Armed with AI tools and a startup mindset, Washington’s new Commerce director — a former Microsoft data specialist and state senator — is trying to modernize state government from the inside out. But with deep budget cuts, tough questions from the tech industry, and federal uncertainty, Joe Nguyen’s hard reset faces major challenges.
Read more. “It’s unbelievable.” That’s how one advertising agency leader describes Washington’s new sales tax on digital services. Critics say they were blindsided and targeted by the new law — which could face legal challenges. Read more.
Marketing tech company Invoca acquired Symbl, a Seattle startup and Techstars grad that uses AI to analyze multimodal interactions. Read more.
Seattle musician Danny Newcomb launched a new startup to help independent musicians gain more control over their music and licensing opportunities. Incantio is a two-sided marketplace that leverages AI to also help creators find music for ads, TV and film projects. Read more.
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Netflix chairman Reed Hastings joined the board of Amazon-backed Anthropic. (CNBC)
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Seattle startup Read AI rolled out a new sales AI product called Sales AGI. (Read AI; YouTube)
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Microsoft is launching Copilot for Gaming — “the ultimate gaming sidekick” — for early testing in the beta version of the Xbox app. (Xbox Wire)
- Oregon is considering legislation that would set a minimum wage for Uber and Lyft drivers and establish other benefits similar to those passed in Washington in 2022. (Washington State Standard)
Thanks for subscribing to the GeekWire newsletter, and have a great day. — GeekWire editor Taylor Soper, taylor@geekwire.com; co-founder Todd Bishop, todd@geekwire.com; and reporter Kurt Schlosser, kurt@geekwire.com. 
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