June 05, 2015
Week in Review: Most popular stories on GeekWire for the week of March 8, 2026
March 15, 2026
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 March 8, 2026. Sign up to receive these updates every Sunday in your inbox by subscribing to our GeekWire Weekly email newsletter. Most popular stories on...
How AI is changing the business and art of video — from ‘chaos machine’ to creative catalyst
March 14, 2026
Zeek Earl, Executive Creative Director at Packrat, on the set of the stop-motion shoot for AWS Kiro last year. (GeekWire Photo / Todd Bishop) On a rainy afternoon last November at Seattle Center, I walked into a darkened studio and found a film crew huddled around a miniature set, manipulating...
Big tech dodged Washington state’s data center rules – but didn’t escape a sales tax bill
March 13, 2026
Inside an Amazon data center. (AWS Photo / Noah Berger) Big tech companies scored a big win in Washington state with the defeat of legislation regulating electricity rate and environmental impacts of data centers — but it lost a significant tax break for the facilities with the 11th-hour passage...
Report: TerraPower leadership faces tough questions about Gates, Myhrvold and Epstein ties
March 13, 2026
TerraPower signage. (TerraPower Photo) Employees of the nuclear power company TerraPower questioned CEO Chris Levesque on Thursday about connections between convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and company board leaders Bill Gates and Nathan Myhrvold. Levesque called the ties a “troubling...
Taylor Soper named director of Seattle’s AI House after remarkable run at GeekWire
March 13, 2026
Editor and reporter Taylor Soper joined GeekWire in 2012 out of the University of Washington. (GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser) After more than 13 years as a GeekWire reporter and editor, Taylor Soper is preparing for his next big assignment: he’ll soon join AI2 Incubator as director of AI...
The ‘Tesla exemption’ no more: Rivian and Lucid break through Washington state’s dealership wall
March 13, 2026
Rivian has a space at Seattle’s University Village where shoppers can look at, sit in, but not drive its electric vehicles. That will change Jan. 1, 2027 when Rivian and Lucid Motors are expected to gain permission in Washington to sell directly to consumers. (GeekWire Photo / Brent Roraback) In...
Here’s the pitch: UW students get in the room with key investors to share their AI startup ideas
March 13, 2026
A team of entrepreneurial students from the University of Washington pitches their idea for a startup called Wayfinder to a room full of investors at Pioneer Square Labs in Seattle on Wednesday. (GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser) It was a pitch-perfect evening at Pioneer Square Labs in Seattle on...
Allen Institute for AI CEO Ali Farhadi steps down as nonprofit navigates shifting AI landscape
March 12, 2026
Ali Farhadi has been CEO of the Allen Institute for AI since July 2023. (GeekWire File Photo / Todd Bishop) Ali Farhadi is stepping down as the CEO of the Allen Institute for AI (Ai2), after a two-and-a-half-year tenure that brought growing recognition to the Seattle-based nonprofit research...
Seattle’s downtown paradox: Commercial engine sputters amid improved safety and visitor growth
March 12, 2026
Mayor Katie Wilson speaks at the Downtown Seattle Association’s annual event on Wednesday. (GeekWire Photo / Lisa Stiffler) Seattle is witnessing a curious role reversal in its economic narrative. While the city finally gains ground on perennial challenges like crime and transportation, its...
USAFacts taps former DataKind CEO Lauren Woodman as new president
March 12, 2026
Lauren Woodman. (USAFacts Photo) USAFacts, the government-data organization founded by former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, named Lauren Woodman as its new president. Woodman, a longtime technology exec, is the second president in the Bellevue, Wash.-based group’s 10-year history and will...
Microsoft EVP Rajesh Jha retiring after 35 years in latest exit from senior leadership team
March 12, 2026
Rajesh Jha speaks at Microsoft Build in May 2024. (GeekWire Photo / Todd Bishop) Rajesh Jha, who led Microsoft’s biggest consumer and business products as executive vice president of the Experiences + Devices group, plans to retire later this year after more than 35 years at the company. The...
Atlassian layoffs impact 63 workers in Washington as CTO steps down
March 12, 2026
Rajeev Rajan. (LinkedIn Photo) Enterprise collaboration software giant Atlassian is laying off 63 workers in Washington, according to a WARN notice filed with state regulators. Atlassian announced Wednesday that it will lay off about 10% of its staff, or 1,600 employees, as the 24-year-old...
Born as Wave in the Seattle area, Astound Broadband is merging with GFiber as new internet provider
March 11, 2026
(Images via Astound, GFiber) Stonepeak and Alphabet announced Wednesday that they have entered into an agreement to combine Astound Broadband and GFiber, creating an independent broadband internet provider and marking the latest shift for a telecom brand with deep roots in the Seattle...
Startup Radar: Seattle-area founders use AI for medical records, gaming, mortgages, search, and more
March 11, 2026
From top left, clockwise: Makko CEO Jeremy Bird; Pipeshub CEO Rishabh Gupta; Flightline CEO Jesse Collins; AttorneyAide CEO Rohit Kundaji; and Liminary CEO Sarah Andrabi. Our latest Startup Radar spotlight features founders from the Seattle region using AI to help automate the assessment of...
Tech Moves: Microsoft Research gets a new leader; Amazon head joins AI startup; JPMorgan exec departing
March 11, 2026
Peter Lee, left, and Igor Tsyganskiy. (GeekWire File Photo and LinkedIn Photo) Igor Tsyganskiy is now executive vice president of Microsoft Research (MSR) as past president Peter Lee steps aside to become president of Microsoft Science, which spans physical, biological and medical fields....
Microsoft’s brief in Anthropic case shows new alliance and willingness to challenge Trump administration
March 11, 2026
Microsoft said the action against Anthropic imposes “substantial and wide-ranging costs and risks.” (GeekWire File Photo / Todd Bishop) A brief filed by Microsoft in Anthropic’s lawsuit against the U.S. Department of War shows the deepening ties between the two companies, and Microsoft’s...
Washington House passes 9.9% ‘millionaires tax’ as business leaders warn of ‘seismic shift’
March 11, 2026
The Legislative Building in Olympia, Wash., is home to the state’s Legislature. (GeekWire Photo / Lisa Stiffler) The so-called “millionaires tax” passed the Washington House Tuesday night after more than 24 hours of debate, teeing up the bill for final approval today or tomorrow. [Update March...
Opinion: The wrong tax at the wrong time for Washington
March 11, 2026
Editor’s note: GeekWire publishes guest opinions to foster informed discussion and highlight a diversity of perspectives on issues shaping the tech and startup community. If you’re interested in submitting a guest column, email us at tips@geekwire.com. Submissions are reviewed by our editorial team...
I pitched in to a new community effort to buy the Seattle Seahawks — so far I’m on the hook for $79M
March 10, 2026
Screen grabs from the “Let’s Buy the Seahawks” initiative showing the proposal, center, and a receipt for a share. (LetsBuytheSeahawks.org) A new proposal to buy the Seattle Seahawks has been launched by a fan of the team who thinks such a community treasure should be owned by all of the 12s...
Microsoft’s return-to-office policy creates a return to slower commutes, traffic analysis shows
March 10, 2026
The blur of the morning commute: Sunrise and car lights during the trip across Seattle’s SR 520. (GeekWire File Photo / Kurt Schlosser) Seattle-area Microsoft employees who are showing up in the office three days a week are also showing up on roadways and impacting commuters’ speeds, according...
Judge blocks Perplexity’s AI bot from shopping on Amazon in early test of agentic commerce
March 10, 2026
Perplexity’s Comet browser, which includes an AI assistant that can shop on behalf of users, is the subject of a suit by Amazon. (Perplexity Image) A federal judge in San Francisco granted Amazon a preliminary injunction Monday blocking Perplexity from using its Comet browser’s AI agent to...
Tim Chen’s Essence VC firm is raising a new fund to back more infrastructure startups
March 10, 2026
Tim Chen. (Photo courtesy of Chen) Essence VC, an early stage venture capital firm run by Tim Chen, is raising a new fund. A SEC filing revealed the new fund. Chen confirmed that Essence is aiming to raise about $7 million for the fund, which is separate from the firm’s $41 million fourth...
I got my hair cut at the one-of-a-kind Amazon Salon in London: See before and after photos
March 10, 2026
GeekWire co-founder John Cook, left, with Korell, his hair stylist at Amazon Salon in London. (GeekWire Photo) LONDON — Strolling among the food vendors and independent pop-up shops of London’s historic Spitalfields Market, I stumbled upon a modern slice of American retail. There, just a...
Opinion: You couldn’t pay me to leave Washington state, and I’d pay more to stay
March 10, 2026
Brian Fioca. (Photo courtesy of Brian Fioca) Editor’s note: GeekWire publishes guest opinions to foster informed discussion and highlight a diversity of perspectives on issues shaping the tech and startup community. If you’re interested in submitting a guest column, email us at...
Seattle-area startup turns industrial emissions into high-performance battery materials
March 10, 2026
Homeostasis’ prototype device for producing graphite material for use in batteries. (Homeostasis Photo) Homeostasis co-founder and CEO Makoto Eyre cites a famous Eisenhower line to capture his current leadership mindset: “Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.” It’s an apt motto for a...
Jay Graber steps down as Bluesky CEO, moves into chief innovation officer role at social media platform
March 09, 2026
Jay Graber accepts her Uncommon Thinkers award at the GeekWire Gala in December 2025. (GeekWire File Photo / Kevin Lisota) Bluesky CEO Jay Graber announced Monday that she’s stepping down from her position and moving to a new role as chief innovation officer of the decentralized social...
Microsoft’s new Copilot Cowork integrates Anthropic’s Claude in rollout of new E7 licensing tier
March 09, 2026
Microsoft is leveraging its new Anthropic partnership to bolster Copilot adoption among businesses. (GeekWire Photo / Todd Bishop) Microsoft unveiled Copilot Cowork, a new AI assistant that can run tasks in the background, create documents, and work across Microsoft 365 apps, the company...
New free, on-demand EV service launches in Redmond to shuttle riders to light rail
March 09, 2026
A RedLink shuttle vehicle in Redmond, Wash. (City of Redmond Photo) Another new transportation option is coming to Redmond, Wash. The city announced the launch Monday of RedLink, a free, on-demand, all-electric ride service to help residents and visitors get around Redmond more easily and...
Contractors sue Modern Hydrogen, alleging the Bill Gates-backed startup left their final invoices unpaid
March 09, 2026
Bill Gates gets hands on with Modern Hydrogen’s solid carbon product during an April 2024 visit to the company. (Gates Ventures Photo) John Hinkey knew there was a risk to doing contract work for startups — sometimes their finances go south and his mechanical design firm might go unpaid. But...
A whole new ballgame for trading cards: Startup uses robots and AI to sort and analyze collections
March 09, 2026
Gradient CEO Tim Clothier, left, and CTO Matt Lubbers hold one of the thousands of trays of trading cards that have been processed by the company’s robotics and AI systems at the startup’s Renton, Wash., headquarters. (GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser) Matt Lubbers says the genesis for his new...
Week in Review: Most popular stories on GeekWire for the week of March 1, 2026
March 08, 2026
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 March 1, 2026. 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 on location at OpenAI in Bellevue, with CTO of Applications Vijaye Raji
March 07, 2026
Vijaye Raji, OpenAI’s CTO of Applications, speaks at the company’s Bellevue office opening. (GeekWire Photo / Todd Bishop) OpenAI just opened its largest office outside San Francisco, in downtown Bellevue, Wash., and we were there for the grand opening to tour the space, check out the vibe, and...
Rad Power Bikes’ new owner wants to rehire employees, open stores and return e-bike brand to glory days
March 07, 2026
Seattle-based Rad Power Bikes went bankrupt and was acquired by Life Electric Vehicles Holdings of Florida. (Rad Power Bikes Photo) Robert Provost has big plans for Rad Power Bikes, the recently bankrupt Seattle-based electric bike maker that he thinks can reclaim its industry dominance — and...
Washington governor says he’ll sign millionaires tax
March 06, 2026
Gov. Bob Ferguson delivered his State of the State address in Olympia, Wash., on Jan. 13. (Governor’s Office Photo) Gov. Bob Ferguson said Friday that he will sign the latest version of Washington’s proposed “millionaires tax,” paving the way for legislation that has sparked intense debate...
Washington state bill to ban microchipping of employees heads to governor for approval
March 06, 2026
The Legislative Building in Olympia, Wash. (GeekWire Photo / Lisa Stiffler) Washington state legislators approved a bill to ban employers from requiring or pressuring workers to be microchipped, aiming to prohibit the practice before it ever becomes an issue. HB 2303 was unanimously passed by...
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