Amazon hires three Covariant founders in latest AI ‘reverse acquihire’

Amazon hired three founders from Covariant and licensed AI technology from the Bay Area warehouse robotics company. About 25% of Covariant’s employees will join Amazon. It’s another example of a move dubbed a “reverse acquihire,” in which tech giants get AI talent and technology without the regulatory hurdles of an actual acquisition. Amazon announced the deal late Friday, just before the long holiday weekend. Read more. Above, Covariant CEO and co-founder Peter Chen.

• In other major Amazon news, users reported a widespread outage of the checkout system on Amazon.com starting Friday afternoon. Read more.

Go back inside the Living Computers Museum: The Seattle institution closed for good in June, but fans of the museum can take a walk down memory lane thanks to a virtual tour created by Seattle-area tech vet Paolo Tosolini. He recently updated the tour with links to the Christie’s auction that includes some of the mainframes, minicomputers, and other artifacts from computing history assembled by the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Read more.

This week on the GeekWire Podcast, we revisit the controversy over Starbucks' hybrid work policy for its new CEO, Brian Niccol; discuss the cyberattack that crippled computer systems at Sea-Tac Airport in the Seattle area this week; and provide an update on last week's episode about AI text-to-music generators. 

🎙️Read more and listen here, and subscribe to GeekWire in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.

📆 Upcoming events: Tech and startup community gatherings on our radar next week in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest.

• This weekend: PAX West at the Seattle Convention Center

• Sept. 5: Mobile Future Forward 2024 – Quantumverse

• Sept. 11: GeekWire Rooftop Summer Party + Mariners Day

• Sept. 19: Black Tech Night

Check out the GeekWire Calendar for more.

Hot Links:

• The Port of Seattle said a majority of international airlines at Sea-Tac Airport are back to printing boarding passes and bag tags as it recovers from a suspected cyberattack that began a week ago. (Port of Seattle)

• Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is in his element as the L.A. Clippers chairman, as the NBA team prepares to open its new arena, the Intuit Dome in Southern California. (Vanity Fair)

• Microsoft cybersecurity researchers detailed how a North Korean hacking group exploited a bug in Chrome-based browsers in a bid to steal cryptocurrency. (TechCrunch; Microsoft Security)