Google homepage features artwork from Seattle-area student

🎨 Have you visited Google.com today? The featured artwork was created by Rebecca Wu, a 12-year-old sixth grader from the Seattle area who won the “Doodle for Google” contest. Her piece, titled “My Sweetest Memories,” depicts Rebecca with her two sisters, sipping hot chocolate in a garden where vines and flowers spell out the word Google. 

Along with the featured spot on the search giant’s homepage, Rebecca also won a $30,000 college scholarship and a $50,000 technology grant for her school. We spoke with Rebecca and her father about the big honor. Read more. 

 “A few tears in my eyes.” That’s how one Seattle startup exec described watching Apple unveil its new headset Monday. Read more reaction to the Vision Pro. 

🎮 Microsoft to pay $20M fine: The company will also change its account verification process for Xbox gamers under 13 as part of a proposed settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.

✈️ Sam Altman leaves Expedia board: The OpenAI CEO helped the travel giant get a jump on the new era of generative AI toward the end of his nearly four-year tenure. Read more. 

🛰️ Satellite revolution: We caught up with the CEO of LeoStella, one of several space companies building satellites in the Seattle area. Read the interview. 

🚀 Cash boost for space biz: Eight companies from Washington state landed NASA grants to establish the merit and feasibility of their innovations. Read more. 

🚌 Tech Moves: Washington STEM names new CEO; Nordstrom adds former Nike exec to board. Read more. 

🟢 Circular > Linear? A conference in Seattle this week aims to accelerate the idea of a circular economy, which focuses on developing longer-lasting products that can be easily reused, repaired, repurposed and recycled — in contrast to a linear economy where resources are extracted, used, and tossed in landfills.