Google and Amazon office buildout updates | Vote for Innovation of the Year

• Amazon is getting back to work on 22 floors of unfinished space inside Sonic, a 42-story office tower (above) that is part of the company’s big expansion in Bellevue, where the company now employs 12,000 workers. Read more.

• Google, meanwhile, has not built out space at a recently completed building and paused construction plans on another building at Kirkland Urban, according to a new market report. Read more.

Amazon is closing its Fresh grocery store in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood as it looks to focus on larger formats. The Pike Street store originally opened as a Go Grocery in 2020 after years of secrecy. Read more. 

• The store featured Amazon’s “Just Walk Out” technology, which Amazon confirmed will be phased out of its larger grocery stores. The physical stores team responsible for the tech was part of recent layoffs at AWS. 

Vote for Innovation of the Year: It’s a big year for artificial intelligence, telecom advances, and tools designed to make these emerging technologies safe and transparent, judging from the finalists in this GeekWire Awards category. Read more, and cast your vote.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill into law that key players hope will be a boon for the semiconductor industry statewide and may open the door for more federal funding from the CHIPS and Science Act. Read more.

• See all recent Pacific Northwest startup fundings with our handy list. 

• A judge overseeing a Seattle-area triple murder case blocked the use of video enhanced by AI as evidence in what may be a first-of-its-kind ruling in the U.S. (NBC News)

• Seattle startup Overland AI was awarded up to $18.6 million to develop a prototype autonomy stack for the U.S. Army’s Robotic Combat Vehicles. (Overland AI)
• Amazon’s waste from plastic packaging is growing in the U.S., up nearly 10% from last year, according to a report from conservation group Oceana. (The Verge)