GEEK News
K2 Space raises $500M to boost its drive to build big, powerful satellites
K2 Space’s Gravitas satellite, shown here during final integration, was launched in March. (K2 Space Photo via PRNewswire) K2 Space, a California-based satellite company that recently set up an engineering hub in Seattle, has announced a $500 million funding round at a $6.8 billion valuation. The Series D round was led by Kleiner Perkins and ICONIQ, with participation from CapitalG,...
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Off the train, into a VW bus: Amazon helps fund free shuttle service for Bellevue light rail riders
One of the electric Volkswagen ID. BUZZ vehicles that will serve as a free shuttle for light rail riders arriving in downtown Bellevue, Wash. (Visit Seattle Photo) Stepping off the light rail in downtown Bellevue, Wash., is about to come with a free ride. Visit Bellevue announced this week that it’s launching a free electric shuttle pilot program on Aug. 3 to help riders on Sound Transit’s...
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Remitly launches Global Card to turn cross-border money transfers into everyday banking
The Remitly Global Card. (Remitly Image) Remitly, the Seattle digital remittance startup built on sending money across borders, is now offering a debit card and account meant to hold that money, too. The company on Thursday launched the Remitly Global Card, a Visa debit card and linked account aimed at customers whose lives span multiple countries — letting them get paid, spend, save, and...
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Interlune builds on partnership with equipment company to lay the groundwork for moon infrastructure
This full-scale prototype of Interlune’s lunar excavator was developed in partnership with Vermeer in 2025. Testing as shown was done with auxiliary components. (Interlune / Vermeer Photo) Seattle-based Interlune is expanding its partnership with Vermeer, an Iowa-based industrial equipment manufacturer, to develop construction tools for use on the moon. The two companies forged their...
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AI plus IP: Sophia Space and Caltech secure a patent for orbital data centers that use passive cooling
An artist’s conception shows a data center satellite that makes use of Sophia Space’s tile-based architecture. (Sophia Space Illustration) Sophia Space has secured a patent for a technology that could pave the way for solar-powered orbital data centers that passively radiate excess heat into space. Developed in partnership with Caltech, Sophia’s architecture tackles a major hurdle in...
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Watch: A venture capitalist’s passionate speech — a rallying cry, really — about Seattle
Jacob Colker of AI House speaking at the Showbox Market in Seattle, where he later joined his bandmates on drums. (Photo via AI House) AI House co-founder and managing director Jacob Colker may be Seattle’s number one cheerleader. In posts on LinkedIn, panel discussions and recent news stories, Colker is reminding Seattleites that this is a pretty special place. That all bubbled up at a...
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A bigger role for Swami: Amazon’s agentic AI chief gets broader mandate to shape emerging tech
Swami Sivasubramanian on stage at AWS re:Invent in 2023, with a keynote slide behind him. (GeekWire Photo / Todd Bishop) Amazon just broadened the role of Swami Sivasubramanian, the VP behind AWS’s agentic AI push, expanding and renaming his organization to include emerging technologies, and giving him a larger mandate to shape AI strategy and technical direction across the cloud...
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Microsoft Azure tops $100B in annual revenue as record AI spending cuts into cash flow
GeekWire File Photo Microsoft’s Azure cloud business grew 43% last quarter, blowing past the company’s own forecast and surpassing $100 billion in annual revenue for the first time, providing fresh evidence of the potential for artificial intelligence to fuel new growth for the tech giant. The company’s results for its fiscal fourth quarter also showed the price of that growth: capital...
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VC is changing dramatically — what’s a founder to do?
Click to enlarge. The top 5% of U.S. seed-round valuations reached $200.4 million in Q2 2026, up 177% from a year earlier, even as fewer companies were funded. (Chart: Peter Walker / Carta) Guest Opinion: When I moved to Seattle in 2000 and started in venture capital, I read the book “The Silicon Boys: And Their Valley of Dreams,” which told the story of how venture capital drove the...
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Amazon earnings preview: Wall Street looks for more cloud growth as AI spending hits a record
Amazon reports quarterly earnings Thursday afternoon, facing the same test as every other big tech company right now: whether it’s generating enough business to justify its massive AI spending. Wall Street expects revenue of about $196.4 billion, up 17% from a year ago, and earnings of $1.82 per share. That’s essentially the midpoint of Amazon’s own forecast for the second quarter. Part...
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Seattle lands another $1B startup: Here’s the latest arrival in the industrial AI boom
Nominal CEO Cameron McCord says Seattle’s concentration to tech talent and key partners attracted the company. (Photos via Nominal) Seattle’s emergence as a hub for companies building the next generation of industrial technology is drawing another high-profile startup. Los Angeles-based Nominal, whose software helps engineers build, test and validate complex hardware systems, is...
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Seattle Tech Week highlights how unorthodox routes can lead to careers on the space frontier
Joydeep Hazra, program director for electric vehicles at South Seattle College, holds up a prototype Mars rover during a Seattle Tech Week session. He’s surrounded by, from left, Alec Courtright, technical program manager at EarthDaily Federal, Anjali Roychowdhury, lead software engineer at SpaceX; Kayla VanderPutten, technical recruiter at Anduril Industries; and moderator Amy Miller, head of...
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Anime fans, assemble: Bandai Namco opening ‘Gundam Base’ retail experience south of Seattle
(Bandai Namco Image) Giant anime robots are landing in the Seattle area. Bandai Namco is opening an official Gundam Base retail store at Westfield Southcenter mall in Tukwila, Wash., this fall, giving Pacific Northwest anime and model-kit fans a permanent flagship destination for all things Gunpla. For the uninitiated, Gundam isn’t just a nostalgic cartoon; it’s a massive,...
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Uncommon Thinkers 2026: Nominate Seattle area’s bold innovators driving positive change
The 2025 “Uncommon Thinkers” award winners, from left: Anindya Roy, co-founder of Lila Biologics; Kiana Ehsani, co-founder of Vercept; Max Blumen of Tin Can; Jay Graber, CIO of Bluesky; Brian Pinkard, co-founder of Aquagga, and Jeff Thornburg, co-founder of Portal Space Systems; (GeekWire Photo / Kevin Lisota) It’s time to recognize the Seattle area’s boldest innovators. Nominations are now...
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What are you building? Talking with founders and business leaders at the Seattle Tech Week kickoff event
Top row from left: Emily Rapp, Henry Arias, Cleo Escarez, and Jagan Nemani. Bottom row from left: Kim Vu, Andy Liu, Mary Jesse, and Kenny Daniel, at the Seattle Tech Week kickoff. (GeekWire Photos / Todd Bishop) The fourth annual Seattle Tech Week got off to a big start Monday, with panels and parties bringing together thousands of people from across the region and out of state. Organizers...
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Less Amazon, more profit: UPS raises forecast after cutting millions of lower-yield deliveries
A UPS truck makes its way through downtown Seattle. (GeekWire File Photo / Kurt Schlosser) Handling fewer packages for Amazon is boosting the financial outlook for UPS, as CEO Carol Tomé said Tuesday that the delivery giant has successfully completed its planned volume pullback and is pivoting toward higher-margin shipments. “I want to thank all UPSers for their extraordinary work over the...
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Jeff Bezos says this business is becoming Amazon’s next ‘pillar’
Amazon’s next pillar could be built on a foundation of silicon. In a new interview with Fortune, Amazon founder and Executive Chair Jeff Bezos says the company’s custom chip business is on track to become one of Amazon’s most durable businesses, placing it alongside Marketplace, Prime, and Amazon Web Services as a core pillar of the company. “A few of our offerings have become durable...
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Amazon Leo seeks FCC approval to launch 5,105 satellites that would connect with mobile devices
An illustration shows campers using a smartphone to connect with a stylized Amazon Leo satellite network. (Amazon Photoillustration) Amazon Leo has asked the Federal Communications Commission to approve its plan to launch up to 5,105 satellites capable of providing space-based connectivity for mobile devices. “Our plan is to start deploying in 2028, and we’re excited to work with partners...
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Warner Bros. Discovery sues Amazon over HBO Max exec hire, seeks order blocking future poaching
GeekWire Image / Company Logos A new Warner Bros. Discovery lawsuit against Amazon, accusing the tech giant of poaching a top HBO Max marketing executive 16 months before her contract expired, comes with an unusual request: a court order barring Amazon from hiring any employee of the media conglomerate as long as they’re under contract. The suit, filed July 21 in Los Angeles County Superior...
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Seattle startup Replify acquired by ABC Fitness to bring agentic AI to more gyms and wellness centers
(ABC Fitness Image) Replify, a Seattle startup that uses agentic AI to help fitness operators automate member and prospect communications, is being acquired by Dallas-based ABC Fitness, the companies announced Monday. Replify’s software handles phone calls, emails, chats, and texts for health and wellness businesses, including inbound customer messages as well as proactive outbound...
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Microsoft escalates the AI security race with ‘Project Perception’ and a new in-house model
Microsoft Security EVP Hayete Gallot introduces Project Perception’s agent teams Monday in San Francisco. (Screenshot) Microsoft on Monday unveiled Project Perception, an AI cybersecurity system built to defend against AI-driven attacks, aiming to keep pace with both hackers and its technology rivals. The system, which enters public preview Aug. 3, coordinates three sets of AI agents: red...
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Another high for student rocketry team: First place in international competition
Washington Youth Aerospace, the winners of the International Rocketry Challenge, from left in black shirts, Mikhail Antipin, Antoine Vigneron, Anay Mediwala, Nikhil Sirivara, Daniel Tadesse and Bao-ky Tran, pose with European Space Agency astronauts Meganne Christian, left, and John McFall at the Farnborough International Airshow south of London. (Photo courtesy of Sudheer Sirivara) A team of...
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Report: Starbucks scrapped an AI inventory tool and left a Seattle-area startup ‘blindsided’
Starbucks was using technology from Redmond-based NomadGo to automate how workers counted inventory items. (Starbucks Photo) When Starbucks scrapped an AI-powered inventory counting tool back in May, just nine months after revealing the new system, it landed as a surprise to those tracking the coffee giant’s high-tech ambitions. A new report from Fast Company tells the inside story of how the...
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Microsoft earnings preview: AI spending, cloud margins, and why the stock keeps falling
Microsoft has topped earnings expectations consistently in recent years, yet its stock is near a one-year low. So while it’s worth paying attention to revenue and profits when the company reports its fiscal year-end results Wednesday, there are clearly other forces at play on Wall Street. Here are the key stats and trendlines to watch going into the earnings report for the...
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Tech Moves: Remitly names CISO; Joseph Williams leads cybersecurity ed at WWU; Yoodli gets product VP
Jeff Lyon. (LinkedIn Photo) — Jeff Lyon is now chief information security officer at Seattle’s Remitly. Lyon joins from Coinbase, where he was head of infrastructure security for two years. Past roles include security leadership at Robinhood and Amazon Web Services. Lyon also served as a petty officer with the U.S. Navy for more than nine years. “Remitly’s mission to transform lives through...
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Jeff Bezos reportedly joining bid to buy stake in English soccer giant Liverpool FC
Jeff Bezos uncorks the bubbly after a suborbital spaceflight in Blue Origin’s New Shepard capsule. (Blue Origin Photo) Jeff Bezos may never again “walk alone.” The Amazon founder is reportedly part of a group interested in buying a 30% stake in Liverpool Football Club, the storied English Premier League soccer team whose legendary fans belt out the show tune “You’ll Never Walk Alone”...
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Could nuclear heaters keep astronauts warm on the moon? NASA is funding research to find out
This collage highlights some of the projects selected for funding through the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program, including a study looking at radioisotope heating systems for moonwalking astronauts, depicted at center left. (NASA Graphic) NASA says it’s funding a new batch of far-out research projects, including a study evaluating how radioactive heaters can keep astronauts warm while...
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Dopl raises $6.3M to bring remote robotic ultrasounds to rural patients as it pursues FDA clearance
Illustration of a patient receiving an ultrasound using Dopl’s remote technology as a medical assistant looks on. (Dopl Illustration) Dopl Technologies announced $6.3 million in new funding to support the development and commercialization of a remotely operated robotic ultrasound system. The Bothell, Wash.-based startup has now raised more than $8 million. Dopl is pursuing FDA clearance for...
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Week in Review: Most popular stories on GeekWire for the week of July 19, 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 July 19, 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 Rudra “Rudy” Mitra, who led Microsoft’s Purview data-security business, is joining Amazon Web...
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What’s going on with Seattle startup funding, a Kalshi setback, Impinj’s long game, and a smartphone detox
This week on the GeekWire Podcast: Seattle startup funding drops 40% in the first half of the year while AI money floods everywhere else. We dig into the implications for the region. Plus: a Seattle judge deals Kalshi a setback, Impinj marks a decade on the Nasdaq after a 26-year climb, and nearly 40 Seattleites trade smartphones for flip phones for five weeks. Related...
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Amazon confirms it’s closing key AI site in San Francisco but says work on its top models continues
GeekWire File Photo Amazon is closing its San Francisco AGI site as part of the layoffs it made this week in its artificial general intelligence organization, but said its frontier model research lab will continue. A company spokesperson confirmed the news of the site closure, which was first reported by The Information. Amazon’s frontier model research work will carry on under Pieter...
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‘The Odyssey’ isn’t on IMAX 70mm in Seattle — is it worth a journey for the summer’s biggest film?
The biggest movie of the summer will create a big headache for film geeks in Seattle who want to see “The Odyssey” precisely as director Christopher Nolan intended. For a population that has gotten comfortable watching anything and everything streamed on TVs and smartphones, the difference might not be that big of a deal. But the epic picture starring Matt Damon was shot on 70mm IMAX to...
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Defense tech giant Anduril eyes new funding at $100B valuation as Seattle expansion draws protests
Protesters outside Anduril’s Seattle offices on Sunday, July 19. (GeekWire Photo / John Cook) Defense tech giant Anduril, which is rapidly expanding its operations in the Seattle area, is looking to raise a new round of capital that could value the company at about $100 billion, reports Reuters. That would give the privately-held startup a bigger valuation than Northrop Grumman, the...
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Earth first, Mars later: Inside AIM’s grand vision for physical AI and autonomous bulldozers
An excavator and bulldozer operating autonomously using AIM Intelligent Machines’ AI platform work at the company’s proving grounds near Monroe, Wash. (AIM Photo) In a headquarters and lab space formerly occupied by SpaceX in Redmond, Wash., AIM Intelligent Machines (AIM) is focused on solving big problems on Earth. But the startup’s CEO envisions a day when autonomous bulldozers and...
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Tech Moves: Agility Robotics gets CFO; Microsoft security departure; Zap’s legal officer; new KEXP CPTO
Michael Beer. (Agility Robotics Photo) — Agility Robotics named Michael Beer as its chief financial officer. Current CFO and chief operating officer Jennifer Hunter will transition to serving exclusively as COO. “Michael brings outstanding public company finance and capital markets experience, while Jennifer, with her prior experience as a publicly traded COO, will focus exclusively on...
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