Mixer co-founder on Microsoft pulling the plug, Twitch’s market power, and his startup journey Matt Salsamendi was barely old enough to drive when he and James Boehm founded a game-streaming startup called Beam Interactive,… Read More
Play Podcast GeekWire Podcast: Microsoft’s retail bombshell; Amazon’s robotaxi deal; and Trump vs. tech, again Play Here’s what we’re talking about on the GeekWire Podcast this week. Microsoft shocked the tech world Friday morning by announcing… Read More
GeekWire Daily: Zoox deal pits Amazon against Uber and Lyft in robotaxi race Greetings, GeekWire readers! The last 24 hours have been among the newsiest in recent memory on the Seattle tech beat, including a… Read More
Greenpeace slams Amazon’s Climate Pledge Arena as a ‘meaningless and costly PR stunt’ A certain Muppet once told us it’s not easy being green. It’s not easy to get the approval of Greenpeace… Read More
Confirmed: Amazon’s acquisition of robotaxi startup Zoox adds self-driving cars to its robotic fleet Update: Amazon on Friday morning confirmed its agreement to acquire Zoox, which will continue operating as a standalone business. Its blog… Read More
Two Washington state students among 100 winners of ‘Amazon Future Engineer’ $40,000 scholarships Two Washington state students are among 100 winners of Amazon Future Engineer college scholarships, the company announced this week. This… Read More
Amazon buys naming rights to KeyArena in Seattle, will call it Climate Pledge Arena as part of sustainability initiative Amazon just took its climate change initiative to another level. The Seattle tech giant announced Thursday that it bought the… Read More
Amazon Alexa leader: COVID-19 has sparked ‘a huge increase in the use of voice in the home’ The COVID-19 crisis is speeding up the adoption of various technologies as people work remotely and spend more time at… Read More
AWS ‘Honeycode’ makes Amazon a player in booming no-code software movement A new Amazon service called Honeycode promises to let non-developers quickly create interactive web and mobile apps without knowing how… Read More
Amazon workers renew call for transparency as public health officials disclose new COVID cases Pressure is building on Amazon to release data on the prevalence of COVID-19 among its employees as new cases come… Read More
Amazon forms ‘Counterfeit Crimes Unit,’ under pressure to escalate fight against fake products Amazon has formed an internal “Counterfeit Crimes Unit” to bolster its fight against knock-off products on Amazon.com, as the company… Read More
Amazon’s carbon footprint grew 15% in 2019, highlighting the challenge of net zero emissions Amazon has pledged to make its retail and cloud-computing operations “net carbon zero” by 2040, but its newly released 2019… Read More
Amazon unveils $2 billion fund to invest in startups building sustainable technology Amazon on Tuesday launched The Climate Pledge Fund, a new venture capital investment program that will funnel an initial $2… Read More
Amazon slams Trump’s new visa ban as ‘short-sighted’ risk to American competitiveness President Donald Trump’s signature on an executive order further restricting immigration to the U.S. hardly had time to dry before… Read More
Whole Foods workers protest after grocer prohibits employee-worn Black Lives Matter masks Whole Foods workers in Seattle protested outside of the grocer’s Westlake location on Friday after being told they could not… Read More
Play Podcast GeekWire Podcast: The case against Apple’s App Store; IPOs go crazy; quest for a better email inbox Play Here’s what we’re talking about on the GeekWire Podcast this week. Not everyone loves Apple’s App Store, it seems. This… Read More
Amazon takes heat for chicken and waffles Juneteenth celebration at Chicago warehouse Amazon warehouse workers in Chicago expressed outrage at a flyer advertising a chicken and waffles event to commemorate Juneteenth, a… Read More
Amazon joins Valentino in Rockstud counterfeit case, putting the legal shoe on the other foot Amazon, which has been sued in the past over knock-off goods sold on its third-party marketplace, is joining Valentino to… Read More
Amazon adjusts delivery routes in Seattle protest area as some customers can’t get orders delivered Amazon customers living in and around the protest area in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood are having trouble getting their orders… Read More
Congressman slams Amazon’s use of facial recognition technology, calls for new disclosures Amazon may have halted the sale of its facial recognition software to police, but the move hasn’t eased pressure on… Read More
Amazon and Techstars revamp Alexa Accelerator to help later-stage companies, unveil new cohort Amazon and Techstars on Wednesday unveiled the seven companies participating in Alexa Next Stage, its voice tech startup program originally… Read More
How Amazon, Uber and others are commemorating Juneteenth in honor of emancipation Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is encouraging employees to cancel meetings and “take some time to reflect, learn and support each… Read More
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella warns of fallout without ‘strong national law’ on facial recognition Decisions by Microsoft and Amazon to refrain from sales of facial recognition software to law enforcement agencies could have negative… Read More
Amazon teams with Zynga for an Alexa-enabled version of popular game ‘Words With Friends’ Amazon is teaming with Zynga to bring a voice-enabled version of the interactive entertainment company’s popular game “Words With Friends”… Read More
Play Podcast Secrets of successful strategies: How Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and others make winning bets Play Twenty-five years ago, more than a decade before the debut of the iPhone, a different piece of technology had people… Read More
Seattle City Council unveils new payroll tax targeting Amazon and other large companies The Seattle City Council introduced a new proposal Tuesday to tax the largest companies in the city, the latest in… Read More
Amazon’s ‘Distance Assistant’ uses augmented reality to show workers if they’re far enough apart Amazon is rolling out a system that uses sensors and a large-screen display to let workers see, in real time,… Read More
Amazon’s ‘Climate Pledge’ gets its first additional signatories: Verizon, Infosys and RB Telecom giant Verizon, tech powerhouse Infosys, and Lysol and Calgon parent Reckitt Benckiser (RB) have become the first global companies… Read More
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is reportedly willing to testify before Congress in antitrust inquiry Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos could testify before Congress along with other Big Tech leaders this summer, according to a letter… Read More
How Amazon’s treatment of third-party sellers became an antitrust target in the US and abroad Antitrust scrutiny of Amazon is intensifying as new details reveal how the company treats third-party sellers in its marketplace. Regulators… Read More
