Microsoft
Facts
- Sectors
- Technology, Workplace tools, Cloud
- Founded
- 1975
- Employees
- 221000
- Stage
- Public
Google commits $10B cash, up to $30B conditional and 5GW compute to Anthropic as Claude hits $30B ARR
Google will invest $10B cash plus up to $30B conditional and provide 5 GW of compute over five years in Anthropic, bringing its total commitment to about $43B as Anthropic’s Claude reaches $30B ARR and outperforms Google’s Gemini in the enterprise market.
Iridius Raises $8.6M Seed Round to Embed Regulatory Compliance in AI, Backed by Accenture and Led by Microsoft, AWS Veterans
Seattle startup Iridius, founded by former Microsoft and AWS veterans, raised $8.6 million in seed funding to develop software that embeds regulatory compliance into AI systems during operation. Accenture is both an investor and strategic partner, with initial focus on life sciences and pharmaceutical industries.
Amazon to invest up to $25B in Anthropic as Anthropic pledges $100B in AWS spending over 10 years
Amazon will invest up to $25 billion in AI lab Anthropic (an immediate $5B plus $20B tied to milestones) while Anthropic commits to spend over $100 billion on AWS cloud services, including Trainium chips and up to 5 GW of compute, over the next ten years.
The tough new realities for startups, Amazon's next big strategic bets, and Allbirds' crazy AI pivot
This week on the GeekWire Podcast, a week of Seattle-area startup news shows how the AI era is reshaping the regional tech scene. Q1 venture numbers reveal bigger checks going to fewer companies, with Seattle slipping behind the likes of Austin and Miami on deal volume. And yet the distributed nature of modern startups is complicating what it even means to be a regional tech hub. (Does a mailbox in Pioneer Square really count as a Seattle headquarters?) Founders and CEOs are navigating the shakeout in different ways. Those with enough cash in the bank are eyeing strategic acquisitions, including…
Anoop Gupta Steps Down as SeekOut CEO, Sean Thompson Named Successor to Drive AI Recruiting Growth
Anoop Gupta is stepping down as CEO of SeekOut on May 4 to become executive chairman, passing leadership to Sean Thompson, who will focus on scaling SeekOut's AI recruiting service and pursuing acquisitions for growth. Thompson, an enterprise tech veteran, previously led NAVEX and has experience with SAP, Microsoft, and AI startups.
Anthropic receives $800 billion valuation offers as annualised revenue reaches $30 billion; IPO talks with Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan underway
Anthropic has received investor offers valuing the company at about $800 billion after its annualised revenue accelerated from $1 billion at end-2024 to $30 billion by early April 2026, and the company is holding IPO talks with Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan.
2026 GeekWire Awards Finalists Include AIM Intelligent Machines with $50M Funding and $4.9M Air Force Contracts for Autonomous Earthmovers
The 2026 GeekWire Awards announced finalists for Hardware/Robotics/Physical AI of the Year, highlighting startups innovating with autonomous heavy machinery, drones, spatial computing, and space robotics. Notable finalist AIM Intelligent Machines secured $50 million funding in 2025 and $4.9 million in U.S. Air Force contracts for autonomous earthmoving equipment.
GeekWire Week in Review (April 5, 2026): Microsoft and Amazon moves, Washington non‑compete ban, Anduril warships, Bryson DeChambeau backs Sportsbox AI
A roundup of GeekWire’s most-read technology and startup stories for the week of April 5, 2026, covering major moves at Microsoft and Amazon, Washington state’s new non‑compete ban, Anduril’s autonomous warship work, NASA Artemis images, and notable local business and investment news.
Humanly Raises $25M to Deliver AI-Vetted Job Seekers and Launch Candidate Coaching Products
Humanly raised $25 million in Series B funding to expand from providing AI-powered recruiting tools for employers to delivering pre-vetted, ready-to-hire job seekers on demand, alongside launching AI coaching products for candidates. The company aims to build a continuously updated database of screened job seekers to serve as a staffing agency replacement.
Microsoft AI Leader Eric Boyd Joins Anthropic; Tagboard CEO Nathan Peterson Steps Down with Marty Roberts Taking Over
Eric Boyd, a longtime Microsoft AI leader, has joined Anthropic to lead its infrastructure team after nearly 17 years at Microsoft. Meanwhile, Nathan Peterson is stepping down as CEO of Tagboard, with Marty Roberts, the former COO, set to succeed him.
Former Tableau Chief Product Officer Francois Ajenstat Launches Golden Analytics with $7M Seed to Create AI-Native BI Platform
Francois Ajenstat, former Tableau chief product officer, has launched Golden Analytics with $7 million in seed funding to build an AI-native business intelligence platform that emphasizes automated insights and user control. The Seattle-based startup aims to advance BI by integrating AI at its core rather than as an add-on.
Seattle Startup Glacis Hires Microsoft Azure Vet Rohit Tatachar as CTO to Launch AI Monitoring Tools
Seattle startup Glacis appointed longtime Microsoft Azure executive Rohit Tatachar as CTO and co-founder to develop tamper-proof AI behavior records. The company launched open-source tools enabling monitoring and control of AI agents to ensure safety and accountability.
Seattle Entrepreneur Robbie Cape Launches New Stealth Startup After Nine-Month Job Search
Seattle tech entrepreneur Robbie Cape ended his nine-month job search by launching a new startup incorporated in March, with key early team members including CTO T Van Doren and CPO Matt Witcher. Cape is keeping the venture details private but is enthusiastic about shaping the company's future and applying lessons from his prior startups like 98point6 and Mt. Joy.
Data Visualization Veterans Ellie Fields and Jeffrey Heer Launch Ridge AI with $2.6M Led by Madrona to Enhance SaaS Analytics
Data visualization experts Ellie Fields and Jeffrey Heer launched Ridge AI with $2.6M in pre-seed funding from Madrona and prominent angels to help SaaS companies embed interactive analytics and AI data agents quickly into their products. Ridge AI aims to fix persistent issues in web-based data presentation by enabling rapid creation of interactive dashboards and data agents sharing the same dataset.
Rec Room shutdown, robot umps, FedEx meets Amazon, and OpenAI's odd media buy
This week: Rec Room, the Seattle-based social gaming platform once valued at $3.5 billion, is shutting down — and Snap is picking up some of the pieces. Todd talks about what it was like fielding calls from distraught users on the night of the announcement. John offers his thoughts on what the shutdown says about the VR hype cycle, and whether everyone betting on the AI boom should take notes. Plus: Major League Baseball's new automated ball-strike system is already exposing umpires and creating a whole new kind of showboating — including one player who was so confident the robot…
Convoy Co-founder Dan Lewis Shares Startup Culture and Leadership Lessons at 2026 Seattle AI Summit
Dan Lewis, Convoy co-founder and Microsoft VP, shared lessons from building the now-shuttered unicorn startup at the 2026 Seattle AI Startup Summit, emphasizing deliberate culture shaping, codifying values based on proven practices, and ensuring employees understand the 'why' behind decisions. His insights aim to help entrepreneurs create strong startups by fostering ownership and intentional culture design.
University of Washington’s CoMotion Labs Announces Eight Startups in Second Climate Tech Incubator Cohort
University of Washington’s CoMotion Labs has launched its second Climate Tech Incubator cohort, supporting eight startups focused on diverse sustainability challenges such as EV adoption and sustainable packaging. The six-month program, based at the Seattle Climate Innovation Hub, helps startups develop business plans and partnerships, culminating in a demo day in September.
GeekWire Names Helion, OCOChem, TerraPower, Ravel, and IUNU as 2026 Sustainable Innovation Award Finalists
The finalists for GeekWire's 2026 Sustainable Innovation Award are energy companies Helion, OCOChem, TerraPower; fashion recycler Ravel; and agtech startup IUNU, recognized for their work combating climate change and sustainability challenges. The award, sponsored by Amazon, highlights Pacific Northwest leaders and culminates in a May 7 celebration in Seattle, with public voting open until April 16.
AI Startup Oumi, Founded by Microsoft and Google Veterans, Launches Platform for Custom AI Models
Seattle-based AI startup Oumi, founded by veterans from Microsoft and Google, launched a commercial platform focused on building custom AI models. The company aims to outperform general-purpose AI from providers like OpenAI and Anthropic by specializing in smaller, tailored models.
Starcloud Raises $170M, Reaches $1.1B Valuation to Build Solar-Powered Space Data Centers
Starcloud, a Redmond-based startup building solar-powered space data centers, raised $170 million to reach a $1.1 billion valuation just 17 months after its Y Combinator demo day. The company demonstrated AI computing in orbit with its Starcloud-1 satellite and plans a more powerful Starcloud-2 launch later this year.
GeekWire AI summit takeaways: Token budgets, watermelon metrics, and the $5k weekend coder
Fresh off the big GeekWire AI summit this week, Todd and John unpack what they heard from Microsoft EVP Charles Lamanna, OpenAI applications CTO Vijaye Raji, and other speakers at the Agents of Transformation event in Seattle, presented by Accenture. The big thread: the economics of AI, from token budgets becoming a hiring negotiation point to startups running on subsidized credits that may not last. Plus, a startup founder whose engineer burned through $5,000 in AI tokens over a single weekend of vibe coding, OpenAI shutting down Sora amid $15 million-a-day processing costs, and why one panelist says the metrics…
Pay-i Founder David Tepper Wins GeekWire’s AI Startup Pitch Competition with Advanced AI Spend Management Platform
At GeekWire’s Agents of Transformation event in Seattle, four AI startups—Pay-i, Cascade, Autessa, and GemaTEG—pitched their ideas to a panel of judges, with Pay-i founder David Tepper winning for his AI spend management platform that accurately tracks AI costs beyond token usage. Judges praised Tepper for his strong presentation skills and ability to answer questions under pressure.
GeekWire 2026 Innovation of the Year Finalists Include Alpenglow Biosciences and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
The 2026 GeekWire Awards announced finalists for Innovation of the Year, including Alpenglow Biosciences, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, RevealDx, Starcloud, and VerAvanti, recognized for breakthroughs in healthcare and data center technology. The awards event will be held on May 7 in Seattle, with public voting open through April 10.
GeekWire Hosts Agents of Transformation AI Summit in Seattle on March 24 Featuring Microsoft, AWS, and OpenAI Leaders
GeekWire's Agents of Transformation summit in Seattle on March 24 will explore how agentic AI is reshaping work, creativity, and leadership through keynote talks, panels, and demos featuring leaders from Microsoft, AWS, and OpenAI. The half-day event includes fireside chats, startup pitches, and networking opportunities with industry experts and sponsors like Accenture and Nebius.
Vantari Relocates Headquarters to Seattle to Expand VR Medical Training Across North America with Harvard, Yale, and Others as Clients
Vantari, a VR startup founded in 2017, has moved its headquarters from Sydney to Seattle to expand its healthcare training software across North America. Its VR platform, used by top medical centers including Harvard and Yale, simulates medical procedures with AI guidance and realistic controls to improve clinician training.
People
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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
