Minimum wage battle tests economics of food delivery in Seattle | Can Amazon find utopia in Bellevue?

A new minimum wage law for gig workers in Seattle — and the subsequent response from tech companies — is changing the dynamics of food delivery in the city. Seattle has become a testing ground for the impact of labor standards in a growing food delivery market facilitated by tech companies that tout the flexibility and independence offered by their platforms. We’ve been talking with key stakeholders and economics experts this week to understand more. Read the story. 

Leadership change at Expedia Group: CEO Peter Kern is stepping down from the helm of the Seattle-based travel giant in May and will be replaced by Ariane Gorin, currently president of Expedia for Business. Kern, who took over during the early stages of the pandemic, will continue to serve as the company’s vice chairman and remain on its board. Read more.

Tech Moves: Apptio’s Sunny Gupta is leaving his CEO role, 17 years after founding the enterprise software giant. Read about this and more tech personnel changes.

Can Amazon find utopia in Bellevue? The Bellevue Downtown Association presented Amazon real estate chief John Schoettler (above) with an award at an event marking the BDA’s 50th anniversary, and heard his vision for the future of the company and the city. Read more.

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Hot Links:

• Shares of RFID maker Impinj were up 10% on Thursday after the company reported its fourth quarter earnings. (Impinj)

• AI in the workforce: Washington State University’s Carson College of Business issued a new report on U.S. workers’ use of artificial intelligence. (WSU)

• “I’ve noticed that if you have AI in the first line about your company I tune out.” That’s the take from Andrew Peterson, a Seattle-based investor and co-founder of Signal Sciences. (LinkedIn)

• Jedd Fisch, the new head football coach at the University of Washington, mentioned Amazon, Microsoft, and Steve Ballmer at a press conference this week. (On Montlake)

Thanks for subscribing to the GeekWire newsletter, and have a great weekend. — GeekWire managing editor Taylor Soper, taylor@geekwire.com; GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop, todd@geekwire.com; and GeekWire reporter Kurt Schlosser, kurt@geekwire.com.