Articles by Todd Bishop

Todd Bishop is GeekWire's co-founder, a longtime business and technology journalist who covers beats including Microsoft, Amazon and AI, in addition to hosting GeekWire's weekly podcast. A native of Orland, Calif., he has worked as a reporter for publications including The Philadelphia Inquirer, Puget Sound Business Journal and the Seattle P-I.

Filings: How Amazon’s $50B OpenAI deal actually works, and what they’re keeping secret

With new Alexa website, Amazon’s consumer AI vision finally comes together — and it’s actually useful
Amazon AI chief Rohit Prasad leaving; Infrastructure exec Peter DeSantis to lead unified AI group
Allen Institute for AI rivals Google, Meta and OpenAI with open-source AI vision model

Latest from Todd Bishop

Seattle startup Certiv launches with $4.2M to build endpoint security layer for AI agents

Seattle startup Certiv emerged from stealth with $4.2 million in funding to build security software that monitors and controls AI agents on employee computers. The company is led by serial entrepreneur Jason Needham, whose previous startups were acquired by Apple and VMware. Read More

Podcast

How AI is changing the business and art of video — from ‘chaos machine’ to creative catalyst

Seattle creative studio leaders Brice Budke and Zeek Earl discuss how AI is transforming video production — and what still requires human creativity, taste, and intuition. Read More

Taylor Soper named director of Seattle’s AI House after remarkable run at GeekWire

Taylor Soper is leaving GeekWire after more than 13 years as a reporter and editor to become director of AI House at AI2 Incubator. We’ll miss him deeply, but we’re excited to see what he does next. Read More

Allen Institute for AI CEO Ali Farhadi steps down as nonprofit navigates shifting AI landscape

Ali Farhadi is stepping down as the CEO of the Allen Institute for AI (Ai2), after a two-and-a-half-year tenure that brought growing recognition to the Seattle-based nonprofit research institute as a key player in the world of open source artificial intelligence. Read More

Microsoft EVP Rajesh Jha retiring after 35 years in latest exit from senior leadership team

“When I think about the pantheon of leaders who have truly shaped this company, Rajesh stands firmly among them,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said. Read More

Microsoft’s brief in Anthropic case shows new alliance and willingness to challenge Trump administration

Microsoft filed a friend-of-the-court brief in Anthropic’s lawsuit against the Department of War, urging a judge to block the Pentagon’s supply chain risk designation. The move reflects the companies’ growing alliance and Microsoft’s history of taking on Washington, D.C. Read More

Judge blocks Perplexity’s AI bot from shopping on Amazon in early test of agentic commerce

A federal judge sided with Amazon in its lawsuit over Perplexity’s Comet browser, granting a preliminary injunction in an early legal test of AI-powered shopping tools. Read More

Microsoft’s new Copilot Cowork integrates Anthropic’s Claude in rollout of new E7 licensing tier

Microsoft is launching Copilot Cowork, a new AI assistant built with Anthropic that can run tasks in the background and work across Microsoft 365 apps, as part of a broader wave of updates including a new $99-per-user E7 licensing tier. Read More

Podcast

GeekWire Podcast on location at OpenAI in Bellevue, with CTO of Applications Vijaye Raji

We visited OpenAI’s new Bellevue office on opening day, toured the retro-modern space, and talked with CTO Vijaye Raji about Codex, culture, and the Seattle region’s AI moment. Read More

Inside OpenAI’s new Bellevue office: A swanky statement about AI’s impact on the Seattle region

OpenAI marked the grand opening its new office in downtown Bellevue, Wash., its largest outside of San Francisco, with room to grow to 1,400 employees. Read More

Amazon makes a new bet on healthcare AI, rivaling Microsoft in the doctor’s office

AWS is launching Amazon Connect Health, handling patient calls, clinical documentation and billing codes in a new challenge to Microsoft’s Nuance and a crowded field of AI scribe startups.
Read More

Pre-trial fight in OpenAI case focuses on Elon Musk’s dual role as Microsoft partner and plaintiff

Pre-trial motions in Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft focus in part on his company’s business dealings with the Redmond company, and what that means for his credibility as a witness. Read More

Amazon launches AI-generated ‘canvas’ for sellers as e-commerce platforms race to add AI tools

Amazon is rolling out a “dynamic canvas” in Seller Central that generates personalized visual dashboards in response to seller prompts, building on its existing AI-powered Seller Assistant. The feature launches as Shopify, Walmart and others race to add AI to their merchant tools. Read More

Filings: How Amazon’s $50B OpenAI deal actually works, and what they’re keeping secret

Amazon’s $50 billion OpenAI investment made big headlines, but the SEC filings tell a more complicated story. Here’s how the money flows, what triggers the payments, and what the companies are keeping secret. Read More

Podcast

Anthropic acquires Vercept, the AI job crisis scenario, and Microsoft’s past Epstein connections

Anthropic acquires Seattle startup Vercept, a research paper warns of an AI-driven job crisis by 2028, the Epstein files reveal past Microsoft connections, and GeekWire Trivia looks back at the original Xbox unveiling. Read More

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. Vercept will shut down its Vy application as part of the deal. Read More

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. Read More

Pick Alexa’s personality: Amazon lets users choose ‘Brief,’ ‘Chill,’ or ‘Sweet’ conversation styles

Amazon is letting Alexa+ users customize how the voice assistant communicates, choosing between Brief, Chill, and Sweet personality styles. It’s a first for Alexa. Read More

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. Four of five Adept co-founders have now left the company. Read More

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.” What she doesn’t have is gaming industry experience — and the community is watching closely. Read More

Podcast

We tested Amazon’s speedy delivery live on the podcast: Here’s what it says about the future of retail

We tested Amazon’s 30-minute delivery live on the podcast. Mike Levin and Josh Lowitz of Consumer Intelligence Research Partners explains what it means for grocery, retail, and Amazon’s next big move. Read More

Xbox chief Phil Spencer retiring after 38 years at Microsoft; Asha Sharma named new gaming CEO

Phil Spencer, who reshaped Xbox through landmark acquisitions and a bet on cloud gaming, is stepping down. His successor, Asha Sharma, has roots in the Seattle startup community, with deep experience in consumer platforms. Xbox President Sarah Bond is leaving. Read More

Microsoft’s new RTO policy starts Feb. 23, bringing Seattle-area workers back 3 days a week

Microsoft’s three-day-a-week return-to-office mandate starts Monday, Feb. 23, for Seattle-area employees. Here’s what to know about the policy, and some advice for commuters from the Bellevue Chamber: “Gird your loins.” Read More

PageMaker pioneer Paul Brainerd, 1947-2026: Aldus founder devoted his second chapter to the planet

Paul Brainerd, who coined the term “desktop publishing” and built Aldus Corporation’s PageMaker into one of the defining programs of the personal computer era, died Sunday at his home on Bainbridge Island. He was 78. Read More

Cloud and AWS cost consultant Duckbill expands to software, raises $7.75M for new Skyway platform

Cloud cost consultant Duckbill, known for co-founder Corey Quinn’s sharp takes on AWS, raises $7.75M and launches Skyway, a financial planning and forecasting platform for enterprise cloud spending. Read More

GeekWire’s AI summit to feature key leaders from Amazon, Microsoft, and more, on March 24 in Seattle

GeekWire announces the first wave of speakers for its Agents of Transformation summit on March 24 in Seattle, including leaders from AWS, Microsoft, Outreach, and AI startup Vercept. Read More

Podcast

GeekWire Podcast in Fremont: Seahawks, AI, and Seattle’s future

We took the GeekWire Podcast on the road for a live show at Fremont Brewing, presented by the Fremont Chamber of Commerce, with conversation about the Seahawks’ future, the long-term direction of Seattle tech, the evolution of AI, and more. Read More

Ring cancels Flock partnership amid broader surveillance concerns

Ring has canceled its planned partnership with Flock Safety, the license-plate-recognition company, citing integration challenges, amid growing scrutiny of the role of home security cameras in surveillance and law enforcement. Read More

Podcast

Cleveland’s mayor, Seattle’s future: A conversation about what happens when a city’s economy shifts

GeekWire brought Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb and Seattle tech veteran Charles Fitzgerald together on the phone Thursday after a guest column warning Seattle not to repeat Cleveland’s past mistakes sparked a big response — including from Bibb himself. What followed was a constructive conversation about what cities should do when the ground shifts beneath them. Read More

Articles by Todd Bishop

Top Stories from Todd Bishop

Latest from Todd Bishop