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Seattle schools sue TikTok, Meta and other platforms over youth 'mental health crisis'
Seattle public schools have sued the tech giants behind TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
Amazon is bringing its palm-reading payment tech to Whole Foods stores
Amazon's contactless payments are making a significant expansion to Whole Foods Market stores.
Amazon pledges $2 billion toward affordable housing in three hub cities
The Housing Equity Fund will help build and preserve 20,000 homes.
Seattle law will force Uber and Lyft to pay drivers a minimum hourly wage
Seattle’s city council has unanimously approved a minimum wage for Uber and Lyft drivers, becoming the second major US city to do so along with New York.
Microsoft employees ask the company to end contracts with Seattle police
Hundreds of Microsoft employees are calling on the company to cancel its contracts with the Seattle Police Department.
Amazon HQ employees can work from home until 'at least' October
Amazon's battle against COVID-19 includes letting HQ employees work from home until the fall.
Amazon will deliver at-home COVID-19 test kits in Seattle trial
Amazon is playing a direct role in COVID-19 relief beyond shipping essentials to people sheltering at home. Amazon Care, the division providing healthcare to company staff, is partnering with the Gates Foundation-backed Seattle Coronavirus Assessment Network to deliver and pick up at-home COVID-19 testing kits as part of a trial. The number of kits will be limited, but should help widen testing for the virus without relying on conventional mail and courier deliveries.
Coronavirus home testing kits are coming to Seattle
It might soon be much easier and safer to determine if someone has been infected by the novel coronavirus. The team behind a Gates Foundation-backed project told the Seattle Times that it's preparing to deliver home testing kits for the virus to Seattle (where the infection rate has been relatively high) within the "coming weeks." Potential patients swab their noses and send the samples back to a lab for study, with results ready in one to two days. If someone is infected, they can fill out an online questionnaire to determine their contact and travel habits in case officials need to notify anyone else that they might have the virus.
Amazon confirms first coronavirus diagnosis among US employees
Bloomberg reports that Amazon emailed workers to let them know an employee had tested positive for coronavirus. The company confirmed the employee worked in Seattle, at its South Lake Union office and went home sick on February 25th. They're not the first Amazon employee confirmed to test positive for the virus, after two people in Italy, and the company has already limited travel plans and backed out of events like GDC. The location of Amazon's headquarters made it more likely to be one of the first large companies with a confirmed case in the US, with all nine confirmed deaths from COVID-19 occurring in Washington. In a statement, an Amazon spokesperson said "We're supporting the affected employee who is in quarantine."
Amazon's first big 'Go' grocery store opens in Seattle with 5,000 products
Amazon's checkout-free Go concept has officially morphed into a supermarket. Amazon Go Grocery opens in Seattle today, with 5,000 items for sale across the 10,400-square-foot premises. Using a range of cameras, shelf sensors and software, shoppers can pick up the items they want and simply walk out the door -- their accounts are charged via a smartphone app as they leave.
Zillow's new search tool helps find housing for those in need
Escaping homelessness is an enormous undertaking, not least because so many landlords and property managers have strict criteria for new tenants. Those that have been homeless are often unable to provide rental histories or sizeable deposits, for example. Now though, property platform Zillow is teaming up with a housing company in Washington to help tackle the problem.
Seattle-area election will let residents vote by smartphone
Claims that Americans could vote by phone have usually been hoaxes, but Seattle-area residents will get to try the real thing before long. NPR has learned that a King County board of supervisors election on February 11th will let all eligible voters cast their ballots by smartphone -- the first time this has been an option in the country. You'll have the mobile voting option from today (January 22nd) through to the actual election day.
The legal battle over 3D-printed guns is far from over
Last year, Defense Distributed won a legal battle, which allowed it to continue uploading and sharing blueprints for 3D-printed guns. The decision was immediately criticized by states and gun-reform advocates. Now, a US District Judge has overturned the ruling. Once again, it is illegal to publish blueprints for 3D-printed guns online.
Amazon Care is a new app-based health service for its employees
Amazon has unveiled Amazon Care, a new health service that offers employees virtual consultations with in-home follow-ups. According to the website, the services include an "in-app video visit with a doctor, nurse practioner or registered nurse... for advice, answers, diagnosis, treatment or referrals." Amazon Care can also send a nurse to visit the patient if any follow-up is required.
Amazon employees will reportedly walk out over climate change inaction
More than 900 Amazon employees plan to protest the company's lack of action around climate change. In an internal petition, the employees have pledged to walk out on September 20th at 11:30AM PT. They've outlined three demands: that Amazon stop donating to politicians and lobbying groups that deny climate change, that the company stop working with oil and gas companies on fossil fuel extraction and that Amazon achieve zero carbon emissions by 2030.
Uber and Lyft admit they're making city traffic worse
Uber and Lyft may be competitors but as the two major ridesharing companies, they also have a lot in common -- including the challenges they face. To better understand their role in city traffic patterns, the companies jointly sponsored a study to determine their combined vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in six key cities. In a surprising twist, the results got Uber to admit that ridesharing companies, or transportation network companies (TNCs), do in fact contribute to congestion.
Amazon funds STEM programs in Seattle schools
Perhaps with an eye on the next generation of engineers that might be interested in working on its delivery robots or in coding, Amazon is funding computer science and robotics programs at up to 30 public schools in its Seattle home base. From this fall, the Future Engineer Robotics grants will provide schools with expanded access to computer science learning and a private tour of an Amazon robotics fulfillment center. The schools will also get support to set up FIRST robotics teams, including professional development for teachers in robotics.
Apple's Seattle workforce will quintuple by 2024
Apple is doubling down on the number of employees it plans on hiring in its new Seattle site. The company announced at a Monday news conference that it would be bringing 2,000 jobs to the city by 2024 -- twice the number it initially planned. The new roles would focus on software and hardware and effectively multiply Apple's existing workforce by five. Currently, there are roughly 500 Apple employees in Seattle, focused mainly in its retail stores and machine learning hub. The expansion would also give Apple a significant presence in Washington State, right alongside competitors Amazon and Microsoft.
Lyft's low-cost Shared Saver rides come to six more US cities
Lyft's frugal Shared Saver option is now available to many more people. The ridesharing service ahs trotted out its most affordable option to six more large US cities, including Atlanta, Las Vegas, Miami, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle. The principle remains the same: if you're comfortable with both sharing a ride and walking short distances, you can save a bit of cash versus demanding exact pick-ups and drop-offs.
Microsoft pledges $500 million to help Seattle's housing crisis
Microsoft is putting its massive balance sheet to good use by pledging $500 million to help address the housing crisis in the greater Seattle area. According to The New York Times, it's the most ambitious effort by a tech company to solve housing and homelessness issues brought about by inequality in regions where the tech industry is concentrated. Seattle, as you know, also serves as home to Amazon. The booming tech sector in the city and its surrounding areas has driven up costs of living so much, a lot of people -- including individuals the city needs, such as teachers, nurses and first responders -- are getting priced out.
