Amperity names new CEO | Starform raises $6M | Apple sets smart cam sights on Ring and Wyze 

Amperity has a new CEO. Tony Alika Owens, a longtime tech exec who previously spent a decade at Salesforce, is taking the leadership reins at the Seattle-based startup that helps companies collect and manage customer data.

Need an escape from reality? The new “Tomb Raider” escape room experience in downtown Seattle could do the trick for 90 minutes. GeekWire got an inside look at the video-game-come-to-life, where teams solve puzzles to find their way out of multiple rooms. Read more.

Apple appears to be setting its sights on Wyze, Ring and other smart home security camera makers with reported plans to develop its own such hardware by 2026. Read more. 

Starform, a Seattle-based game studio led by former Z2 execs, raised $6 million to support its air combat game "Metalstorm." Read more.

• Keep track of the latest Pacific Northwest startup fundings.

“When I plugged it in, it failed quite violently,” Hunter Irving said about the 1986 Macintosh Plus computer he rescued from a thrift store. But the former Living Computers: Museum + Labs employee stuck with the machine, and is now running modern websites, including ChatGPT, on the vintage interface. 

Hot Links:

• Microsoft is ending support for the Windows Mail, Calendar, and People apps. (The Verge)

• Amazon-owned Zoox has rolled its autonomous robotaxi onto the streets of San Francisco. (Zoox)

• Median earnings for Seattle tech workers reached $157,000, up about $14,000 from the 2022 estimate, according to Census data. (The Seattle Times) 

• Amazon’s Annapurna Labs is spearheading an effort to develop AI chips that could reduce the company’s reliance on Nvidia. (Financial Times)

• Microsoft used AI to help build a digital twin of St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, offering an immersive view of the iconic church. (Microsoft)

• Entrepreneurial education at the University of Washington ranked high in an assessment of U.S. programs. (UW)

• Seattle-based tech consulting firm Point B acquired Mexico-based software development firm Lumston. (Point B)