Articles about University of Washington

Institute led by UW Nobel winner uses AI to build molecular scissors targeting disease proteins

Led by Nobel laureate David Baker, researchers at UW Medicine’s Institute for Protein Design have used AI to engineer reusable molecular “scissors” capable of repeatedly destroying target proteins linked to diseases like Alzheimer’s and ALS. Because these proteases chop up targets repeatedly instead of clinging to just one, they could treat complex conditions at far lower doses. Read More

UW receives $12M gift from Taiwan-based chip company led by alumnus Arthur Chiao

Taiwan-based Winbond Electronics, led by University of Washington alumnus Arthur Chiao, is giving $12 million to the university’s College of Engineering. The fund will support scholarships, research, and faculty hiring across high-impact fields including semiconductors, AI, quantum tech and advanced manufacturing. Read More

UW moves Global Innovation Exchange program to Microsoft’s campus in rent-free deal

The University of Washington and Microsoft celebrated the official opening of the Global Innovation Exchange’s new permanent home on the tech giant’s campus. Supported by a $42 million in-kind contribution from Microsoft, the rent-free facility embeds UW students and researchers alongside tech industry leaders. Read More

UW starts construction on $231.1M chemistry hub set to open in 2029

The University of Washington broke ground on a $231.1 million Chemical Sciences Building set to open in 2029, featuring 104,500 square feet of state-of-the-art labs for instruction and research in quantum science, sustainable chemistry, and human health. The new five-story facility will replace the old Chemistry Library Building and pave the way for a full renovation of historic Bagley Hall. Read More

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Seattle Space Week: Student & Industry Day at UW Seattle

Student aerospace groups at the University of Washington, including SEDS@UW and SWE UW, host a student-and-industry gathering as part of… Read More

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Chatbot Shmatbot: AI Isn’t Just a Product, with Noah Smith

University of Washington Vice Provost for Artificial Intelligence Noah A. Smith gives a public lecture at UW Bothell on why… Read More

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Information Session: CoMotion Labs Climate Tech Incubator (Virtual)

A virtual information session on the University of Washington CoMotion Labs Climate Tech Incubator’s 2027 Data Center Innovation Cohort, supported… Read More

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SeaGL 2026: Seattle GNU/Linux Conference

The 14th annual Seattle GNU/Linux Conference, a grassroots technical summit on free, libre and open source software, hardware and culture,… Read More

How UW’s solar vehicle team harnessed the sun and hard work to shine on the national stage

Over seven days in July and 1,778 miles from Minnesota to Texas, UW outpaced nearly every competitor to finish fourth overall and cross the line as the top-ranking American team in the American Solar Challenge. Read More

Tech Moves: Microsoft, Amazon and Kestra promotions; Gradial names CMO; Yoodli adds VP

Silvia Candiani has been promoted to CVP of the recently launched Microsoft Frontier Company, while Microsoft Elevate has hired a former UNICEF leader as VP. Amazon Web Services has promoted Alexis Bateman to director of global sustainability. Gradial has added a CMO, and Yoodli and Kestra have each named a VP. Read More

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Seattle Physical AI Workshop and Meetup

A meetup-and-workshop evening on physical AI, hosted by Voxel51 with Nebius in Kane Hall’s Walker-Ames Room at the University of… Read More

Opinion: It’s time for Seattle to believe in Seattle

Jacob Colker argues that Seattle has a branding problem, not a lack of talent, ambition or accomplishments. He lays out a five-step plan for the region’s tech community to start telling its own story. Read More

NLM Photonics adds key investors in quest to reduce the power needed to move data between chips

The Seattle startup’s materials sit on top of silicon chips and imprint data onto a beam of light using less power. Mitsubishi Chemical’s venture arm and Pangaea Ventures joined a $13 million round. Read More

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

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