GeekWire's Most-Read Stories of the Week

Catch up on the top tech stories from this past week. Here are the headlines that people have been reading on GeekWire.

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THIS WEEK'S TOP STORIES Washington state lawmakers target Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and other billionaires with wealth tax A new proposed wealth tax in Washington state would impose a 1% tax on billionaires, affecting Seattle-area tech and business leaders such as Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, and about 100 other ultra-wealthy residents. Jeff Bezos kicks back with full-thrust firing of Blue Origin’s BE-4 rocket engine in Texas If you’re hanging out in West Texas during a pandemic, there are few fireworks shows more thrilling than a test firing of your very own rocket engine. Signs point to Apple making its Seattle presence clear as logo appears at new office near Amazon In a neighborhood where it’s tough to tell what might be an Amazon office building or just another apartment complex, Apple is moving into Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood and erasing any doubt about who occupies 333 Dexter Ave. SPONSOR MESSAGE What the Biden Administration Means for Startups, a Lane Powell virtual event in partnership with GeekWire Studios Join us on February 25th at 11:00 a.m. as we discuss what the Biden administration means for startups. The main session includes a 45-minute panel discussion with Bobby Franklin, President & CEO of NVCA, and Heather Redman, Co-founder & Managing Partner at Flying Fish Partners. There will be optional breakout sessions immediately following the main session.   Pre-registration is required, space is limited. Learn more. Microsoft profits jump 33% as CEO Satya Nadella cites a ‘second wave of digital transformation’ Microsoft’s revenue climbed 17% to more than $43 billion for the December quarter, and profits rose 33% to $15.5 billion, eclipsing Wall Street’s expectations amid growing demand for the company’s cloud services as the pandemic continues to accelerate technology adoption. Washington state eases COVID-19 restrictions for Seattle region Gov. Jay Inslee announced Thursday that seven counties in Western Washington will see their COVID-19 mandated restrictions ease starting on Monday. AOC uses Amazon’s Twitch again, this time to talk Robinhood and GameStop Editor’s note: Post updated with recap of the Twitch stream below. SPONSORED: GEEK HOME OF THE DAY Statement-Making Treehouse Elevates Modern Design to New Heights Photos: Inside Amazon’s pop-up COVID-19 vaccination site at its Seattle headquarters During normal times, the Amazon Meeting Center is bustling with Amazon workers and others attending various tech-related events. Starbucks COO and Amazon board member Roz Brewer will be new Walgreens CEO Starbucks COO Roz Brewer will be the new CEO of drugstore giant Walgreens, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. Valve’s Gabe Newell on new games, brain-machine interfaces, and moving employees to New Zealand In a couple of recent interviews with New Zealand’s 1 NEWS, Valve Software’s Gabe Newell has offered a few insights on what might be next for the Bellevue, Wash.-based gaming company and why he’s interested in brain-computer interfaces for gaming. Amazon to host another pop-up COVID-19 vaccine clinic at its Seattle HQ campus on Sunday Amazon is hosting another COVID-19 vaccination clinic on its Seattle headquarters campus on Sunday, a week after the tech giant’s first pop-up effort resulted in 2,400 people receiving a shot against the deadly virus. Snow-ridden Ohio plays off Seattle’s rainy weather in clever ad campaign to attract jobs Hey, Seattle: The Buckeye state is coming for your jobs. SpaceX’s Elon Musk and Amazon’s Project Kuiper stir up a war of words over satellites SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Amazon's Project Kuiper escalated a different kind of Star Wars today, over the orbital parameters for their satellite constellations. Amazon invests in startup producing ‘net-zero carbon fuels’ for transportation Amazon announced on Tuesday that it was investing in Infinium, a Sacramento, Calif.-based startup that is developing what it describes as “net-zero carbon fuels” that can be used in transportation. Bill Gates calls for ‘mega testing’ and global disease alert system to prevent the next pandemic Bill and Melinda Gates express ongoing concern about the current pandemic in their annual letter, while also looking ahead to preventing the next one. More-transmissible COVID-19 variant confirmed in Washington state as vaccinations ramp up The new, more-transmissible variant of COVID-19 is now confirmed in Washington state.

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