June 05, 2015
Microsoft Azure tops $100B in annual revenue as record AI spending cuts into cash flow
July 29, 2026
GeekWire File Photo Microsoft’s Azure cloud business grew 43% last quarter, blowing past the company’s own forecast and surpassing $100 billion in annual revenue for the first time, providing fresh evidence of the potential for artificial intelligence to fuel new growth for the tech giant....
VC is changing dramatically — what’s a founder to do?
July 29, 2026
Click to enlarge. The top 5% of U.S. seed-round valuations reached $200.4 million in Q2 2026, up 177% from a year earlier, even as fewer companies were funded. (Chart: Peter Walker / Carta) Guest Opinion: When I moved to Seattle in 2000 and started in venture capital, I read the book “The...
Amazon earnings preview: Wall Street looks for more cloud growth as AI spending hits a record
July 29, 2026
Amazon reports quarterly earnings Thursday afternoon, facing the same test as every other big tech company right now: whether it’s generating enough business to justify its massive AI spending. Wall Street expects revenue of about $196.4 billion, up 17% from a year ago, and earnings of $1.82...
Seattle lands another $1B startup: Here’s the latest arrival in the industrial AI boom
July 29, 2026
Nominal CEO Cameron McCord says Seattle’s concentration to tech talent and key partners attracted the company. (Photos via Nominal) Seattle’s emergence as a hub for companies building the next generation of industrial technology is drawing another high-profile startup. Los Angeles-based...
Seattle Tech Week highlights how unorthodox routes can lead to careers on the space frontier
July 29, 2026
Joydeep Hazra, program director for electric vehicles at South Seattle College, holds up a prototype Mars rover during a Seattle Tech Week session. He’s surrounded by, from left, Alec Courtright, technical program manager at EarthDaily Federal, Anjali Roychowdhury, lead software engineer at SpaceX;...
Anime fans, assemble: Bandai Namco opening ‘Gundam Base’ retail experience south of Seattle
July 28, 2026
(Bandai Namco Image) Giant anime robots are landing in the Seattle area. Bandai Namco is opening an official Gundam Base retail store at Westfield Southcenter mall in Tukwila, Wash., this fall, giving Pacific Northwest anime and model-kit fans a permanent flagship destination for all things...
Uncommon Thinkers 2026: Nominate Seattle area’s bold innovators driving positive change
July 28, 2026
The 2025 “Uncommon Thinkers” award winners, from left: Anindya Roy, co-founder of Lila Biologics; Kiana Ehsani, co-founder of Vercept; Max Blumen of Tin Can; Jay Graber, CIO of Bluesky; Brian Pinkard, co-founder of Aquagga, and Jeff Thornburg, co-founder of Portal Space Systems; (GeekWire Photo /...
What are you building? Talking with founders and business leaders at the Seattle Tech Week kickoff event
July 28, 2026
Top row from left: Emily Rapp, Henry Arias, Cleo Escarez, and Jagan Nemani. Bottom row from left: Kim Vu, Andy Liu, Mary Jesse, and Kenny Daniel, at the Seattle Tech Week kickoff. (GeekWire Photos / Todd Bishop) The fourth annual Seattle Tech Week got off to a big start Monday, with panels and...
Less Amazon, more profit: UPS raises forecast after cutting millions of lower-yield deliveries
July 28, 2026
A UPS truck makes its way through downtown Seattle. (GeekWire File Photo / Kurt Schlosser) Handling fewer packages for Amazon is boosting the financial outlook for UPS, as CEO Carol Tomé said Tuesday that the delivery giant has successfully completed its planned volume pullback and is pivoting...
Jeff Bezos says this business is becoming Amazon’s next ‘pillar’
July 28, 2026
Amazon’s next pillar could be built on a foundation of silicon. In a new interview with Fortune, Amazon founder and Executive Chair Jeff Bezos says the company’s custom chip business is on track to become one of Amazon’s most durable businesses, placing it alongside Marketplace, Prime, and...
Amazon Leo seeks FCC approval to launch 5,105 satellites that would connect with mobile devices
July 28, 2026
An illustration shows campers using a smartphone to connect with a stylized Amazon Leo satellite network. (Amazon Photoillustration) Amazon Leo has asked the Federal Communications Commission to approve its plan to launch up to 5,105 satellites capable of providing space-based connectivity for...
Warner Bros. Discovery sues Amazon over HBO Max exec hire, seeks order blocking future poaching
July 27, 2026
GeekWire Image / Company Logos A new Warner Bros. Discovery lawsuit against Amazon, accusing the tech giant of poaching a top HBO Max marketing executive 16 months before her contract expired, comes with an unusual request: a court order barring Amazon from hiring any employee of the media...
Seattle startup Replify acquired by ABC Fitness to bring agentic AI to more gyms and wellness centers
July 27, 2026
(ABC Fitness Image) Replify, a Seattle startup that uses agentic AI to help fitness operators automate member and prospect communications, is being acquired by Dallas-based ABC Fitness, the companies announced Monday. Replify’s software handles phone calls, emails, chats, and texts for health...
Microsoft escalates the AI security race with ‘Project Perception’ and a new in-house model
July 27, 2026
Microsoft Security EVP Hayete Gallot introduces Project Perception’s agent teams Monday in San Francisco. (Screenshot) Microsoft on Monday unveiled Project Perception, an AI cybersecurity system built to defend against AI-driven attacks, aiming to keep pace with both hackers and its technology...
Another high for student rocketry team: First place in international competition
July 27, 2026
Washington Youth Aerospace, the winners of the International Rocketry Challenge, from left in black shirts, Mikhail Antipin, Antoine Vigneron, Anay Mediwala, Nikhil Sirivara, Daniel Tadesse and Bao-ky Tran, pose with European Space Agency astronauts Meganne Christian, left, and John McFall at the...
Report: Starbucks scrapped an AI inventory tool and left a Seattle-area startup ‘blindsided’
July 27, 2026
Starbucks was using technology from Redmond-based NomadGo to automate how workers counted inventory items. (Starbucks Photo) When Starbucks scrapped an AI-powered inventory counting tool back in May, just nine months after revealing the new system, it landed as a surprise to those tracking the...
Microsoft earnings preview: AI spending, cloud margins, and why the stock keeps falling
July 27, 2026
Microsoft has topped earnings expectations consistently in recent years, yet its stock is near a one-year low. So while it’s worth paying attention to revenue and profits when the company reports its fiscal year-end results Wednesday, there are clearly other forces at play on...
Tech Moves: Remitly names CISO; Joseph Williams leads cybersecurity ed at WWU; Yoodli gets product VP
July 27, 2026
Jeff Lyon. (LinkedIn Photo) — Jeff Lyon is now chief information security officer at Seattle’s Remitly. Lyon joins from Coinbase, where he was head of infrastructure security for two years. Past roles include security leadership at Robinhood and Amazon Web Services. Lyon also served as a petty...
Jeff Bezos reportedly joining bid to buy stake in English soccer giant Liverpool FC
July 27, 2026
Jeff Bezos uncorks the bubbly after a suborbital spaceflight in Blue Origin’s New Shepard capsule. (Blue Origin Photo) Jeff Bezos may never again “walk alone.” The Amazon founder is reportedly part of a group interested in buying a 30% stake in Liverpool Football Club, the storied English...
Could nuclear heaters keep astronauts warm on the moon? NASA is funding research to find out
July 27, 2026
This collage highlights some of the projects selected for funding through the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program, including a study looking at radioisotope heating systems for moonwalking astronauts, depicted at center left. (NASA Graphic) NASA says it’s funding a new batch of far-out...
Dopl raises $6.3M to bring remote robotic ultrasounds to rural patients as it pursues FDA clearance
July 27, 2026
Illustration of a patient receiving an ultrasound using Dopl’s remote technology as a medical assistant looks on. (Dopl Illustration) Dopl Technologies announced $6.3 million in new funding to support the development and commercialization of a remotely operated robotic ultrasound system. The...
Week in Review: Most popular stories on GeekWire for the week of July 19, 2026
July 26, 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 July 19, 2026. Sign up to receive these updates every Sunday in your inbox by subscribing to our GeekWire Weekly email newsletter. Most popular stories on...
What’s going on with Seattle startup funding, a Kalshi setback, Impinj’s long game, and a smartphone detox
July 25, 2026
This week on the GeekWire Podcast: Seattle startup funding drops 40% in the first half of the year while AI money floods everywhere else. We dig into the implications for the region. Plus: a Seattle judge deals Kalshi a setback, Impinj marks a decade on the Nasdaq after a 26-year climb, and...
Amazon confirms it’s closing key AI site in San Francisco but says work on its top models continues
July 24, 2026
GeekWire File Photo Amazon is closing its San Francisco AGI site as part of the layoffs it made this week in its artificial general intelligence organization, but said its frontier model research lab will continue. A company spokesperson confirmed the news of the site closure, which was first...
‘The Odyssey’ isn’t on IMAX 70mm in Seattle — is it worth a journey for the summer’s biggest film?
July 24, 2026
The biggest movie of the summer will create a big headache for film geeks in Seattle who want to see “The Odyssey” precisely as director Christopher Nolan intended. For a population that has gotten comfortable watching anything and everything streamed on TVs and smartphones, the difference...
Defense tech giant Anduril eyes new funding at $100B valuation as Seattle expansion draws protests
July 24, 2026
Protesters outside Anduril’s Seattle offices on Sunday, July 19. (GeekWire Photo / John Cook) Defense tech giant Anduril, which is rapidly expanding its operations in the Seattle area, is looking to raise a new round of capital that could value the company at about $100 billion, reports Reuters....
Earth first, Mars later: Inside AIM’s grand vision for physical AI and autonomous bulldozers
July 24, 2026
An excavator and bulldozer operating autonomously using AIM Intelligent Machines’ AI platform work at the company’s proving grounds near Monroe, Wash. (AIM Photo) In a headquarters and lab space formerly occupied by SpaceX in Redmond, Wash., AIM Intelligent Machines (AIM) is focused on solving...
Tech Moves: Agility Robotics gets CFO; Microsoft security departure; Zap’s legal officer; new KEXP CPTO
July 23, 2026
Michael Beer. (Agility Robotics Photo) — Agility Robotics named Michael Beer as its chief financial officer. Current CFO and chief operating officer Jennifer Hunter will transition to serving exclusively as COO. “Michael brings outstanding public company finance and capital markets...
BioLife Solutions to be acquired by Repligen in $1.5B cell therapy deal
July 23, 2026
Roderick de Greef, CEO of BioLife Solutions. (BioLife Photo) BioLife Solutions, a Bothell, Wash.-based company developing tools for cell and gene therapy, is being acquired for $1.5 billion by the life sciences corporation Repligen. BioLife is a publicly traded business that makes products...
Amazon puts Luna gaming service inside its Prime Video app, hoping people finally notice
July 23, 2026
Amazon will begin to fold its Luna cloud platform directly into the Prime Video app via the new Games tab, in an effort to get word about Luna to Prime members. (Amazon Luna promotional image) Amazon announced today that it has updated some versions of its Prime Video app to include direct...
Microsoft 2.5: New security business chief Hayete Gallot on the company’s push into the agentic era
July 23, 2026
Hayete Gallot, now executive vice president of Microsoft Security, speaks at a Microsoft event in France in 2024. (Microsoft Photo) GeekWire is profiling over the next few weeks some of the people and teams that are shaping the evolution of Microsoft in what we’re calling its “Microsoft 2.5”...
Startup Spotlight: MediaPact wants to reinvent digital ads for the AI era
July 22, 2026
Lacie Thompson previously worked in marketing at Expedia, Blue Nile and New Engen, and is now putting those skills to work at MediaPact. As AI changes how people discover products online, marketers are rethinking the traditional digital advertising playbook. With AI-generated answers reducing...
Amazon cuts jobs in AGI group as it puts more focus on customer-facing AI
July 22, 2026
GeekWire File Photo Amazon confirmed Wednesday that it laid off an unspecified number of employees in its artificial general intelligence (AGI) organization, the division working on the company’s advanced AI models. The move, first reported by Reuters, comes as the company invests heavily in...
Game developer Harebrained Schemes kicks off its new indie era with survival-horror RPG ‘GRAFT’
July 22, 2026
(Harebrained Schemes press image) The latest game from Seattle-based developer Harebrained Schemes, and its first since its return to independence in 2023, is a dark sci-fi/horror adventure where the player must constantly change and enhance their body in order to survive. In GRAFT, players...
Microsoft 2.5: A new series on the people shaping the company’s future
July 22, 2026
Nearly 20 years ago (!), in 2007, I published my first and only book: Microsoft 2.0. It focused on changes I expected at the company in the “Post-Gates” era. What would remain the same and what likely would be different once co-founder and CEO Bill Gates had left the building? CEO Satya...
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