Apple acquires Xnor.ai; Microsoft's bold climate plan; Seattle startup trivia
Apple doubled down on artificial intelligence and boosted its presence in Seattle with the acquisition of Xnor.ai, an Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence spinout with roots at the University of Washington, as first reported by GeekWire this week. It was a win for those institutions, and investors including Seattle's Madrona Venture Group, but it's also an example of an ambitious startup selling to a tech giant before it has the chance to become one itself. So how should we look at deals like this? Plus, Microsoft's ambitious plan to go "carbon negative" puts the tech company at the forefront of corporate efforts to address the global environmental crisis. We explore what it means for the company, for its rivalry with Amazon, and for the planet. And in our final segment, it's the GeekWire Trivia Challenge, with a chance to win a pair of tickets to the upcoming GeekWire Awards. What do Jonas Salk, who discovered and developed the polio vaccine, and John Ehrlichman, the Nixon aide and Watergate figure, have in common as it relates to Seattle startups? Listen to the third segment and send your answer to podcast@geekwire.com for a chance to win. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.