Alaska Airlines kicks off effort to electrify largest zero-emission aircraft

“This is pretty cool. I’m extremely excited about the future.” That’s how Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci characterized an event Monday that will kickstart an effort to electrify and fly the largest zero-emissions aircraft ever. Alaska provided a retired Dash 8 Q400 regional turboprop (above) to green aviation company ZeroAvia, which will outfit the 76-seat plane with its hydrogen-powered electric propulsion system. Read more.

Computer science education nonprofit Code.org is helping to launch TeachAI, an initiative that will guide governments and educators on teaching with and about artificial intelligence. The move comes as the rapid rise of generative AI and chatbots such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT are poised to upend teaching and learning at all levels of education. Read more.

Another tech company wants its employees back in the office. Electronic-signature giant DocuSign, which has a significant presence in Seattle, is initiating a “phased” return strategy starting June 5. Read more.

Spammers just keep calling. A new report from Seattle startup Hiya highlights the ongoing problem of phone fraud and spam calls, with 73.6 million unwanted calls per day globally during the first quarter of this year. Read more.

Hot links:

• Health privacy concern: The new low-price health service Amazon Clinic comes with a hidden cost. (The Washington Post) 

• Pay in Teams: Microsoft is launching a payments system inside its virtual meeting software. (The Verge)
• AI-powered data scientist: Check out what happened when a new ChatGPT model analyzed a dataset on EV and hybrid vehicles in Washington state. (LinkedIn)