Microsoft's misunderstood era: Ben Gilbert of 'Acquired' on the tech giant's most pivotal years

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: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America; plus highlights from a recent conversation with David Marquardt, Microsoft’s first outside investor and a longtime board member. Register here for our Microsoft @ 50 event, March 20, 2025, in Seattle. Microsoft @ 50 is an independent GeekWire editorial project supported by Accenture. With GeekWire Co-Founder Todd Bishop. Edited by Curt Milton.    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. Related coverage and links NYT: Tech Giants Face a Familiar Uncertainty With Trump Expedia chairman Barry Diller on potential deal with Uber and Washington Post’s ‘blunder’ Sea-Tac Airport’s self-driving wheelchairs are getting stymied by unexpected obstacles Upcoming GeekWire Events GeekWire Gala, Dec. 12: Register here. Microsoft @ 50: Special series and March 20 event. With GeekWire co-founders Todd Bishop and John Cook.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.  Related links and stories:  Substack: Election Rumor Research @ Center for an Informed Public New York Times: As Election Looms, Disinformation ‘Has Never Been Worse’ Washington Post: Don’t say ‘vote’: How Instagram hides your political posts Edited by Curt Milton. Music by Daniel L.K. Caldwell.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. His purview also spans Kindle e-readers, Fire tablets, Zoox self-driving taxis, Eero wireless networking devices, Ring and Blink cameras, Fire TV devices, and Kuiper, the company's nascent satellite internet business. The focus this week is Kindle, with the Oct. 30 release of the Kindle Colorsoft, the first color device in Amazon's line of market-leading e-readers, selling for a premium price of $279.99. It's part of a new era for the Kindle business, driven in part by book-loving social media influencers and consumers looking for simplicity and focus in a world of non-stop smartphone alerts. We also talked about AI, including the generative AI summaries coming with the next-generation Kindle Scribe tablet, due out in December. Panay wasn't ready to dish on what's next for Alexa in conversational AI, but he made it clear that he's bullish on AI in general, and doesn't believe it's a passing fad. With GeekWire co-founder Todd BishopSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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" Office assistant, and asserts that the Redmond company is giving AI a bad name by disappointing customers with underwhelming results and lax security. We spoke with Benioff in advance of the general availability of the San Francisco company's Agentforce AI technology for sales and service. We also talked about Benioff's ownership of Time magazine, and what that means for his political involvement; and the status of his past pledge to turn Seattle into Salesforce's HQ2. Related Links Is the world ready for autonomous AI? Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff makes the case for agents Microsoft 365 Copilot rollouts slowed by data security, ROI concerns Salesforce founder Marc Benioff swears off politics after buying Time magazine Seattle will become Salesforce HQ2 via $15.7B Tableau deal, as Benioff gushes about talent pool With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop. Edited by Curt Milton.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 CEO Steve Ballmer, and a separate appearance by University of Washington historian and author Margaret O'Mara on an episode of the podcast "60 Minutes: A Second Look" about the rise of Silicon Valley in the early 1980s.   And finally, we talk about our new Geekwire project, Microsoft @ 50, and get a window into what's next in AI from Peter Lee, the Microsoft Research president. He shares the top three technical challenges and opportunities on his mind when it comes to the future of artificial intelligence. This is bonus content from an interview for the first story in the series, published this week, tracing the evolution of AI inside Microsoft.  With GeekWire co-founders Todd Bishop and John Cook.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 fulfillment center, with updated and expanded versions of its robotics systems in Shreveport, La. Former Amazon executive Dave Clark's launch of a new supply chain technology startup, based in the Seattle area, with $100 million in funding out of the gate.  Those are our topics in our first two segments of the show this week. In the third segment, we hear more about the new Cancer AI Alliance spearheaded by Seattle’s Fred Hutch Cancer Center, in partnership with other national cancer research organizations and major tech companies including Amazon, Microsoft and Nvidia.  With GeekWire co-founders Todd Bishop and John Cook.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 segment, we get a behind-the-scenes view of this and other new features with a couple of clips from Mustafa Suleyman, the CEO of Microsoft AI, from the closing session at Madrona’s Intelligent Applications Summit on Wednesday afternoon in downtown Seattle. He spoke on stage with S. “Soma” Somasegar, a former Microsoft executive who is now a managing director with the venture capital firm. RELATED: Microsoft AI CEO sees long-term memory as key to unlocking future AI experiences And in the final segment, GeekWire's Todd Bishop and John Cook — two humans! — assess Todd's conversation with Microsoft Copilot in the first segment, reflecting on the evolution of artificial intelligence and where it still falls short of human capability.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Chile that bears his family's name.  On this episode of the GeekWire Podcast, Simonyi speaks with Geekwire contributing editor Alan Boyle, the veteran space and science journalist, about the new Simonyi Survey Telescope, the potential for new discoveries, and his longtime fascination with space.  Related story: Tech leader Charles Simonyi provides a wide-angle view of the telescope that bears his family name Edited by Curt Milton.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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: Amazon ‘will return to being in the office the way we were’ before the pandemic, CEO tells employees ‘The way we were’: Amazon tries to rekindle its future by rediscovering a spark from the past Thoughts on Amazon’s full return to the office from a CEO who knows the value — and the trade-offs A ‘home run’ or a ‘cowardly’ decision? Amazon’s new in-person work policy elicits cheers and jeers Amazon’s new back-to-office mandate fuels debate over remote work and productivity Waymo links and related stories: NPR: Armed with traffic cones, protesters are immobilizing driverless cars GeekWire in 2018: We rode in Uber’s self-driving car, and now we’re less confident in the future of autonomous vehicles Video of John's Waymo ride this week. The Verge: Waymo and Uber expand their robotaxi partnership to Austin and Atlanta With John Cook and Todd Bishop; Edited by Curt Milton.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.