GeekWire Mid-Week Update, Presented by Wells Fargo

Read the top tech stories so far this week from GeekWire [GeekWire Mid-Week Update] Top stories so far this week [‘Myst’ remake confirmed for Aug. 26 release date, on PC, Mac, Oculus, and Xbox Game Pass]( Cyan, headquartered in Spokane, Wash., announced Tuesday that its latest remake of the original Myst is planned for release on Aug. [Amazon exec Wei Gao, a former technical advisor to Jeff Bezos, latest to leave tech giant]( Wei Gao, an Amazon executive who helped lead the company’s grocery efforts, is leaving the Seattle tech giant after more than 16 years. [Ready to deliver on robotic pizza: Picnic sets price and starts taking orders for pie-making machine]( Order up! Picnic, the Seattle food automation startup, announced Tuesday that it is accepting pre-orders from U.S. SPONSOR MESSAGE [Wells Fargo surpasses $10 billion in tax-equity financing of renewable energy projects]( As one of the U.S.’s leading clean energy investors, Wells Fargo Renewable Energy & Environmental Finance, or REEF, provides tax-equity financing to utility-scale projects in the wind, solar, and fuel cell sectors. As part of the company’s broader commitment to help accelerate the just transition to a lower-carbon economy, REEF has now provided more than $10B in tax-equity financing in support of more than 500 renewable energy projects across the U.S. [Learn more here](. [Are we just ants in a death spiral? Researchers call for scientific studies of social media networks]( As misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines is spiking, the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public (CIP) is gearing up its efforts to document, understand and combat the rampant spread of unfounded claims across social media platforms. [Microsoft hires former Uber product chief Manik Gupta to build ‘world-class consumer experiences’]( Manik Gupta, an investor and startup advisor who worked previously as Uber’s chief product officer and a Google product leader, has joined Microsoft as a corporate vice president for Teams Consumer, Skype, and GroupMe. [Tech Moves: Top Blue Origin engineer joins SpaceX; Axon hires HTC Vive exec; Porch adds to board]( — Law enforcement technology company Axon added former HTC Vive exec Chris Chin as vice president of immersive tech. [Q&A with Amazon Alexa chief Rohit Prasad on the future of ambient computing]( When Amazon’s first Alexa-enabled smart speaker debuted in 2014, it was something of a novelty: A voice-activated natural language processing interface that could perform a number of simple tasks. [How this travel startup raised $5M from ex-CEOs of Orbitz and Vacasa in the middle of a pandemic]( The travel industry took a major blow when the pandemic hit last year, slashing revenue for airlines, hotels, and tech companies such as Expedia or Airbnb. [Walmart takes another page from Amazon, reports 95% increase in U.S. advertising sales]( Walmart reported a 95% increase in its U.S. [T-Mobile data breach: More than 47M current and former customers affected, carrier says]( T-Mobile on Wednesday released more details about a “highly sophisticated cyberattack” that exposed data from more than 40 million former or prospective customers who had applied for credit with the company, as well as 7.8 million current postpaid subscribers. GEEKWORK: TODAY'S TECH JOBS - [Chewy, Inc.: Senior Data Scientist]( - [HIGHSPOT: Senior Product Marketing Manager]( - [HIGHSPOT: Manager, Account Development, EMEA]( - [Chewy, Inc.: Software Engineer III]( - [HIGHSPOT: Senior Director, Product Marketing]( - [HIGHSPOT: Manager, Account Development]( - [HIGHSPOT: Director of Product Management – Platform]( - [HIGHSPOT: Strategic Services Director]( - [Product Creation Studio: Account Executive]( - [Esper: Executive Assistant]( [FIND MORE JOBS ON GEEKWORK]( [HIRING? BUY A FEATURED LISTING TO APPEAR HERE]( [About GeekWire]( [Contact Us]( [Advertise]( Copyright © 2021 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](