This week, we go inside the GeekWire Awards, our annual recognition of the top people, companies and innovations in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, which drew a sold-out crowd to the Showbox Sodo on Thursday May 9 in Seattle. We talk with finalists about AI, the economy and key trends in their industries, and we hear from some of the winners on stage during the program.

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• Photos: Inside the GeekWire Awards, with the big winners, musical numbers and surprise guests
• GeekWire Awards 2024 revealed: Winners bask in momentum of AI and potential of region

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This week on the GeekWire Podcast, we discuss Amazon's efforts to compete with Trader Joe's, and the related tactics revealed in "The Everything War," the new book by Dana Mattioli of the Wall Street Journal. We also revisit last week's episode with Mattioli and share some of the reactions to the discussion.

Plus, the FTC probes Amazon's internal use of Signal's disappearing messages feature, a newly disclosed email shows how Microsoft scrambled to catch up in artificial intelligence, and a new report says that Bill Gates is still a highly influential figure inside Microsoft, especially when it comes to the company's AI strategy.

Finally, we go inside the Seattle courtroom where a prominent figure from the cryptocurrency world, Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, received a controversial prison sentence this week.

Other stories discussed on the show:

• Amazon stock rises as Q1 earnings top estimates with $143.3B in revenue; AWS sales up 17%
• DoorDash rips Seattle over minimum wage law; reports record quarterly revenue of $2.5B
• Prudential to shut down Assurance, the insurance tech startup it acquired for $2.35B in 2019
• KING5: Binance founder Changpeng Zhao sentenced to 4 months for allowing money laundering
• Business Insider: Bill Gates is still pulling strings at Microsoft, overseeing AI ideas
• Internet Archive: Full text: An epic Bill Gates rant

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A conversation with Dana Mattioli, Wall Street Journal reporter and author of the new book, "The Everything War: Amazon’s Ruthless Quest to Own the World and Remake Corporate Power." With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop.

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This week on the show, we get a sneak preview of the GeekWire Awards, coming up at the Showbox SoDo in Seattle on Thursday, May 9.

• We look back at the past winners of the Next Tech Titan title in the awards, and consider the event's track record in predicting major companies to emerge from Seattle and the Pacific Northwest.
• We also contemplate the evolution of the "Workplace of the Year" category through the rise of remote and hybrid work.
• And finally, we consider the impact of migration on another part of state: Spokane, Wash., and the Inland Northwest.

See more GeekWire Awards coverage, and learn more about the event, which is presented by Astound Business Solutions.

With GeekWire co-founders Todd Bishop and John Cook. Edited by Curt Milton.

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This week on the show, we sit down with Werner Vogels, the Amazon chief technology officer, at Amazon in Seattle. We talked about the evolution of artificial intelligence, the promise of AI in healthcare and the environment, his broader tech predictions for the year, and one of his most iconic traditions at the company's annual cloud conference.

Read more on GeekWire: Amazon CTO Werner Vogels on the rapid progress of AI, and its impact on society

• Werner Vogels - All Things Distributed
• Archive of Now Go Build episodes
• AWS re:Invent 2023 - Keynote with Dr. Werner Vogels
• Tech Predictions for 2024 and beyond
• @Werner on X.

With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop; Edited by Curt Milton.

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This week on the show: Computer scientist Juan Lavista Ferres is corporate vice president and chief data scientist at Microsoft, and the lab director of Microsoft's AI for Good research lab, leading a team of data scientists and researchers in AI, machine learning and statistical modeling, focusing on global challenges like health, climate change, and digital literacy. He's one of the editors and authors of the new book AI for Good, Applications, in Sustainability, Humanitarian Action and Health, featuring case studies from Microsoft, to be published by Wiley on April 9.

With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop. Edited by Curt Milton.

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This week on the GeekWire Podcast: Reporter Kurt Schlosser takes us inside a Tesla Cybertruck, explains what it was like to drive one, and tells us how people reacted to the futuristic vehicle as it debuted on the streets of Seattle.

Also on the show, Kurt shares details from his recent story about Nala, the Seattle Police Department's electronics-detecting police dog, and explains how these law-enforcement K9s are trained to find all sorts of devices.

And in our final segment, we hear a clip from comedian Pete Ballmer, the son of Steve Ballmer, about growing up as one of the kids of the former Microsoft CEO.

With GeekWire's Todd Bishop and Kurt Schlosser.

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This week on the show, we peel back the layers of Microsoft's hiring of AI pioneer Mustafa Suleyman and colleagues from Inflection AI, considering how it plays into the trend of the Redmond company striking deals that look a lot like acquisitions, without actually being acquisitions. Then, we delve into the U.S. Justice Department’s landmark antitrust lawsuit against Apple, and consider the parallels to the DOJ's prior case against Microsoft. And finally, we ponder Washington state's plan to fight graffiti with drones.

Additional Links

• S. "Soma" Somasegar: Analysis: Microsoft’s big hires foreshadow bold new move into consumer AI
• Newcomer: Microsoft’s Non-Acquisition Acquisition (second item)
• The Information: Microsoft Agreed to Pay Inflection $650 Million While Hiring Its Staff
• Bill Barr in the Wall Street Journal: Siri, Does Apple Violate Antitrust Law?
• DOJ: Justice Department Sues Apple for Monopolizing Smartphone Markets
• The Verge: DOJ’s sweeping Apple lawsuit draws expert praise

With GeekWire co-founders Todd Bishop and John Cook.

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