An open‑source AI called OrcaHello listens to hydrophones in the Salish Sea and sends near‑real‑time alerts so ports and ferries can reduce underwater noise when endangered orcas are nearby.

S. 'Soma' Somasegar, former Microsoft developer chief and Madrona managing director, died at 59. He helped build Visual Studio, founded Microsoft’s India center and backed major startups.

As Expedia marks 30 years, CEO Ariane Gorin is leaning into AI and new partnerships to turn planning experiments into bookings while warning about AI risks. Strong Q1 results give the company room to test and scale.

Microsoft’s Elevate initiative, led by Justin Spelhaug, bundles training, grants and Copilot features in a $4B push to credential millions and ready schools for AI.

A bright green fireball streaked across western Washington and southern B.C. just after midnight, appearing on multiple doorbell and dash cameras.

Match Group invested $100M in Seattle's Sniffies, taking a minority stake with an option to buy. The move sparks user backlash and questions about safety and monetization.

Expedia has hired former Snap CFO Derek Andersen to run finance, effective May 11. The SEC filing details a multimillion‑dollar equity grant, signing bonus and relocation support as Andersen moves to Seattle.

Microsoft is offering voluntary retirement buyouts to roughly 7% of its U.S. workforce — a move that could affect thousands of Seattle‑area employees. Details land May 7.

Slowed federal grants and policy uncertainty are rattling UW labs, Fred Hutch and the startups that power Seattle’s innovation economy. The region could feel the effects in jobs and trials.

Tukwila‑based Avalanche Energy won a roughly $5.2M DARPA award to build micro "nuclear batteries," a near‑term step toward its goal of compact fusion power. The work pairs government money with recent VC funding and test‑facility expansion.

General Motors is leasing space at West8 in downtown Seattle to set up a software engineering outpost and tap local cloud and infrastructure talent.

The IAB filed an amicus brief backing Seattle Children’s in a Washington Supreme Court case that asks whether routine website tracking can be treated as illegal wiretapping.

Andy Jassy says Amazon’s roughly $200B push into AI is backed by customer commitments, not a gamble. He argues the spending is a long‑term play for AWS and chips.