Get caught up on the latest technology and startup news from the past week. Here are the most popular stories on GeekWire for the week of Oct. 4, 2026.
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Most popular stories on GeekWire
Amazon confirms job cuts impacting hundreds of employees in retail unit
Customer service, selling partner support and retail engineering teams were among those hit in Amazon’s latest layoffs. The cuts came during Prime Big Deal Days, which ran Tuesday and Wednesday. Read More … Read More
From H-1B to CEO: How Satya Nadella traveled the path the U.S. just cut off for Microsoft workers
Microsoft’s Satya Nadella followed the path from a temporary work visa to permanent residency to U.S. citizenship. On Thursday, President Trump honored him with a national medal, hours after the administration blocked Microsoft from sponsoring its foreign workers for permanent residency. Here’s how the programs work, and what the numbers show about Microsoft’s practices. Read More … Read More
Opinion: Washington’s new state income tax must be repealed
Opinion: Venture capitalist Matt McIlwain of Madrona urges Washington voters to pass Initiative 645 and repeal the state’s new income tax. He argues the tax is written to expand beyond high earners and that employers and residents are already leaving. Read More … Read More
Microsoft responds to White House immigration crackdown as Trump honors Nadella
The Labor Department suspended Microsoft from the federal program it uses to help foreign workers stay in the U.S. permanently, and won’t process the company’s pending applications. The announcement came hours before President Trump was scheduled to give Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. Read More … Read More
Tech Moves: Microsoft CVP retires; former Amazon SVP to lead Boston Dynamics; Qualtrics, Overland AI, Fred Hutch name execs
Microsoft CVP Ravi Vedula retires; former Amazon SVP Rohit Prasad is now the CEO of Boston Dynamics; and Qualtrics, Overland AI and Fred Hutch name new executives. Read More … Read More
In effort to diversify economy and build resilience, Seattle Mayor names 18 leaders to new task force
Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson has assembled a new task force of business, labor and industry leaders to tackle the city’s economic challenges, with a focus on diversifying the economy, attracting and retaining companies, and making it easier to do business in Seattle. Read More … Read More
Seattle’s tax burden shifted to business as jobs slipped away, new report finds
A new joint report from the Downtown Seattle Association and the Seattle Metro Chamber shows city tax collections nearly tripling since 2013, surging far past population and job growth as the tax burden shifts heavily onto a small pool of major employers. Read More … Read More
Amazon hires a veteran Microsoft AI leader to help build its tools for coding and work
Pedram Rezaei, a 20-year Microsoft veteran, will work on the Kiro coding tool and the Quick workplace assistant at AWS. He’s the latest Microsoft executive to make the move this year. Read More … Read More
‘Star Wars’ is crossing over with ‘D&D’ in two upcoming books from Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast plans to revisit the Star Wars universe as its next big cross-company collaboration for Dungeons & Dragons. … Read More
Beyond co-working: Former tech leader launches new hub for Seattle’s women founders
Former tech leader Sally Revell has launched The SWELL, a downtown Seattle hub designed to give female entrepreneurs an in-person community, flexible programming, and support tailored for bootstrapping. Operating out of SURF Incubator, the new community has signed up 53 members in less than 10 weeks. Read More … Read More