Capital spending soars in the cloud | Amazon makes AI assistant generally available

The cost of AI: Tech giants are investing billions of dollars in technical infrastructure required to meet the demand for artificial intelligence services and products. But whether that demand will be worth the investment remains to be seen. In the meantime, companies are trying to control costs to avoid capital expenditures cutting significantly into profit margins. Read more.

Amazon made its Amazon Q AI assistant generally available as the company aims to help businesses and developers with generative AI-powered tools. It also released Q Apps, which gives non-developers the ability to create apps using natural language. Read more.

• Amazon reports its first quarter earnings Tuesday — read our preview, and check GeekWire.com later today for updates.

Forget the text prompts, this AI startup built a tool that analyzes video and creates suitable music for the footage in seconds, saving time for content creators such as filmmakers. GenreX is being incubated at Seattle’s AI2 Incubator. Read more. 

Tableau will enable local file-saving for the free version of its data visualization software, addressing a longstanding request from Tableau Public users. It's one of several announcements at the company's annual conference today. Read more. 

An innovative battery startup and a Pacific Northwest tribe are partnering to manufacture long-duration energy devices housed inside modified shipping containers. Read more. (Above: Skip Tech engineering leader Madisen McCleary makes a hydrophobic coating for the interior of a flow cell for the startup’s hydrogen bromine batteries)

Vancouver, .B.C.-based startup Bioform Technologies raised investment to develop a compostable plastic made from wood pulp. Read more.

Bothell, Wash.-based Portal Space Systems emerged from stealth mode to share its vision for satellites that make use of solar thermal propulsion to provide a quantum leap in space mobility. Read more.

Get your last-minute GeekWire Awards tickets: The big event returns May 9 to celebrate the leading innovators, entrepreneurs, scientists and business leaders in the Pacific Northwest. Limited individual tickets still available. Read all about the awards finalists.

Hot Links:

• More major U.S. newspapers are suing Microsoft and OpenAI for copyright infringement. (Axios)

• JumpStart, the payroll tax in Seattle targeting large employers such as Amazon, is keeping the city’s budget afloat — and could be used to plug holes. (The Seattle Times)

• The FCC fined major wireless carriers — including T-Mobile, which faces the largest fine — for allegedly illegally sharing customers’ location data. (The Verge)

• Twin Protocol, a new startup out of Seattle, launched the first phase of its AI voice twin platform. (Business Wire)