Amazon hires three Covariant founders in latest AI ‘reverse acquihire’

Go back inside the Living Computers Museum — virtually | Upcoming tech events ADVERTISEMENT [GeekWire]( SPONSOR MESSAGE: GeekWire's Rooftop Summer Party + Mariners Day returns on Wednesday, September 11th: [Register today for Seattle's party of the summer.]( TODAY'S TOP STORIES Amazon hired three founders from Covariant and licensed AI technology from the Bay Area warehouse robotics company. About 25% of Covariant’s employees will join Amazon. It’s another example of a move dubbed a “reverse acquihire,” in which tech giants get AI talent and technology without the regulatory hurdles of an actual acquisition. Amazon announced the deal late Friday, just before the long holiday weekend. [Read more.]( Above, Covariant CEO and co-founder Peter Chen. - In other major Amazon news, users reported a widespread outage of the checkout system on Amazon.com starting Friday afternoon. [Read more.]( Go back inside the Living Computers Museum: The Seattle institution closed for good in June, but fans of the museum can take a walk down memory lane thanks to a virtual tour created by Seattle-area tech vet Paolo Tosolini. He recently updated the tour with links to the Christie’s auction that includes some of the mainframes, minicomputers, and other artifacts from computing history assembled by the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. [Read more](. This week on the GeekWire Podcast, we revisit controversy over Starbucks' hybrid work policy]( for its new CEO, Brian Niccol; discuss the that crippled computer systems at Sea-Tac Airport]( in the Seattle area this week; and provide an update on[last week's episode about AI text-to-music generators](. 🎙️[Read more and listen here]( and subscribe to GeekWire in [Apple Podcasts]( [Spotify]( or wherever you listen. [📆]( Upcoming events: Tech and startup community gatherings on our radar next week in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. - This weekend: [PAX West at the Seattle Convention Center]( - Sept. 5: [Mobile Future Forward 2024 – Quantumverse]( - Sept. 11: [GeekWire Rooftop Summer Party + Mariners Day]( - Sept. 19: [Black Tech Night]( Check out the [GeekWire Calendar]( for more. Hot Links: - The Port of Seattle said a majority of international airlines at Sea-Tac Airport are back to printing boarding passes and bag tags as it recovers from a suspected cyberattack that began a week ago. ([Port of Seattle]( - Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is in his element as the L.A. Clippers chairman, as the NBA team prepares to open its new arena, the Intuit Dome in Southern California. ([Vanity Fair]( - Microsoft cybersecurity researchers detailed how a North Korean hacking group exploited a bug in Chrome-based browsers in a bid to steal cryptocurrency. ([TechCrunch]( [Microsoft Security]( Thanks for subscribing to the GeekWire newsletter, and have a great Labor Day weekend. We'll be back on Tuesday. — GeekWire Editor Taylor Soper, taylor@geekwire.com; and GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop, todd@geekwire.com. SPONSOR MESSAGE [AI for Washington State: Using Artificial Intelligence to explore, discover and understand]( Join scientists, industry professionals, policymakers and others at the Washington State Academy of Sciences 17th annual symposium, AI for Washington State, on September 25th at the Museum of Flight in Seattle. A stellar lineup of speakers will discuss how AI is used in areas critically important to Washington State including climate, agriculture and the life sciences. [Register today – early bird discount ends 8/31!]( LATEST HEADLINES [Go back inside Seattle’s Living Computers, virtually, via 3D tour updated with links to auction items]( [Podcast: New Starbucks CEO’s supercommute, SeaTac cyberattack, more on AI music]( [Amazon hires Covariant founders, inks licensing deal with AI startup in latest ‘reverse acquihire’]( [Amazon.com checkout goes down in extended outage for many users]( GEEKWORK: TODAY'S TECH JOBS - [Gable.ai: Staff Software Engineer – Data]( - [INRIX: Software Development Engineer]( - [Echodyne: Sr. Electrical Engineer – Analog & Mixed Signal]( - [INRIX: Senior Technical Program Manager]( [FIND MORE JOBS ON GEEKWORK]( [HIRING? BUY A FEATURED LISTING TO APPEAR HERE]( [About GeekWire]( [Contact Us]( [Advertise]( Copyright © 2024 GeekWire LLC, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted to receive emails from GeekWire LLC.  Our mailing address is: GeekWire LLC 123 NW 36th St, Suite 203 Seattle, WA 98107  [change email frequency or address]( | [unsubscribe](