Here’s a unique slice of startup life in Seattle: Longtime inventor and culinary technologist
Scott Heimendinger
has reimagined the chef’s knife for home cooks. The high-tech tool from
Seattle Ultrasonics
features a handle packed with electronics that cause the blade to vibrate 40,000 times per second, making for smoother, easier cuts through all kinds of food. Read more.
An opening for Canada in U.S. immigration policy: Officials in British Columbia and Ottawa are seizing on President Donald Trump’s new $100,000 H-1B visa fee as an opportunity to pitch their country as a more affordable hub for AI talent — and to keep skilled workers from heading south to Seattle and Silicon Valley. Read more.
Microsoft
is adding
Anthropic
’s Claude models to Microsoft 365 Copilot, giving business users a choice beyond
OpenAI
’s GPT models. It comes as Microsoft and OpenAI rework the terms of their partnership and collaborate with others across the tech industry. Read more.
The
University of Washington
’s Institute for Protein Design is using AI to develop an “off switch” for cancer drugs and the associated immune system response. The research, led by Nobel Laureate David Baker, could also be used to understand and manipulate cellular processes by rapidly turning protein interactions off and on. Read more.
DIY homebuying? A new startup called
HomeBuyMe Inc.
lets homebuyers create and submit offers without an agent, building off last year’s National Association of Realtors antitrust settlement. Read more.
- In other real estate startup news: Seattle-based
Flyhomes
is officially exiting the brokerage business to focus on its flagship “Buy Before You Sell” financing product. Read more.
What’s in
Yifan Zhang
’s “AI Toolbox”? The managing director at Seattle-based
AI2 Incubator
shared how she’s using AI to capture meetings and automate tasks. Read more.
IShowSpeed, the online personality with a global following, zipped through Seattle on Tuesday streaming his antics at Pike Place Market, the Gum Wall, Dick’s, the Space Needle and other attractions to his millions of followers. Read more.
The University of Washington quietly scuttled plans for a research and business facility named Brightwork in February, as previously reported by GeekWire. While the UW cited economic headwinds combined with public funding cuts as driving factors in the project’s demise, a new report from The Seattle Times highlights the impact of an unsuccessful lawsuit by a rival developer.
- Seattle-area investor
Timothy Chen
raised $41 million for his fourth fund. (TechCrunch)
- Microsoft is reportedly in talks with publishers to launch a marketplace that would compensate them for their content used by AI products. (Axios)
- There’s lots of chatter about Seattle’s
Tin Can
, and parents at New York Magazine just spent a month using the startup’s landline phones for kids. (The Strategist) - King County joined Seattle in banning the use of software that allegedly allows for price fixing among landlords and drives up rental prices. (King County Council)
- Clothes-swap startup
Armoire
is launching a collection of upcycled clothes designed by Seattle Reign FC Captain Lu Barnes with a kickoff event Thursday. (Armoire)
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