Washington state's AI task force signs off: The group finished two years of work with four of its 11 recommendations enacted, all of them narrow ones covering companion chatbots and AI in health insurance decisions. Proposals to regulate high-risk AI decision-making and require disclosure of training data died in the Legislature. At a panel this week, startup founders questioned compliance costs and advocates pushed for more.
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Above, from left: Ryan Burns of Responsible AI Washington, Amy Harris of the Washington Technology Industry Association, Yuki Ishizuka of the Washington Attorney General’s Office, and Katy Ruckle of Washington Technology Solutions, at Wednesday’s panel on the state AI task force’s final report. (GeekWire Photo / Grace Kaste)
This is way mo’ fun: A boxy baby blue van spotted in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood is Waymo’s newest autonomous test vehicle — the Ojai. There’s still a driver in the front seat. The company has been laying the groundwork since September for a future in which paid robotaxi rides will be a transportation option. Read more.
More job cuts: Salesforce is eliminating 59 jobs across its Seattle and Bellevue offices, including Tableau roles. It’s the company's third round of cuts this year and the latest in a rough week for the region, following layoffs at Google and Zillow. Affected positions span software engineering, product management, technical support, marketing, and sustainability. Read more.
Murphy's Law of AI: Oren Etzioni writes that the AI break-ins disclosed over the past three weeks by OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta and the UK's AI Security Institute were entirely predictable. Anything AI can do wrong, it will do wrong, and better alignment won't stop it. Read more.
Empty seats, filled: Portland's HitchPiggy is building an Airbnb-style marketplace for intercity car trips, letting drivers post rides they're already taking and pick up passengers headed the same way. Founder Skylar Windham — a therapist and sailing instructor with no coding background — built it with AI tools and has 100-plus users signed up since June. Read more.
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LA-based live shopping platform Whatnot, which opened an engineering outpost in Seattle last year, announced $545 million in funding to accelerate seller growth by expanding into new categories, boosting buyer marketing and rolling out AI-assisted tools for small businesses. (Whatnot)
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The number of people treated at Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center for injuries involving e-bikes or e-scooters rose from 77 in 2021 to 252 last year, according to new data. (Axios)
Thanks for subscribing, and have a great weekend. — GeekWire editor Todd Bishop, [email protected]; reporter Kurt Schlosser, [email protected]; and reporter Lisa Stiffler, [email protected].
