Articles about Government

Etzioni on AI: Uncle Sam wants a stake in leading AI companies — what could possibly go wrong?

Although bipartisan momentum is building for the federal government to take equity positions in major AI firms, this strategy risks compromising regulatory neutrality unless strict guardrails and sunset clauses are established. Read More

Q&A: Bellevue’s new mayor wants to move at the speed of innovation in growing AI hub

A councilmember since 2023, Mo Malakoutian is an Amazon vet and executive director of the Consulting and Business Development Center at the University of Washington. Read More

Will Bezos step in? FBI searches Wash. Post reporter’s home in classified materials investigation

Federal agents seized electronic devices from reporter Hannah Natanson, who covers the federal workforce for the newspaper. Read More

From quantum fields to city streets: 20-year-old UW prodigy brings tech chops to the campaign trail

Vivek Prakriya is blazing a unique path through college, tech jobs and now politics as he seeks a government seat in the city where his Microsoft parents raised him. Read More

Steve Ballmer brings his facts in a deep dive on government policy with ‘Daily Show’s’ Jon Stewart

“It’s an incredibly complex conversation,” Jon Stewart said near the conclusion of just that on Tuesday night after a “Daily… Read More

Seattle’s new CTO brings Silicon Valley experience north to take on city’s tech challenges

Rob Lloyd grew up a military kid who lived in 12 states and three countries and went to seven schools… Read More

Washington state capital gains tax collects nearly $900M in first year

Washington state’s new capital gains tax collected nearly $900 million in its first year, according to the state’s Department of… Read More

White House names 31 tech hubs in U.S., including aerospace, mass timber, microfluidics efforts in NW

The White House announced Monday the designation of 31 technology hubs across the U.S. aimed at spurring innovation and job… Read More

DARPA boosts Microsoft’s far-out effort to build topological quantum computer

The Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is laying down a bet on Microsoft’s long-running effort to create an industrial-scale… Read More

Podcast

Why leaders are hopeful the Seattle community can remerge better than ever after the pandemic

The Seattle area was already experiencing a massive homelessness, mental health, and economic disparity crisis prior to COVID-19 hitting. The… Read More

Data breach exposes 1.6 million Washington state residents who filed unemployment claims in 2020

The Office of the Washington State Auditor is investigating a security incident which has compromised the personal information of more… Read More

‘That rhythm is gone’: Washington state legislators on the pros and cons of virtual government

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Some 3,000 members of the public testified last week to comment on two of the most hot-button… Read More

Bill Gates calls for creation of National Institutes of Energy Innovation to better address climate change

In the midst of one global disaster, Bill Gates is thinking about how to prevent the next. And while the… Read More

Amazon, LinkedIn, PATH employees among those on Joe Biden’s agency review teams

President-elect Joe Biden’s desire to hit the ground running on his first day in office is being aided by some… Read More

Dispute between Microsoft and Amazon over JEDI cloud contract is delayed

The protracted saga over a $10 billion Defense Department contract that pits Microsoft and Amazon against each other will be… Read More

Amazon ‘bid high and lost’ on JEDI, Microsoft says after release of DoD watchdog report

Microsoft took aim at Amazon in a blog post Wednesday, accusing its rival of seeking an unfair advantage as the… Read More

DoD watchdog affirms JEDI award to Microsoft over Amazon, calls bias claims unfounded

A new report by the Defense Department’s inspector general found no evidence that President Donald Trump improperly influenced the award… Read More

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaks at Build 2019. (GeekWire Photo / Kevin Lisota)

Satya Nadella: Staying out of politics, focusing on tech, helped Microsoft win Pentagon cloud contract

Microsoft’s surprise victory last week in a protracted competition to build the Pentagon’s war cloud has some critics asking whether… Read More

Microsoft vows to keep fighting gag orders on U.S. government surveillance of customers despite legal setback

For years, Microsoft has been going to bat with the government over gag orders that prevent the cloud provider from… Read More

Cybersecurity advice: How local government entities and employees can avoid costly hacks

What is the most popular password in the Pacific Northwest? Seahawks12, or some variation thereof, according to federal cybersecurity advisor… Read More

Microsoft agrees to $25M settlement following foreign bribery investigation in Hungary

Microsoft will pay more than $25 million to settle a bribery probe by the U.S. Department of Justice and Securities… Read More

Amazon’s bid for $10B Pentagon cloud deal faces friction as it battles with Microsoft

Amazon and Microsoft are locked in a battle for a massive contract to build cloud infrastructure for the Department of… Read More

Washington governor’s tech guru Joseph Williams leaves to run Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Seattle office

For the past three years, Joseph Williams has been advising Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on tech policy. In that time… Read More

Smartsheet targets government agencies with new workplace software powered by AWS

With hundreds of federal agencies eager to modernize their processes, competition in government tech is hot. Take the Department of… Read More

Shareholders reject efforts to rein in Amazon’s sale of facial recognition tech to law enforcement

Amazon will continue to sell its facial recognition technology to law enforcement agencies without oversight after two shareholder resolutions were… Read More

In the year of HQ2, Amazon’s 2018 lobbying budget ballooned to a record $14.2 million

Amazon spent more money lobbying the government in 2018 than any year in the company’s history. The Seattle tech giant’s… Read More

Podcast

Wrong Number: How to tell fact from fiction in a world full of bogus data

Here’s a pop quiz: Which of these public statements contained incorrect or misleading numbers? “Add that to Marco’s plan for… Read More

Amazon is like a small country, and now its employees are exercising their right to protest

Between its corporate offices, fulfillment centers, Whole Foods stores, and other retail operations, Amazon now employs more than 600,000 people… Read More

Is Amazon selling facial recognition software to ICE? Exec fields tough questions at NY hearing

An Amazon executive did little to quell suspicion that the company sells its facial recognition software to federal immigration authorities… Read More

Microsoft calls for government regulation of facial recognition technology

Microsoft is calling for increased government oversight on companies developing facial recognition technology, at a time when public concern about… Read More