AI shopping trends test Amazon’s bet against ChatGPT

Prime Day paradox: Adobe found that shoppers who clicked through to all retail sites from AI chatbots were 40% more likely to buy than those from any other channel during the four-day Prime Day shopping event last week — the first time AI-referred traffic has converted best. That puts Amazon in an unusual spot: the assistants sending other retailers their best customers are the ones the e-commerce giant has worked to keep off its site. Read more.

New advisors on state’s economy: Facing growing pressure over Washington's business climate, Gov. Bob Ferguson has launched a new advisory council featuring executives from Amazon, Microsoft, Boeing and other employers to help shape the state's economic strategy. One missing ingredient: No members from Washington’s venture capital or startup ecosystem are on the council, even though they are often considered the bench strength of a growing economy. Read more.

Microsoft's Copilot 'Super App' quest: Former Snap exec Jacob Andreou is leading the push to merge Microsoft’s consumer and enterprise Copilot into a single AI experience, and GeekWire has learned another ex-Snap VP, Peter Sellis, is joining to help. In her latest column, Mary Jo Foley looks at what Microsoft is trying to do, and what it’s up against. Read more.

AI development vs. adoption: In a breakdown of Stanford’s annual AI Index, AI researcher and entrepreneur Oren Etzioni highlights a shocking "diffusion gap": the U.S. has poured hundreds of billions into developing generative AI, yet everyday Americans are underutilizing it compared to the rest of the world. Read the latest “Etzioni on AI.”

Hot Links:

• How Microsoft’s LinkedIn helped connect an Irish footballer to the magical underdog World Cup run of the Cape Verde national football team. (NY Times)

• A massive $530 billion selloff has set Microsoft up for its worst month since 2008 as Wall Street grows increasingly nervous about the tech giant’s massive AI expenditures. (Seattle Times)

• President Trump purchased millions in Axon stock just weeks before ICE proposed a $220 million contract designed specifically around the company's latest Taser model. Axon maintains an engineering hub in Seattle. (CNBC)

• A wave of artificial intelligence wealth set to deluge San Francisco is making an affordable future feel increasingly out of reach for some young tech workers. (NY Times)

Thanks for subscribing, and have a great week. — GeekWire editor Todd Bishop, [email protected]; reporter Kurt Schlosser, [email protected]; and reporter Lisa Stiffler, [email protected].