Microsoft plans ‘minimal’ headcount growth this quarter | Zillow Group lays off about 300

Related: Microsoft revenue growth slows as cloud business helps offset Windows decline

Zillow Group layoffs: The Seattle real estate company is slashing about 300 jobs as it looks to curb costs amid a slowing real estate market and broader economic uncertainty. Read more.

Google quietly acquires Seattle health tech startup: Founded in 2018, Sound Life Sciences is a small University of Washington spinout that developed an app to monitor breathing. It’s the second Seattle health tech startup acquired by Google in the past five years. Read more. 

Personal assistant service going nationwide: Yohana was launched in Seattle last year by robotics pioneer Yoky Matsuoka as a way to help busy families check more items off their to-do lists with the aid of technology and real human helpers. Read more.

Proving ground for giant zero-emission trucks: Engineering venture First Mode has leased a facility at the TransAlta Centralia Mine, 85 miles south of Seattle, to test and optimize its huge machinery and the hydrogen-based infrastructure they’ll depend on.

Startup fundings:

• Neddl lands $2.5M: The Seattle startup, which graduated from Y Combinator, is building a personal search product that pulls information from across different web apps.

• Center raises $15M: The Bellevue, Wash.-based software startup helps mid-market companies manage business expenses.

Deep-sea mystery reveals life near Titanic wreck: Everett, Wash.-based OceanGate has found the answer to what caused a 26-year-old sonar blip deep in the North Atlantic. Read more.