Convenience Big Store: GeekWire's Most-Read Stories of the Week

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THIS WEEK'S TOP STORIES

Amazon to move out of longtime office building near its main Seattle headquarters

The tech giant has occupied the seven-story, 251,000-square-foot space owned by Seattle Children's since 2014.

Who is Asha Sharma? A closer look at Microsoft's surprise pick to lead the Xbox business

Microsoft's new top gaming exec has the trust of Satya Nadella, a track record running platforms at Facebook, Instacart, and Microsoft's AI division, and a goal to restore Xbox's "renegade spirit."

Anthropic acquires Vercept in early exit for one of Seattle’s standout AI startups

Anthropic is acquiring Seattle AI startup Vercept, folding its desktop "computer use" technology and team into Claude as the race to build AI agents that can operate software intensifies.

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Washington state is primed to let Rivian and Lucid sell EVs directly to consumers

Electric automakers have fought for years to change the state law that only allows Tesla to directly sell cars, operate showrooms and offer test drives to potential customers in Washington.

Bill Gates won’t be following Paul Allen’s lead, says he’s not interested in buying Seattle Seahawks

Bill Gates logically landed on a short list of potential Seahawks buyers because of his Seattle connection and his net worth of $107 billion.

City of Seattle CTO Rob Lloyd is resigning to lead a government institute with national reach

City of Seattle CTO Rob Lloyd announced his resignation after less than two years on the job to take a new role with the Center for Digital Government.

Head of Amazon's AGI lab is leaving in latest exit from high-profile Adept startup deal

David Luan, who led Amazon's AGI Lab and its Nova Act AI agent initiative, is leaving less than two years after joining through the Adept acqui-hire deal.

In Seattle protest, workers call on Uber and Lyft to stop adding new drivers to ‘flooded’ market

The action comes as a new report shows the majority of miles driven by rideshare drivers are without a passenger.

Tech Moves: Zillow names CPO; AWS leader retires; Microsoft hires AI expert from Apple

Zillow Group announced three promotions to its senior leadership team.

Reviving the 'Mosquito Fleet': Washington eyes passenger ferries to scale maritime transit and tech

Washington state wants to quickly reboot the region's maritime transportation system with less expensive passenger-only ferries.

Group alleges fake sign-ins used to pad apparent opposition to Washington state ‘millionaires tax’

Invest in Washington Now said there have been tens of thousands of duplicate names used as sign-ins for hearings and more than 100 sign-ins marked "con" were confirmed as fraudulent over the weekend.

Bill Gates addresses Epstein fallout at foundation as new Microsoft revelations emerge

Bill Gates apologized to Gates Foundation staff over his interactions with Jeffrey Epstein, as a new report revealed the depth of the late sex offender's connections to Microsoft.

Washington state gets federal sign-off for huge broadband buildout

"This is a transformative moment for Washington," Washington State Broadband Office Director Jordan Arnold said in a statement.

As AI reshapes work, Microsoft and UW expand partnership for training, research — and a looming jobs gap

The University of Washington and Microsoft are deepening their partnership with a new effort aimed at preparing Washington state residents for an AI-driven economy.

NASA overhauls Artemis moon program — and Blue Origin’s lander may be given a bigger role

NASA is reworking its Artemis moon program to add a test mission for commercial lunar landers in low Earth orbit…