Melinda French Gates will depart Gates Foundation with $12.5B | OpenAI unveils latest flagship AI model

“This is not a decision I came to lightly,” Melinda French Gates wrote Monday in announcing that she is resigning as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Seattle-based philanthropic organization she started with her ex-husband 24 years ago.

• As per an agreement with Bill Gates, French Gates will leave in June with $12.5 billion, which she said she plans to use toward her own work on behalf of women and families.

• The foundation will change its name to the Gates Foundation. CEO Mark Suzman called the announcement “very sad news” and praised the “profound and lasting legacy” of French Gates. Read the story. 

ChatGPT vs. Alexa: OpenAI focused heavily on ChatGPT’s expanded voice and vision capabilities in demos of its latest flagship model, GPT-4o, including the ability for ChatGPT to translate between spoken languages in real-time. It’s the latest illustration of how far Amazon’s Alexa is falling behind in AI. No word yet on the rollout of the “Alexa, Let’s Chat” feature, which Amazon previewed last fall. Watch the presentation by OpenAI CTO Mira Murati.

The rapid growth of AI is driving demand for energy to power data centers. The result is a new paradox for Microsoft and Amazon, which have set bold climate goals to slash their carbon emissions ahead of international targets — but now have rising energy needs thanks to a surge in AI that is stoking their businesses. Read more.

Likening their tech to “QuickBooks for legal docs,” Seattle startup Aerial raised $2 million for its AI-powered solution to managing unstructured business data. Read more.  

IT services giant Kyndryl acquired Skytap, the Seattle-based cloud migration services company founded 17 years ago that raised money from Madrona, Ignition, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Read more. 

In case you missed the GeekWire Awards last week, here’s a recap of all the winners. 

• We hear from the finalists and winners on the latest GeekWire Podcast episode.

Hot Links:

• Amazon-owned self-driving company Zoox is under investigation by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office after two incidents involving its SUVs. (Bloomberg)

• Microsoft and Amazon are investing $5.6 billion into France. (CNBC)

• T-Mobile is bringing its 5G technology to the PGA Championship in a first for a live golf broadcast. (T-Mobile)