June 29, 2024
ByteDance lays off 65 Seattle-area workers
July 07, 2025
(GeekWire File Photo / Todd Bishop) ByteDance, the Beijing-based parent company of TikTok, is laying off 65 workers based in Bellevue, Wash., according to a new filing with the Washington state Employment Security Department. ByteDance, Inc., is laying off 27 workers, while TikTok, Inc., is...
AI companionship app Tolan raises $20M to help more people grow with a virtual alien friend
July 07, 2025
The Tolan app features AI companions from Planet Portola. They are designed to help users feel grounded and confident, according to the startup that created them. (Tolan Image) The startup behind the colorful, animated AI companions called Tolan raised $20 million in new funding and has seen...
Microsoft and the microbiome: Viome works with tech giant to optimize AI for molecular health
July 07, 2025
Naveen Jain, Viome CEO and founder, worked at Microsoft early in his career. (Viome Photo) Viome, a life sciences startup founded by veteran tech entrepreneur Naveen Jain, announced a collaboration with Microsoft to scale its molecular analysis platform — part of what Viome describes as a new...
Week in Review: Most popular stories on GeekWire for the week of June 29, 2025
July 06, 2025
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 June 29, 2025. Sign up to receive these updates every Sunday in your inbox by subscribing to our GeekWire Weekly email newsletter. Most popular stories on...
Managing in the age of AI, with former Microsoft leader, executive coach, and author Sabina Nawaz
July 05, 2025
Executive coach and author Sabina Nawaz explores the hidden forces that derail managers — and how to lead with intention — in her book, You’re the Boss: Become the Manager You Want to Be (and Others Need). (GeekWire Photo / Todd Bishop) This week on the GeekWire Podcast: Executive coach and...
Paleontologists dig into the facts and fiction in the latest ‘Jurassic World’ dinosaur movie
July 04, 2025
Ready … set … action! Scarlett Johansson gets ready to film a scene for “Jurassic World Rebirth.” (Jasin Boland / Universal Pictures – © Universal Studios) Nathan Myhrvold, a Seattle tech titan who also studies titanosaurs and other denizens of the dinosaur era, realizes that “Jurassic World...
Seattle leaders scrutinize $90M tax plan: Relief for small businesses, higher bills for big tech
July 03, 2025
A proposed change to business taxes would likely raise rates for companies including Zillow Group, which is headquartered in the sky scraper to the left, while cutting taxes for small businesses, such as some doing business in the Pike Place Market. (GeekWire File Photo / Kurt Schlosser) Seattle...
Fighting social media addiction with Instagram: Teen’s meme account attracts 1.9M followers
July 03, 2025
Images and messages in posts on the Brain Nourishment Instagram feed are intended to encourage people to do something else besides look at Instagram. (Via @brain.norishmentt) To get over his screen addiction, 18-year-old Garner Hall had to spend more time on his phone. The contradiction isn’t...
Startup radar: It’s all about AI for early stage Seattle companies in space, storytelling, supply chain
July 03, 2025
From top left, clockwise: InnoMat CEO Charlie Sun, LoftxAI CEO Avinash Belur; Orbital Robotics CEO Aaron Borger; and Alson AI CEO Nafisa Muzaffar. From space robots to AI storytelling, the latest edition of GeekWire’s startup radar features a diverse mix of early stage tech companies out of...
States retain power to regulate AI as Senate approves amendment led by Cantwell
July 02, 2025
Sen. Maria Cantwell speaks at the Technology Alliance State of Technology annual luncheon in Seattle in May 2024. (GeekWire Photo / Taylor Soper) In a decisive 99-1 vote early Tuesday morning, the U.S. Senate struck down a provision that would have banned states from regulating artificial...
United joins other airlines in offering facial recognition as ID option at Seattle airport
July 02, 2025
United now has TSA PreCheck Touchless ID checkpoints at 10 airports across the U.S. (United Photo) United is the latest airline to offer TSA PreCheck Touchless ID as a service for its customers who are traveling through Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The opt-in service is designed to...
Microsoft cuts 830 jobs in Washington state — less than 10% of latest global layoffs
July 02, 2025
A Microsoft sign on the company’s Redmond campus. (GeekWire File Photo / Todd Bishop) It looks like Microsoft’s latest job cuts won’t hit its home state quite as hard. The Redmond, Wash.-based tech giant is laying off 830 workers in Washington state as part of the approximately 9,000 global...
Trump bill’s clean energy cuts spark outcry from climate tech industry and Washington leaders
July 02, 2025
A wind turbine in Washington state. (GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser) As Congress wrestles over the deeply polarizing domestic policy bill championed by President Trump, Washington state leaders and entrepreneurs are raising concerns about the law’s provisions that unwind progress on clean...
Cybersecurity company CrowdStrike moving its ‘strategic technology hub’ into new Redmond space
July 02, 2025
(Image via CrowdStrike) CrowdStrike is moving into new office space in Redmond, Wash., the cybersecurity software company confirmed on Wednesday. The company is subleasing 34,873 square feet at Studio 7500, a single tenant office building at 7500 166th Ave. NE., according to figures in...
Microsoft cuts another 4% of its workforce, about 9,000 jobs, in continued efficiency push
July 02, 2025
Awaiting Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at the Build conference in May. (GeekWire Photo / Todd Bishop) Microsoft will reduce its global workforce by another 4% — approximately 9,000 jobs in all — not just in games and sales as previously reported but across the company. Impacted employees are...
Next-gen battery materials manufacturer Group14 lays off workers in Washington state
July 01, 2025
Group14 has delayed the start of production of its battery materials at its BAM2 facility in Moses Lake. (Group14 Photo) Next-gen battery materials manufacturer Group14 Technologies laid off an undisclosed number of workers as tariff uncertainties and new federal policies create significant...
Tech Moves: AWS leader goes to Siemens; Wash. names broadband lead; NuScale adds to C-suite
July 01, 2025
Joseph Williams onstage at the 2025 GeekWire Awards with his Public Policy Champion award. (GeekWire Photo / Dan DeLong) — Joseph Williams is temporarily taking the helm of the Washington State Broadband Office (WSBO) as it’s scrambling to respond to Trump administration changes to a program...
Flyhomes sells home search tech to The Real Brokerage, sharpens focus on mortgage business
July 01, 2025
(Flyhomes.com screenshot) Flyhomes has sold its consumer home search technology and related assets to The Real Brokerage, marking a major shift for the Seattle-based real estate startup as it focuses more narrowly on mortgage lending. Real, a publicly traded company based in Miami, announced...
Rocket Companies completes Redfin acquisition; new pricing program is first perk of partnership
July 01, 2025
(GeekWire File Photo) Rocket Companies completed its acquisition of Redfin on Tuesday, bringing together the nation’s largest mortgage lender with the tech-enabled Seattle real estate brokerage. The $1.75 billion deal was first announced in March. The companies unveiled one of the first...
Seattle startup Circulate Health raises $12M for pricey ‘blood-cleaning’ longevity service
July 01, 2025
A patient receiving therapeutic plasma exchange services from Circulate Health. (Circulate Photo) Circulate Health, a Seattle health longevity startup, today announced $12 million in seed funding. The company is partnering with two-dozen clinics in eight states to provide a blood-cleaning...
Amazon tops 1 million robots: Here’s what they do
July 01, 2025
A robot in Amazon’s fulfillment center follows an optimized path toward its target, guided by DeepFleet, the company’s new AI system designed to coordinate robotic traffic and reduce congestion on the warehouse floor. (Amazon Photo Illustration) Amazon has deployed its 1 millionth robot, a...
Microsoft teaming with Premier League to enhance soccer fans’ digital experience using AI
July 01, 2025
Microsoft AI is being used to enhance the Premier League app and other fan-facing experiences. (Premier League image) Microsoft announced a new strategic partnership with the Premier League on Tuesday in which the tech giant will use its cloud and AI technology to provide a boost to the soccer...
AI vs. MDs: Microsoft AI tool outperforms doctors in diagnosing complex medical cases
June 30, 2025
CAT scan images. (National Cancer Institute Photo via Unsplash) Microsoft today announced an artificial intelligence tool that outperformed a panel of medical doctors in diagnosing complicated cases. The Microsoft AI Diagnostic Orchestrator (MAI-DxO) faced off against 21 experienced...
19 startups graduate from Creative Destruction Lab’s latest accelerator in Seattle
June 30, 2025
(Creative Destruction Lab Photo) A new cohort of early stage companies recently graduated from Creative Destruction Lab (CDL), the nonprofit that runs a startup accelerator in Seattle. Nineteen startups completed the nine-month program, based at the University of Washington’s Foster School of...
Intuit acquires tech from Seattle startup Relevvo, which helps B2B sales teams connect with buyers
June 30, 2025
Relevvo founders Aashish Dhamdhere (left) and Tushar Shanbhag. Financial technology giant Intuit acquired technology from Seattle startup Relevvo, which built an AI-powered platform to help B2B companies connect with buyers more effectively. Relevvo CEO and co-founder Aashish Dhamdhere...
Meet Olumide Soroye: Fortive’s new CEO helps industrial giant refine focus — with help from AI
June 30, 2025
Olumide Soroye is the new CEO of Fortive, one of Washington state’s largest businesses. (Fortive Photo) Olumide Soroye’s journey to the CEO role at Everett, Wash.-based industrial giant Fortive began thousands of miles away — in Lagos, Nigeria, where he grew up as the youngest of six...
Week in Review: Most popular stories on GeekWire for the week of June 22, 2025
June 29, 2025
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 June 22, 2025. Sign up to receive these updates every Sunday in your inbox by subscribing to our GeekWire Weekly email newsletter. Most popular stories on...
While Jeff Bezos wraps up wedding bash, his Blue Origin venture sends six on a space trip
June 29, 2025
Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket ship lifts off from its Texas launch pad. (Blue Origin via YouTube) Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture launched six more travelers to the edge of the final frontier today, even as the billionaire and his new wife finished up a weekend of wedding festivities in...
The front lines of creativity: Journalist and educator Hanson Hosein on AI and solo storytelling
June 28, 2025
Hanson Hosein outside his backyard studio north of Seattle, where he produces independent films and explores the intersection of storytelling, technology, and leadership. (GeekWire Photo / Todd Bishop) This week on the GeekWire Podcast, our guest is Hanson Hosein — an Emmy Award-winning...
Newlywed Jeff Bezos sells $5.4 billion worth of Amazon stock
June 27, 2025
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez in Los Angeles in November 2021. (BigStock Photo) Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is selling more than $5.4 billion worth of Amazon shares, according to a new regulatory filing made public Friday, part of the billionaire’s ongoing effort to diversify his wealth. The...
University of Washington celebrates Rubin Observatory’s debut — and looks ahead
June 27, 2025
University of Washington astronomer Zeljko Ivezic talks about the Rubin Observatory — a project in which he played a leading role — with an image of the facility displayed behind him. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle) It’s been more than two decades since the University of Washington helped kick...
Tech Vets: Christopher Pavel connects innovators to the military problems they can help solve
June 27, 2025
Christopher Pavel, deputy director at Pacific Northwest Mission Acceleration Center. (Photo courtesy of Christopher Pavel) [Editor’s note: “Tech Vets: Profiles in Leadership and Innovation,” is a GeekWire series showcasing U.S. military veterans leading companies within the Pacific Northwest...
MediScan AI raises $1.4M to help medical professionals evaluate patient records
June 27, 2025
MediScan AI co-founders Kavian Mojabe, left, and Sean Podvent. (MediScan AI Photo) MediScan AI, a Seattle startup using artificial intelligence to help medical professionals evaluate patient records, raised $1.4 million in funding, the company announced Friday. MediScan’s platform can...
Customer data startup Amperity moves to new downtown Seattle office with room to grow
June 26, 2025
A view inside Amperity’s new office space in downtown Seattle. (Amperity Photo) Amperity, the Seattle-based startup that helps companies collect and manage customer data, moved to a new office in downtown Seattle. The company now occupies a full floor in the Qualtrics Tower at 2nd Avenue and...
Bold or boneheaded? Seattle’s proposed tax hike on big business draws fire as Amazon stays silent
June 26, 2025
Downtown Seattle. (GeekWire Photo / Taylor Soper) Supporters call it bold. Critics call it boneheaded. A new effort to raise taxes on large businesses in Seattle is generating a wide range of reaction. Mayor Bruce Harrell and Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck on Wednesday unveiled a...
