Ai2 system finds promising signal in cancer data, previously hidden to scientists

AI and cancer research: An AI system built by the Allen Institute for AI (Ai2) found evidence that a common breast cancer subtype may respond to immunotherapy, contrary to longstanding assumptions that it wouldn’t. The finding has led to an expanded partnership with the Paul G. Allen Research Center at Providence Swedish, which is now deploying the system on its own patient data to look for similar signals across other diseases.

Levanta raises $22M for creator matchmaking: The Seattle-based startup secured new funding to expand its platform that connects e-commerce brands on Amazon, Walmart, and Shopify with social media influencers. With revenue up 80% year-over-year, the company plans to use the capital to support international growth and integrate additional retail marketplaces.

Reality check on the Gates plan: In his latest column, Oren Etzioni pushes back on two proposals in Bill Gates’ new AI essay, arguing that a tax on AI tokens would fall on tutoring rather than displacement and that reserving jobs for humans assumes a caregiving workforce that doesn’t exist. He’d keep the robot tax and route the money into retraining and higher pay.

• Previously: Gates told GeekWire he’s “very concerned” that the AI industry is crossing safety lines it set for itself, and said the world needs to prepare for the impact.

Microsoft 2.5: Ali Farhadi, the former Allen Institute for AI CEO who’s now running Microsoft’s Superintelligence team, is aiming to make Microsoft self-sufficient in AI models. In a new installment of our Microsoft 2.5 series, profiling the company’s next wave of leaders, he tells Mary Jo Foley the keys are cost, reliability, specialization and deployment at scale.

T-Mobile layoffs: The wireless giant is cutting 77 jobs in Washington state, according to a new state filing. Impacted positions span corporate and retail positions, from principal systems architects and senior directors to mobile experts in stores.

Cory Black is a former tech worker who left his career to focus on juggling, mostly of soccer balls. (Vitz Photography Photo)

From tech engineer to circus performer: Former Facebook software developer Cory Black left his desk job behind to pursue a full-time career as an elite soccer freestylist and juggler. Fresh off winning a bronze medal at the 2026 International Jugglers’ Association Championships, the Bellevue native and UW computer science grad finds that tackling complex juggling patterns draws on a similar problem-solving mindset as writing code.

• “Keep winning, and learn a lot”: Those are two of the goals for Vinod Khosla after the tech investor and his family earned the approval of NFL owners for their $9.6 billion purchase of the Seattle Seahawks. (Seahawks)
• Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and AWS CEO Matt Garman are among Time magazine’s 100 leaders, innovators and thinkers reshaping advances in AI. (Time)
• Surrender your phone at this bar and get a beer for $1. That’s the premise of a phone-free exercise that is one of several popping up around Seattle aimed at helping people better connect in person. (Seattle Times)
• Bellevue-based Truveta (GeekWire 200 #3), is providing the data platform for a new NIH-funded Johns Hopkins study on the long-term value and accessibility of GLP-1 therapies. (Globe Newswire)
• AWS and Nvidia are significantly expanding their AI infrastructure partnership, deepening integration across GPUs, CPUs, networking and open models to meet what both companies say is demand outpacing every forecast. (Nvidia)
• Seattle-based Interlune replicated 15,000 years of solar wind exposure in four hours as part of its effort to develop technology for mining helium-3 on the Moon, a rare isotope with applications in medical research, advanced cooling and energy. (Ars Technica)

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