Anthropic acquires Vercept, the AI job crisis scenario, and Microsoft's past Epstein connections
GeekWire
GeekWire
4.8 • 127 Ratings
🗓️ 28 February 2026
⏱️ 38 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Anthropic acquired Seattle startup Vercept on Wednesday, raising familiar questions about the impact of early exits on the broader Seattle startup ecosystem, and the question of whether AI startups can compete long-term against the giants of the field.
We dig into the deal, the public feud between two of the company's early investors on LinkedIn, and why one co-founder's prior departure to Meta may have been worth more than the entire acquisition.
Plus, a new research paper envisions a 2028 "global intelligence crisis" driven by AI-fueled white collar job losses, and we're already seeing early signs in the news.
Then, the New York Times reported this week that Jeffrey Epstein built deeper connections inside Microsoft than any other major tech company. We break down the key revelations, including what we found when we searched the Epstein files for "GeekWire."
WSJ: Bill Gates Apologizes to Foundation Staff Over Epstein Ties
And stick around for GeekWire Trivia: With Xbox entering a new era under Asha Sharma, we look back at the celebrity who appeared on stage for the original Xbox unveiling 25 years ago.
With GeekWire co-founders Todd Bishop and John Cook. Edited by Curt Milton.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | But we should set the context here. |
| 0:02.5 | One of the early co-founders of RSEP was when META was going through its acquisition spree of top talent in the AI field, essentially acquired Matt Dickey for an reported... |
| 0:16.0 | $250 million. |
| 0:18.0 | $250.9. |
| 0:19.0 | That would be a really nice outcome for a full company, let alone just one individual |
| 0:24.0 | who got hired at that amount. |
| 0:25.7 | Let me just say my hunch is that Matt's exit was bigger than Berset's exit. |
| 0:32.9 | Hi and welcome to Geekwire. |
| 0:42.5 | I'm Geekwire co-founder, Todd Bishop. |
| 0:44.4 | And I'm Geekwire co-founder John Cook. |
| 0:46.1 | We are coming to you from Seattle, where we get to report each day on what's happening around us in business, technology, and innovation. |
| 0:52.5 | What happens here matters everywhere. |
| 0:53.9 | And every week on this show, we talk about some of the most interesting and importance and business, technology, and innovation. What happens here matters everywhere. |
| 0:58.1 | And every week on this show, we talk about some of the most interesting and important stories and trends in the news. |
| 1:00.5 | Coming up this week, John, are you ready for this? |
| 1:03.1 | Hit me. |
| 1:03.9 | Geekwire is in the Epstein files. |
| 1:06.7 | Oh, no. |
| 1:07.3 | With that teaser, I feel obligated to say up front, we did nothing wrong. |
| 1:12.2 | But it is a window really into the unexpected connections between Epstein and one of our local |
| 1:18.1 | tech giants. |
| 1:19.2 | How's that for a teaser? |
... |
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