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Can AI level the playing field? Nancy Wang of Advancing Women in Tech Jan 06, 2024

Show notes

This week's guest, Nancy Wang, is a technology product and engineering executive, advisor, and investor. A former Amazon Web Services general manager and former Google lead product manager, she is a venture partner at Felicis Ventures, where she invests in early-stage startups in cybersecurity, enterprise infrastructure, and business-to-business software as a service. She is also founder and board chair of Advancing Women in Tech, and a contributor to Forbes.

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

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NY Times vs. Microsoft; Plus, Oren Etzioni on AI in 2023 and beyond Dec 30, 2023

Show notes

Our guest this week on the GeekWire Podcast is computer scientist and entrepreneur Oren Etzioni, assessing the past year in AI, and looking ahead to what's next. Etzioni, an AI leader for many decades, is professor emeritus at the University of Washington, Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence board member, AI2 Incubator technical director, and Madrona Venture Group venture partner.

In the first segment of the show, GeekWire's John Cook and Todd Bishop discuss the big AI news of the week: The New York Times Co.'s landmark lawsuit against Microsoft and OpenAI over their use of the newspaper's articles in AI models.

Audio editing by Curt Milton.

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Surviving Amazon: Work, life, and bias inside one of the world's most ambitious businesses Dec 16, 2023

Show notes

Our guest this week is Kristi Coulter, whose latest book is Exit Interview: The Life and Death of My Ambitious Career. It’s a memoir about what she learned in her 12 years at Amazon about work, gender bias, and herself. Exit Interview is Coulter's second book. Her first, Nothing Good Can Come From This, is a collection of essays about quitting drinking. As you’ll learn from this podcast conversation, it intersects with her Amazon career.

Guest hosting is Ross Reynolds, whose voice is well-known in the Seattle region from his 34 years at KUOW, the public radio station from which he retired in 2021.

Production assistance from Curt Milton.

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How to be an 'Uncommon Thinker' Dec 09, 2023

Show notes

GeekWire's reporters have spent the past month profiling a group of six “Uncommon Thinkers”: Seattle-area inventors, scientists, technologists and entrepreneurs transforming industries and driving positive change in the world.

This editorial series, presented in partnership with Greater Seattle Partners, was based on the deliberations of a panel of outside judges who chose the Uncommon Thinkers from nominations submitted by GeekWire readers.

Working on these profiles helped us identify the commonalities among our honorees, including their inspirations, mindsets, and approaches. On this week's GeekWire Podcast, we talk with four of our Uncommon Thinkers in interviews recorded backstage at the GeekWire Gala, where we honored them this week.

Read the six “Uncommon Thinkers” profiles here:

With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop.

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'Amazon Q' and the new era of AI for business Dec 02, 2023

Show notes

AI was the big theme inside the long-running Amazon Web Services re:Invent cloud conference in Las Vegas this week, where the company's announcements included a new AI assistant for work called Amazon Q. We spoke with Matt Wood, AWS vice president of product, about the new service and the new era of AI for business.

Related Coverage:

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What's next for Microsoft and OpenAI; Amazon car sales; disappearing unicorns Nov 25, 2023

Show notes

This week on the GeekWire Podcast, we assess the outcome of the drama at OpenAI, considering what the removal and ultimate return of its CEO Sam Altman, and everything that happened in between, means for Microsoft.

While Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella earned kudos for masterfully navigating the mess, the situation also showed how the company was vulnerable to being blindsided due to OpenAI's convoluted structure.

And while for-profit interests are likely to get more influence on OpenAI's reformulated board, it's not yet clear if Microsoft will end up with a seat on that board, leaving the ultimate outcome for Microsoft unclear, for now.

We also look at Amazon's move into car-buying, and examine the Seattle region's dwindling flock of unicorns.

With GeekWire co-founders Todd Bishop and John Cook.

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The shakeup at OpenAI, and what it means for Microsoft Nov 18, 2023

Show notes

The surprise removal of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is the buzz of the tech industry — raising questions about the company’s role in the AI revolution, the ambitions of Altman and his team, the impact of his exit on the rest of the tech industry, OpenAI’s complex corporate structure, and its unusual partnership with Microsoft.

This week, we recap the latest developments in this fast-moving story, and then talk with Matt McIlwain of Madrona Venture Group about the broader implications of Altman's ouster for Microsoft, Amazon, and the tech industry.

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AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li on the future of humanity Nov 11, 2023

Show notes

Fei-Fei Li's new book is the story of her journey from China to the U.S., from small business to Big Tech, and from academic research to corporate life, and back again. But more than that, it's the story of the dawn of artificial intelligence, as told through her experience as one of the people summoning this new day and standing there awestruck, excited and concerned about what it will mean for humanity.

Dr. Li joins us on this episode to discuss the book, The Worlds I See: Curiosity, Exploration, and Discovery at the Dawn of AI, published by Moment of Lift Books, an imprint from Melinda French Gates and Flatiron Books.

Known for her foundational contributions to AI and computer vision, Dr. Li is the inventor of ImageNet, a large-scale dataset of images that enabled rapid advances in deep learning for visual recognition. She is a professor of computer science at Stanford University and a co-director of the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, who worked as Google Cloud's chief scientist for AI/ML during a 2017-2018 sabbatical.

Note: GeekWire's Todd Bishop will be speaking further with Dr. Li on Monday evening Nov. 13 at Town Hall in Seattle. See this site for details and tickets.

Edited by Curt Milton.

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Jeff Bezos' big move, Convoy's final stop, AI meets VC Nov 04, 2023

Show notes

What should we make of Jeff Bezos' decision to move his primary residence from Seattle to Miami? That's our first topic on this week's episode. Plus, Convoy's final destination; a new AI feature from Seattle startup Yoodli that helps startup founders hone their pitches; and Amazon tests Bluetooth earplugs for warehouse workers.

Related stories and links

Flexport buys Convoy’s tech; Convoy CEO Dan Lewis, other employees to join freight company

AI-powered ‘VC pitch coach’ from Yoodli helps startup founders prepare to face investors

Amazon tests letting warehouse workers listen to music and other audio via Bluetooth earplugs

With GeekWire co-founders Todd Bishop and John Cook.

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Inside the AI Revolution: Tech execs on the new realities for software, startups, and the future Oct 28, 2023

Show notes

This week on the GeekWire Podcast, we're featuring a panel discussion from the recent GeekWire Summit in Seattle, with three technology and business leaders offering first-hand insights into the new era of artificial intelligence.

Bridget Frey, CTO at Redfin, the tech-powered real estate company that operates in more than 100 markets in the U.S. and Canada.
Inbal Shani, chief product officer at GitHub, the software development platform used by more than 100 million developers around the world.
David Shim, CEO at Read AI, a Seattle-based startup using AI to provide a new window into meetings, and transform them in the process.

Frey, Shani and Shim share real-world examples of AI impacting software development, real estate, and meetings. They address topics like privacy, bias, education, and the future of work. They also discuss the changing nature of technical jobs, and a blurring of the line between developers and non-developers.

From the audience, we get questions about adapting AI to account for emotional intelligence; advice for aspiring engineers; preventing synthetic content from corrupting human experiences; protecting proprietary corporate data; and the prospects for improving work-life balance as AI increases productivity.

See GeekWire.com for notes and takeaways. Hosted by GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop. Podcast audio editing by Curt Milton. On-site A/V by Adavanza.

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