Rolling their own: At its Build developer conference Microsoft unveiled seven in-house AI models from its Superintelligence Team, including MAI-Thinking-1, a reasoning model the company says draws even with Anthropic's Claude Sonnet 4.6 in blind testing. Microsoft AI chief Mustafa Suleyman (above) called it a step toward "long term self-sufficiency.” Translation: Microsoft wants to depend less on the companies it has backed with billions, OpenAI and Anthropic — partners and rivals with complex motivations, allegiances, and cap tables.
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What about the Super App? Microsoft teased its rumored Copilot "Super App" at Build, promising a release this summer, but didn't demo it. Longtime Microsoft watcher Mary Jo Foley assesses the situation, and explains why the combination of chat, coding, agents, and automation in a single app could be a key move for the company, when it happens. Read more.
“We will fly again before the end of the year.” Following last week's fiery New Glenn rocket explosion, Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp announced a surprisingly optimistic recovery plan, pledging to quickly repair the damaged Florida launch pad. Read more. (Above: The SkySat satellite image at left shows Blue Origin’s launch pad on May 20, before the rocket explosion. The satellite image at right shows the pad on May 31, three days after the blast.)
Best of class in student startups: BioBead, an ag-tech startup from the University of Washington, beat out a record 186 student teams to win the $25,000 grand prize at the 29th annual Dempsey Startup Competition for its innovative solution to boost soil health and crop production. Read more about the winners.
Amazon knocks off Walmart: The e-commerce and cloud giant ended the retailer’s 13-year reign atop the Fortune 500 list of the biggest U.S. companies by revenue. Amazon is only the fourth No. 1 in the 72-year history of the list. Read more.
Alitheon raises $8M: The Bellevue, Wash.-based startup is expanding its FeaturePrint technology, which uses optical AI to create a unique digital “fingerprint” for physical objects — no barcodes, tags, or labels required. Read more.
Fresh look at Amazon’s “Tomb Raider”: A new trailer shows off the ground-up “reimagining” of the 1996 video game, as British archaeologist Lara Croft heads to the lost civilization of Atlantis to solve puzzles, navigate treacherous labyrinths, and … fight dinosaurs? Read more.
21 startups join accelerator: The Washington Technology Industry Association named the early stage companies participating in its 14th Founder Cohort, focusing on areas such as AI, cybersecurity, healthcare and enterprise software. Read more.
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Researchers at Washington State University have developed a new predictive model that analyzes animal biological patterns and infection data to help scientists pinpoint exactly when deadly zoonotic viruses like Ebola are actively circulating in wildlife. (WSU News)
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Amazon is testing a new AI twist in its shopping app, surfacing AI‑generated product images inside search to help users refine vague queries — a move critics say risks confusing shoppers with pictures of items that don’t actually exist. (TechCrunch)
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A United Nations report on data center energy impacts states that if the facilities were a country, it would be projected to rank sixth-highest in power use by 2030. (AP)
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