Amazon and FedEx, together again, this time for e-commerce returns – GeekWire We use essential cookies to make our site work. With your consent, we may also use non-essential cookies to improve user experience, personalize advertisements, and analyze website traffic. For these reasons, we may share your site usage data with our social media, advertising, and analytics partners. By clicking "Accept,†you agree to our website's cookie use as described in our Cookie Policy. You can change your cookie settings a ...

"This layoff, together with over $500 million of identified cost savings in contracting, marketing, and closing some open roles puts us in a more stable place,†Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said in the announcement. He cited challenges including tougher cost economics, slowing console sales, and competition "against other increasingly-engaging forms of entertainment.†He noted that the layoffs are not related to AI. Epic has 349 employees in the Seattle region, according to LinkedIn. The company opened an offic ...

PreferencesDeclineAccept Share Ali Farhadi speaks at the Tech Alliance State of Technology annual luncheon in Seattle, May 2024. (GeekWire File Photo / Todd Bishop) Microsoft is hiring a group of top AI researchers from the Seattle-based Allen Institute for AI and the University of Washington, including former Ai2 CEO Ali Farhadi, GeekWire has learned. Farhadi, Hanna Hajishirzi, and Ranjay Krishna are expected to join Mustafa Suleyman's organization at Microsoft while retaining their faculty positions at th ...

Helion Energy working on a massive fusion power deal with OpenAI We use essential cookies to make our site work. With your consent, we may also use non-essential cookies to improve user experience, personalize advertisements, and analyze website traffic. For these reasons, we may share your site usage data with our social media, advertising, and analytics partners. By clicking "Accept,†you agree to our website's cookie use as described in our Cookie Policy. You can change your cookie settings at any time by ...

Share Jeff Bezos framed this copy ofa 2006 BusinessWeek cover, reflecting Wall Street's skepticism about AWS at the time. (Jeff Bezos via X, May 2022) In the early days of Amazon Web Services, technical evangelist Jeff Barrwas putting in long hours on the road, pitching a novel concept: rent computing power for 10 cents an hour, and storage for 15 cents a gigabyte per month — no servers to buy, no data centers to build. Barr remembers calling his wife to check in at the end of the day. Get a nice dinner, sh ...

Core Insights - Amazon is reportedly developing a new smartphone codenamed "Transformer" within its devices and services unit, led by an internal team called ZeroOne [2][3] - The new phone is designed to be an AI-driven mobile personalization device that integrates with Alexa and connects users to Amazon's ecosystem, including shopping and media services [4] - Unlike its previous attempt with the Fire Phone, which failed due to various issues, Amazon is exploring both a conventional smartphone and a simplified device aimed at reducing screen addiction [6] Development Team - The project is spearheaded by J Allard, a former Microsoft executive known for his work on Xbox, under the leadership of Panos Panay, who oversees Amazon's broader devices and services organization [3] Features and Functionality - The phone aims to incorporate AI capabilities and may bypass traditional app marketplaces, focusing on a seamless integration with Amazon's services [4] - Alexa will play a central role in the user experience, although it may not serve as the main operating system [7] Market Strategy - Amazon has not yet initiated discussions with wireless carriers, and the project's timeline and budget remain undefined [7] - The company is taking a different approach this time, learning from the past failure of the Fire Phone, which was discontinued after 14 months and resulted in a $170 million writedown [6] Project Status - Sources indicate that the project could still be canceled, highlighting the uncertainty surrounding its development [9]

Core Viewpoint - Compass International Holdings has decided to dismiss its lawsuit against Zillow regarding Zillow's Listing Access Standards, marking a significant development in the real estate industry [3][4]. Group 1: Lawsuit Dismissal - The lawsuit, which was filed in June, was centered around Zillow's policy that restricts listings that are publicly marketed but not widely available via the MLS [3]. - The dismissal of the lawsuit comes after Zillow announced a change in its approach to pre-market listings, which Compass CEO Robert Reffkin referred to as a "policy reversal" [5][6]. Group 2: Marketing Strategy Conflict - Compass' marketing strategy involves a three-phased approach where homes are first marketed as Compass Private Exclusives, then enter a Compass Coming Soon phase, before being listed publicly via the MLS, which conflicted with Zillow's standards [4]. Group 3: Industry Relations - Reffkin expressed a positive shift in relations between Compass and Zillow, acknowledging Zillow's new product that offers homeowners more marketing choices [6][7]. - The CEO's social media post thanked Zillow for providing homeowners with more options, indicating a potential thaw in the previously adversarial relationship between the two companies [8].

Core Insights - Microsoft is reorganizing its Copilot structure, unifying consumer and commercial AI efforts under Jacob Andreou while Mustafa Suleyman will focus on superintelligence and frontier AI models [2][3][6] Group 1: Leadership Changes - Jacob Andreou, a former Snap executive, has been appointed as the executive vice president of the combined Copilot group, reporting directly to CEO Satya Nadella [5] - Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder of DeepMind, will narrow his role to concentrate on building frontier AI models and leading superintelligence efforts [6][7] - A new Copilot Leadership Team will be formed, including Ryan Roslansky, Perry Clarke, and Charles Lamanna, who will report directly to Nadella [8] Group 2: Strategic Focus - The reorganization aims to transition AI from simple chatbots to more advanced agents that can take action on behalf of users [3] - Suleyman emphasized that the restructuring will enable a full commitment to superintelligence efforts, with a goal to improve products and reduce AI workload costs over the next five years [7] Group 3: Market Position - Microsoft 365 Copilot currently has 15 million paying users, representing about 3% of the overall user base for the enterprise platform [4] - Copilot's share of global AI chatbot usage is in the low single digits, trailing behind OpenAI's ChatGPT [4]

Core Insights - Rajesh Jha, Executive Vice President of Microsoft's Experiences + Devices group, will retire after over 35 years with the company, transitioning to an advisory role on July 1 [1][1][1] - Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella highlighted Jha's significant contributions to the company and noted that succession planning has been in progress [1][1][1] Leadership Changes - Following Jha's retirement, four executives will report directly to Nadella: Perry Clarke (Microsoft 365 core infrastructure), Charles Lamanna (business and industry Copilot), Pavan Davuluri (Windows and Devices), and LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky [1][1][1] - Jeff Teper, who oversees collaboration apps like SharePoint and Teams, is promoted to Executive Vice President, while Sumit Chauhan and Kirk Koenigsbauer are elevated to president roles [1][1][1] Context of Departures - Jha's retirement is part of a broader trend of senior leadership exits at Microsoft, including Xbox chief Phil Spencer and security leader Charlie Bell, as Nadella reshapes the leadership structure with a focus on AI and Copilot initiatives [1][1][1] - Jha joined Microsoft in 1990 and has held various key roles, including overseeing Exchange, SharePoint, and the launch of Office 365, before leading the Experiences + Devices group [1][1][1]

Core Viewpoint - Microsoft has filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of Anthropic's lawsuit against the Department of War, advocating for the blocking of the Pentagon's supply chain risk designation [1] Group 1 - Microsoft is taking a legal stance by supporting Anthropic in its lawsuit against the Department of War [1] - The company is urging the court to prevent the Pentagon from designating supply chain risks that could impact Anthropic [1]