Seattle and San Francisco: Big tech, political backlash and the AI boom

This week, GeekWire co-founder John Cook joins University of Washington historian Margaret O'Mara, author of "The Code," and San Francisco journalist Jonathan Weber, author of "City on the Edge," for a live joint taping with the Blue City Blues podcast at the National Nordic Museum in Seattle. With Blue City Blues hosts David Hyde and Sandeep Kaushik, they trace the rise of Microsoft and Amazon, the backlash against big tech, the record of both cities' mayors, and Seattle's place in an AI boom that's largely originating in San Francisco.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week: Amazon is blocking Meta's new Muse AI assistant from shopping on Amazon.com, saying the agent doesn't identify itself and violates the site's conditions of use. We explain why the standoff is an early sign of a much bigger fight over whether AI agents can use websites and apps on people's behalf, and why Amazon has so much riding on the answer. For the definitive word on the issue, we ask Muse what it has to say for itself, and get an impressively sophisticated and evenhanded answer.  We recorded this week's show live at Daniel's Broiler in downtown Seattle, in front of a room of startup founders and CEOs, at a dinner hosted and sponsored by Northern Trust. Mike Fridgen, a longtime Seattle entrepreneur and Madrona venture partner now working on a stealth startup, joins us to talk about whether Seattle is still a good place to build a company. The conversation covers the region's talent, its history and the debate over taxes including Seattle's JumpStart payroll tax, which Mayor Katie Wilson's new budget holds flat. Then we take questions from the room. Ridge AI CEO Ellie Fields asks how business leaders can engage productively in building the region, Latch CEO Stefan Kalb asks why Seattle has less venture capital than the Bay Area and ACME Brains founder Mary Jesse asks how to get past polarization. We close with a satellite-themed GeekWire Trivia Challenge and an unexpected announcement from Starfish Space co-founder Austin Link. Related links Amazon blocks Meta's Muse AI assistant in new standoff over agentic shopping Facing 'seismic shifts' in tech sector, Seattle mayor freezes JumpStart tax rates in new budget 'The warning signs are flashing': New regional partnership calls for cohesive Seattle-area tech strategy Data visualization all-stars unveil Ridge AI with $2.6M to fix the analytics problem for SaaS apps With NASA's backing, Starfish Space is getting ready for the orbital debut of its flagship Otter spacecraft With GeekWire co-founders John Cook and Todd Bishop. Music by Daniel L.K. Caldwell. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week's show, recorded live at Atmosphere Seattle on the shores of Lake Union, Zillow Senior Vice President of Engineering Toby Roberts joins us to talk about what AI is doing to the business of buying and selling homes. The show was recorded in partnership with Real Estate At Work, the networking group hosted by Leka Devatha, a broker with Real Residential and founder of the redevelopment firm Rehabit Homes, in front of a room of brokers, investors and technologists. Roberts runs Zillow's core technology with a team of about 650 engineers. He says AI agents will work as a copilot for real estate agents rather than replace them — freeing up their time for the more human aspects of the job, helping people navigate the biggest transaction of their lives. We also talk about the line between AI and reality in home listings, and the tech industry's sudden push to slow AI down. Then it's the GeekWire Trivia Challenge: four extraordinary Zillow listings for unusual buildings converted into homes. Three are real. One is an AI deepfake. Check out the handout here with the four listings, and see if you can tell the difference.  With GeekWire co-founders Todd Bishop and John Cook. Edited and produced by Curt Milton.    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week: A study commissioned by the City of Seattle warns that the city is not in decline but is in danger, finding that 10 companies, nine of them in tech, pay three-quarters of the payroll tax on large employers, and that the tax structure uniquely penalizes the hiring of senior, high-compensation workers. The report says Seattle should be most concerned about AI but most active in cleantech, the one industry the city can actually shape, since it owns the electric utility and controls permitting, building codes and land use. Meanwhile, the Seattle Times and Newsday sue Microsoft and OpenAI, accusing them of copying hundreds of thousands of articles to train their AI models, putting Microsoft's hometown paper against a company that helps fund some of its journalism. And Apple's first foldable arrives as the iPhone Duo, reviving the name of the dual-screen phone Microsoft gave up on in 2023, with Surface fans arguing Apple took more than the name. Which leads us to a new GeekWire Trivia Challenge on the Microsoft products that Apple later turned into categories. Upcoming Event: GeekWire, in partnership with Real Estate at Work, is recording the GeekWire Podcast live at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16, with Toby Roberts, SVP of Engineering at Zillow. Grab a ticket.  With John Cook and Todd Bishop. Edited by Curt Milton. Music by Daniel L.K. Caldwell.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week: The NBA suspends former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer for a year and hits the Clippers with $30 million in fines and five lost draft picks over allegedly sham endorsement deals for Kawhi Leonard, drawing comparisons to the Microsoft antitrust era. A new Redfin report says San Francisco's housing market is booming on AI wealth while Seattle slumps, with the Bay Area-to-Seattle migration pipeline nearly dried up. And the Seahawks sale to the Khosla family officially closes, ending the Paul Allen era, with two familiar Seattle tech names surfacing in the new ownership group. Plus, the return of the GeekWire Trivia Challenge. Related Stories and Links Ballmer / Clippers NBA suspends Steve Ballmer for 1 year, fines L.A. Clippers $30M over salary-cap scheme NBA announces penalties and findings arising from investigation of LA Clippers and Kawhi Leonard — NBA Read the NBA's Report on Clippers, Kawhi Leonard, and Aspiration — Front Office Sports NBA announces punishments for Clippers after Kawhi inquiry — ESPN The Briefcase, Ballmer's Social Network and Aspiration's House of Cards: Kawhi-Gate Part VII — Pablo Torre Finds Out Redfin / SF vs. Seattle housing AI wealth fuels San Francisco's housing boom while tech layoffs weigh down Seattle Uber laying off 93 Washington state workers, hitting engineer and management roles at Seattle office Qualtrics cut 117 jobs tied to Seattle headquarters, new filing shows Seahawks sale Two familiar Seattle tech figures turn up on Seahawks co-owner list as sale is finalized 'I'm the 12th man ... I want to represent that': New Seahawks co-owner with deep Seattle tech roots What to know about Vinod Khosla, the Silicon Valley legend whose family is buying the Seahawks Apptio co-founders reunite to launch enterprise AI startup Thira with $21M in funding led by Madrona See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week: Bill Gates published a new essay warning that the AI industry is crossing the safety lines it set for itself, and that nobody is preparing for what's coming. At 70 years old, he also uses AI more than most people half his age, and he finds it enthralling, as you'll hear in highlights from our interview with Gates about the memo. Along the way this week, we dig into his three proposals: new institutions for managing the transition, a category of jobs reserved for humans, and a tax on the use and purchase of AI and robots. With Todd Bishop and John Cook. Edited by Curt Milton. Music by Daniel L.K. Caldwell. Related headlines and links The turbulent AI era is here. The choices we make now are critical. — Bill Gates, Gates Notes 'I am very concerned': Bill Gates says the world needs a plan to deal with AI, and he has three ideas to start Bill Gates says there's 'no upper limit' on AI, citing opportunity and risk Etzioni on AI: Bill Gates has the right diagnosis but the wrong prescription Dwarkesh Podcast: Ryan Greenblatt — What happens once AI can automate AI research? New York Times: Bill Gates is warning that A.I. is more dangerous than Big Tech will admit Wall Street Journal: Three takeaways from Bill Gates's 5,784-word warning on AI: 'There is no plan' MIT Technology Review: Bill Gates says we've passed AI's danger thresholds. Now what? Axios: Gates confronts the Epstein questions hanging over his AI push Transcript: Here's what Bill Gates told lawmakers in his recent Epstein testimony See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week: Amazon's Prime Air drones are finally going national, nearly 13 years after Jeff Bezos unveiled the idea on 60 Minutes. GeekWire's John Cook goes inside Anduril's unmarked Bellevue office as the defense company builds toward 1,000 Seattle-area engineers. Plus: a reporter hides an AirTag in a rare book and tracks it to a secret Amazon book-scanning facility in Las Vegas. With John Cook and Todd Bishop; edited by Curt Milton. Related stories and links Mentioned at the top Want to know what Jeff Bezos brings to Liverpool FC? Study Amazon's Leadership Principles Amazon drone delivery Amazon drone delivery set to expand nationally, reaching nearly 500 U.S. cities and towns this year Amazon's big surprise: Working on autonomous flying delivery drones — GeekWire, December 2013 Jeff Bezos unveils the Prime Air prototype on 60 Minutes — YouTube Amazon Prime Air drone delivery expansion — Amazon Andy Jassy's 2025 letter to shareholders — Amazon Walmart, Wing expand drone delivery coverage — Supply Chain Dive The AirTag and the book-scanning facility How an AirTag planted by a reporter led to a secret Amazon site where old books are cut apart and scanned We tracked a shipment of rare books. It ended at an Amazon AI training facility — 404 Media AI companies are buying tons of old books because they're free of AI slop — 404 Media Trash Transparency Project — Basel Action Network America's e-waste: a GPS tracker tells all — PBS NewsHour Anthropic agrees to pay $1.5B to settle lawsuit with book authors — Associated Press Anduril in the Seattle region Inside Anduril's AI warfighting buildup: Defense giant sees a path to 1,000 Seattle-area engineers Anduril exits Seattle shipyard following canceled Navy program and omission from new warship list Defense tech giant Anduril eyes new funding at $100B valuation as Seattle expansion draws protests — GeekWire, July 2026 AI weapons under scrutiny as activists plan weekend protest at Anduril's Seattle office — GeekWire, July 2026 Anduril lands $5B as defense giant builds autonomous warship operation in Seattle — GeekWire, May 2026 Defense giant Anduril is quietly building autonomous warships on Seattle's historic ship canal — GeekWire, April 2026 Military tech giant Anduril lands in Bellevue, doubling footprint in Seattle region — GeekWire, July 2025 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week: What should Liverpool FC fans expect from Jeff Bezos as a member of the storied club's new minority ownership group? We consult the Amazon leadership principles for the answer. Plus, a tip and an SEC filing lead to a scoop on a former Meta AI director's new startup, the GeekWire Editorial Board convenes to decide whether Dave Clark's Auger stays on the GeekWire 200 after moving its HQ to Dallas, and Microsoft quietly semi-retires its AI blob. Bezos and Liverpool FC Group including Jeff Bezos buys minority stake in Liverpool FC, with option to become controlling owner — CNBC Liverpool: FSG sell minority stake to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos-backed consortium led by Amit Bhatia — Sky Sports Bezos, Bhatia buy a stake in Liverpool: What does it mean for the club and FSG? — ESPN Bezos, Bhatia, Saverin buy Liverpool stake at $7 billion valuation — Sportico The Redmen TV — independent Liverpool FC fan channel Noosphere and the Form D Ex-Meta AI research director raises $10.25M from Trilogy and Madrona for stealth physical AI startup Kevin T. Carlberg — founder's research site Auger and the GeekWire 200 This former Amazon exec is moving his startup's HQ to Texas, and he has a few notes for Seattle Dave and Leigh Anne Clark move Auger headquarters to Dallas — D Magazine GeekWire 200 Seattle Engineering Centers New map traces Washington state's tech 'universe' to a few key hubs, and shows what's at risk 'We can't become callous': KIRO hosts debate what a startup's departure to Texas says about Seattle's business climate — MyNorthwest Microsoft and Mico Farewell, Mico: Microsoft's cute little AI blob is going the way of Bob Microsoft starts merging its Copilot consumer and business apps in advance of 'Super App' rollout With GeekWire co-founders Todd Bishop and John Cook. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week: SpaceX reports its first quarter as a public company, and Elon Musk says Starlink could deliver a majority of the world's internet within a decade, leveraging production facilities in Redmond. Musk also explains the company's data center ambitions, calling terrestrial infrastructure a trivial problem next to reusable rockets.  Plus: we bring two Washington tech universe posters into the studio, 17 years apart. The 2009 original turns up gems including Boeing's unlikely connection to Classmates.com, a 1990s forerunner to Facebook. The 2009 poster also brings back memories of Teledesic, the Craig McCaw venture backed by Bill Gates that tried to beam internet from space decades before Starlink. Finally, the GeekWire Trivia Challenge returns, with a timely question about Google's origins. With GeekWire co-founders Todd Bishop and John Cook. Edited by Curt Milton. Related stories and links SpaceX's first earnings call as a public company SpaceX earnings: Elon Musk says Starlink could deliver most of the world's internet within a decade Elon Musk's Mars illusion — Dominic Gates on the gap between the Mars vision and the timeline Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket explodes on pad during test; Jeff Bezos vows to rebuild Blue Origin's rocket blowup hits NASA and Amazon Leo as well Mapping Washington's tech universe New map traces Washington state's tech 'universe' to a few key hubs, and shows what's at risk The Washington Tech Universe map from WTIA, and posters are available here Massive map shows how Seattle's tech ecosystem evolved over the last 30 years — the 2015 edition The original 2009 Puget Sound Tech Universe map. (Thanks to Ken Myer for digging this up!) GeekWire's Seattle engineering centers list GeekWire Trivia The startup idea that convinced a UW computer science legend to leave Google after 27 years What a longtime Google AI leader told UW computer science students at their graduation See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week: Microsoft and Amazon both reported quarterly numbers, and both stocks rose on cloud results that beat expectations. Is AI spending is paying off in real business? And in related news, Microsoft sees a rare annual headcount decline, hitting product R&D hardest.  Plus: Satya Nadella builds a Power BI dashboard out of an analyst's research report, and touts it on the earnings call to make a bigger point. Jeff Bezos names Amazon's chips business as the long-awaited fourth pillar. And AI House managing director Jacob Colker delivers a much-needed pep talk for Seattle tech, calling on the region to recognize and build on its strengths.  With GeekWire co-founders Todd Bishop and John Cook. Related stories and links: Microsoft and Amazon earnings Microsoft Azure tops $100B in annual revenue as record AI spending cuts into cash flow AWS is 'booming,' but Amazon's free cash flow turns negative on record AI spending Microsoft R&D jobs drop for second straight year as total headcount falls for first time in a decade Which Microsoft businesses are growing and shrinking, according to obscure table in regulatory filing Amazon's fourth pillar Jeff Bezos says this business is becoming Amazon's next 'pillar' A rallying cry for Seattle tech Watch: A venture capitalist's passionate speech, a rallying cry, really, about Seattle Seattle's AI2 Incubator rebrands as AI House, and adds key investor as managing director 'I'm tired of that narrative': Seattle VC pushes back on tech exodus talk The Washington tech ecosystem New map traces Washington state's tech 'universe' to a few key hubs, and shows what's at risk After hiring AWS exec and raising $107M seed round, Virginia startup plants flag in Seattle area GeekWire's Seattle engineering centers list See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.