Microsoft
Facts
- Sectors
- Technology, Workplace tools, Cloud
- Founded
- 1975
- Employees
- 221000
- Stage
- Public
Marc Whitten, ex-Microsoft Xbox exec, named president and CEO of Dolby Laboratories as Kevin Yeaman retires
Marc Whitten, a veteran of Microsoft, Sonos, Amazon, Unity, Cruise and Meta, was named president and CEO of Dolby Laboratories, succeeding longtime leader Kevin Yeaman. Fred Hutch announced leadership changes naming Dr. Lawrence Fong as senior VP and director of Translational Science and Dr. Andrew Hsieh as the inaugural endowed chair, and Microsoft AI saw executive departures including CMO Andréa Mallard.
Foundation Models Go Vertical with leaders from Open AI, Mistral, Clarify and Oumi
In this episode of Shift AI, Manos, CEO of Umi, Patrick Thompson, CEO of Clarify, Brian Hall, CMO of Mistral AI, and Ben Gaffney, Deputy General Counsel at OpenAI, join host Boaz Ashkenazy for a live panel recorded at Seattle Tech Week on who actually owns intelligence in the enterprise AI era. One panelist argues that any enterprise still treating a frontier model as its core intelligence layer is renting something it should own, and predicts that in two years we'll look back at CTOs defending that approach the way we look back at driving a Ferrari to the grocery…
Bezos and Liverpool FC, a Meta vet's AI startup, Auger's Dallas move, and the demise of Microsoft's AI blob
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 —…
Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan says declining a Palantir founding role cost him a "$2–4 billion mistake"
Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan said he turned down an early founding role and a $70,000 offer from Peter Thiel to join Palantir while he was at Microsoft, a decision he now calls a "$2–4 billion mistake" because of Palantir's subsequent $420 billion valuation. He blamed prioritizing corporate titles and prestige over joining exceptional founders.
Lev names startup veteran Jay Bartot as CTO to build its ‘AI co-founder’ and productize PSL playbook
Lev, a Pioneer Square Labs spinout building an 'AI co-founder' for entrepreneurs, named veteran startup builder Jay Bartot as CTO to help productize the venture-studio playbook and launched Lev Learn, a free guide to startup terminology.
Is AI a Bubble? What PitchBook's Head of Research Sees in the Data
Recorded live at Seattle Tech Week, this episode of Founded & Funded brings together two people who track the AI capital markets from different vantage points: Pitchbook EVP of Research & Market Intelligence Nizar Tarhuni, and Madrona Partner Sabrina Albert. These two dig into where AI venture capital is actually landing across the model, infrastructure, and application layers, why AI "harnesses" are becoming a winner-takes-most category, and where vertical AI applications may hold an edge that horizontal platforms can't match. They also cover PitchBook's VC Exit Predictor, the new normal for AI seed valuations, and the tranche-financing structures Nizar says…
Auger founders Dave and Leigh Anne Clark relocate HQ to Dallas while retaining 115-person Bellevue engineering hub
Auger, a supply-chain technology startup founded in 2024 by former Amazon retail CEO Dave Clark and his wife Leigh Anne Clark, has moved its headquarters to Dallas while keeping a 115-person engineering hub in Bellevue and 15 staff at the Dallas HQ. The Clarks say the move was planned to access Dallas-area supply-chain talent and reflects personal ties to the region, not Washington tax policy.
Former Amazon Operations Chief Dave Clark Moves Auger HQ to North Dallas, Keeps 115-Person Bellevue Engineering Office
Auger, a supply-chain software startup co-founded by former Amazon operations chief Dave Clark, has relocated its headquarters from Bellevue to North Dallas while retaining a 115-person engineering office in Bellevue; the 2024-founded company has raised $150 million and counts Meta, Fanatics and Kimberly-Clark as customers. Clark says the move was driven by talent, family and proximity to customers rather than taxes, and he warned that Seattle’s dominance in tech hubs isn’t guaranteed.
Rick Turoczy’s Silicon Florist (Jul 31, 2026) Reviews Portland Startup News, Angel Oregon Finalists and LLM Insights
Rick Turoczy's July 31, 2026 Silicon Florist episode recaps a 'quiet-ish' week in Portland startup news, highlighting five Angel Oregon finalists, how LLMs discuss startups, community support tips, and local ecosystem critiques.
Elon Musk's Starlink swagger, SpaceX vs. the cloud giants, and Seattle’s tech universe revisited
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…
Seattle Tech Week 2026 Draws ~250 Events Over Five Days, Showcasing City’s Tech Talent and Innovation
Seattle Tech Week 2026 ran five days with roughly 250 events across diverse venues, celebrating Seattle’s dense tech talent and community connections while highlighting themes from founders, investors, and academics. Organizers view the event as a community-led showcase that reinforced Seattle’s historic and ongoing contributions to cloud, AI, and other innovations.
Mike Kropp - Founder & CEO of Iridius
Mike Kropp is the Founder and CEO of Iridius, a Seattle-based company building compliance-ready AI infrastructure for highly regulated industries like pharma and biotech. A technology executive with over 25 years of leading engineering teams at Microsoft and AWS, Mike has played a crucial role in developing innovative products and expanding their global business adoption. Mike uses a collaborative, working backward approach to deliver products that help customers innovate and create high-impact solutions for their companies. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
CoMotion: University of Washington founders linked to 143 startups, second to Microsoft’s 161 on Washington Tech Universe Map 2026
The Washington Tech Universe Map 2026 shows 625 Washington companies traced by founder lineage, with the University of Washington linked to 143 startups—second only to Microsoft’s 161—and together with Amazon and Google accounting for over half of the map. The visualization emphasizes founder mobility, collaborations (44% worked at two or more Washington organizations), and UW’s role in launching and supporting innovation through CoMotion.
Amazon's next big business, Satya Nadella's DIY app, and a VC's rallying cry for Seattle tech
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…
GeekWire reports: Seattle Tech Week 2026 — AI dominates 250+ events as investors and job-seekers flock to Seattle
GeekWire's Todd Bishop reports from Seattle Tech Week 2026, where AI dominated conversations across more than 250 events and drew significant Bay Area investor interest and job-seeking attendees. Panels and speakers from OpenAI, Mistral AI, Ascend, Oumi and others highlighted debates about foundation models, enterprise data access, and the rush to build on third-party AI.
Wenxin Fang launches ZeroPivot Protractor on Kickstarter, raises $2,200+ after July 26 campaign to produce $19 anodized-aluminum tool
Seventeen-year-old Wenxin Fang of Redmond, Wash., designed the ZeroPivot Protractor — a precision-machined anodized-aluminum replacement for flimsy classroom protractors — and launched a Kickstarter on July 26 that reached its initial funding goal within 48 hours and has raised over $2,200. Priced at $19, the tool uses a guide-rail sliding mechanism and will be manufactured through HKAA Industrial in Shenzhen to cover tooling and production costs.
WTIA’s 2026 ‘Tech Universe Map’ shows Microsoft (161) and UW (143) produced most founders of 625 mapped Washington tech firms
The Washington Technology Industry Association's 2026 "Tech Universe Map" visualizes founder lineage for 625 Washington tech companies and finds Microsoft (161 companies) and the University of Washington (143) are the largest founder hubs, followed by Amazon (58) and Google (20). WTIA says the map highlights regional connectivity, is broader than the 2015 Seattle-focused version, and signals emerging hubs are often out-of-state companies with local engineering centers.
AI House Co-founder Jacob Colker Delivers Rallying Cry for Seattle’s Tech Community at Showbox Market
AI House co-founder and managing director Jacob Colker delivered a passionate rallying speech at a Seattle Tech Week event, urging Seattle to reconnect around community and recognize its outsized impact on technology. He praised local institutions and companies like Boeing, Amazon, Microsoft and the University of Washington while warning that residents have grown numb to the city’s achievements.
ABC Fitness Acquires Seattle Gym AI Startup Replify, Co-Founded by Zillow Alum Spencer Rascoff
Seattle gym-AI startup Replify, co-founded in 2023 by Spencer Rascoff and Zillow veterans, was acquired by Sherwood, Arkansas–based ABC Fitness; financial terms were not disclosed.
Dopl Technologies raises $6.3M to commercialize remotely operated robotic ultrasound platform while pursuing FDA clearance
Seattle-area startup Dopl Technologies raised $6.3 million to advance a remotely operated robotic ultrasound system as it pursues FDA clearance, aiming to expand access to ultrasound exams in rural and underserved communities.
Dopl Technologies closes $6.3M seed round led by SpringTide Ventures, total funding tops $8M to push telerobotic ultrasound toward FDA clearance
Dopl Technologies closed a $6.3 million seed round led by SpringTide Ventures, bringing total funding to over $8 million to advance its proprietary telerobotic ultrasound toward FDA clearance, funding product development, clinical evaluation, and pilot deployments.
Dopl Technologies raises $6.3M seed from SpringTide Ventures to advance Traverse telerobotic ultrasound toward FDA 510(k) clearance
Dopl Technologies raised $6.3 million in seed funding led by SpringTide Ventures to advance its Traverse telerobotic ultrasound platform toward FDA 510(k) clearance, aiming to let sonographers remotely perform diagnostic exams in rural hospitals and reduce patient wait times. The company — founded in 2022 by a former Nvidia medical AI engineer and practicing cardiologists/radiologists — will use the funds for verification, validation, FDA submission, and pilot deployments while operating an interim traveling-sonographer service called CareBridge.
Dopl Technologies’ CEO Ryan James announces $6.3M seed to build Traverse remote robotic ultrasound, with plans to expand to minimally invasive robotics
Dopl Technologies, led by CEO Ryan James, is building Traverse, a remote robotic ultrasound platform to let sonographers perform imaging from afar, and plans to later pursue minimally invasive robotic applications; the startup recently closed a $6.3 million seed round.
Dopl Technologies raises $6.3M seed round led by SpringTide Ventures, total funding tops $8M to push robotic ultrasound toward FDA clearance
Dopl Technologies closed a $6.3 million seed round led by SpringTide Ventures, bringing total funding to over $8 million to advance its remote robotic ultrasound platform toward FDA clearance. The funds will support product development, clinical evaluation, regulatory submission, and initial pilot deployments of its Traverse, Dopl Connect, and SonoFlex offerings.
WTIA launches 2026 Washington Tech Universe Map detailing 625 companies and founder lineages — first update since 2015
The Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA) released the 2026 Washington Tech Universe Map on July 27, 2026 — the first update since 2015 — visualizing 625 notable Washington tech companies and the founder lineages linking Microsoft, Amazon, the University of Washington, and new hubs. The wall-sized map organizes companies by founder origin to highlight how major organizations act as launchpads for successive generations of local tech founders.
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Ali Farhadi Executive, Former Allen Institute for AI CEO
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Bill Gates Executive, Former CEO, Co-founder
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Dan Lewis Executive, Corporate Vice President
