Taylor Soper 2023-09-22 18:21:55 www.geekwire.com Unearth co-founders Brian Saab (left) and Amy Hutchins. (Unearth Photos) Unearth Technologies, a Seattle startup that develops mapping software for the construction industry, announced Friday it was acquired by Procore Technologies, …
Unity’s Marc Whitten shares apology note following backlash to controversial licensing policies – GeekWire
Thomas Wilde 2023-09-22 15:39:46 www.geekwire.com Marc Whitten. (LinkedIn Photo) After more than a week of controversy, Unity Technologies posted an apology letter to its community and promised to undo or rollback many of the changes it …
Where’s Astro? Amazon addresses home robot’s absence from annual devices event – GeekWire
Todd Bishop 2023-09-22 13:08:15 www.geekwire.com Is it just us, or is Astro looking lonely? (Amazon Photo) Amazon’s Astro home robot was introduced at the company’s fall Devices & Services event two years ago. Last year, Astro’s …
Amazon to add commercial breaks to Prime Video shows and movies – GeekWire
Kurt Schlosser 2023-09-22 11:37:15 www.geekwire.com (Amazon Image) Amazon is ready to interrupt Prime Video programming to bring commercial breaks to its streaming shows and movies, the company announced Friday. Amazon joins a growing list of streamers …
Microsoft concessions ‘substantially address’ concerns about Activision deal – GeekWire
Todd Bishop 2023-09-22 10:21:37 www.geekwire.com Microsoft cleared another hurdle in its attempt to acquire Activision Blizzard. (Bigstock Photo) Microsoft’s plan to sell Activision Blizzard’s cloud gaming rights to Ubisoft appears to have appeased UK antitrust regulators …
Seattle startup vet Joanna Lord lands new gig; Outreach exec resigns; Maveron hires CFO – GeekWire
Taylor Soper 2023-09-21 17:48:01 www.geekwire.com Joanna Lord. (Photo courtesy of Lord) — Joanna Lord, a marketing exec who led teams at Seattle companies including Porch Group, Big Door, and Moz, is now chief marketing officer at Spring …
Microsoft previews unified AI ‘Copilot’ initiative – GeekWire
Todd Bishop 2023-09-21 13:16:09 www.geekwire.com Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announces Microsoft Copilot in New York on Thursday. (Microsoft Photo) Microsoft executives appeared in New York City this morning to unveil a torrent of new AI features …
TikTok plans major growth in Seattle area as it looks to take on Amazon with e-commerce feature – GeekWire
Kurt Schlosser 2023-09-21 12:01:12 www.geekwire.com TikTok is looking to lure merchants to TikTok Shop, a new feature where products can be sold directly on the the social video app. (TikTok Images) TikTok is looking to aggressively …
Seattle sales software startup cuts 12% of staff – GeekWire
Nate Bek 2023-09-21 01:20:55 www.geekwire.com Outreach CEO Manny Medina, right, and Convoy CEO Dan Lewis spoke about unicorns at the 2019 GeekWire Summit. (GeekWire File Photo) Outreach laid off 12% of its staff this week, the latest …
Seattle startup MotherDuck raises $52.5M at a $400M valuation to fuel DuckDB analytics platform – GeekWire
Nate Bek 2023-09-20 10:18:32 www.geekwire.com MotherDuck CEO and co-founder Jordan Tigani. (LinkedIn Photo) MotherDuck is fueling up to flap its wings a little harder. The analytics company on Wednesday announced a $52.5 million round, bringing total …
Amazon previews Alexa ‘Let’s Chat’ feature for Echo devices, building on generative AI technology – GeekWire
Todd Bishop 2023-09-20 11:29:43 www.geekwire.com Amazon’s Dave Limp demonstrates the “Let’s Chat” feature on Alexa this morning. (Image via webcast) Amazon this morning showed a new feature, dubbed “Let’s Chat” driven by generative artificial intelligence, designed …
Major leak reveals Microsoft’s Xbox plans for 2024 and beyond – GeekWire
Thomas Wilde 2023-09-19 13:24:10 www.geekwire.com (Microsoft Image) In a major leak, Microsoft has accidentally disclosed many of its past, present, and future plans for its gaming division, such as details about its next-generation Xbox, planned acquisitions, …
WTIA reveals 33 startups in 10th cohort for founder program – GeekWire
Nate Bek 2023-09-19 13:28:12 www.geekwire.com All 33 startups in WTIA’s 10th Founder Cohort Program are based in the state of Washington. (GeekWire File Photo / Kurt Schlosser) The Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA) revealed the 33 startups based …
Amazon vets raise cash for Griptape, a Seattle startup that helps companies build AI apps – GeekWire
Nate Bek 2023-09-19 10:55:39 www.geekwire.com Seattle AI startup Griptape is led by Kyle Roche, left, and Vasily Vasinov. (LinkedIn Photos) A pair of Amazon alum is raising cash for a new startup that helps enterprises build …
PDM Automotive lands fresh cash for cataloging platform as auto parts market expands – GeekWire
Nate Bek 2023-09-18 19:07:03 www.geekwire.com PDM is led by founders Johannes Crepon (left) and Philipp Crepon. (PDM Photos) Seattle-based PDM Automotive, a startup that sells a product cataloguing and data platform for auto parts manufacturers and receivers, landed …
Seattle-area game studio collective ProbablyMonsters lays off employees – GeekWire
Thomas Wilde 2023-09-18 16:10:58 www.geekwire.com ProbablyMonsters CEO Harold Ryan. (ProbablyMonsters Photo) ProbablyMonsters, the Bellevue, Wash.-based studio collective that raised a $200 million Series A funding round in 2021, has laid off an undisclosed number of employees. …
Agility Robotics will mass-produce humanoid warehouse robots in new Oregon factory – GeekWire
Todd Bishop 2023-09-18 13:22:09 www.geekwire.com Agility Robotics, which makes humanoid warehouse robots with backing from Amazon and others, announced a Salem, Ore., manufacturing facility that it says will ultimately be able to produce more than 10,000 …
Seattle-area dental diagnostics company gets FDA approval for tooth-tapping tech – GeekWire
Nate Bek 2023-09-15 16:23:55 www.geekwire.com Perimetrics’ handheld device will deliver light taps to a patient’s teeth to gather data that helps dental professionals diagnose underlying damage. (Perimetrics Photo) A Seattle-area tech company has reason to smile …
Coding saves lives, and Fred Hutch Cancer Center wants the next generation to take note – GeekWire
Amy Rolph 2023-09-15 11:00:00 www.geekwire.com Coding for Cancer is designed to expose students to the possibilities of using code in cancer research with no prior knowledge of computational science. (Fred Hutch Photo) Plenty of high school …
Larry Ellison makes first-ever visit to Redmond to announce Oracle databases in Microsoft cloud – GeekWire
Todd Bishop 2023-09-14 16:33:45 www.geekwire.com Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, left, and Oracle chairman and CTO Larry Ellison on a live stream from Redmond, announcing plans to expand their partnership with a new service called Oracle Database@Azure. …
Five reasons to be bullish on climate tech in the Pacific NW, according to entrepreneurs and leaders – GeekWire
Lisa Stiffler 2023-09-14 14:51:44 www.geekwire.com A climate panel at a Seattle event hosted by VertueLab on Wednesday, from left: Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon; Earth Finance founder and former Sen. Reuven Carlyle; Tanya Barham, CEO of Community Energy …
Seattle startup APImetrics merges with Contxt, combining API monitoring and security companies – GeekWire
Nate Bek 2023-09-14 11:30:00 www.geekwire.com From left: Contxt co-founder and president Jamie Beckland; APImetrics CEO David O’Neill; Contxt co-founder and CTO Niall Burns; APImetrics vice president of engineering Nick Denny; and Contxt CEO and co-founder Mayur Upadhyaya. …
Univ. of Washington researchers use origami folds to control descent of tiny robotic microfliers – GeekWire
Kurt Schlosser 2023-09-13 14:00:00 www.geekwire.com Researchers at the University of Washington developed small robotic devices that can change how they move through the air by “snapping” into a folded position during their descent. Shown here is …
How a test drive at the Electrify Expo sparked a desire to go electric – GeekWire
Lisa Stiffler 2023-09-13 09:00:00 www.geekwire.com Taking a spin in an all-electric Kia Niro at the Electrify Expo Seattle 2023 on Sept. 9. (GeekWire Photo / Brent Roraback) I’ll admit I’m not an auto enthusiast. That could …
Amazon rolls out ground shipping service for sellers in broader challenge to UPS and FedEx – GeekWire
Todd Bishop 2023-09-13 09:33:32 www.geekwire.com An Amazon Prime delivery van at the company’s Seattle HQ. (GeekWire File Photo / Kurt Schlosser) Amazon is further expanding its delivery business with the official rollout of Amazon Shipping, a …
iSpot makes another acquisition, buying New York company 605, boosting its TV ad measurement tech – GeekWire
Nate Bek 2023-09-13 08:00:00 www.geekwire.com iSpot CEO Sean Muller. (iSpot Photo) TV advertising tech company iSpot.tv acquired New York-based 605, marking its fourth acquisition in less than three years. Founded in 2016 by longtime media exec …
Microsoft vets raise $2M for generative AI tool that helps sales teams gather intelligence on buyers – GeekWire
Nate Bek 2023-09-13 07:00:00 www.geekwire.com Vieu, led by CEO Samir Manjure (left) and CTO Simon Skaria, just landed $2 million for its AI-powered enterprise sales tool. (Vieu Photo) When Seattle tech vet Samir Manjure made the …
Canadian electric bus and truck maker cruises into new assembly facility in Washington state – GeekWire
Lisa Stiffler 2023-09-12 16:30:00 www.geekwire.com Gov. Jay Inslee takes a spin in Vicinity Motor’s VMC 1200 truck. (Vicinity Motor Photo) Canadian electric truck and bus manufacturer Vicinity Motor Corp celebrated the opening Tuesday of a 100,000-square-foot …
Seattle testing electric sweeper for bike lanes as part of city’s move toward zero-emission fleet – GeekWire
Kurt Schlosser 2023-09-12 12:09:29 www.geekwire.com The eSwingo 200+ electric compact sweeper. (SDOT Photo) The Seattle Department of Transportation has deployed a fully electric compact bike lane sweeper as part of a pilot program to test the …
Convoy vets land $7M for data collaboration platform – GeekWire
Nate Bek 2023-09-12 15:45:05 www.geekwire.com From left: Gable co-founders CTO Adrian Kreuziger, CEO Chad Sanderson, and founding engineer Daniel Dicker. (Gable Photo) Seattle startup Gable.ai emerged from stealth mode Tuesday with $7 million in seed funding for its …
AI2 and Microsoft use satellite data and AI to monitor the planet
Alan Boyle 2023-09-12 12:30:00 www.geekwire.com Satlas’ AI modeling software improves satellite image resolution by a factor of four. (AI2 / Satlas Image) Geospatial data analysis promises to revolutionize the way agriculture, urban planning and disaster relief …
Amazon signs deal for pulling carbon from the air and locking it deep underground in Texas – GeekWire
Lisa Stiffler 2023-09-12 13:05:18 www.geekwire.com Two of Amazon’s towers rise above the Spheres this week in Seattle. (GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser) Amazon today announced it’s paying 1PointFive for the removal of 250,000 metric tons of …
Amazon expands supply chain services amid growing scrutiny of its relationship with sellers – GeekWire
Todd Bishop 2023-09-12 09:09:59 www.geekwire.com An Amazon Prime container on a train near the waterfront in Seattle. (GeekWire File Photo / Kurt Schlosser) An expansion of Amazon’s supply chain services will give sellers the ability to …
Uber vets land $3M for startup that helps marketers map and improve ‘customer journeys’ – GeekWire
Nate Bek 2023-09-12 10:34:16 www.geekwire.com Regage, led by co-founders Shujun Liu and Akram Hassan, raised $3.2 million for customer engagement platform. (Rengage Photo) A pair of former Uber engineers wants to help consumer businesses improve engagement …
Is Seattle an AI hub? City is missing from national conversation about the new tech economy – GeekWire
Taylor Soper 2023-09-11 12:25:21 www.geekwire.com Image created using Microsoft’s Bing Image Creator, with the prompt: “Seattle as an AI hub.” Seattle tech leaders say their city is a hub for AI innovation. But you wouldn’t know …
A conversation with robotics tech leader Tye Brady – GeekWire
Todd Bishop 2023-09-09 11:34:15 www.geekwire.com Tye Brady, chief technologist for Amazon Robotics, speaks at an Amazon event on Thursday, November 10, 2022 in Westborough, Mass. (Scott Eisen/AP Images for Amazon) Tye Brady, chief technologist for Amazon …
Feds award $15M for new cutting-edge research center to study Pacific NW earthquakes – GeekWire
Lisa Stiffler 2023-09-08 17:34:18 www.geekwire.com Damage to the Cadillac Hotel in Seattle’s Pioneer Square neighborhood following the 2001 Nisqually earthquake. (Seattle Municipal Archives) Wildfires and hurricanes are dominating the disaster spotlight, but the threat of a …
Smartsheet stock rises 6% following earnings report as it launches new AI tools – GeekWire
Nate Bek 2023-09-07 20:07:38 www.geekwire.com Smartsheet, led by CEO Mark Mader, beat its second-quarter earnings expectations. (Smartsheet Photo) Smartsheet shares rose 6% in after-hours trading Thursday after the Bellevue, Wash.-based work management software company reported better-than-expected …
Microsoft just signed a giant carbon removal deal to sponge up CO2 using limestone – GeekWire
Lisa Stiffler 2023-09-07 14:32:43 www.geekwire.com Limestone is a key component of the geology along the Green River, which flows through Utah and Colorado. The sedimentary rock absorbs carbon dioxide, creating a natural sink for the planet …