GeekWire

On this episode of the GeekWire Podcast, we dive deep into the landmark lawsuit filed by the FTC against Amazon with insights from former Amazon seller Jason Boyce, co-author of "The Amazon Jungle," host of the Day 2 podcast, and CEO of Avenue7Media, an agency that works with online sellers.

We discuss the implications of the lawsuit for Amazon, consumers, and sellers in the context of the changing dynamics of the online retail. Boyce, with his 17 years of experience as a seller and his current role working with third-party sellers, offers a unique perspective on Amazon's practices and the broader e-commerce landscape. We also touch upon Amazon's evolving relationship with sellers, the challenges of omni-channel retail, and the rise of new online marketplace competitors. 

GeekWire coverage

• FTC and 17 states sue Amazon for maintaining alleged monopoly power that stifles competition
• FTC targets alleged secret Amazon pricing algorithm ‘Project Nessie’ in antitrust complaint
• FTC’s case against Amazon hinges on internal messages and secrets yet to be revealed

Lawsuit: FTC et al vs. Amazon, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

New York Times: For Amazon’s Andy Jassy, a Cleanup Job Just Got a Lot Bigger

Reuters: Amazon drops planned merchant fee as FTC lawsuit looms

CNBC: FTC Chair Lina Khan: Amazon lawsuit is about protecting free and fair competition

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Kate Johnson is based in Denver in her role as Lumen Technologies CEO and president, but she has been spending a lot of time in the Seattle area recently, and not just because one of the local stadiums bears the company's name.

Johnson sees the Seattle region an ideal test bed and proving ground for Lumen's offerings, including consumer and business broadband, voice, and data services.

Yes, it helps that she has a home here, as a holdover from her prior role as Microsoft's U.S. president. But beyond that, she cites the region's importance as a major U.S. tech hub, the home of the biggest cloud platforms, a strong community of tech companies, and tech-savvy families who understand the appeal of fiber internet service.

"The market is growing, and we are well-positioned to serve it," she said. "I've been spending time making sure we're making the appropriate investments, that I'm understanding our opportunities, and that we're capitalizing on them."

It's part of a broader effort by Johnson and her team to reinvent the publicly traded telecommunications company, which was formed by the combination of Level 3 Communications and CenturyLink in 2017 and rebranded as Lumen in 2020. Johnson was named Lumen CEO a year ago and took over the role in November 2022.

Educated as an engineer, with past experience at companies including Oracle, Red Hat, and Deloitte, Johnson is one of 53 female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. She is charged with sparking new growth at a company that reported a net loss of $1.5 billion last year, after special charges, on revenue of $17.5 billion, down 11% year-over-year.

In a recent podcast interview at Seattle's Lumen Field, she discussed topics including:

• The evolution of the telecommunications industry and the need to reinvent the classic telecom business model amid the rapid increase in data and the rise of generative artificial intelligence.
• Her ongoing efforts to change Lumen's culture, including an unusual series of internal meetings that have been ultimately constructive but initially unsettling for some longtime employees and executives. 
• Her tenure at Microsoft, and her recent experiences using Microsoft 365 Copilot as part of her work. Lumen has been one of the companies piloting Microsoft's corporate AI tools prior to their broader release in November.

Audio editing by Curt Milton. Hosted by Todd Bishop.

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It was a big week for Microsoft, with the unveiling of the company's latest Windows and AI features and new Surface devices at a special event in New York City on Thursday.

This was preceded, by only a few days, by the surprise resignation of Panos Panay, the chief product officer in charge of the company's Windows and Devices division. Shortly after that announcement, Bloomberg News reported that Panay was set to join Amazon as the new leader of its Devices & Services division, a surprise twist that has yet to be confirmed as of publication time. 

To help sort it all out, we're excited to be joined on this episode of the GeekWire Podcast by someone who has covered the company for many years, journalist Mary Jo Foley, editor in chief at DirectionsOnMicrosoft.com.

Related Stories

• Directions on Microsoft Blog: Microsoft to start selling Microsoft 365 Copilot on November 1
• GeekWire: ‘It’s kind of like the ’90s are back’: Microsoft previews unified AI ‘Copilot’ initiative
• Longtime Microsoft hardware leader Panos Panay is leaving the company after 19 years
• Report: Departing Microsoft exec Panos Panay set to lead Amazon’s Alexa and Echo business
• Should Amazon be ‘pumped’ to land Panos Panay? A closer look at longtime Microsoft devices leader

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Chris Pirillo is an entrepreneur, creator, event organizer, and online community leader who has been a guide to the world of tech for everyday users since the early days of the web.

On this episode of the GeekWire Podcast, we catch up with Chris about his latest project, CreatorTech.net, an email newsletter and monthly meetup focused on the intersection of creativity and artificial intelligence. The next CreatorTech meetup is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 25, at the Microsoft Reactor in Redmond.

We also discuss some of the latest AI and tech tools that Chris has been finding useful, and hear his take on corporate return-to-office mandates — spoiler alert, he's not a fan!

• Chris Pirillo on the new iPhone 15, and the edited take discussed on the show.
• The latest CreatorTech email with a list of 25 AI tools to check out.
• Our last GeekWire Podcast/Radio conversation with Chris in June 2013.

With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop. Edited by Curt Milton.

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Our guest on this special episode is journalist and biographer Walter Isaacson, whose new book about Elon Musk, the SpaceX and Tesla founder and X (Twitter) owner, was published this week. Isaacson addresses the question of whether Musk is "calculated or crazed," as one anecdote in the book puts it; discusses Musk's role in some of the world's most vital infrastructure, including SpaceX's Starlink satellites; compares Musk's approach and style to Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Jeff Bezos; addresses Musk's outlook on artificial intelligence and space travel; and outlines the key issues that could determine Musk's legacy. 

With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop. Edited and produced by Curt Milton.

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Tye Brady, chief technologist for Amazon Robotics, joins us on this episode of the GeekWire Podcast to talk about the company's latest warehouse robots, explaining how they represent the emergence of the larger vision that prompted him to join Amazon more than eight years ago. Our conversation at Amazon HQ in Seattle followed a trip by GeekWire's Todd Bishop to Austin and San Marcos, Texas, to see many of Amazon's newest autonomous robots first-hand.

Related coverage:

• New robots are making Amazon’s warehouses more efficient — can they also make them safer?
• Video: Amazon's Robots, explained
• Amazon’s Sparrow is leaving the nest: Trailblazing warehouse robot is ready for a wider rollout
• Video: Up close with Amazon's Sparrow Robot 

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Amazon CEO Andy Jassy made it clear in a recent internal meeting that he wants employees to "disagree and commit" to the company's policy of working three days in the office, and find somewhere else to work if it doesn't work for them. We discuss the news in our first segment this week, and ponder why Amazon seems to be getting a bigger backlash than other big companies implementing similar policies.

In our second segment, we consider new changes in the MLB automated ball/strike system for Triple-A games, as an update to Seattle Mariners CEO John Stanton's comments in a recent interview with our GeekWire colleague Taylor Soper.

And finally, we give a sneak preview of the upcoming GeekWire Summit, scheduled for Oct. 19 at the iconic Seattle movie theater formerly known as the Cinerama. 

With GeekWire co-founders John Cook and Todd Bishop. Edited and produced by Curt Milton. Theme music by Daniel L.K. Caldwell. 

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On this week’s GeekWire Podcast, we're featuring an episode of Shift AI, a podcast hosted by Boaz Ashkenazy, CEO of AI solutions provider Simply Augmented, with guest Matt McIlwain of Seattle-based venture capital firm Madrona Venture Group. 

A thriving tech hub requires access to ideas, people, and experiments that produce collective lessons sooner and with greater fidelity than anywhere else. This is what made the Seattle area the cloud capital of the world. It also positions the region as one of the world’s top centers of excellence for artificial intelligence.

That’s one of the insights from Matt McIlwain, managing director at Madrona Venture Group, on this episode of Shift AI, a show that explores what it takes to thrive and adapt to the changing workplace in the digital age of remote work and AI. We discuss Matt’s background and experience building companies and advising founders, and get his take on the future of AI.

Subscribe to ShiftAI and hear more episodes at ShiftAIPodcast.com. 

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How can startups differentiate themselves in the new era of AI?

We've been discussing that question a lot recently on the GeekWire Podcast, and on this episode, we'll get a first-hand look from business and technology veteran Pete Christothoulou, who has been immersed in this world for many years.

Christothoulou is the former CEO of Marchex, the call and conversational analytics company, who is now founder and CEO of Xembly, a Seattle-based startup developing AI-powered technology that replicates a chief of staff and executive assistant, automating tasks such as meeting notes, scheduling, and action items.

Xembly was founded in Madrona Venture Labs nearly three years ago, long before the current mania over large language models. The company has raised $20 million from major venture capital firms and angel investors. It employs about 45 people, with customers including Salesforce, Qualtrics, and Twilio, among others.

We talk about the rapid developments in AI over the past year, and take a close look at Xembly as a case study for insights into how startups can differentiate themselves in this new era of AI.

In the final segment, we consider the big-picture implications of AI in the current deluge of information and the quest for meaningful productivity.

Related links and resources

• An executive assistant for every worker: Startup’s AI takes meeting notes, follows up on email, and more
• Seattle startup Xembly raises $15M for AI ‘chief of staff’ that automates tedious conversational tasks
• Microsoft’s optimistic view of AI sees technology ending the drudgery of ‘digital debt’
• What Happened to All of Science’s Big Breakthroughs? (New York Times)
• Papers and patents are becoming less disruptive over time (Nature)
• A Decline in Scientific Innovation? (Science)

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How can baseball embrace technology and new traditions while honoring its legacy and listening to its fans? Those were the questions at the heart of the Seattle Mariners CEO's conversation this week with Taylor Soper, at the GeekWire Rooftop BBQ and Mariners Day at the First Mode headquarters in Seattle. 

Stanton brings his experience as a longtime business and tech leader to his role with the Mariners. He also chairs Major League Baseball's competition committee, the group leading some of the biggest changes in the history of the sport, including the pitch clock that has dramatically shortened game times this year. He spoke with Taylor in the midst of a Mariners' winning streak that has since been extended to eight games with a 9-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Friday.

An early McCaw Cellular executive and founding partner at Bellevue, Wash.-based venture firm Trilogy Equity Partners, Stanton was CEO of Western Wireless and VoiceStream, the predecessor to T-Mobile USA, and also served as chairman of broadcast communications provider Clearwire. 

Listen for highlights from Stanton's remarks in the second segment, and read an extended writeup with more of his comments on GeekWire.

In the first segment, GeekWire co-founders John Cook and Todd Bishop revisit a recent conversation with Brinc CEO Blake Resnick based on John's sighting of the company's technology during an armed standoff in his neighborhood this week. 

In the final segment, John and Todd offer their thoughts on Stanton's remarks, Todd rants about an annoying tradition carried on by Seattle Mariners fans in the stands during a pivotal moment in a game this week, and they discuss Todd's idea to use technology to help fans keep more engaged with the action on the field. 

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