GeekWire

This week on the GeekWire Podcast, we discuss Amazon's efforts to compete with Trader Joe's, and the related tactics revealed in "The Everything War," the new book by Dana Mattioli of the Wall Street Journal. We also revisit last week's episode with Mattioli and share some of the reactions to the discussion. Plus, the FTC probes Amazon's internal use of Signal's disappearing messages feature, a newly disclosed email shows how Microsoft scrambled to catch up in artificial intelligence, and a new report says that Bill Gates is still a highly influential figure inside Microsoft, especially when it comes to the company's AI strategy. Finally, we go inside the Seattle courtroom where a prominent figure from the cryptocurrency world, Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, received a controversial prison sentence this week. Other stories discussed on the show: Amazon stock rises as Q1 earnings top estimates with $143.3B in revenue; AWS sales up 17%DoorDash rips Seattle over minimum wage law; reports record quarterly revenue of $2.5BBinance founder Changpeng Zhao sentenced to 4 months for allowing money launderingBill Gates is still pulling strings at Microsoft, overseeing AI ideasFull text: An epic Bill Gates rantSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A conversation with Dana Mattioli, Wall Street Journal reporter and author of the new book, "The Everything War: Amazon’s Ruthless Quest to Own the World and Remake Corporate Power." With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the show, we get a sneak preview of the GeekWire Awards, coming up at the Showbox SoDo in Seattle on Thursday, May 9. the Next Tech Titan title"Workplace of the Year"the impact of migration on See more GeekWire Awards coverage, and learn more about the event, which is presented by Astound Business Solutions. With GeekWire co-founders Todd Bishop and John Cook. Edited by Curt Milton. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the show, we sit down with Werner Vogels, the Amazon chief technology officer, at Amazon in Seattle. We talked about the evolution of artificial intelligence, the promise of AI in healthcare and the environment, his broader tech predictions for the year, and one of his most iconic traditions at the company's annual cloud conference. Read more on GeekWire: Amazon CTO Werner Vogels on the rapid progress of AI, and its impact on society All Things DistributedNow Go BuildKeynote with Dr. Werner VogelsTech Predictions for 2024 and beyond@Werner With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop; Edited by Curt Milton. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the show: Computer scientist Juan Lavista Ferres is corporate vice president and chief data scientist at Microsoft, and the lab director of Microsoft's AI for Good research lab, leading a team of data scientists and researchers in AI, machine learning and statistical modeling, focusing on global challenges like health, climate change, and digital literacy. He's one of the editors and authors of the new book AI for Good, Applications, in Sustainability, Humanitarian Action and Health, featuring case studies from Microsoft, to be published by Wiley on April 9. With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop. Edited by Curt Milton. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the GeekWire Podcast: Reporter Kurt Schlosser takes us inside a Tesla Cybertruck, explains what it was like to drive one, and tells us how people reacted to the futuristic vehicle as it debuted on the streets of Seattle. Also on the show, Kurt shares details from his recent story about Nala, the Seattle Police Department's electronics-detecting police dog, and explains how these law-enforcement K9s are trained to find all sorts of devices. And in our final segment, we hear a clip from comedian Pete Ballmer, the son of Steve Ballmer, about growing up as one of the kids of the former Microsoft CEO. With GeekWire's Todd Bishop and Kurt Schlosser. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the show, we peel back the layers of Microsoft's hiring of AI pioneer Mustafa Suleyman and colleagues from Inflection AI, considering how it plays into the trend of the Redmond company striking deals that look a lot like acquisitions, without actually being acquisitions. Then, we delve into the U.S. Justice Department’s landmark antitrust lawsuit against Apple, and consider the parallels to the DOJ's prior case against Microsoft. And finally, we ponder Washington state's plan to fight graffiti with drones. Additional Links Analysis: Microsoft’s big hires foreshadow bold new move into consumer AIMicrosoft’s Non-Acquisition AcquisitionMicrosoft Agreed to Pay Inflection $650 Million While Hiring Its StaffSiri, Does Apple Violate Antitrust Law?Justice Department Sues Apple for Monopolizing Smartphone MarketsDOJ’s sweeping Apple lawsuit draws expert praise With GeekWire co-founders Todd Bishop and John Cook. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the GeekWire Podcast: The rise, fall, and revival of Zulily. We revisit one the most prominent ecommerce brands to come out of Seattle, explain its decline, and consider a plan by Beyond Inc., led by investor and entrepreneur Marcus Lemonis, to acquire its brand assets and relaunch the site. With GeekWire managing editor Taylor Soper and co-founder Todd Bishop. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Artificial intelligence is a powerful technology that promises to reshape the future, but it also poses many risks. One of the most pressing issues is the lack of regulation and oversight of the data used to train AI models. A new nonprofit, the Seattle-based Transparency Coalition (transparencycoalition.ai) aims to address this issue. The co-founders of the group, veteran startup founders and technology leaders Rob Eleveld and Jai Jaisimha, join us on this episode of the GeekWire Podcast to discuss their reasons for starting the organization, and their goals to help shape emerging legislation and public policy in this area. With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop; Audio editing by Curt Milton. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new report points to a crisis of trust in innovation, and the risk that rapid technological change — especially in the field of artificial intelligence — will fuel increased populism and polarization across societies. Richard Edelman, CEO of Edelman, discussed these and other findings from the 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer during visits last week with the global communications firm's clients in tech-heavy Seattle and San Francisco. GeekWire sat down with Edelman during his visit to the firm's downtown Seattle office for this episode of the GeekWire Podcast. Related links 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer2024 Edelman Trust Barometer Reveals Innovation has Become a New Risk Factor for TrustTechnology Industry Watch Out, Innovation at Risk Public trust in AI is sinking across the board See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the GeekWire Podcast, our guests are John Rossman and Kevin McCaffrey, authors of the new book, "Big Bet Leadership." It's a playbook for business leaders to systematically make bets in a way that reduces risk and increases long-term flexibility. The book draws lessons from the likes of Microsoft, Amazon, T-Mobile and SpaceX, while also leaning heavily on the first-hand experience of the authors overseeing and implementing big bets. With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop; Audio editing by Curt Milton. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Entrepreneur and investor Chris DeVore had an inside view of Techstars Seattle as one of the original leaders of the local startup accelerator in 2010, serving as its managing director from 2014 to 2019. His Feb. 21 post "What went wrong at Techstars," looked closely at the organization's evolution — including its increased focus on corporate sponsorships and shift to centralized fundraising — as the backdrop for the news last week that Techstars is closing its Seattle accelerator as part of a broader reset. So where should Seattle's tech community go from here? And what role do startup accelerators serve in the age of AI and remote work? Devore, the founding managing director of the Founders Co-op venture fund, joins us on this bonus episode of the GeekWire Podcast to share his thoughts about what happened, and his optimism about what's next. "I think Seattle is setting itself up for a great moment in its entrepreneurial journey," he says. RELATED LINKS AND STORIES Techstars is evolving and growing Techstars 2.0: Supercharging Founder SuccessWhat went wrong at TechstarsTechstars Seattle is shutting down as accelerator shifts focus to cities with more VC activityThe most successful accelerator cohort ever: How this Techstars Seattle class produced 3 unicornsTechstars Seattle’s demise leaves a gap in the startup marketSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Techstars Seattle helped launch more than 160 startups over the past decade, partnered with the likes of Microsoft and Amazon to spark even more startups, and led to the creation of three companies currently valued at more than $1 billion — making it one of the most successful programs in the Techstars network. Founded in 2006 in Boulder, Colo., Techstars provides fledgling startups with early capital, coaching, mentorship, a chance to pitch to investors, and an opportunity to work for three months in a shared space with other entrepreneurs. Techstars expanded to Seattle in 2010, and for more than a decade, it worked. And then, this week, it ended. TechStars announced that it's closing its Seattle accelerator as part of a broader restructuring. So what happened? And what's next? GeekWire managing editor Taylor Soper joins the show this week to address those questions. Related stories Seattle tech leaders lament departure of Techstars but remain bullish on new opportunitiesTechstars CEO responds to former Seattle managing director, tells him to check his factsTechstars Seattle is shutting down as accelerator shifts focus to cities with more VC activitySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the GeekWire Podcast, stick around to the end for a late-breaking addition to the show — a bonus segment about OpenAI's new AI video generation technology Sora. Joining the show is Rahul Sood, CEO and co-founder of Irreverent Labs, a Seattle-area startup that is working on AI to turn images and text into video. We also discuss the Seattle-area startups that are bringing employees into the office five days a week; look ahead to the upcoming release of what appears to be a juicy Amazon book, due out in April; and preview the GeekWire Awards in advance of the Feb. 29 deadline for nominations. And in our "My AI" segment, we talk about a specific approach to chatting with ChatGPT on the go. With GeekWire co-founders Todd Bishop and John Cook. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the GeekWire Podcast, Todd Bishop and John Cook examine the timing of Jeff Bezos' plan to sell up to 50 million shares of Amazon stock, in the context of his public announcement that he would be moving to Miami; assess Satya Nadella's track record as Microsoft CEO as he reaches 10 years in the role; and test an example of how text-to-speech applications could change the way we engage with printed books — or maybe not, based on the way one of them reacts. Audio editing by Curt Milton; theme music by Daniel L.K. Caldwell. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

First up this week on the GeekWire Podcast: an inside take on developing software for the Apple Vision Pro. We talked with a longtime software developer for Apple platforms, Ken Case, co-founder and CEO of Seattle-based Omni Group, which makes productivity apps for Mac, iPhone, and iPad, and just released a version of its OmniPlan project management software for the newly launched Apple Vision Pro. Apple Vision Pro: Why one longtime software shop is jumping head-first into spatial computing Then, it's AI, politics, and a new attempt to detect and defuse deepfakes. A few weeks ago on the show, Oren Etzioni, a University of Washington computer science professor and longtime artificial intelligence specialist, hinted at a secret project in the works. This week, he unveiled nonprofit, nonpartisan technology organization, TrueMedia.org, that is developing an AI-powered tool to detect AI-generated deepfake videos, photos, and audio, aiming to combat political disinformation in the leadup to the 2024 elections. We jumped back on the line with Etzioni to get the details on the new initiatives, and discuss the pros and cons of the rapid development of new generative AI tools for democracy and society. New nonpartisan AI nonprofit TrueMedia, led by Oren Etzioni, is making a political deepfake detector With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop. Audio editing by Curt Milton. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our guest this week is someone who is experimenting every day with AI, pushing the capabilities of the existing tools and technologies: Kevin Leneway, principal software engineer at the Pioneer Square Labs startup incubator in Seattle. He talks about the tools he's using across his personal and work life, and how they're transforming the process of innovation and creativity. He also shares details about a new project he's been working on, an AI coding assistant called JACoB. Hosted by GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the GeekWire Podcast, we consider Microsoft's latest AI product, the $20/month Copilot Pro, compare it to the likes of ChatGPT Plus, Claude Pro and Otter.ai — and realize in the process that one of us is already paying way too much for AI assistants on a monthly basis. Plus, a deep dive on Zulily bolsters a hypothesis about the motives of the private equity firm that acquired and later shut down the online retailer. And finally, we compare, contrast, and appreciate the very different approaches taken by Costco and Amazon for authenticating the identity of customers at store entrances and check-out. With GeekWire co-founders John Cook and Todd Bishop. Related Stories: Copilot Pro vs. ChatGPT Plus: Microsoft’s new paid service offers alternative to OpenAI subscriptionZulily’s downfall: How the high-flying online retailer soared, sank, and shut downZulily sues Amazon, alleging that price-fixing and supplier coercion sank its attempts to competeScanning against scammers: Costco testing membership card readers at store entrancesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Liz Hamren has been CEO of Amazon's Ring business for almost a year, as the successor in the role to Ring founder Jamie Siminoff. Hamren previously held technology and business leadership positions at companies including Dropcam, Microsoft, Oculus, and Discord, and was involved in product launches including Xbox consoles and Meta VR headsets. In addition to Ring, she leads Blink, Amazon Key, and Amazon Sidewalk in her current role. She spoke with us recently in her first public interview since becoming Ring CEO last year. With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop; Audio editing by Curt Milton. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week's guest, Nancy Wang, is a technology product and engineering executive, advisor, and investor. A former Amazon Web Services general manager and former Google lead product manager, she is a venture partner at Felicis Ventures, where she invests in early-stage startups in cybersecurity, enterprise infrastructure, and business-to-business software as a service. She is also founder and board chair of Advancing Women in Tech, and a contributor to Forbes. With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop. Edited by Curt Milton. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.