Amazon pausing construction on HQ2, closing some Amazon Go stores

• The decision to pause construction, first reported by Bloomberg, comes as Amazon continues to navigate its hybrid work policies and trim expenses. (Above: An artist’s rendering of The Helix, a centerpiece of Amazon’s HQ2 plans.) Read more. 

Amazon is closing eight Amazon Go convenience stores, including two in Seattle, in the latest tightening of its brick-and-mortar retail operations.

• The company, which opened the first Go in 2018, said it is not abandoning the high-tech format and still operates more than 20 locations across the U.S. Read more.

A prototype hydrogen-fueled aircraft successfully completed its initial flight in central Washington in a significant step for zero-emission aviation.

• The converted turboprop airplane from Universal Hydrogen (above) incorporates technology from Everett, Wash.-based MagniX and Seattle-based AeroTEC. Read more.

The latest venture capital data highlights an ongoing slowdown as interest rates remain high and expenses are throttled. 

• We compared year-over-year numbers from GeekWire’s fundings list and spoke to investors to get a pulse on the state of startup investment activity. Read more. 

Amit Mathradas, a longtime tech leader and former Avalara president, is joining Bellevue, Wash.-based workflow automation company Nintex as its new CEO.

• Mathradas replaces Eric Johnson, who led Nintex as CEO for the past five years and will remain a senior advisor to TPG Capital, the private equity giant that bought a majority stake in Nintex in 2021. Read more. 

A study of more than 100,000 images from the Hubble Space Telescope found that satellites are increasingly interfering with astronomical observations.

• The analysis suggests that the deployment of more broadband internet spacecraft, from the likes of SpaceX’s Starlink and Amazon’s Project Kuiper, will cause more and more interference. Read more.