Rover agrees to $2.3B acquisition deal | Tola Capital lands $230M for new fund

Tola Capital raises $230M for new fund: The Bellevue, Wash.-based investment firm says it's bullish about AI driving value creation. It will invest in 25-to-30 early stage enterprise software startups with the fresh cash. Read more. 

Broadcom layoffs hit Washington state: The San Jose, Calif.-based semiconductor and software tech multinational is laying off 158 workers in Bellevue, Wash., following its recent acquisition of VMware. Read more.

Amazon promotes new satellite constellation benefits: The space-based broadband network Project Kuiper could enable new options for managing data traffic with Amazon Web Services. Meanwhile, three Japanese telecoms formed a strategic collaboration that will use Kuiper services to boost connectivity for customers. Read more.

Suspicious package at Gates Foundation mail facility: A package containing a white powdery substance drew police and fire personnel to the Seattle location on Tuesday. The FBI is now investigating. Read more.

Picture this AI-generated gallery of stereotypes: Using the text-to-image generator Stable Diffusion, researchers at the University of Washington tried to create front-facing photos of people from six continents and 26 countries. The results show how far AI has to go. Read more. 

Early bird gets the … GeekWire Gala tickets! Thursday is the last day to secure the best price for our annual holiday party, Dec. 6 at the Showbox Market in Seattle. Details here.

Hot Links:

• General Motors is cutting spending on its Cruise self-driving division after recent accidents in San Francisco. Cruise tested the cars, with humans in them, in Seattle earlier this year. (The New York Times)

• Amazon deliveries are overwhelming a rural post office in Minnesota, where carriers have been told to prioritize packages over regular mail. (The Washington Post)

• GPT-4 is showing promise for some applications in radiology. (Microsoft)