Microsoft gets whiplash from GM’s shutdown of Cruise | Real estate brokers bullish on Amazon’s in-office push

As Amazon prepares to get workers back in the office five days per week starting next month, real estate brokers are hoping other tech companies follow suit. Read more. 

OfferUp layoffs: The Seattle-area used goods marketplace company laid off 22% of its workforce in a bid to remain profitable as it looks to expand into new product lines. Read the memo to employees.

Bitcoin rebuffed: Yesterday’s newsletter noted that Microsoft shareholders turned down a proposal for the company to consider investing in Bitcoin. That may have been an understatement. Official results, now out, show that it was practically unanimous, with less than 1% (0.55%, to be precise) backing the proposal. See how the rest of the voting shook out.

GeekWire Gala FAQ: Tonight’s the night for our annual holiday extravaganza in Seattle, featuring food, drinks, music, dancing, karaoke, games and the best chance to network with more than 600 fellow tech community members. Here’s everything you need to know.

Leaders in Washington state’s semiconductor industry have been appointed to a working group targeting billions in CHIPS and Science Act funding. Read more.

David Bonderman was remembered as a creative, smart, passionate family man by those who knew him. The University of Washington grad, TPG co-founder, billionaire investor, and co-owner of the Seattle Kraken died Wednesday at age 82.

Seattle-based marketing technology company Banzai International, which went public last year on the Nasdaq, will acquire OpenReel, a digital video creation platform for businesses, for $19.6 million in stock and warrants. Read more.

Hot Links:

• Amazon delayed the rollout of Microsoft’s cloud-based Office products for employees following concerns about security. (Bloomberg)

• The book on AI that Bill Gates recommends more than any other is “The Coming Wave,” by Mustafa Suleyman. (Gates Notes)

• CORRIM, an environmental research group based out of Corvallis, Ore., landed $2 million to study how biochar can be used for wildfire mitigation in Washington. (LinkedIn)

• An employee who clicked on a pop-up ad triggered what could have been a “catastrophic” cyberattack on Washington state’s court system. (KING 5)

• Seattle-area company PowerLight Technologies is working with the Department of Defense on wireless power beaming technology. (PowerLight)