Articles about University of Washington

Tech industry’s robotics talent crunch has UW’s new grad program nearly full before day one

The University of Washington is launching a Master of Science in Robotics and a professional certificate this fall. More than 30 people signed up for an information session before applications even opened, a sign of how fast demand for engineers trained across AI, software and hardware is growing. Read More

How a new $7.5M UW facility aims to spark U.S. battery innovation

The University of Washington has opened the West Coast’s first public, open-access battery manufacturing lab to help startups scale novel chemistries for grid storage, defense and transportation. Built with $7.5 million in state climate funding, the Seattle facility provides equipment and expertise for developing prototype pouch cells Read More

UW pays $600K to settle lawsuit with computer science professor over parody land acknowledgment

Stuart Reges was disciplined by the University of Washington after including a parody land acknowledgment in a course syllabus. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found university officials violated Reges’ academic freedom rights. Read More

AI learns nature’s code: Allen Institute, UW and Fred Hutch launch $95M open science initiative

Three of Seattle’s top scientific institutions are launching a nearly $95 million research initiative that will generate data and train AI models to design proteins and genes that don’t exist in nature — sharing the results freely to help others develop new medicines and materials. Read More

Kids go from curious to frustrated playing with AI-stuffed toys, UW study finds

Today, plush toys aren’t just stuffed — they’re stuffed with artificial intelligence, and new research from the University of Washington reveals that when these “smart” toys start chatting, kids quickly go from curious to frustrated to outright hostile. Read More

UW AI researcher wins top Marconi award and aims to put ‘superhuman hearing’ in billions of devices

Ph.D. student Malek Itani, who co-founded the AI-powered sound enhancement startup Hearvana, was recognized for developing on-device AI algorithms that enable real-time target speech extraction, “sound bubbles,” and semantic hearing on low-power hearables like earbuds and hearing aids. Read More

As U.S.-China biotech race heats up, Seattle makes its case to D.C.

A federal biotechnology commission visited Seattle to hear from local industry leaders about the gap between biotech research and domestic manufacturing, and what it will take to keep the U.S. competitive with China. Read More

You think tech is a circus? This former Facebook engineer quit to focus on a career as an elite juggler

Cory Black swapped his coding work for full-time freestyle footwork with soccer balls, and now the University of Washington computer science grad is coming off a bronze medal win at a premier juggling championship. Read More

Microsoft 2.5: Superintelligence leader Ali Farhadi points company toward AI self-sufficiency

Ali Farhadi, who leads Microsoft’s Superintelligence team, talks with Mary Jo Foley about building the company’s own frontier AI models, tuning them for specific industries, and what he describes as a long-term mission of self-sufficiency. Read More

University of Washington and Seattle biotech win $245M patent judgment against Guardant

A Seattle biotech built on University of Washington research has won a $245 million patent judgment against Guardant Health over DNA sequencing technology, with the court also ordering ongoing royalties through 2033. Read More

Seattle keeps No. 2 spot in closely watched tech talent ranking, with warning signs

The region held onto the No. 2 spot in CBRE’s annual tech talent scorecard, behind only the Bay Area. The report also flagged Seattle’s office vacancy rate, the highest of the 50 markets ranked, and a population of 20-somethings that shrank between 2019 and 2024, raising questions about the pipeline. Read More

Former Microsoft product manager launches bid to end clock change in Washington state, Congress or not

Scott Thurlow spent 32 years at Microsoft dreading the twice-yearly time change, and the “meeting chaos” it brought across time zones and countries. Weeks after retiring, he launched a campaign to end Washington’s clock changes without waiting for Congress, with a 2028 ballot initiative as the backup if lawmakers won’t act. Read More

Ex-Meta AI research director raises $10.25M from Trilogy and Madrona for stealth physical AI startup

Kevin Carlberg, who led AI research teams at Meta focused on wearable computing, has raised $10.25 million for Noosphere Labs, a stealth startup working on what it calls “human-centered physical intelligence.” Trilogy Equity Partners led the round, with major participation from Madrona. Read More

Gates Foundation gives $540 million to UW health institute, the largest gift in university history

The Gates Foundation is giving $540.2 million over 10 years to the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, the largest charitable gift in UW history. The grant will expand the institute’s Global Burden of Disease study and comes as global health funding falls sharply. Read More

Event Calendar

Talk Nerdy to Me: Cutting-edge AI Research from the University of Washington

AI House hosts researchers from the University of Washington presenting current AI work, in a session aimed at connecting academic… Read More

As Washington state’s AI task force winds down, the debate over how much to regulate is far from settled

Washington’s AI task force wrapped up two years of work with the state’s first AI laws on the books and its broader recommendations stalled in the Legislature. At a panel marking the end of the effort, consumer and labor advocates pushed for stronger rules while AI startups warned about the cost of complying. Read More

The startup idea that convinced a UW computer science legend to leave Google after 27 years

Jeff Dean, who earned his computer science Ph.D. at the University of Washington, is leaving Google after 27 years and taking three of the company’s top AI researchers with him. Their startup, Discovery Loop, aims to automate the scientific method itself, and Google is helping fund it. Read More

He, it, but rarely she: When AI models write kids’ stories about animals, female characters vanish

A new University of Washington study testing leading AI models across nearly 24,000 story completions found that AI guardrails designed to reduce bias have accidentally erased female characters — defaulting overwhelmingly to male animals or ungendered “it” pronouns. Read More

UW’s Allen School names Dan Grossman interim director as Magdalena Balazinska shifts gears

After nearly seven years at the helm of the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, Magda Balazinska’s term is ending and the school’s vice director, Dan Grossman, will take charge as interim director. Read More

Seattle Tech Week notebook: AI, startups, and the best insights and takeaways we heard

GeekWire’s Todd Bishop reports from Seattle Tech Week 2026, where more than 250 events made artificial intelligence the dominant topic. Insights and quotes from executives at OpenAI, Mistral AI, PitchBook, Madrona, Ascend and others. Read More

New map traces Washington state’s tech ‘universe’ to a few key hubs, and shows what’s at risk

The Washington Technology Industry Association’s new “Tech Universe Map” charts the founder lineage of 625 companies, showing that Microsoft and the University of Washington account for the largest share. A WTIA executive says the hubs forming next are mostly out-of-state companies with engineering centers here. Read More

The little chips that could: How Impinj has survived 26 years in a market that’s ‘just getting going’

More than a quarter-century after Impinj was founded, CEO Chris Diorio and team rang the Nasdaq opening bell Tuesday to mark the Seattle RFID chipmaker’s 10th anniversary as a public company. GeekWire chronicles the company’s ups and downs, and what’s next. Read More

10 new startups emerge from the University of Washington, with healthcare dominating the lineup

The University of Washington’s CoMotion program announced 10 startups that secured UW-licensed intellectual property over the past year. Eight are in healthcare, spanning diagnostic tools, medical devices and new therapeutics. The other two focus on K-12 education or climate change. Read More

Overland AI lands Marine Corps deal worth nearly $20M to build self-driving military vehicles

Seattle-based Overland AI won a Marine Corps contract to produce more than a dozen autonomous ground vehicles, which the startup says makes it the first ground autonomy company to serve as the prime contractor on a military production deal. Read More

"Ocean of Stars" image showing stars in the constellation Lupus

Rubin Observatory kicks off 10-year campaign to capture ‘the greatest cosmic movie ever made’

Legacy Survey of Space and Time is expected to find millions of asteroids and perhaps shed light on dark matter and dark energy, with an assist from University of Washington astronomers. Read More

UW grad’s startup idea comes into focus with a digital marketplace for photographers

Sky Yang is the founder of SnapMatePhoto, a Seattle-based digital marketplace connecting customers with photographers for graduation portraits, weddings, maternity shoots, and more. Read More

Short-form science: University of Washington researchers launch PaperTok to combat AI slop

A University of Washington team is helping scientists tell their own stories with a free tool that converts dense, jargon-heavy publications into short, accessible videos. Read More

Tech Moves: Microsoft names exec; Remitly CPO/CTO departs; AWS veteran to head Synthesia in Seattle

Microsoft names chief digital safety officer; Remitly’s chief product and technology officer departs; and an AWS leader joins Synthesia to oversee its new Seattle office. Read More

This 3-foot-tall robot wants to be your kid’s classroom buddy and your mom’s new friend

Mind Children Robotics, a Seattle-area startup co-founded by AGI researcher Ben Goertzel, is building Codey — a child-sized social robot priced under $10,000 and aimed at classrooms, hospitals and senior care. The company plans its first pilots in South Korea. Read More

Not just for coders: UW’s upcoming AI minor will reach beyond the computer science school

The University of Washington is developing an interdisciplinary AI minor, open to students across all majors and co-led by an anthropologist and a computer scientist. Set to launch in spring 2027, it’s part of a broader push to expand AI education across the university. Read More