03-13-26 -

Big tech dodged Washington states data center rules but didnt escape a sales...
Big tech scored a big win with the defeat of data center regulations, but it lost a significant tax break for the facilities with Thursday's 11th-hour passage of a Senate bill. Read More

03-13-26 -

Report: TerraPower leadership faces tough questions about Gates, Myhrvold and...
TerraPower employees questioned CEO Chris Levesque about connections between sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and company board leaders Bill Gates and Nathan Myhrvold, according to The Seattle Times. Read More

03-13-26 -

Taylor Soper named director of Seattles AI House after remarkable run at Geek...
Taylor Soper is leaving GeekWire after more than 13 years as a reporter and editor to become director of AI House at AI2 Incubator. We'll miss him deeply, but we're excited to see what he does next. Read More

03-12-26 -

The Tesla exemption no more: Rivian and Lucid break through Washington states...
At the start of next year, Washington state shoppers will for the first time be able to visit showrooms for Rivian and Lucid Motors, take a test drive and buy an EV. Read More

03-12-26 -

Heres the pitch: UW students get in the room with key investors to share thei...
Seven teams comprising 67 undergraduate and graduate students from across campus disciplines laid out their startup business plans at Pioneer Square Labs in Seattle to conclude a 10-week program. Read More

03-12-26 -

Allen Institute for AI CEO Ali Farhadi steps down as nonprofit navigates shif...
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 institute as a key player in the world of open source artifici...

03-12-26 -

Seattles downtown paradox: Commercial engine sputters amid improved safety an...
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 traditional growth engine — the tech sector and downtown employment — is be...

03-12-26 -

USAFacts taps former DataKind CEO Lauren Woodman as new president
Woodman is the second president in the Bellevue, Wash.-based organization’s 10-year history and will report to founder Steve Ballmer when she starts April 20. Read More

03-12-26 -

Microsoft EVP Rajesh Jha retiring after 35 years in latest exit from senior l...
Rajesh Jha, who led Microsoft’s biggest consumer and business products as executive vice president of the Experiences + Devices group,… Read More

03-12-26 -

Atlassian layoffs impact 63 workers in Washington as CTO steps down
Atlassian announced Wednesday that it will lay off about 10% of its staff, or 1,600 employees, as the 24-year-old software firm transitions to an "AI-first company." Read More

03-11-26 -

Born as Wave in the Seattle area, Astound Broadband is merging with GFiber as...
For the Pacific Northwest tech corridor, the deal is the latest chapter for a business born in Kirkland, Wash., as Wave Broadband. Founded by Steve Weed, Wave grew into a dominant regional challenger to traditional cable giants. Read More

03-11-26 -

Startup Radar: Seattle-area founders use AI for medical records, gaming, mort...
Our latest spotlight features founders using AI to help automate the assessment of medical records, video game production, and much more. Read More

03-11-26 -

Tech Moves: Microsoft Research gets a new leader; Amazon head joins AI startu...
Igor Tsyganskiy is now leading Microsoft Research (MSR) as past president Peter Lee takes the helm of Microsoft Science. Read More

03-11-26 -

Microsofts brief in Anthropic case shows new alliance and willingness to chal...
Microsoft filed a friend-of-the-court brief in Anthropic's lawsuit against the Department of War, urging a judge to block the Pentagon's supply chain risk designation. The move reflects the companies' growing alliance and Microsoft's history of ta...

03-11-26 -

Washington House passes 9.9% millionaires tax as business leaders warn of sei...
Some tech leaders and entrepreneurs worry the legislation could undermine their sector by souring Washington’s relatively favorable tax laws for startup founders, investors and high-wage earners. Read More

03-11-26 -

Opinion: The wrong tax at the wrong time for Washington
Editor’s note: GeekWire publishes guest opinions to foster informed discussion and highlight a diversity of perspectives on issues shaping the… Read More

03-10-26 -

I pitched in to a new community effort to buy the Seattle Seahawks so far Im...
"Without being too on the nose, it's sort of a criticism of billionaires and just how absolutely insane an amount of money it requires to buy something of that size," said Abel Charrow, creator of "Let's Buy the Seahawks." Read...

03-10-26 -

Microsofts return-to-office policy creates a return to slower commutes, traff...
Inrix measured travel speeds on eastbound and westbound SR 520 and southbound and northbound I-405 during the weeks of Feb. 23 and March 2. Read More

03-10-26 -

Judge blocks Perplexitys AI bot from shopping on Amazon in early test of agen...
A federal judge sided with Amazon in its lawsuit over Perplexity's Comet browser, granting a preliminary injunction in an early legal test of AI-powered shopping tools. Read More

03-10-26 -

Tim Chens Essence VC firm is raising a new fund to back more infrastructure s...
Chen said the new fund will allow Essence to lead bigger pre-seed rounds and gives him more flexibility on deployment timeframes. Read More

03-10-26 -

I got my hair cut at the one-of-a-kind Amazon Salon in London: See before and...
We all know Amazon as a master of book sales, cloud computing and Prime Video — but GeekWire's John Cook had to determine how a Seattle-based tech juggernaut fared at cutting hair. Read More

03-10-26 -

Opinion: You couldnt pay me to leave Washington state, and Id pay more to stay
My view on Washington’s proposed tax on very high incomes is simple: if I’ve found myself in the position of making that much in a year, I can afford to contribute a little more to the place that helped make that circumstance possible. Read More

03-10-26 -

Seattle-area startup turns industrial emissions into high-performance battery...
Homeostasis is building a business at the intersection of climate policy, trade wars and the global race for battery materials with its graphite production tech. Read More

03-09-26 -

Jay Graber steps down as Bluesky CEO, moves into chief innovation officer rol...
"As Bluesky matures, the company needs a seasoned operator focused on scaling and execution, while I return to what I do best: building new things," Graber wrote in a post. Read More

03-09-26 -

Microsofts new Copilot Cowork integrates Anthropics Claude in rollout of new ...
Microsoft is launching Copilot Cowork, a new AI assistant built with Anthropic that can run tasks in the background and work across Microsoft 365 apps, as part of a broader wave of updates including a new $99-per-user E7 licensing tier. Read More

03-09-26 -

New free, on-demand EV service launches in Redmond to shuttle riders to light...
RedLink riders can access the service via the Circuit app. It's available to all Redmond residents and visitors traveling within the service area, which includes parts of Downtown Redmond, Education Hill, and Southeast Redmond. Read More

03-09-26 -

Contractors sue Modern Hydrogen, alleging the Bill Gates-backed startup left ...
Five contractors are suing the Seattle-area clean energy startup for more than $363,458, alleging unpaid invoices when the company suddenly slowed operations late last year. Read More

03-09-26 -

A whole new ballgame for trading cards: Startup uses robots and AI to sort an...
Gradient's Renton, Wash., office space is home to 10 million sports and gaming cards, where a team of card geeks and engineers are using technology to upend a $15 billion U.S. market. Read More

03-08-26 -

Week in Review: Most popular stories on GeekWire for the week of March 1, 2026
See the technology stories that people were reading on GeekWire for the week of March 1, 2026. Read More

03-07-26 -

GeekWire Podcast on location at OpenAI in Bellevue, with CTO of Applications ...
We visited OpenAI's new Bellevue office on opening day, toured the retro-modern space, and talked with CTO Vijaye Raji about Codex, culture, and the Seattle region's AI moment. Read More

03-06-26 -

Rad Power Bikes new owner wants to rehire employees, open stores and return e...
Robert Provost, CEO of South Florida-based Life Electric Vehicles Holdings, Inc., laid out an ambitious roadmap to overhaul and energize the new company, Rad Life Mobility. Read More

03-06-26 -

Washington governor says hell sign millionaires tax
Ferguson said a revised proposal met his desire to send more revenue back to working families and small businesses. The legislation has sparked intense debate within the state's tech and business circles. Read More

03-06-26 -

Washington state bill to ban microchipping of employees heads to governor for...
The bill prohibits employers from requiring, requesting or coercing employees to have microchips implanted in their bodies as a condition of employment, and would bar the use of subcutaneous tracking or identification technology for workplace mana...

03-05-26 -

Former startup CFO gets 2 years in prison for wire fraud / crypto scheme that...
Nevin Shetty, 42, of Mercer Island, Wash., was found guilty last November, after a nine-day jury trial, of four counts of wire fraud. Read More

03-05-26 -

Inside OpenAIs new Bellevue office: A swanky statement about AIs impact on th...
OpenAI marked the grand opening its new office in downtown Bellevue, Wash., its largest outside of San Francisco, with room to grow to 1,400 employees. Read More

03-05-26 -

Silicon Valley tech vet: No better time to start companies than now
The AI moment is not just another tech cycle — it's one of the best openings founders have seen in years. That was the message from Sudheesh Nair, a longtime Bay Area tech leader and co-founder of enterprise web agent startup TinyFish. Read More

03-05-26 -

University of Washington team working on CPR feedback device wins health inno...
CPRight is a real-time CPR feedback device that provides data on compression rate and depth to ensure bystanders perform high-quality, life-saving chest compressions during an emergency. Read More

03-05-26 -

Xbox surprise: Microsoft reveals Project Helix as the codename of its next co...
In the days leading up to one of the games industry’s bigger trade conferences, Microsoft has quietly unveiled the code… Read More

03-05-26 -

Tech Moves: Amperity and Siteimprove name CMOs; AWS director departs; Gongs n...
In the latest Pacific Northwest tech moves, Amperity and Siteimprove name CMOs; an AWS security director departs; and Elizabeth Scallon goes to Nvidia. Read More

03-05-26 -

Sub Pop Records leaving Amazon HQ space for new store on Seattle waterfront
The store on 7th Avenue is closing March 8 and a new Sub Pop store will open April 1 on the Seattle waterfront. Read More

03-05-26 -

Fully charged: Meet the local leader energizing the Pacific Northwest battery...
Grayson Shor, founder of the Pacific Northwest Battery Collaborative, is the driving force that's uniting the region's battery community. Read More

03-05-26 -

Rad Power Bikes brand will live on as Life EV completes acquisition of Seattl...
Life EV announced that its court-approved asset acquisition had been completed as part of Rad's bankruptcy process. The South Florida-based company paid $13.2 million for the e-bike maker that was once valued at $1.65 billion. Read More

03-05-26 -

Washington state lawmakers target data center sales tax breaks to help plug $...
Washington lawmakers are considering ending a sales tax break for data center owners when they replace equipment. Read More

03-05-26 -

Amazon makes a new bet on healthcare AI, rivaling Microsoft in the doctors of...
AWS is launching Amazon Connect Health, handling patient calls, clinical documentation and billing codes in a new challenge to Microsoft's Nuance and a crowded field of AI scribe startups. Read More

03-04-26 -

Amazon lays off robotics staff in latest cuts
The layoffs are separate from Amazon's broader cuts announced in January that impacted more than 16,000 corporate workers. Read More

03-04-26 -

Startup Radar: Seattle-area founders use AI for music videos, real estate, de...
From fitness equipment to voice AI agents to autonomous debugging, our latest Startup Radar spotlight features Seattle-area founders solving problems… Read More

03-04-26 -

TerraPower becomes first next-gen nuclear company to get U.S. green light for...
Bill Gates-backed TerraPower is the first in the nation to receive federal approval to build its next-generation nuclear power plant.… Read More

03-04-26 -

SeaPort Airlines to offer daily flights between Seattles Boeing Field and Spo...
The air travel option, starting March 9, could potentially link commuters out of the Seattle region's major tech hub with companies and clients building out the tech scene in Eastern Washington. Read More

03-04-26 -

Starbucks plans corporate office in Nashville, impacting some Seattle-based s...
The move is part of Starbucks' bid to grow across North America and establish "a more strategic presence" in the Southeast region of the U.S., according to Mike Grams, Starbucks chief operating officer. Read More

03-04-26 -

Pre-trial fight in OpenAI case focuses on Elon Musks dual role as Microsoft p...
Pre-trial motions in Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft focus in part on his company's business dealings with the Redmond company, and what that means for his credibility as a witness. Read More