their credit card or smartphone — no dedicated ORCA card required. Read More
The completed 2 Line will ultimately connect downtown Seattle to downtown Bellevue and the Redmond Technology station at Microsoft’s headquarters campus. Read More
A longtime leader for Fulfillment by Amazon retires and offers parting thoughts, while former executives with Oracle, Microsoft and LevelTen take new roles. Read More
Our latest Startup Radar spotlights four early stage tech startups in the region: Axel AI, DrunR, Eluum, and profileAPI. Read More
Amazon laid off about 14,000 workers globally in October. The company indicated that more layoffs could occur in 2026. Read More
Overland AI is expanding its reach beyond military applications. Read More
Less than a year after layoffs and a public plea by its CEO for new investments, General Fusion announced a $1 billion deal with Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. III to go public. Read More
AIM's technology works with existing equipment and is designed for dangerous or hard-to-reach places, including areas where equipment might be dropped in by parachute. Read More
Seattle startup Emerald Battery Labs raised just under $1.1 million in a pre-seed round to continue scaling its sodium-ion battery technology. Read More
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella riffed on some famous lines from tech leaders past this week in an appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and offered up his own trippy candidate to join the canon of computing metaphors. Read More
Founded in 2024 and led by former Intel engineering leaders, AheadComputing says its CPU cores are faster and more efficient than existing options for AI-heavy workloads. Read More
Proposed 5,408-satellite constellation promises data speeds of up to 6 terabits per second — and raises questions about competition with Starlink and Amazon Leo. Read More
Following the cuts, the staff now numbers 107 at the computer science education organization. Read More
Amazon Quick Suite has a new vice president, Chronus named a CEO, Supio added to its C-suite, and REI got an AI lead, among other Seattle area tech moves. Read More
Seattle-area startup plans to use its Otter spacecraft to deorbit military satellites safely at the end of their operational lives. Read More
The Gates Foundation and OpenAI are launching a new partnership aimed at bringing artificial intelligence into frontline health care systems across Africa, starting with Rwanda. Read More
A weekend vibe-coding project by the startup leader and former Amazon Worldwide Consumer CEO sparked debate over the speed, scalability, and real‑world value of increasingly popular AI development workflows. Read More
The heaviest hit facility is the Reality Labs office in Redmond, followed by the Spring District office in Bellevue, according to a state filing. Read More
Senate Bill 5576 would allow counties, cities and towns to impose a tax of up to 4% on short-term rentals used by vacation guests on platforms such as Airbnb and Vrbo. The bill failed to advance during the 2025 session. Read More
The company aims to give everyday investors access to strategies traditionally reserved for hedge funds and ultra-wealthy clients. Read More
The Seattle-based e-bike company did not share a cause for the fire, which happened when the store was closed. Read More
Internal emails, texts, slide decks, and deposition testimony show how Microsoft went from being sidelined at OpenAI’s founding to wielding decisive influence over the AI lab that launched the generative AI era — and how that power is now being tested as OpenAI emerges as a platform company with leverage of its own. Read More
Longtime Pinterest CMO Andréa Mallard is joining Microsoft AI — and Amazon marketing leader Claudine Cheever took Mallard’s role at Pinterest. Read More
TPC is taking over 6,600 square feet of space directly above its current location in the historic Guiry Schillestad Building at 2101 1st Ave. Read More
A new initiative called Growing with AI will bring together the state's tech giants and diverse farming community to tackle pressing challenges in the agriculture industry. Read More
This story first appeared in the Washington State Standard. Avery Ping had a knack for noticing who in a room might… Read More
Preeti Suri is co-founder and CEO of Bellevue, Wash.-based AdventureTripr, a travel marketplace leveraging technology and AI to help facilitate multi-day outdoor excursions. Read More
Once a fast-growing cloud management startup with millions in revenue, Vega Cloud has entered receivership, saying it can no longer pay its debts. In the tight-knit Spokane tech community, Vega Cloud had been seen as a startup with the potential to make it big. Read More
See the technology stories that people were reading on GeekWire for the week of Jan. 11, 2026. Read More
SLS rocket is rolled out in preparation for sending humans around the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. Read More
Amazon fixes an Alexa voice-ordering bug after a listener spotted a misleading comment on the GeekWire Podcast. We dig into the limits of voice commerce, Microsoft’s new “community first” approach to AI data centers, and what it says about growing backlash over power and water use. Read More
Sen. Patty Murray said the funding will help provide a counterweight to AI development driven primarily by private capital. "If just billionaires are creating and using AI for their own projects that make money, then we lose out on most of the benefits of AI," Murray said. Read More
Redmond facility will become part of Rocketdyne joint venture created by $845 million deal involving L3Harris and AE Industrial Partners. Read More
Microsoft loses an exec to Google while GitHub names a new VP, plus leadership changes at Seattle-area companies Avante and Atana. Read More
Microsoft is supporting a Washington state bill to open up underused commercial land for housing, asserting that the larger crisis is solvable only if lawmakers unlock land faster, streamline permitting, and treat housing as a connected system rather than a series of one-off projects. Read More
More than 150 techies packed the house at a Claude Code meetup event in Seattle on Thursday evening, eager to trade use cases and share how they're using Anthropic's fast-growing technology. Read More
Microsoft is closing its traditional employee libraries, including the longtime Redmond facility where authors gave talks and employees browsed books. The company calls it a shift to AI-powered learning. Read More
A series of layoffs across Meta’s virtual reality division has affected the Bellevue, Wash.-based studio. Read More
Founded in 2018, MontyCloud builds software that helps companies run and control their cloud infrastructure automatically, from fixing bugs to optimizing spend. Read More
One of Seattle’s tallest skyscrapers has a new name that reflects JPMorganChase’s growing banking and technology hub in Seattle. Formerly… Read More
The financial services corporation now occupies 128,000 square feet at the building, previously known as the Russell Investments Center. Read More
Included launched five years ago in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the widespread move by companies nationwide to better support racial and ethnic diversity throughout their operations. Read More
While AI is generating all the buzz, it was Washington state's climate tech and healthcare innovation that got shoutouts in Gov. Bob Ferguson's State of the State address. Read More
It's the latest scientific study with a sports tie-in from the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, which monitored earth shaking during the Mariners' playoff run last fall. Read More
“Ensuring as much of every dollar as possible flows toward impact is critical to achieving our ambitious goals to save and improve millions more lives over the next 20 years," Mark Suzman, CEO of the Gates Foundation, said in a statement. Read More
OCOchem, a clean tech startup turning carbon dioxide into industrial chemicals, has raised $2.15 million and continues signing new partnerships. Read More
OCOchem, a clean tech startup turning carbon dioxide into industrial chemicals, has raised $2.15 million and continues signing new partnerships. Read More
Seattle's commercial real estate market continues to struggle amid remote work and broader pressures including tech layoffs and companies using AI to operate with leaner teams. Read More