Benefits and drawbacks of Amazon’s return to office | Microsoft revives nuclear reactor to power data centers

Will working five days a week in person help Amazon operate more like a startup? “I believe it has definitely helped us in terms of moving fast, removing friction, making faster decisions, and actually removing a bunch of overhead,” says Statsig CEO Vijaye Raji, above, a former Facebook VP whose startup has been fully in the office since it was founded in 2021. But there are also some trade-offs, especially when it comes to recruiting. Read more.

Related coverage:

• Amazon’s full return to the office will further slow Seattle’s already tough commute

• Amazon ‘will return to being in the office the way we were’ before the pandemic, CEO tells employees

• A ‘home run’ or a ‘cowardly’ decision? Amazon’s new in-person work policy elicits cheers and jeers

• Amazon’s new back-to-office mandate fuels debate over remote work and productivity

Microsoft announced a 20-year deal to restart a nuclear reactor at Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island — a facility made infamous by a partial meltdown in 1979. Power demand is rising as Microsoft ramps up construction of new data centers to support increased use of artificial intelligence. Read more.

Group14 Technologies is getting a $200 million grant from the Department of Energy to build a plant in Moses Lake, Wash., that will produce an essential ingredient for its next-generation battery materials. Read more.

An OceanGate mission specialist who served as a volunteer on the Titan submersible's last mission is asking the investigators of last year's tragedy to safeguard citizen science. Plus: Details emerge about an earlier Titan dive that had a topsy-turvy ending. Read more.

OfferUp is expanding beyond used goods, partnering with Thumbtack to host a home services marketplace. Read more.

Jeff Bezos reviews fiancée Lauren Sanchez’s new children’s book: Nothing like a 5-star Amazon review on your new book from the guy who created the company. Read more. 

AI and education: A University of Washington program landed a $10 million grant to support the launch of a new center that will focus on developing teaching tools that use generative AI. Read more. 

Bellevue College is using funds from the National Science Foundation to support educators using immersive video technologies to teach students. Read more.

Hot Links:

• Nike hired a new CEO as it aims to pivot its direct-to-consumer strategy. (Retail Dive)

• ‘We’re all adults here’: Starbucks’ new CEO told employees that they should be together as much as possible, but didn’t set a new return-to-office mandate. (Bloomberg)