Uber + Expedia? | What’s next in AI | Tech Moves

This week on the GeekWire Podcast: 

• Will Uber buy Expedia Group? A report this week from the Financial Times revealed that the ride-hailing company has considered a bid for the Seattle-based online travel giant. It would be notable in part because Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi (above) was Expedia Group’s CEO from 2005 to 2017 and remains on the company’s board.

• Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer appeared on “60 Minutes” to talk about his new basketball palace in Los Angeles. He also compared the stress of running Microsoft to that of owning an NBA team.

• And finally, we discuss a new GeekWire project, Microsoft @ 50, and get a window into what’s next in AI from Peter Lee, the Microsoft Research president. This is bonus content from an interview for the first story in the series, published this week, tracing the evolution of AI inside Microsoft.   

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

Tech Moves: Yahoo's former CMO is joining Starbucks; the CEO of Shape Therapeutics stepped down; and other key personnel changes.

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

• Oct. 21: Seattle Fusion Week 2024

• Oct. 23: Women in Tech In-Person Conference- Microsoft Reactor, Redmond

• Oct. 24: Startup Formation and Fundraising – What Founders Need to Know

• Oct. 25: Pitches 2 Bitches Mainstage

Check out the GeekWire Calendar for more.

Hot Links:

• Salesforce chief Marc Benioff took some shots at Microsoft’s Copilot AI technology. (VentureBeat; Jim Alkove via LinkedIn)

• Amazon released a new $35 Fire TV Stick. (Tom’s Guide)

• Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman doesn’t anticipate immediate changes to the housing sector following the presidential election. (Yahoo Finance via YouTube)

• Uber considered acquiring Expedia — but perhaps Amazon has the most to gain by purchasing the travel behemoth. (PhocusWire)

Thanks for subscribing to the GeekWire newsletter, and have a great weekend. — GeekWire Editor Taylor Soper, taylor@geekwire.com; GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop, todd@geekwire.com; and GeekWire reporter Kurt Schlosser, kurt@geekwire.com.