Articles from 2026 – Page 15 of 36

Big Tech’s new hiring hurdle: Why bringing international talent to Seattle is now more expensive

New data from Seattle startup Boundless shows how H-1B visa reforms are favoring high-earners while creating a $100,000 barrier for startups and rural employers. Read More

AWS targets AI slop with new spec check in Kiro coding tool, amid scrutiny of agent reliability

Amazon Web Services is adding a feature to its Kiro AI coding tool that uses mathematical proofs to check whether software requirements contradict each other or leave gaps before AI agents start writing code. Read More

Students pitch startups in regional TiE Young Entrepreneurs finals, vying to three-peat in global contest

This year’s Seattle-area cohort included students across 20 teams, pitching ventures in industries including artificial intelligence, children’s nutrition, ocean plastic recycling, mental health and healthcare. Read More

Leading AI chatbots avoid harm but fall short in high-risk conversations, startup’s new benchmark finds

Seattle-based mpathic released mPACT, a clinician-led benchmark that evaluates how leading AI models handle conversations involving suicide risk, eating disorders, and misinformation. Read More

‘Strong, strong no’: New filing reveals who Microsoft favored — and opposed — for OpenAI’s board

Newly unredacted documents from the Musk v. Altman trial reveal the names Microsoft executives vetoed, endorsed, and suggested for OpenAI’s board during the November 2023 crisis around Sam Altman’s ouster as CEO. Read More

Amazon Now goes national, taking 30-minute delivery to dozens of cities across the country

Amazon is expanding its “Amazon Now” 30-minute delivery service from tests in Seattle and Philadelphia to dozens of U.S. cities, with plans to reach tens of millions of customers by year-end. GeekWire first uncovered the service through permit filings last November. Read More

Microsoft exec Shawn Bice returns to AWS to lead reliability push for AI agents

Shawn Bice, who left AWS for Microsoft’s security organization in 2022, is returning to Amazon as VP of AI Services to lead the Automated Reasoning Group under Swami Sivasubramanian’s Agentic AI organization. Read More

Musk v. Altman: Satya Nadella was worried about Microsoft being ‘the next IBM’ in OpenAI deal

Satya Nadella testified for roughly two and a half hours in the Musk v. Altman trial in Oakland, revealing internal emails in which he worried about Microsoft’s dependence on OpenAI, and new details about his input regarding OpenAI’s board after the Altman firing. Read More

Filing shows Starbucks’ recent job cuts will impact 61 tech jobs at Seattle HQ

A new filing with Washington state shows that Starbucks’ previously reported job cuts will impact 61 tech jobs at its Seattle headquarters. Read More

UW DubHacks Next startup incubator produces 20 new student ventures in latest batch

University of Washington students pitched 20 startups at Demo Day for DubHacks Next, a 16-week incubator that has produced 68 startups since 2022. Projects range from a manufacturing design automation tool already live in three plants to an AI audio plugin builder and a web accessibility suite. Read More

Let there be light: Redfin powers up ‘Sunscore,’ an interactive map to track property sunlight

The 3D map offers a property-level sun-path visualization, tracking sunlight and the shadows cast by surrounding terrain, buildings and trees. Read More

Startup building portable AI data centers for remote operations grows Seattle-area hub to 120 people

Armada’s customers include the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, which uses its technology for wildfire connectivity, and oil and gas companies operating in remote locations. The company has also expanded its partnership with Microsoft. Read More

Week in Review: Most popular stories on GeekWire for the week of May 3, 2026

See the technology stories that people were reading on GeekWire for the week of May 3, 2026. Read More

Podcast

Inside the 2026 GeekWire Awards: Innovators reshaping how we work, build, and learn

This week on the GeekWire Podcast, we hit the floor at the 2026 GeekWire Awards to talk with finalists about what they’re building and how AI is changing their work — plus a trivia deep dive into 15 years of GeekWire Awards history. Read More

Expedia Group sees reward and risk in the rise of AI-powered travel

Expedia CEO Ariane Gorin detailed the company’s AI strategy on its Q1 earnings call, describing booking integrations with ChatGPT and Claude, AI-powered customer support, and rising compute costs funded by cuts elsewhere. Read More

Photos: Inside the 2026 GeekWire Awards

The shimmering scene inside Showbox SoDo — highlighted by crystal accents to mark the event’s 15th anniversary — included an especially geeky and futuristic acrobatic dance performance by members of Maison de V’s circus and dance community. Read More

2026 GeekWire Awards revealed: Big winners — and big love for Seattle — at annual tech celebration

More than 300 members of the Pacific Northwest tech scene packed the Showbox SoDo to honor the year’s top startups, founders, leaders and deal makers across a dozen awards categories. Read More

Helion makes big bet on ‘Tiny Merge’ fusion testbed to meet aggressive Microsoft timeline

Beyond massive curtains inside its Everett, Wash., R&D facility, Helion is betting that a downsized testbed can answer key technology questions as the company races to meet deadlines. Read More

Bid on the ultimate Seattle World Cup suite experience, and support a great cause

Microsoft is donating a private suite at Lumen Field for the FIFA World Cup Round of 16 knockout match on July 6, with GeekWire running an online auction and 100% of the proceeds going to Seattle Children’s Hospital. Read More

Allen Institute for AI launches big computing cluster for $152M project backed by Nvidia and NSF

Ai2 says it has started using a new Nvidia-powered computing system funded through a $152 million NSF and Nvidia project to build open AI models for scientific research. The milestone comes as the Seattle nonprofit works to regain its footing after losing key researchers to Microsoft. Read More

Report: As AI electricity demands soar, Microsoft weighs retreat from ambitious carbon-free energy pledge

The same AI boom that is minting record profits for Microsoft is now threatening to derail its climate leadership as it looks to weaken its ambitious clean energy goals. Read More

Report: Boston Celtics investors set to bid on Seahawks

Wyc Grousbeck and Aditya Mittal are reportedly submitting a letter of interest to the Paul G. Allen estate for the NFL team. Read More

Etzioni on AI: The AI capex conundrum

The AI capex debate hinges on whether AWS and other hyperscalers will see demand grow fast enough to justify massive spending — and the data to settle that argument is still about a year away. Read More

Microsoft employees learn details of voluntary retirement package: Here’s what the company is offering

Microsoft employees eligible for the company’s first-ever voluntary retirement program learned the details Thursday, including cash payments of up to nine months of base pay, up to five years of healthcare coverage, and continued stock vesting. Read More

Opinion: The myth of Washington’s tax burden, by the numbers

Contrary to popular myths, our taxes are relatively low, haven’t exploded skyward, and are nowhere near the point of creating serious damage to the commercial sphere. Read More

Zillow Group leans into AI as revenue climbs 18% in flat housing market

Zillow Group’s first-quarter shareholder letter made the company’s strongest case yet for its transformation into an AI-powered real estate platform, citing AI-driven productivity gains, a new consumer search mode, and AI tools for agents and property managers. Revenue rose 18% to $708 million. Read More

GeekWire test ride: Lime’s new bike packs a zippy punch into a compact, easier-to-use device

The new bikes are more compact than previous versions, easy to get on, adjust and get off, and they’re quick off the line via throttle, pedal assist or a combination of both to reach speeds of 15 mph. Read More

XBOW, the unicorn with a Seattle mailbox, raises another $35M for its autonomous hacking platform

XBOW, the cybersecurity startup founded by GitHub Copilot creator Oege de Moor, added $35M from NVIDIA, Samsung, SentinelOne, and others, bringing its Series C to $155M. The billion-dollar company lists Seattle as its HQ — but its address is a mailbox at a Pioneer Square coworking space, and its founder lives in Malta. Read More

Tin Can launches program to help schools and neighborhoods go smartphone-free together

Wednesday’s launch comes as parents across the country have been organizing collective efforts to delay smartphone adoption — a movement built on the idea that individual decisions only go so far. Read More

Seattle-area tech vets buy a cricket team — in Boston — to further feed the sport’s talent pipeline

The five co-owners of the newly acquired New England Eagles, a Minor League Cricket franchise, are all based in the Pacific Northwest and have combined leadership experience at Microsoft, Zuper, T-Mobile, Capital One, and Bee Talent Solutions. Read More