Amazon CEO dives into tough to-do list | Seattle’s place among evolving tech hubs

This just in: The European Commission gave unconditional approval to Amazon's acquisition of Hollywood studio MGM, saying Tuesday that its review determined the deal "would raise no competition concerns" in the European region. Regulators in the U.S. are operating under a deadline of today, March 15, to determine whether to challenge the deal.

Amazon gives $42.5M for affordable housing: The commitment is part of a broader effort by tech heavyweights to boost the inventory of affordable housing in the Seattle area. Read more. 

New UW building to house science programs: The University of Washington announced the 11-story project as part of the development of its west campus, now dubbed “Portage Bay Crossing.” Read more.

Bill Gates leads $84M Kymeta funding: The Redmond, Wash.-based mobile connectivity startup, backed by the Microsoft co-founder for 10 years, will use the fresh cash to accelerate production of its flat-panel antennas. Read more.

Zulily names new CEO: Terry Boyle, a former Nordstrom exec and an e-commerce vet, is taking over the top job at the Seattle-based online retailer.

Evidence of exotic phenomenon: Microsoft is feeling a lot more confident about its plan to build a topological quantum computer, now that it has fresh evidence that a controversial twist in the underlying physics could actually work.

Tech conveniences reach wider audience: COVID-19 caused society to re-envision how we shop, work and interact, but expanded conveniences such as grocery shopping online and widespread use of delivery services skipped over people who are low-income or experiencing poverty. Here’s how that’s changing.

Seattle’s place among evolving tech hubs: New reports and data show the impact of the pandemic on established “superstar” tech cities, and the emergence of new smaller hubs. While one LinkedIn study shows Seattle possibly losing tech workers, an Axios poll finds the city as the most desired location for post-grad college students. Read more.

Thanks for reading, and have a great day. — GeekWire Managing Editor Taylor Soper, taylor@geekwire.com, and GeekWire reporter Kurt Schlosser, kurt@geekwire.com.