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 Sept. 20, 2026.
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Most popular stories on GeekWire
Amazon blocks Meta’s Muse AI assistant in new standoff over agentic shopping
Amazon says it has cut off Meta’s new Muse personal AI agent from shopping on Amazon.com, citing data security and other concerns. It’s part of a larger industry fight over who controls the shopping experience and customer relationship in agentic commerce. Read More … Read More
Internal memos: Microsoft shakes up communications as Nadella makes a push to build in public
Microsoft is moving communications out of its marketing group and under Vice Chair and President Brad Smith, as CEO Satya Nadella calls for a fundamentally new approach that makes employees a bigger part of how the company tells its story. Read More … Read More
Microsoft cuts hundreds more jobs, shifts next ‘Halo’ game to Activision in Xbox overhaul
The cuts total about 600 globally, including about 300 in Washington state, and 268 worldwide in Xbox Game Studios. The restructuring folds some existing studios under Activision, Bethesda and King, and leaves Ninja Theory, the studio behind the Hellblade series, facing a potential closure. Read More … Read More
Former Seattle City Council president launches AI-powered site to track and report on City Hall
Former Seattle City Council President Sara Nelson has launched CivicTide, a website that tracks City Council legislation, publishes policy briefs and opinion pieces, and gives readers tools to contact councilmembers. The site runs on a custom AI-powered system built by Seattle tech communications executive Viet Nguyen. Read More … Read More
Microsoft unveils all-in-one Copilot app, taking on Anthropic and OpenAI in new push to boost adoption
Microsoft’s revamped Copilot app adds AI coding, always-on agents and full versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint as the company competes with OpenAI and Anthropic and shifts more of its AI pricing to usage-based billing. Read More … Read More
Expedia Group laying off 58 employees in Washington state in latest cuts at travel giant
Impacted positions span across technology, product, and corporate roles — including data scientists, software engineers, finance managers, and senior leadership. Read More … Read More
Amazon opens its seller tools to outside AI agents, starting with Anthropic’s Claude
Amazon announced new AI tools for its independent sellers, led by a plugin that lets them run their Amazon businesses from Anthropic’s Claude or Amazon’s own Quick assistant. Read More … Read More
Bungie apologizes to fans, unseals ‘Destiny’ content vault, tries to convince the world it’s still Bungie
Bungie, the Bellevue-Wash.-based video game studio behind Destiny and Marathon, began its week with an apology from its new studio head, as it tries to win back its audience after several recent missteps. Read More … Read More
Tech vet takes a fresh swing at the country club with a golf and social hub in old Seattle industrial space
Shankar Sundaram, a former Boeing engineer and enterprise sales leader, said the ultimate goal of East West Club is to create a “third place” in the city that’s centered around genuine connection rather than corporate networking or status. Read More … Read More
Facing ‘seismic shifts’ in tech sector, Seattle mayor freezes JumpStart tax rates in new budget
Mayor Katie Wilson’s proposed budget closes a $175 million deficit through spending cuts and leaves the JumpStart payroll tax untouched, offering big tech employers a period of tax stability. Read More … Read More
