GeekWire Mid-Week Update

Read the top tech stories so far this week from GeekWire [GeekWire Mid-Week Update] Top stories so far this week [Pfizer to close Seagen manufacturing plant in Seattle area following $43B acquisition]( Pharma giant Pfizer, fresh off its $43 billion acquisition of Seagen, said it will shut down construction on a new 270,000 square-foot manufacturing facility Seagen was building north of Seattle near its headquarters. [Glowforge releases Spark, another low-priced 3D laser engraver to attract more home crafters]( Seattle-based 3D laser engraver maker Glowforge is making another pitch to home crafters with another lower-priced machine, the company announced Tuesday. [Blue Origin targets 2025 for cargo lander’s inaugural moon trip, with humans to follow]( Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin space venture is aiming to send an uncrewed lander to the surface of the moon in the next 12 to 16 months. [Data from Seattle food delivery drivers shows higher hourly earnings, but less customer demand]( Seattle-area gig workers are making higher hourly wages while they’re delivering food for platforms such as Uber Eats and DoorDash following the implementation of a new minimum wage law. [Protein design pioneer David Baker on why sharing code is key to building biotech startups]( The Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington is a startup factory, spinning out companies developing new protein-based therapeutics, industrial enzymes, materials, biosensors and more. [Why India’s thriving software talent base is important for the Seattle innovation ecosystem]( Editor’s note: This guest post was written by Kellan Carter, founding partner at Bellevue, Wash.-based venture capital firm FUSE. [Enzzo, a PSL spinout led by Seattle startup vet, raises $3M to use AI for hardware development]( Building hardware is hard. It can be especially challenging in the early part of product creation, when designers need to set parameters and requirements, also known as the “definition phase.” Can AI help speed up that process? [Agility Robotics names new CEO: Peggy Johnson, former Magic Leap CEO and Microsoft exec]( Peggy Johnson, the former Microsoft executive who stepped down as Magic Leap CEO last fall, is the new CEO of Agility Robotics,. [Seattle vanlife gurus see tech and AI’s potential as a copilot, to boost human connections on road trips]( With all the makings of a buddy road trip adventure, two longtime Seattle friends and tech veterans have teamed up to breathe new life into a popular travel app under the umbrella of a thriving business built around a love for “vanlife.” Jordan Schwartz, the software entrepreneur who previously founded and led Seattle startup Pathable, is the new chief product officer at Sēkr, an app to help travelers plan trips, find campsites and more. [Jeff Bezos bumps Elon Musk from billionaires top spot with net worth of $200.3B]( Jeff Bezos is back on top of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index for the first time since 2021, overtaking Elon Musk as the richest person in the world with a net worth of $200.3 billion. GEEKWORK: TODAY'S TECH JOBS - [GeekWire: The Etzioni Internship in Climate Tech Journalism at GeekWire, Summer 2024]( - [INRIX: Finance Pricing Manager]( - [City of Newport: Systems Administrator II]( [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](