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 Nov. 1, 2026.
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Most popular stories on GeekWire
Amazon plans its first large-scale data centers in Washington state as residents raise concerns
Amazon is planning its first Washington data centers, with proposed campuses in Walla Walla County and the Tri-Cities. Residents are pressing for answers about electricity costs, water use and neighborhood impacts, while the company points to jobs, tax revenue and community investments. Read More … Read More
Opinion: San Francisco is delivering, while Seattle is still deliberating
Opinion: Seattle Metro Chamber CEO Joe Nguyễn says San Francisco’s progress under Mayor Daniel Lurie comes down to leadership, and that Seattle has the talent and resources to do the same. He points to Lurie’s approach to open-air drug markets and the city’s new RESET sobering center, and calls on Seattle’s business community to get more involved in politics. Read More … Read More
Amazon rewrites its software engineering playbook for an era when AI writes the code
Amazon has revised its role guidelines for software engineers to emphasize results for customers over how much AI they use. Inside AWS, a previously unreported team called Velocity Labs took a new open-source AI model from concept to public release in less than a week. Read More … Read More
How a Starbucks drive-thru ‘fast pass’ could actually work
Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol says the company’s drive-thru “fast pass” would use the Starbucks app to recognize customers as they pull up, bring up their usual order and handle payment. Available technology could make the implementation less sci-fi than some reports suggested. Read More … Read More
Starfish Space loses contact with its Otter spacecraft, ending satellite inspection mission
NASA-funded mission comes to a premature end due to glitch in fault protection system. Read More … Read More
Filing: Amazon’s previously announced layoffs include 95 jobs in Washington state
A notice made public Tuesday evening, disclosing about 95 Amazon job cuts in Washington state, is part of the company’s previously reported layoffs in its retail business, not a new round of reductions, a company spokesperson confirmed. Read More … Read More
Agility Robotics co-founder on its Nasdaq debut, lessons from Amazon, and the future of work
Agility Robotics, which makes the Digit humanoid robot for warehouses and factories, began trading on the Nasdaq on Thursday after a $2.5 billion SPAC merger. Co-founder Jonathan Hurst described how Amazon’s warehouse tests convinced the company it needed a robot that could work safely next to people. Read More … Read More
Shield AI to buy Bill Gates-backed radar maker Echodyne in $5.3B deal, doubling down on Seattle area
Shield AI agreed to acquire Echodyne, a maker of compact radar that detects and tracks drones, in a deal valued at up to $5.3 billion. Shield is raising $2.5 billion to pay for it, including $1 billion in new funding at a $28.8 billion valuation, more than double its value in March. Read More … Read More
Tech Moves: Microsoft loses a CVP to AWS and gains one from Alteryx; Lila Bio and BECU name execs
After more than 33 years at Microsoft, CVP Mazhar Mohammed has left for AWS, while the Redmond, Wash., company has gained a new CVP in its Agent Cloud group. Seattle’s Lila Bio has appointed a chief development officer; the credit union BECU named an AI leader and other personnel changes. Read More … Read More
Startup uses motion sensors and AI to tell families when an aging parent’s routine changes
After his mother-in-law was hurt in a fall and told no one, ex-Microsoft exec Michael Nassirian built a camera-free way for families to know when something’s off. Read More … Read More
