GeekWire Mid-Week Update, Presented by ALLtech

Microsoft is splitting its HoloLens mixed reality group and parting ways with Alex Kipman, the leader of the group who was the subject of a recent Insider story that cited him as an example of “toxic” behavior inside the company.

Dave Clark, an Amazon veteran of more than 23 years, and the CEO of the company’s worldwide consumer business for the past 18 months, could have been referring to more than the Auburn University Class of 2022 when he delivered this line as the commencement speaker at his alma mater in early May.

Dutchie, a Bend, Ore.-based software startup that serves cannabis retailers, has laid off 8% of its workforce.

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Amazon will host more than 15,000 interns from across the world this year, setting the stage for its largest class ever.  The Seattle tech giant says that most of its interns will be working in some form of hybrid model this year, a move that shows the company is embracing at least some form of work-from-home options, while other tech companies are debating remote work altogether.  “In this model, interns relocate to (or already live in) the city of their internship, so they can commute to their assigned Amazon office,” the company said in a blog post.

A biotech startup born of an academic research project and inspired by emerging companies led by scientific founders is growing in Seattle.

While compiling books for his annual summer recommendations, Bill Gates realized that the topics in his list were hardly the “stuff of beach reads.”  At the top of that list is “How the World Really Works” by Vaclav Smil, Gates’ favorite author.

— Hemanth Munipalli, a longtime finance exec most recently at Expedia Group, joined Remitly as CFO effective July 18.

When Tiffany White had her Facebook accounts hacked and couldn’t log in, she lost a lot.

Longtime Amazon executive Dave Clark, who announced plans to leave the tech giant last week in an abrupt departure, has taken the CEO role at San Francisco-based logistics company Flexport.

What the heck is going on in the economy, and how will the market gyrations impact startups and venture capital?

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