Bill Gates-backed startup launches ‘personal entertainment companion’

Hello, GeekWire readers. Amazon is axing its live-audio app, TikTok owner ByteDance is adding office space in the Seattle region, a Bill Gates-backed startup released a new AI-powered “personal entertainment companion,” and the “ghost of Lesser Seattle” opines on the city’s tech scene, courtesy of ChatGPT.

Beyond generic chatbots, AI will provide real value in the form of personal agents that leverage unique data sets and an understanding of individual user preferences. That’s the broader philosophy driving a new “personal entertainment companion” called Pix from Bill Gates-backed startup Likewise. It helps users find TV shows, movies, books and podcasts using the company's data and OpenAI's natural language processing technology. Read more.

TikTok owner ByteDance is growing its footprint in the Seattle area with a new sublease for 66,000 square feet of office space in Bellevue. ByteDance first expanded in the region in October 2021. Read more. 

Amazon pulls the plug on Amp: The audio app, which launched last year, was intended to “reimagine radio” and let users DJ their own live shows complete with a catalog of millions of licensed songs and the ability to engage with callers. Read more.

What would the late Seattle newspaper columnist Emmett Watson have thought about his beloved city today? We asked ChatGPT to read a day's worth of GeekWire coverage and write a column in Watson's voice and style. The result is fascinating, or concerning — depending on your views of AI. 

• Our favorite part: “I stumble upon GeekWire, a digital chronicle of this new world, and behold the metamorphosis.”  

Seattle-area recruiting startup SeekOut laid off 7% of its staff. But it still plans on growing headcount by year-end. Read more. 

Attracting angels: Seattle VC firm First Row Partners is rolling out a new startup competition with the goal of boosting angel investor networks in the Pacific Northwest. Read more. 

Hot Links:

• 15-minute meeting gains traction: Data from Microsoft Teams shows that workers are scheduling shorter meetings, which can not only save time but money, too. (Wall Street Journal)

• Seattle-area authors on AI: Their books are being used to train AI models, and most aren’t happy about it. But some aren’t too worried about being replaced altogether. (Crosscut)