Week in Review: The most popular stories on GeekWire for the week of May 17, 2026
They keep him up to date with 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.
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The most popular stories on GeekWire
S. ‘Soma’ Somasegar, 1966-2026: The leader of Microsoft and Madrona was a champion of developers and innovators
Friends and colleagues remembered S. “Soma” Somasegar, a longtime Microsoft engineering leader and managing director of Madrona, as a generous mentor to developers and innovators, as well as a list of Seattle’s tech community. … Read more
Jeff Bezos explains his $38B startup Prometheus for the first time: ‘Nothing to do with robots’
In a CNBC interview, Jeff Bezos gave the most detailed public description yet of Prometheus, calling the private startup a “general synthetic engineer” for building tools for the next generation of material design. … Read more
Seattle, we have an image problem
GeekWire founder John Cook argues that Seattle’s increasingly anti-business image nationally threatens the city’s standing as a hub of innovation, 30 years after Newsweek celebrated it as one of America’s great boomtowns. … Read more
AWS veteran Matt Wood returns to the cloud giant in a new role: chief AI and technology officer
Matt Wood, who spent more than 14 years helping lead Amazon Web Services’ artificial intelligence and machine learning programs 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 – first CEO
Seattle-based Filium was started by apparel industry veterans Raj Shah and Akhil Shah in 2015, and develops technology that allows natural fabrics to repel odors, stains and liquids. … Read more
Yusuf Mehdi’s ‘last season’ at Microsoft: Long-time executive plans to leave after 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 year — his “last season,” as he called it in an interview. … Read more
CEO Paul Allen’s $3.1B science and technology fund drops less than a year after launch
Dr. Lynda Stuart is leaving as the first CEO of the Science and Technology Foundation, a foundation created under the guidance of the late Microsoft founder Paul Allen. … Read more
‘One of a kind’: Pouring out the recommendations of S. ‘Soma’ Somasegar, dear technical mentor and friend
A consistent picture emerged: Somasegar was kind, generous with his time, humble, and had a steady presence. … Read more
SpaceX is launching 70 Starlink satellites a week in Redmond, and other news from its IPO filing.
SpaceX disclosed in its S-1 filing that its Redmond, Wash., facility is producing about 70 Starlink satellites per week, putting production numbers hard at work for the first time. … Read more
Amazon Leo leaders provide an inside look at the past and future of the satellite broadband network
Find out how Jeff Bezos got the ball rolling with SpaceX’s Starlink for space-based communications – and how Project Kuiper became Amazon Leo. … Read more
