Pandemic threatens dominance of 'superstar' tech cities

Slack's case against Microsoft | Halo's 'spiritual reboot' | 'Opera di Zoom' ADVERTISEMENT [GeekWire]( SPONSOR MESSAGE: Become a GeekWire member: [Support independent journalism and join today!]( TODAY'S TOP STORIES What will the new world of remote work mean for Seattle, the San Francisco Bay Area, and other traditional tech hubs? City officials and urban experts are watching the trend closely, but [they're divided over the long-term implications.]( "Tech’s going to leave," said Jennifer Stojkovic, executive director of tech advocacy group sf.citi. "We’re in this unprecedented time where companies are having huge downturns, and they are being hit with new taxes, and they don’t know if they are going to be able to afford this tax burden.” "San Francisco and Seattle will be just fine," countered urbanist Richard Florida in a separate interview with GeekWire. "I do not see a massive relocation of large corporations or startups anywhere outside of the handful of superstar metros that have dominated this for the better part of two decades.” [Read our full report for more on the underlying trends](. [🎙️]( Slack’s case against Microsoft: The workplace collaboration company will face a challenge in trying to convince regulators that Microsoft is competing unfairly by distributing Microsoft Teams along with its popular Office programs. That’s one of the takeaways from this week’s GeekWire Podcast. [Listen here]( or [subscribe to GeekWire in any podcast app](. New date for big antitrust hearing: Axios reports that the CEOs of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google [will now testify before the House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee]( Wednesday, July 29. The hearing [was postponed from Monday]( due to memorial services for the late Rep. John Lewis. ‘Opera di Zoom’: Speaking of remote work and online collaboration, one of the highlights from the GeekWire Awards this week was an original piece by Robert McPherson, aka The Drunken Tenor from Seattle Opera, about the challenges of video conferencing. [Check out the video.]( Add the GeekWire Awards to your weekend playlist: Watch a [full replay of the live show]( including cameos by Bill Gates and other celebrity guests, and award winners across a dozen categories, from Startup of the Year to Next Tech Titan. [Subscribe to GeekWire on YouTube]( and watch on your big screen. Halo effect: Microsoft’s 343 Industries sees Halo Infinite as not simply a sequel, but as a “spiritual reboot” of the series and a platform for the continued evolution of the blockbuster video game franchise. Here’s [our early look]( at the game that Microsoft hopes will be the “killer app” for the Xbox Series X. Thanks for reading, have a great weekend, and see all of our latest headlines below. — GeekWire editor Todd Bishop, [todd@geekwire.com](mailto:todd). SPONSOR MESSAGE [GeekWire Studios | CTO Roundtable: Digital Transformation During Challenging Times presented by Intel and Google Cloud]( Join the conversation on Thursday, July 30th at 8:00 a.m. (PST) along with Intel, Google Cloud, and key technology partner Appsbroker as they share game-changing results from customers, like RiverMeadow and ClimaCell, who have deployed on Google Cloud instances and VMWare bare metal. [Register today]( LATEST HEADLINES [GeekWire Podcast: Slack’s case against Microsoft; GeekWire Awards recap; Seattle gets Kraken]( [Pandemic threatens dominance of ‘superstar’ tech cities, creating new uncertainty for innovation hubs]( [Preview: Halo Infinite is a ‘spiritual reboot’ of the linchpin Xbox series]( GEEKWORK: TODAY'S TECH JOBS - [Imperative: Technical Lead / Principal Software Engineer]( - [ALLEN INSTITUTE FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI2): CTO-in-Residence // Co-Founder]( - [Stratify: Chief Technology Officer (CTO)]( - [ALLEN INSTITUTE FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI2): Deep Learning Engineer // Co-Founder]( - [ALLEN INSTITUTE FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI2): Technical Co-Founder // CTO (Stealth Startup)]( - [Icertis: Senior Software Engineer]( - [Shelf Engine: Senior Software Engineer]( - [Avvo: Director of Sales Acquisition]( - [Twistle: Director of Engineering]( - [Bonanza.com: Senior Ruby on Rails Developer]( [FIND MORE JOBS ON GEEKWORK]( [HIRING? BUY A FEATURED LISTING TO APPEAR HERE]( [About GeekWire]( [Contact Us]( [Advertise]( Copyright © 2020 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](