Articles from 2026

Screenshot of TerraByte AI's Earth Search Engine

TerraByte raises the curtain on its campaign to use AI to unleash the power of geospatial data

Microsoft veterans raise pre-seed funding for an AI platform that sifts through streams of satellite data in search of valuable insights. Read More

StitcherAI emerges from stealth with $3M and a different take on the AI spending problem

StitcherAI, founded by a pair of Seattle enterprise tech veterans, launched Tuesday with $3 million in pre-seed funding and a platform that pushes cost data into the tools where spending decisions are made, rather than relying on traditional dashboards. Read More

Jury finds Musk waited too long to sue OpenAI and Microsoft, clearing defendants in landmark AI case

A jury ruled unanimously Monday that Elon Musk waited too long to file his lawsuit against OpenAI, Sam Altman, and Microsoft, finding the defendants not liable on all claims after less than two hours of deliberation. Read More

Starbucks layoffs impact 252 jobs at Seattle support center, including VPs and other senior roles

A Washington Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification said that the cuts “will result in the relocation or contracting out of certain of the employer’s operations or the partners’ positions.” Read More

Gates Foundation Trust ends an era, selling off all remaining Microsoft stock

The Gates Foundation Trust has sold its remaining 7.7 million shares of Microsoft, marking the end of an era for the Seattle-based philanthropy as it ramps up global grantmaking. Read More

AWS veteran Matt Wood returns to cloud giant in new role: chief AI and technology officer

Matt Wood, who spent more than 14 years helping to lead Amazon Web Services’ artificial intelligence and machine learning initiatives… Read More

Etzioni on AI: Don’t let the OpenAI soap opera hide the precedent

Computer scientist and AI industry veteran Oren Etzioni argues that OpenAI’s nonprofit-to-for-profit conversion sets a dangerous precedent for American charity law, and that the real reckoning will have to come from Washington, not the Oakland courtroom. Read More

UN digital envoy warns AI influence is concentrated in a ‘few zip codes,’ calls for global action

The UN’s top digital envoy outlined a multi-stakeholder approach to AI governance at Seattle University, warning that computing power and wealth are concentrated in a handful of areas while most of the world lacks the capacity to participate. Read More

Week in Review: Most popular stories on GeekWire for the week of May 10, 2026

See the technology stories that people were reading on GeekWire for the week of May 10, 2026. Read More

Podcast

What we learned about Microsoft in the OpenAI trial, and is Seattle squandering its edge?

This week on the GeekWire Podcast: As the Musk v. OpenAI trial heads to the jury, we dig into what… Read More

‘Lean Startup’ author reveals one regret about his bestselling book — and how his new one fixes it

“Lean Startup” author Eric Ries previewed his new book “Incorruptible” at Seattle Flow Startup Day, challenging founders to rethink how they define profit and structure their companies. Read More

Tech Moves: Microsoft names first chief design officer; execs resign from T-Mobile and OfferUp

Microsoft veteran Jon Friedman was named the tech giant’s first chief design officer; Susan Loosmore resigns as T-Mobile EVP; and OfferUp’s chief growth officer departs. Read More

A whiff of social media supremacy: Seahawks schedule release is a spritz in the face of NFL opponents

The release of 2026 NFL team schedules on Thursday night marked the return of the “social media Super Bowl” — and the actual Super Bowl champs were might in the mix. Read More

Starbucks announces new round of corporate layoffs following cuts in Seattle tech roles

Starbucks is laying off hundreds of additional corporate employees and closing several regional offices after earlier this week providing details on the elimination of 61 tech roles in Seattle. Read More

Four Minoan women as depicted in a fresco at the Palace of Knossos

Seven years after her death, sci-fi pioneer’s last novel bridges Minoan and Pacific Northwest history

Clarion West celebrates posthumous publication of ‘The Curve of the World,’ a different kind of Odyssey by Seattle author Vonda N. McIntyre. Read More

Microsoft adds more former Ai2 researchers, bolstering its Superintelligence team

At least 10 former Allen Institute for AI staffers and researchers have joined Microsoft’s Superintelligence team, including the core of the institute’s OLMo open-source model effort. The departures come amid a shift in Ai2’s funding toward applied uses of AI. Read More

Forget smart glasses: UW researchers put tiny cameras into earbuds for hands-free AI

VueBuds, a prototype developed by University of Washington researchers, have embedded a rice-grain-sized camera into each earbud of a standard pair of Sony wireless earbuds. Read More

Are we on a Road to Nowhere? Seattle’s growth masks deeper anxieties about its future

For three decades, Seattle’s tech industry has been an extraordinary economic engine, transforming the region into a global center for cloud computing, e-commerce and artificial intelligence. But are cracks beginning to form in that foundation? Read More

Can AI replicate an army of associates? These lawyers are betting their new firm on it

Talairis Law Group is built around the idea that AI can handle much of the work that associates at big law firms have traditionally done — and that startups shouldn’t have to pay big law prices for it. Read More

Amazon Leo VP Chris Weber at Mission Operations Center

Amazon Leo aims to double its pace as it gets set to roll out its satellite broadband network

One year after the start of its launch campaign, Amazon Leo is a ‘couple of months’ away from kicking off commercial service, VP says. Read More

Microsoft’s multi-agent AI system tops Anthropic’s Mythos on cybersecurity benchmark

Microsoft’s new vulnerability-scanning system, codenamed MDASH, scored 88.45% on the CyberGym benchmark, surpassing single-model systems from Anthropic and OpenAI by using more than 100 specialized AI agents across multiple models. Read More

Cowboy Space raises $275M as it seeks 40-60 employees for new satellite and rocket hub in Seattle

Of its 41 open positions, 18 are based in Seattle, spanning roles in avionics, mechanical engineering, spacecraft design, and software. Read More

Microsoft’s CTO testifies about email at the heart of Elon Musk’s allegations against the tech giant

Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott publicly addressed for the first time a 2018 email that Musk’s lawyers have cited as evidence Microsoft knew OpenAI was abandoning its nonprofit mission. A confidential board memo filed in the case reveals how Microsoft’s fear of falling behind Google drove the investment. Read More