Camper van rental startup Cabana shuts down | BMW uses Amazon’s Alexa AI for ‘car expert’

Blue Origin engines boost Vulcan rocket launch | NuScale layoffs | Recurrent raises $16M | Astound internet outage ADVERTISEMENT [GeekWire]( SPONSOR MESSAGE: BOT or NOT? This special series explores the evolving relationship between humans and machines, examining the ways that robots, AI and automation are impacting our work and lives: [Read more.]( TODAY'S TOP STORIES End of the road for travel startup Cabana: The 4-year-old Seattle company, which provided custom rental vehicles for so-called “vanlifers,” shut down at the end of 2023 after failing to find a buyer. Founder Scott Kubly blamed a number of macroeconomic conditions for stalling Cabana’s ability to scale. [Read more.]( United Launch Alliance’s next-generation Vulcan Centaur rocket lifted off for the first time, making use of booster engines built by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture to launch what could be the first mission to put a commercially built lander safely on the moon. “Big kudos and congrats to the whole team!” Bezos said on Instagram. [Read more](. Can artificial intelligence replace the owner’s manual? BMW is demonstrating a future version of its in-car personal assistant that uses Amazon’s new Alexa large language model to answer questions about its cars, and change drive modes via voice commands. It’s part of a wave of AI announcements expected this week at CES in Las Vegas. [Read more](. Amazon’s Spheres and other Seattle landmarks [are lit up in Husky purple]( as the University of Washington faces the University of Michigan in today’s College Football Playoff championship. [Here’s how the schools stack up when it comes to tech](. (Photo above via UW) - GeekWire is getting into the spirit with [a custom version of our logo]( in honor of our hometown team. Go Dawgs. Recurrent juices up: The Seattle startup raised $16 million in a Series A round to fuel its software that provides scores for EV battery health. [Read more](. NuScale layoffs: The Portland, Ore.-based nuclear company is laying off 154 full-time employees, or 28% of its workforce. [Read more](. Astound Broadband customers in Seattle were left without internet this weekend after the company said power pole damage impacted its fiber network. Some said they still did not have a connection on Monday morning. [Read more](. Hot Links: - Seattle-based Getty Images announced a new stock image service powered by generative AI. ([The Verge]( - An iPhone that reportedly fell from Alaska Airlines 1282 after the aircraft lost part of its fuselage was still working when a game designer found the smartphone on the side of the road in the Portland area. ([X]( - Microsoft and South Korea's Qcells announced a giant deal to supply the tech company with 12 gigawatts of U.S.-made solar panels. ([Reuters]( Thanks for [subscribing]( to the GeekWire newsletter, and have a great week. — GeekWire managing editor Taylor Soper, taylor@geekwire.com; GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop, todd@geekwire.com; and GeekWire reporter Kurt Schlosser, kurt@geekwire.com. SPONSOR MESSAGE [Your Future in Cybersecurity Starts at WGU]( You can help safeguard the digital world with WGU! Our online, accredited cybersecurity degrees include key industry certs at no extra cost. You’ll have the ability to accelerate through coursework, with no set log-in times. [Learn More.]( LATEST HEADLINES [End of the road for Cabana: Seattle travel startup shuts down camper van rental business]( [BMW tests Amazon’s Alexa LLM for ‘car expert’ that answers questions and changes drive modes]( [Portland-based nuclear reactor company NuScale cuts 28% of workforce, or 154 employees]( [Astound Broadband outage impacts Seattle-area customers]( [Seattle startup Recurrent raises $16M, aims to be standard for scoring used EV batteries]( [First Vulcan rocket launches commercial moon lander with a boost from Blue Origin]( [Week in Review: Most popular stories on GeekWire for the week of Dec. 31, 2023]( GEEKWORK: TODAY'S TECH JOBS - [City of Newport: Systems Administrator I or II]( - [City of Redlands: IT Security Analyst]( - [INRIX: Chief Revenue Office]( - [City of Redlands: Network Engineer]( - [INRIX: Lead Software Engineer]( - [INRIX: Finance Pricing Manager]( - [Dexis Professional Services: PRISM Integration SME/Engineer (Advisor-Grade 8)]( - [BRINC: Senior/Principal Backend & Platform Software Engineer]( - [Submittable: Director of Engineering]( - [INRIX: Lead Software Engineer, Big Data]( [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](