This week on the GeekWire Podcast, we start by opening the listener mailbag, highlighting some recent comments that set a new standard for critical feedback, in different ways.
We discuss Vayo, the AI travel venture Booking Holdings is launching in Seattle, home of its biggest rival, Expedia. Led by recent guest Mike Fridgen, Vayo uses AI agents to manage your trips. It’s an example of the broader push to build personalized AI agents, even as more companies wall off their sites from rival agents.
Then we take on LinkedIn’s list of the top Seattle startups, where four of the top 10, including No. 1 Anthropic, aren’t headquartered in the region.
And finally, we talk about Amazon’s new Bee AI wearables, which can turn things you say into shopping suggestions on Amazon.com if you opt in and pay $12 a month. That leads into the GeekWire Trivia Challenge, about an earlier Amazon wristband that listened to you.
Related links
- Booking Holdings unveils AI travel startup Vayo, based in Seattle, with a planned $100M investment
- LinkedIn just released its list of the top 10 Seattle startups: One problem, nearly half aren’t based in the region
- Amazon’s new AI devices can listen to conversations and suggest things to buy — if you opt in
- Amazon’s Halo disappears: Tech giant discontinues health devices and service, promises refunds
- Live show: Amazon, Meta and the fight over the future of AI; Plus, is Seattle still the place to build?
Edited and produced by Curt Milton; Music by Daniel L.K. Caldwell.