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Week in Review: Most popular stories on GeekWire for the week of Jan. 4, 2026
Get caught up on the latest technology and startup news from the past week. Here are the most popular stories on GeekWire for the week of Jan. 4, 2026. Sign up to receive these updates every Sunday in your inbox by subscribing to our GeekWire Weekly email newsletter. Most popular stories on GeekWire The money shows up in tax filings as a 2024 donation to French Gates’ Pivotal Philanthropies...
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GeekWire Podcast: Alexa’s next act, Microsoft’s retail play, Google’s AI Inbox, and a smart bird feeder fail
This week on the GeekWire Podcast: Amazon and Microsoft are racing to define the next era of consumer AI, on multiple fronts. We discuss Amazon’s attempt to upgrade Alexa into a true generative AI home chatbot — complete with a new web portal and updated Alexa app — while Microsoft tries to win over retailers with a new Copilot Checkout feature. Plus, we explore Google’s upcoming “AI...
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Ex-Expedia employee gets 4 years for planting spy cameras across Seattle campus in voyeurism case
Marcelo Vargas-Fernandez (left), a former Expedia Group employee, stands with his attorney, Court Will, during his sentencing hearing Friday in King County Superior Court in Seattle. (GeekWire Photo / Todd Bishop) A former Expedia Group employee who amassed 20 terabytes of illicit footage of women by hiding spy cameras throughout the company’s headquarters — including bathrooms — was sentenced...
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Microsoft’s big lease renewal in Redmond helps buoy Eastside office market near Seattle
Microsoft’s headquarters campus in Redmond. (GeekWire Photo / Taylor Soper) Microsoft’s decision to renew a large swath of office space in Redmond is emerging as a key stabilizing force for the Eastside office market near Seattle. That’s one takeaway from a new report by commercial real estate firm Broderick Group, which highlighted Microsoft’s renewal for 396,228 square feet at Redmond...
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Rad Power Bikes rider’s DIY solution for potential battery fire sparks broader safety discussion
A Rad Power Bikes e-bike owned by Eric Stahl of San Francisco, parked in his garage next to a DIY battery containment solution made out of cinderblocks that he hopes would help contain a battery fire if one started. (Photo courtesy of Eric Stahl) A Rad Power Bikes rider, alarmed by reports of e-bike lithium-ion battery fires, shared a homemade storage solution on Reddit this week, sparking a...
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Tech Moves: AWS VP switches roles; Seattle’s new economic development head; Microsoft Teams exec departs
Uwem Ukpong. (LinkedIn Photo) — Amazon’s Uwem Ukpong has a new title, moving from vice president of Global Services to VP of AWS Industries. Ukpong has been with the tech giant for more than four years, joining from energy technology company Baker Hughes. Ukpong’s resume is dominated by a 22-year stretch at Schlumberger, a Houston-based software and internet company that has offices...
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Bill Gates says there’s ‘no upper limit’ on AI, citing opportunity and risk
Bill Gates says he’s still optimistic about the future overall, with some “footnotes” of caution. (GeekWire File Photo / Kevin Lisota) Bill Gates had a front-row seat for the rise of AI, from his longtime work at Microsoft to early demonstrations of key breakthroughs from OpenAI that illustrated the technology’s potential. Now he’s urging the rest of us to get ready. Likening the situation...
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Seattle-area nuclear company TerraPower signs deal with Meta for up to 8 reactors
A TerraPower employee working at a setup used for testing a planned molten salt-based energy storage system. (TerraPower Photo) TerraPower, a Bill Gates-backed next-gen nuclear company, on Friday announced a deal with Meta to build up to eight small modular reactors in the U.S. with the first two coming online as soon as 2032. Tech companies have been aggressively pursuing new clean energy...
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Bill Gates makes nearly $8B payout to Melinda French Gates as part of divorce settlement
Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. (GeekWire File Photo, left, and Jason Bell Photo) Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates paid his ex-wife Melinda French Gates nearly $8 billion as part of the settlement from the former couple’s 2021 divorce. The $7.88 billion payout was revealed in new tax filings and first reported by The New York Times in its DealBook Newsletter on Friday. The money...
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Microchipped at work? Washington state bill aims to ban employers from using ‘dehumanizing’ tech
Microchips implanted under the skin could be portrayed as a convenient way to store and access employment and personal data. (BigStock Photo) A bill introduced in the Washington state Legislature would ban employers from requiring or pressuring workers to be microchipped, a practice lawmakers want to prohibit before it ever becomes an issue. House Bill 2303 was prefiled this week by Reps....
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‘Once-in-a-generation’ opportunity: Amazon and Boeing execs help launch sustainable aviation accelerator to fuel innovation
Elected officials including Gov. Bob Ferguson, center, and corporate and academic leaders gathered at an event celebrating the launch of the Cascadia Sustainable Aviation Accelerator held at the Boeing Future of Flight Aviation Center. (GeekWire Photo / Lisa Stiffler) MUKILTEO, Wash. — Pacific Northwest leaders on Thursday celebrated the official launch of the Cascadia Sustainable Aviation...
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Rad Power Bikes closing stores in Vancouver, B.C., and Florida; 7 more will remain open
A Rad Power Bikes e-bike rider in Vancouver, B.C. (Rad Power Bikes Photo) Rad Power Bikes is shutting down retail stores in Vancouver, B.C., and St. Petersburg, Fla., on Friday as the embattled electric bike manufacturer deals with its ongoing bankruptcy proceedings. The Seattle-based company confirmed to GeekWire that seven stores will remain open: Seattle; Berkeley, Huntington Beach,...
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Here’s where Seattle ranks among U.S. cities based on capital raised
The Seattle skyline. (GeekWire File Photo / Kurt Schlosser) Seattle’s startup scene stayed consistent with its venture capital activity in 2025. Financial tech company Carta is out with its latest annual list of U.S. cities as measured by total capital raised by startups on its platform, from seed through Series C rounds. Seattle ranked No. 6, with nearly $2 billion raised — just 2.9%...
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Ai2 CEO Ali Farhadi named to ‘AI Power List,’ with a nod to institute’s open-source focus
Ali Farhadi, CEO of the Allen Institute for AI, during a GeekWire Podcast recording at the non-profit’s Seattle HQ last year. (GeekWire Photo / Todd Bishop) Business Insider’s latest list of the most influential people in artificial intelligence is a who’s who of key players shaping what the publication calls the “next wave of AI innovation.” A notable Seattle name made the cut. Ali...
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Startup’s radar tech in a handheld scanner could change how police conduct weapons searches
Lassen Peak is developing a handheld radar system for concealed weapon detection. (Lassen Peak Image) A Bellevue, Wash.-based startup is moving closer to commercialization of a handheld scanning device that it says could change one of the most dangerous and controversial procedures in policing: the physical pat-down for weapons. Lassen Peak‘s radar-based imaging system allows officers to...
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Microsoft debuts Copilot Checkout, joining AI shopping race vs. Amazon, Google and OpenAI
Microsoft’s Copilot Checkout lets users browse and buy products without leaving the chat. (Microsoft Image, click for larger version) [Editor’s Note: Agents of Transformation is an independent GeekWire series and March 24, 2026 event, underwritten by Accenture, exploring the people, companies, and ideas behind AI agents.] Microsoft is making its own bid to turn AI...
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Former Amazon execs raise $15M for agentic commerce startup that uses AI to generate custom storefronts
Spangle co-founders Maju Kuruvilla (left) and Fei Wang. (Spangle Photo) Spangle AI, a new Seattle startup that helps online retailers build customized shopping experiences in real-time, announced a $15 million Series A investment round led by NewRoad Capital Partners. The company is now valued at $100 million. Founded last year by former technology leaders at Amazon, Spangle can instantly...
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Seattle’s Alpenglow moves 3D microscope tech from lab to clinic to help modernize cancer diagnostics
Imaging of a rat heart created using Alpenglow Biosciences technology. (Photo courtesy of Azalia M. Martinez Jaimes and Karen M. Gonzalez of the Red Horse Lab at Stanford University) Seattle-based Alpenglow Biosciences today announced a partnership with PathNet, a leading U.S. pathology laboratory, to help commercialize use of the startup’s 3D microscope technology in clinical settings. The...
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New filing: Seattle fusion startup Avalanche Energy raising fresh cash
An Avalanche Energy employee prepares an experiment at the company’s Seattle lab. (Avalanche Photo) Seattle startup Avalanche Energy is raising new funding to develop its compact fusion energy devices. A new SEC filing reveals a fresh $14.9 million round. A company spokesperson declined to comment when contacted by GeekWire. Avalanche and dozens of companies around the world are vying...
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Rubin Observatory spots an asteroid that spins fast enough to set a record
An artist’s conception zeroes in on a main-belt asteroid called 2025 MN45, which makes a full rotation in less than two minutes. (Credit: NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory / NOIRLab / SLAC / AURA / P. Marenfeld) Astronomers say they’ve found an asteroid that spins faster than other space rocks of its size. The asteroid, known as 2025 MN45, is nearly half a mile (710 meters) in diameter and...
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WSU’s inflatable robotic apple-picker could take a bite out of farm labor shortages
Never mind the Apple Cup. Washington State University is focused on the apple grip and the apple pick. Researchers in WSU’s School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering unveiled a low-cost robotic apple-picking arm designed to help offset labor shortages for tasks such as harvesting and pruning, according to a news release Wednesday. The inflatable arm can see an apple, extend and...
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Amazon rolls out new version of its Dash smart grocery cart
Amazon’s newest smart grocery cart features upgraded computer vision and sensing capabilities. (Amazon Photo) Amazon has unveiled a redesigned version of its Dash Cart, the company’s smart shopping cart that lets customers scan items as they shop and skip the checkout line. The new shopping cart uses upgraded computer vision to capture barcodes more quickly, improved sensors to track the...
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Why some independent brands are upset with Amazon’s new ‘Buy for Me’ shopping tool
Amazon’s Seattle HQ. (GeekWire File Photo / Kevin Lisota) Amazon is facing complaints from independent retailers over a new shopping experiment that lets customers buy products from other websites directly within Amazon’s app. The feature, called Buy for Me, started rolling out in April last year alongside another program known as Shop Direct. The tools are designed to help shoppers find...
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Trapped at a Tesla Supercharger: A comedy of errors and lessons learned from a first EV road trip
I drive a Mach-E that can go from zero to 60 in four seconds. Even better: it’s electric and the turn signal makes a clippity-clop horse hoof noise. (GeekWire Photo / Lisa Stiffler) By the time we hit Kelso, it was clear my family’s post-Christmas EV adventure was hitting the skids. After departing from Seattle, we stopped in Olympia for lunch and a little recharge for our recently...
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Tech Moves: Amazon AI leader joins Google Cloud; Meta taps new chief legal officer from Microsoft
Karthik Ramakrishnan. (LinkedIn Photo) — Karthik Ramakrishnan, who spent the past 14 years at Amazon where he helped develop the company’s AI strategy, has taken a VP role within the Data Cloud organization at Google Cloud. “We are entering the ‘Agentic Era,’ and my focus is helping this world-class team build the autonomous data platform of the future,” Ramakrishnan wrote on LinkedIn. “I...
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Ring around the parking lot: Amazon’s security company unveils a $5,000 surveillance trailer
A rendering of Ring’s new Mobile Security Trailer deployed in a parking lot, showing its solar-powered base and 360-degree camera designed to monitor commercial sites such as retail centers, construction projects, and outdoor events. (Ring Image) Amazon’s Ring is rolling out a $5,000 solar-powered surveillance trailer for parking lots, construction sites, and events — part of a broader...
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Wi-Fi on the water: Washington State Ferries explores public internet service with new pilot program
(GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser) Washington State Ferries is taking an initial step toward offering public Wi-Fi service at ferry terminals and aboard vessels. The agency issued a report in December proposing a limited Wi-Fi pilot at a single terminal — Bremerton — and on a single vessel, the M/V Chimacum. The effort is driven by state legislation passed last year directing the...
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Adaptive Biotechnologies spinout raising $15M to develop clinical sequencing tech
Digital Biotechnologies operates out of Adaptive Biotechnologies’ headquarters in Seattle. (Adaptive Photo) Digital Biotechnologies Inc., a new Seattle-based subsidiary of publicly traded immune medicine company Adaptive Biotechnologies, has raised fresh cash as part of an initial closing of a Series A investment round. The round could total up to $15 million, according to a recent...
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This plant-based chicken startup is bucking alt-protein trends with a new production milestone
The Rebellyous Foods team running the Mock 3 production system, from left: Founder and CEO Christie Lagally Bradburn, mechanical design engineer Cruz Philippe, and inventory and logistics manager David Miller. (Rebellyous Foods Photo) Seattle-based food technology startup Rebellyous Foods ended 2025 on a high note with the commercial launch of a new production system for its plant-based faux...
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Microsoft acquires data analytics startup Osmos to fuel push into ‘autonomous data engineering’
Osmos CEO Kirat Pandya. (LinkedIn Photo) Microsoft announced Monday that it acquired Osmos, a Seattle startup that helps companies automate data engineering work. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Osmos’ team will join the engineering organization behind Microsoft Fabric, the tech giant’s data and analytics platform, to “accelerate autonomous data engineering,” according to a Microsoft...
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Desney Tan leaves Microsoft after 21 years leading key research and healthcare initiatives
Desney Tan speaks at the 2018 GeekWire Summit. (GeekWire File Photo / Kevin Lisota) Desney Tan, who rose from researcher to corporate vice president and managing director of Microsoft Research, announced Monday that he’s leaving the company after 21 years. Tan became known in part for research in “whole body computing,” physiological sensing, brain-computer interfaces and other novel forms...
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‘Designed to be addictive’: Study finds teens spend more than an hour per day on phones at school
(BigStock Photo) New research tied to the University of Washington School of Medicine adds to mounting concerns among educators about smartphone use in schools. U.S. adolescents between the ages of 13–18 spend more than one hour per day on phones during school hours, with “addictive” social media apps accounting for the largest share of use, according to new research published in JAMA....
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Tech Moves: Amazon leader lands at Anthropic; Microsoft government affairs vet retires
Steven Maheshwary. (LinkedIn Photo) — Steven Maheshwary, a former generative AI leader at Amazon, is now a go-to-market lead in strategic partnerships at Anthropic, the AI giant behind Claude and backed by Amazon. On LinkedIn, Maheshwary described AI as “a catalyst for significant transformation and a raw energy that must be shaped, guardrailed, and democratized to be genuinely useful.”...
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Amazon’s AI on the web, wrist, and phone: Tech giant chases consumer rivals with latest moves
Amazon says expanding Alexa further beyond the home will be a big focus in 2026. (Amazon Image) Amazon is expanding its consumer AI ecosystem beyond the smart speaker — bringing Alexa+ to the web, revamping its mobile app, and offering its first update on Bee since acquiring the wearable AI startup six months ago. The announcements, timed to CES in Las Vegas, mark Amazon’s latest effort to...
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Amazon tees up new private label golf balls — here’s how they stack up against Titleist and Taylormade
Evergreen Golf Club instructor Austin Nutt takes a swing as he tries out Amazon’s new Amazon Basics golf balls that recently debuted on the company’s online marketplace. (GeekWire Photos / Taylor Soper) Amazon is taking a private-label swing on the golf course. The online retail giant started recently selling golf balls under its Amazon Basics brand in mid-October. Priced at just $15.99 for...
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