Seattle tech workers sue companies to recoup remote work costs

European Commission probes Microsoft: European antitrust authorities opened a formal investigation into Microsoft’s bundling of Teams into Office 365 and Microsoft 365.

Startup fundings: 

• Proprio, a Seattle startup that recently received FDA clearance for its surgical navigation platform, raised $43 million.  

• Augmend, a Madrona Venture Labs spinout building a “shared brain” platform for developers, raised $2.2 million. 

City and county funds would aid Cinerama: Members of the Seattle and King County councils are proposing legislation to provide $2 million to SIFF, owners of the historic movie theater once owned by Paul Allen, to aid in reopening and running the historic venue. Read more.

Stunning views, cool swag, cold beverages, yummy BBQ: Join us for our annual rooftop BBQ on Aug. 9. The party will be followed by a Seattle Mariners game. And we’ve got a special guest. 

Hot links:

• The U.S. needs “a nimble, adaptable, new agency with expertise, resources and authority” to challenge big tech companies, say Sens. Lindsey Graham and Elizabeth Warren, introducing new bipartisan legislation to create one. (The New York Times)

• Behind-the-scenes with “Acquired”: The podcast, hosted by venture capitalists Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal — who met in Seattle — started as a passion project and is now a burgeoning media business. (Fast Company)

• New Bill Gates podcast: On the first episode of “Unconfuse Me with Bill Gates,” the Microsoft co-founder chats with actor Seth Rogen and his wife Lauren Miller Rogen about using humor to raise awareness about Alzheimer’s disease. (Spotify)