UW computer science research event offers glimpse of the future at the dawn of AI

AI at the UW: The annual Research Showcase and Open House at the University of Washington’s Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering offered a glimpse of the current state and potential direction of computing — demonstrating the growing impact of artificial intelligence as both a focus and a tool for computer science breakthroughs. It also highlighted the challenges faced by researchers in accessing the computing power needed to develop the foundation models required to further advance the state of the art. Read more.

Above, UW computer science students Shirley Xue (left) and Dilini Nissanka wearing low-powered wireless earnings that could be an alternative to smartwatches and other wearable health devices.

Microsoft publicly confirmed its long-rumored plan to introduce its own datacenter processors, including one optimized for artificial intelligence and refined based on feedback from its primary AI partner, ChatGPT maker OpenAI. The plan, announced Wednesday at Microsoft’s Ignite conference, comes eight years after Amazon started making its own custom data center silicon through its acquisition of Annapurna Labs. Microsoft is also playing catch-up with Google. Read more. 

• In other news from Ignite, Microsoft is announcing a series of new and updated AI services, including Copilot Studio for building custom services for Microsoft 365 Copilot; the expansion of Copilot in Microsoft Teams; and Windows AI Studio for developers.

Amazon's Astro robot becomes a security guard: The company's home robot can now patrol businesses and alert owners of any suspicious activity, working autonomously, via pre-programmed routes and routines, or manually via the Astro app. The business version starts at $2,349.99, with subscriptions that total as much as $179/month. Read more.

Gunshot detection tech may finally come to Seattle: A bid by councilmembers to reroute funding away from a pilot for an acoustic gunshot locator system failed on Tuesday. Mayor Bruce Harrell has sought to get the city to test the controversial technology for years. There are still several key steps before Seattle actually begins using the tech. Read more. 

Startup fundings:

• Data infrastructure startup Canopy raises $4 million: The company, led by former executives at Seattle e-commerce software startup Fabric, aims to give developers a more efficient way to integrate and manage data with front-end applications.

• Climate startup OCOchem lands $5 million: The Richland, Wash.-based company is looking to scale its technology for turning carbon dioxide into chemicals that can be used to manufacture clean hydrogen, fertilizer, animal feed and other products.

• See the latest Pacific Northwest startup investment deals at our funding list here. 

Tech Moves: Madrona Venture Group investor is headed back to Microsoft; health-tech company Edifecs adds a CFO; and more personnel changes. 

A step closer to training commercial astronauts: Space travel venture Orbite, which got its start in Seattle, is ready to sign up early stage customers for a series of space-adjacent events and eventual training at an elaborate campus in Florida. Read more.

Hot Links:

• Code.org co-founder Ali Partovi brought his daughter to City Hall in San Francisco where the 6-year-old advocated for bringing algebra back to middle schools. (LinkedIn)

• Amazon announced its best books of 2023, with James McBride’s “The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store” as the top book of the year. The list includes Amazon editors’ top 100 picks, and great reads across numerous categories. (Amazon)

• Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella believes the transition to natural language AI tools will boost developer productivity and lead to a new era of creativity. (MIT Technology Review)

• Amazon removed seven eye drops products from its website after the FDA warned that the products were not approved as safe and effective. (The New York Times)

• Seattle-based AI observability startup WhyLabs inked a “strategic collaboration agreement” with Amazon Web Services. (WhyLabs)