Amazon tops 75K employees in Seattle region | Trump’s social media fallout

Syndio raises $17.1M to helps companies address pay gaps ADVERTISEMENT [GeekWire]( SPONSOR MESSAGE: Become a GeekWire member: [Support independent journalism and join today!]( TODAY'S TOP STORIES Amazon tops 75,000 employees in Seattle region: The new milestone reflects the tech giant’s continued growth in its hometown over the past decade. Amazon disclosed the number when it [announced a $2 billion initiative]( to increase affordable housing in the Seattle, Arlington, and Nashville regions. Amazon’s first affordable housing investment in the region will be in Bellevue, Wash., not Seattle — reflecting a subtle shift in the company’s growth strategy in the Seattle area. [Read more](. Trump’s social media fallout: Twitter and Facebook deleted posts and locked Trump out of his accounts after the president’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. Other tech execs also sounded off on the historic events in Washington D.C. “This is a day to speak up for our Constitution and its values,” said Microsoft President Brad Smith. [Read more](. Brain-scanning technology from ‘Making a Murderer’ spawns patent dispute: Seattle-area neuroscientist Larry Farwell’s “brain fingerprinting” technology was introduced to the masses when it played a supporting role in the second season of Netflix’s “Making of a Murderer,” with finding that Steven Avery lacked knowledge related to the murder for which he’s imprisoned. Farwell imagines a day when brain fingerprinting is standard practice in criminal investigations and counter-terror operations. It’s a dream he effuses about even as he’s locked in a legal nightmare, [as journalist Levi Pulkkinen reports for GeekWire.]( Pay equity startup Syndio raises $17.1M: The Seattle company’s HR software analyzes salaries, rooting out discriminatory differences in pay that are tied to gender, race, ethnicity or age while providing strategies for fixing those disparities. Demand has spiked for the startup’s product during the COVID-19 pandemic and in the wake of social justice protests. [Read more.]( Allen Institute CEO to step down: After nearly two decades helping lead the nonprofit, CEO and President Allan Jones will step down later this year. His departure is the latest of ongoing changes at organizations founded by the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who passed away in 2018. [Read more](. See ya, Simple: The Portland, Ore.-based banking service is shutting down. It was acquired in 2014 by Spain's BBVA, which is selling its U.S. operations to PNC. [Read more](. More Tech Moves: Starbucks names a new CFO; Panopto adds a VP of marketing; F5 Networks hires a VP of security; [and more key personnel changes across the Pacific Northwest tech industry](. Trading places atop the world’s richest list: Tesla CEO Elon Musk moved ahead of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos as the world’s wealthiest person on Thursday. A rally around Tesla’s stock appears to have pushed Musk’s net worth to about $185 billion. He tweeted, “Well, back to work …” [Read more]( Thanks for reading, and see all of our latest headlines below. — GeekWire managing editor Taylor Soper, taylor@geekwire.com, and Geek Life reporter Kurt Schlosser, kurt@geekwire.com. SPONSOR MESSAGE LATEST HEADLINES [Portland online banking service Simple shutting down]( [Allen Institute leader Allan Jones to step down after nearly 18 years at Seattle research organization]( [Seattle startup Syndio raises $17.1M as demand spikes for HR software that helps identify pay gaps]( [Tesla stock surge helps power Elon Musk past Jeff Bezos as richest person in the world]( [Spectrum Effect raises $9.5M for machine learning tech that helps mobile operators avoid interference]( SPONSORED: GEEK HOME OF THE DAY [The Bridges in Kirkland | An Inviting Escape]( [Fraud allegations fly in dispute over brain-scanning tech made famous on Netflix’s ‘Making a Murderer’]( [Tech Moves: Starbucks names new CFO as pandemic fuels mobile ordering; Panopto adds IBM exec; F5’s new security leader; and more]( [As mob overruns U.S. Capitol, some direct anger at tech platforms and Twitter locks Trump’s account]( [Amazon tops 75,000 employees in Seattle area as company looks elsewhere in region for growth]( GEEKWORK: TODAY'S TECH JOBS - [Flyhomes: Senior Front End Engineer]( - [Temporal Technologies: Sr. Solutions Architect]( - [INRIX: Strategy Analyst]( - [Logic20/20: Data Engineer – Spark]( - [Temporal Technologies: Sr. Developer Advocate]( - [Bean Box, Inc.: Principal Software Engineer]( - [GeekWire: GeekWire Technology and Business Reporter]( - [Proprio Vision: Principal Software Engineer]( - [Level: Senior Software Engineer (Full Stack)]( - [Proprio Vision: Lead Software Development Engineer – Test]( [FIND MORE JOBS ON GEEKWORK]( [HIRING? 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