Interview with Rover CEO as pet-sitting giant closes $2.3B acquisition | Former Navy SEAL sues Amazon over counterfeit book sales

Bid to revise EV sales law stalls in Washington | Can AI boost clean energy efforts? 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 It’s the start of another new era at Rover. The Seattle-based pet-sitting business completed its $2.3 billion deal with Blackstone on Tuesday, marking the latest chapter in a 13-year journey that began at a hackathon and took the company through a pandemic, a public offering, and a private equity acquisition. We caught up with longtime CEO Aaron Easterly this morning. [Read more](. Expedia Group will cut back 1,500 roles this year, including more than 200 in Washington state, as part of an operational review impacting the online travel giant’s Product & Technology division. The company said it will incur pre-tax charges of $80 million to $100 million related to the cutbacks. [Read more.]( Amazon is being sued by author and former Navy SEAL David Goggins on allegations that the company knowingly allowed the sale of fake versions of his books and other products. The endurance athlete and motivational speaker says Amazon ignored his pleas to stop third-party sellers from offering counterfeit copies of his best-selling books. [Read more.]( Rivian, Lucid and other EV makers are stuck in park in Washington state as the latest effort to revise a law barring direct sales to consumers has stalled in the legislature. The law, which prevents manufacturers from competing against franchised auto dealerships, denies some companies the ability to offer test drives, and some argue it could be slowing electric vehicle adoption in the state. (Above: A Lucid studio space at University Village in Seattle.) [Read more.]( Can AI boost clean energy efforts? U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and Sen. Maria Cantwell (above, left) sought answers to that question in Seattle as they met with West Coast tech executives and leaders from national laboratories to strategize partnerships. [Read more.]( Seattle data governance startup Codified raised $4 million to help companies get a better handle on how to manage internal data access standards. Former execs from Snowflake and Microsoft invested in the round, which was led by Madrona Venture Group and Vine Ventures. [Read more.]( Thanks for [subscribing]( to the GeekWire newsletter, and have a great day. — GeekWire managing editor Taylor Soper, taylor@geekwire.com; and GeekWire reporter Kurt Schlosser, kurt@geekwire.com. SPONSOR MESSAGE [87% of young people are talking to their parents about online risks, says new research from Microsoft. However, greater awareness of safety features and tools is needed.]( Earlier this month, Microsoft celebrated [Safer Internet Day]( – an annual event that brings people around the world together to create a safer and better online environment for all. The day provided an opportunity for people of all ages to engage and discuss online activities and safety, particularly with growing interest in emerging technologies. However, we should have conversations about online safety every day, not just on Safer Internet Day. To support that goal, Microsoft released the latest findings from our annual [Global Online Safety Survey]( along with a [Family Safety Toolkit](. We share our results publicly so that others can benefit from the insights as we collectively strive to create a safer digital ecosystem. [Learn more here.]( LATEST HEADLINES [Rover CEO on company’s next chapter as pet-sitting giant completes $2.3B deal with Blackstone]( [Former Snowflake and Microsoft execs back new data governance startup Codified]( [Rivian, Lucid and other EVs stuck in park by failed effort to change car sales laws in Washington]( [Author and former Navy SEAL David Goggins sues Amazon over bootleg books]( [Expedia Group cutbacks will impact 1,500 roles this year, more than 8% of workforce]( [Can AI boost clean energy efforts? Tech and policy leaders discuss solutions in Seattle]( GEEKWORK: TODAY'S TECH JOBS - [INRIX: Finance Pricing Manager]( - [City of Newport: Systems Administrator II]( - [BRINC: Senior/Principal Backend & Platform Software Engineer]( - [INRIX: Chief Revenue Office]( - [GeekWire: The Etzioni Internship in Climate Tech Journalism at GeekWire, Summer 2024]( [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](