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 May 17, 2026.
Sign up to receive these updates every Sunday in your inbox by subscribing to our GeekWire Weekly email newsletter.
Most popular stories on GeekWire
S. ‘Soma’ Somasegar, 1966-2026: Microsoft and Madrona leader was a champion of developers and startups
Friends and colleagues remembered S. “Soma” Somasegar, the longtime Microsoft developer leader and Madrona managing director, as a generous mentor to developers and founders, and a fixture of Seattle’s tech community. … Read More
Jeff Bezos describes his $38B startup Prometheus for the first time: ‘Nothing to do with robotics’
In a CNBC interview, Jeff Bezos offered the most detailed public description yet of Project Prometheus, calling the secretive startup an “artificial general engineer” building next-generation design tools for physical objects. … Read More
Seattle, we’ve got an image problem
GeekWire co-founder John Cook argues that Seattle’s increasingly anti-business national image threatens the city’s standing as an innovation hub, exactly 30 years after Newsweek celebrated it as one of America’s great boomtowns. … Read More
AWS veteran Matt Wood returns to cloud giant in new role: chief AI and technology officer
Matt Wood, who spent more than 14 years helping to lead Amazon Web Services’ artificial intelligence and machine learning initiatives before leaving the company in 2024, is returning to the company in a newly created role as chief AI and technology officer. … Read More
Former Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has a new gig — startup CEO
Seattle-based Filium was started by apparel industry veterans Raj Shah and Akhil Shah in 2015, and makes technology that allows natural fabrics to repel odors, stains and liquids. … Read More
A ‘final season’ at Microsoft for Yusuf Mehdi: Longtime exec plans to leave after one last year
Yusuf Mehdi, one of Microsoft’s best-known and longest-serving business leaders, whose tenure has spanned 35 years from Windows 3.1 to Copilot, plans to leave the company after one more year — his “final season,” as he called it in an interview. … Read More
CEO of Paul Allen’s $3.1B science and tech fund steps down less than a year after launch
Dr. Lynda Stuart is departing as the first CEO of the Fund for Science and Technology, the foundation created under late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s instructions. … Read More
‘One of a kind’: Tributes pour in for S. ‘Soma’ Somasegar, beloved tech mentor and friend
A consistent picture emerged: Somasegar was kind, generous with his time, humble, and a steadying presence. … Read More
SpaceX is churning out 70 Starlink satellites a week in Redmond, and other tidbits from its IPO filing
SpaceX disclosed in its S-1 filing that its Redmond, Wash., facility produces approximately 70 Starlink satellites per week, putting hard production numbers on the operation for the first time. … Read More
Amazon Leo’s leaders provide an inside look at the satellite broadband network’s past and future
Find out how Jeff Bezos got the ball rolling in the competition with SpaceX’s Starlink for space-based connectivity — and how Project Kuiper became Amazon Leo. … Read More
