Seattle has world-class talent and a prominent AI hub — but some founders are leaving for San Francisco. We spoke with startup leaders who recently made the move to Silicon Valley, as well as Seattle entrepreneurs who are staying put, to understand what’s driving founder decision-making on where to build.
Read more. Is Washington’s proposed “millionaires tax” bad for startups — or not nearly as scary as critics claim? Two guest opinion columns on GeekWire, from longtime Seattle-area startup leaders Ben Golden and Joe Wallin, come to sharply different conclusions.
Amazon’s earnings highlighted a growing tension at the heart of Big Tech’s AI race: booming demand paired with staggering costs. Amazon reported record revenue and beat AWS growth estimates, but its stock dropped about 10% after a Q4 profit miss and a $200 billion spending plan.
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CEO Andy Jassy said Amazon is “monetizing capacity as fast as we can install it,” and said the spending is a long-term bet on AI, chips, and cloud demand — “not some sort of quixotic top-line grab.” Read more.
A new broad-spectrum coronavirus vaccine, developed with University of Washington protein design technology, is entering human trials in Australia to target COVID-19 and other deadly respiratory viruses. Read more.
Live podcast alert! We're taking the GeekWire Podcast on the road: Join John Cook and Todd Bishop next Thursday, Feb. 12, from 4 to 6 p.m. at Fremont Brewing Company in Seattle's Fremont neighborhood for a special live recording featuring fun, games, audience participation, and our usual spicy takes on the week's tech news. Thanks to the Fremont Chamber of Commerce for making it happen. We'd love to see you there. Tickets and details here.
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Adaptive Biotechnologies posted a 55% jump in 2025 revenue as demand grew for its tests that detect trace amounts of remaining cancer after treatment. (Adaptive)
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Bamboo, a marketing agency with Seattle roots that works with tech brands, is shutting down after 12 years, co-founder and CEO Daniel Pearson said. (LinkedIn)
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Xbox’s 2025 Transparency Report details how the company removes harmful content and enforces community standards to keep its platform safe for players. (Microsoft)
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Where do unicorn founders come from? A new report shows they are experienced technical builders with deep industry expertise — not college dropouts. (SignalFire)
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The Seattle creators of a daily baseball trivia game reached the big leagues: “Daily Walkoff” is now officially licensed by Major League Baseball. (MLB; GeekWire)
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Washington State University researchers developed a new tool that lets scientists actually see how super-cold liquid hydrogen boils into gas inside pipes. (WSU Insider)
Thanks for subscribing to the GeekWire newsletter, have a great weekend, and GO SEAHAWKS! — 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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