What we learned about Microsoft in the OpenAI trial, and is Seattle squandering its edge?
GeekWire
GeekWire
4.8 • 127 Ratings
🗓️ 16 May 2026
⏱️ 33 minutes
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Summary
This week: As the Musk v. OpenAI trial heads to the jury, we dig into what Microsoft's internal board memos and executive testimony revealed about the origins of the company's massive bet on AI, and why this case matters beyond the billionaire drama. Plus, Howard Schultz, a former Washington governor, and the tech community weigh in on whether Seattle is squandering its edge as an innovation capital. And Todd owes John and the United Kingdom an apology.
RELATED STORIES AND LINKS
- Microsoft's CTO testifies about email at the heart of Elon Musk's allegations against the tech giant
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- 'Strong, strong no': New filing reveals who Microsoft favored — and opposed — for OpenAI's board
- Musk v. Altman: Satya Nadella was worried about Microsoft being 'the next IBM' in OpenAI deal
- Are we on a Road to Nowhere? Seattle's growth masks deeper anxieties about its future
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- Seattle Turns Hostile to the Great Businesses It Made (Wall Street Journal, by Howard Schultz)
- Association of Washington Business 2026 Spring Summit (TVW, featuring former Gov. Chris Gregoire and former AG Rob McKenna)
With GeekWire co-founders Todd Bishop and John Cook
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I wanted to tell you what happened immediately after the doors opened at the Geekwire Awards. |
| 0:06.0 | Do you know who walked up to me? |
| 0:08.2 | Robin Twyman. |
| 0:09.9 | Do you know Robin? |
| 0:11.1 | Of course I know Robin. |
| 0:12.2 | Robin's longtime Geekwire member, the representative of the UK government here in the Seattle area and an economic development wizard. |
| 0:21.7 | So do you know what he wanted to talk to me about? Robin came up to me. Of course, he's the head of |
| 0:26.4 | the UK government office in Seattle, as you said. And the first thing he said to me was, |
| 0:31.2 | big mistake. You should not have changed the London calling headline. Yes. |
| 0:40.9 | No, he came up to me at the awards and told me the same. |
| 0:44.3 | And I said, Todd doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. |
| 0:46.4 | In general, this is true. |
| 0:47.3 | Yes, yes. |
| 1:00.7 | So he very much appreciated my desire to have London calling in the headline as it related to flying fish and their venture capital investment that they made in a high profile London-based startup. And it was really a good reference, too, in hindsight, because they had called upon London to network. |
| 1:07.0 | Yeah. |
| 1:07.4 | To network. |
| 1:10.9 | But look at all the legs we've gotten out of my mistake. |
| 1:14.7 | Okay. |
| 1:15.2 | Robin was not the only person with feedback on this. |
| 1:17.7 | We also got a email from a listener by the name of Manu who wrote in to the tip line |
| 1:23.5 | pointing out that London calling actually was not a reference to the clash necessarily. |
| 1:31.4 | Historically, it's a play on, I think, a BBC broadcast during World War II and how they |
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