Microsoft ponders Bitcoin investments | AI and salespeople

AI and salespeople: We caught up with Abhijit Mitra, the new CEO at Seattle-based sales automation software company Outreach, to get his take on how AI is changing the way sales teams do their work. Read more.

Melinda French Gates is giving $150 million toward her effort to increase women’s equality in the workplace. A variety of groups will share in the funds, with $45 million going to organizations focused on increasing diverse representation in tech and AI. Read more.

Former Amazon exec Dave Clark’s new startup Auger is one of the most buzzworthy stories to emerge from the Seattle region this year. In a span of two months, the supply chain technology company has come out of the blue with $100 million in funding and an 11-person executive team chock full of former Amazon leaders. Catch up on our coverage.

Tech Moves: William da Cunha, who was most recently a vice president at Cloudflare, joined Seattle startup Statsig as its new chief revenue officer. Read more.

Hot Links:

• David Bonderman, a co-owner of the Seattle Kraken and co-founder of asset management firm TPG, died Wednesday at age 82. (Seattle Kraken)

• Micron Technology will produce semiconductors in Idaho as part of a $6 billion government subsidy finalized by the Commerce Dept. (Reuters)

• Google asked the U.S. government to break up Microsoft’s exclusive deal to host OpenAI’s tech on its servers. (The Information)

• The name of a new apple from Washington State University was inspired by solar storms that sparked northern lights visible across North America. (WSU Insider)

• Why is picking the right startup co-founder so important? Yoodli’s Varun Puri explains the bond he shares with Esha Joshi. (LinkedIn)

• Amazon is polling reviewers about testimonials they’ve posted to other platforms in a potential move to target paid product reviews. (Bloomberg)