GeekWire

This week, Seattle-area software developer and AI entrepreneur Patrick Husting of Ghostwriter AI and the Equestrian App returns to the show to talk about the evolution of artificial intelligence over the past two years, how people are using the technology today, and where things are headed in 2025.

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• Can Microsoft avoid the ghost of Clippy? Familiar theme emerges in Copilot rollout for Office apps
• ‘Ghostwrite...

What happens when you mix modern AI with a piece of vintage technology and the musical stylings of a very amateur guitarist? You might be surprised. 

That's the subject of this week's episode. GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop's fun holiday project, revisiting a favorite gadget from his youth, illustrated some bigger themes about the AI that has emerged in the past two years, and the role it can play in life and work. 

Read...

Michael Schutzler, the newly retired CEO of the Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA), joins us on this episode of the GeekWire Podcast to reflect on his 11 years running the not-for-profit trade association, assess the state of the tech industry in Seattle and Washington state, and discuss what's next for him.

Schutzler, who has been succeeded as WTIA's CEO by Kelly Fukai, previously its COO, wrote about the extraordin...

This week on the GeekWire Podcast, we sit down with some of the Seattle region’s “Uncommon Thinkers” — inventors, scientists, technologists and entrepreneurs transforming industries and driving positive change in the world.

We recorded the episode on location, backstage at the GeekWire Gala, where we recognized five Uncommon Thinkers through this annual awards program, presented in partnership with Greater S...

Amazon's AI strategy came into focus this week with the unveiling of Amazon Nova, its new family of homegrown AI models, a new AI model marketplace for Amazon Bedrock, and other news from the AWS re:Invent conference in Las Vegas. 

It turns out we've seen this before. As the company's AI strategy emerges, there are numerous similarities to its e-commerce business  including low cost, broad selection, products from Amazon and its se...

This week on the GeekWire Podcast, our guest is Sam Schillace, a deputy CTO at Microsoft and author of the new book, "No Prize for Pessimism," the first title from Microsoft's new publishing imprint, 8080 Books. Schillace discusses the importance of optimism in innovation, drawing parallels between the early cloud era and the current AI revolution. He also shares his past experiences as one of the creators of Google Docs, and empha...

This week on the GeekWire Podcast, we discuss Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI, which now includes Microsoft, and assess the complexities of the OpenAI-Microsoft partnership, as illustrated by early email exchanges revealed in the lawsuit.

We also consider the latest update to the GeekWire 200, our ranked index of Pacific Northwest technology startups, including the rise of Highspot to the top spot, and other trends in the Seattl...

This week on the GeekWire Podcast, we dive into Amazon's launch of a new discount storefront called Amazon Haul, and explore what it says about the future of e-commerce and generational shifts in shopping. Guests Michael Levin and Josh Lowitz of Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) provide insights into the long-term trends around Amazon Prime membership and consumer behaviors on the platform.

• CIRP: Amazon Report on ...

This special edition of the GeekWire Podcast is the first in a four-episode series that we’ll be publishing in the months ahead as part of our year-long Microsoft @ 50 project, recognizing the company’s 50th anniversary in April 2025. 

On this episode, we’ll take a fresh look at Microsoft’s startup story with tech historian and author Margaret O’Mara of the University of Washington, author of The Code: Sil...

This week on the GeekWire Podcast, it's a grab-bag of topics, including self-driving wheelchairs, Expedia Group Chairman Barry Diller's comments on the prospects for an acquisition by Uber, and an update on GeekWire's upcoming events and coverage.

In the final segment, we discuss what the new Trump administration could mean for technology regulation, including the FTC's antitrust case against Amazon and oversight for tech M&A.

...

This week, with just days to go before the Nov. 5 election, we take a fresh look at AI, social media, and some surprising trends in the spread of fake content and misinformation, with Danielle Lee Tomson, research manager for election rumors at the University of Washington Center for an Informed Public.

Guest host Ross Reynolds speaks with Tomson about AI, social media, and some surprising trends in the spread of rumors online. 

Re...

Our guest on this episode of the GeekWire Podcast is Panos Panay, Amazon's senior vice president of Devices & Services, a longtime leader in the world of consumer technology. It has been one year since he started at Amazon, after his surprise departure from Microsoft, where he oversaw products including Surface and Windows.

Panay's division at Amazon includes the Alexa voice assistant and Echo devices, but that's just the start...

Our guest this week is Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, who says he has never been as excited about anything in his career as he is about the latest developments in artificial intelligence — AI agents that can autonomously reason, plan, and take action on behalf of businesses.

Benioff is almost as strong in his negative sentiments toward Microsoft's Copilot. He calls Copilot the second coming of Microsoft's much-maligned "Clippy" Offic...

This week, we imagine the possibility of Uber buying Expedia Group, based on a report by the Financial Times this week that the ride-hailing company has considered a bid for the online travel giant. It would be notable in part because Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi was Expedia Group’s CEO from 2005 to 2017 and remains on the company’s board. 

In the second segment, we enjoy highlights from the "60 Minutes" profile of former Microsoft C...

Artificial intelligence and automation are transforming the way companies get stuff to stores and doorsteps, changing the world of logistics, transportation and the supply chain, as demonstrated by a few Amazon-related stories we covered this week: 

• Amazon's unveiling of a new "Vision-Assisted Package Retrieval (VAPR) system for the cargo hold of its electric Rivian vans;
• The announcement of Amazon’s next-generation fulfillmen...

We were looking for a guest expert to discuss the new Microsoft Copilot features on the show this week, when we realized, why not go straight to the source?

Our guest host for the first segment of the show is Microsoft Copilot, taking advantage of the new voice interaction mode rolled out by the company this week. 

RELATED: New Microsoft Copilot features include natural AI voice interactions and daily news summary

In the second seg...

Charles Simonyi is known in the tech industry for his work at Microsoft. He played a leading role in creating Word, Excel and other programs back in the 1980s. He rejoined the company in 2017 with its acquisition of his startup, Intentional Software. 

But he's had a longtime fascination with space, taking two trips to the International Space Station, in 2007 and 2009, and helping to fund a long-awaited new space survey telescope in...

Amazon's decision to bring its employees back to the office five days a week is a window into the challenges facing the e-commerce and technology giant, and CEO Andy Jassy's larger plan to get the company to operate like "the world's largest startup" again.

Plus, GeekWire's John Cook gets into the back seat of a driverless car for the first time since 2018, and has a very different experience.

Coverage of Amazon's announcement:

Our guest this week is Anupreeta Das, author of the new book, "Billionaire, Nerd, Savior, King: Bill Gates and His Quest to Shape Our World." Das is the South Asia correspondent for The New York Times. This week's guest host, Ross Reynolds, is an interviewer and moderator who is well-known in the Seattle region from his 34 years at KUOW, the public radio station from which he retired in 2021.

Edited by Curt Milton.

See omnystudio.co...