Week in Review: Most popular stories on GeekWire for the week of Aug. 10, 2025
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Most popular stories on GeekWire
Reports of stricter Microsoft return-to-office policy add to post-layoff uncertainty
Is Microsoft about to shake up its workforce again? A new report this week by The Verge is adding to the speculation that the company is preparing to tighten its return-to-office policy, potentially requiring most employees at its Redmond headquarters to be on-site at least three days a week starting in January. In response to an inquiry from GeekWire, a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed that the company is reviewing its flexible work guidelines, as it has in the past, but said no final decisions have been made. … Read More
Photos: Inside the Allen Institute for AI's new HQ in Seattle's first mass-timber office building
It was a big news week for Seattle's Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (Ai2), including the announcement of a new AI robotics initiative and a landmark grant from Nvidia and the National Science Foundation to lead the creation of the future AI backbone for U.S. … Read More
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37 minutes ago
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Games industry in search of new winning combo at Gamescom 2025
The global games industry gathers for the vast Gamescom trade fair in Cologne this week, with hopes that upcoming heavy-hitters like "GTA VI" can help the industry escape its doldrums. Tuesday's opening night event will show off major releases slated for the months ahead, with the starring role going to "Black Ops 7" -- the new instalment in the sprawling "Call of Duty" saga. Trade visitors will have Wednesday to peruse the stands and make connections, before tens of thousands of enthusiastic gamers are unleashed on the vast salon from Thursday to Sunday. Last year's Gamescom drew almost 335,000 people to the Cologne exhibition centre, where studios lay on vast stands with consoles or PCs offering hands-on play with the latest releases. Nintendo is back in 2025 after staying away last year, surfing on record launch sales for its Switch 2 console. And Microsoft's Xbox gaming division will show off new portable hardware expected to be released towards the end of the year. Sony, the Japanese giant behind the PlayStation, has opted out this time around. The mood is mixed for the roughly 1,500 exhibitors attending this year, as major publishers have recently steered back into profitability but the job cuts seen over the past two years continue. In early July, Microsoft said it would lay off around 9,000 people, with hundreds leaving game studios like "Candy Crush" developer King and several games cancelled, including "Perfect Dark" and "Everwild". - Battle for attention - "The industry is consolidating quite a bit" after the bumper years when Covid-19 lockdowns created a captive audience, said Rhys Elliott of specialist games data firm Alinea Analytics. Around 30,000 workers have lost their jobs since early 2023, according to tracking site Games Industry Layoffs -- more than 4,000 of them so far this year. Revenue in the global games market should hold steady at just under $190 billion this year, data firm Newzoo has forecast. The number of players and hours spent with the medium are stable while an ever-expanding number of titles are jostling for attention. And with leviathans like "Roblox" or "Fortnite" swallowing the attention of hundreds of millions of monthly users, "everyone's fighting for a smaller share of that pie," said Circana expert Mat Piscatella. The need to find new audiences has pushed Microsoft's Xbox, the biggest games publisher in the world, to switch strategy, increasingly offering its titles on competing console makers' hardware. "They've had really great success on the PlayStation platform. Sony is making a bunch of money on that too," Piscatella said "It's a little bit of a win-win all the way around." Some PlayStation games are making the trip in the opposite direction, with "Helldivers 2" the first to be made available on Xbox as well as the traditional PC port. - Success on a budget - Shoring up sales is vital in an era where the cost of developing high-spec "AAA" games has mounted into the hundreds of millions of dollars -- exposing studios to massive risk should their games not perform as hoped. But several breakout hits have recently shown that lower-budget games can still win over players with gameplay, story and art style, such as four-million-selling French turn-based battler "Clair Obscur: Expedition 33". "There's a realisation you don't need to spend masses of money to deliver a high-quality game that can appeal broadly and so everyone is rushing towards that model," said Christopher Dring, founder of industry website The Game Business. But "for every 'Clair Obscur' success story, there are 10 games that fail to find an audience at all," Piscatella pointed out. "It's hyper-competitive for those products outside of that big sphere" and smaller developers must fight hard for the funding they need to get games to market. Nor is the cult-hit trend likely to displace the mega-budget mastodons. Analysts predict that Rockstar Games' vast "Grand Theft Auto VI" could notch up the biggest launch for any entertainment product in history. That might be the juice the flagging industry needs to regain some of its mojo. kf/tgb/gv/lb Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Games industry in search of new winning combo at Gamescom 2025
The global games industry gathers for the vast Gamescom trade fair in Cologne this week, with hopes that upcoming heavy-hitters like "GTA VI" can help the industry escape its doldrums. Tuesday's opening night event will show off major releases slated for the months ahead, with the starring role going to "Black Ops 7" -- the new instalment in the sprawling "Call of Duty" saga. Trade visitors will have Wednesday to peruse the stands and make connections, before tens of thousands of enthusiastic gamers are unleashed on the vast salon from Thursday to Sunday. Last year's Gamescom drew almost 335,000 people to the Cologne exhibition centre, where studios lay on vast stands with consoles or PCs offering hands-on play with the latest releases. Nintendo is back in 2025 after staying away last year, surfing on record launch sales for its Switch 2 console. And Microsoft's Xbox gaming division will show off new portable hardware expected to be released towards the end of the year. Sony, the Japanese giant behind the PlayStation, has opted out this time around. The mood is mixed for the roughly 1,500 exhibitors attending this year, as major publishers have recently steered back into profitability but the job cuts seen over the past two years continue. In early July, Microsoft said it would lay off around 9,000 people, with hundreds leaving game studios like "Candy Crush" developer King and several games cancelled, including "Perfect Dark" and "Everwild". - Battle for attention - "The industry is consolidating quite a bit" after the bumper years when Covid-19 lockdowns created a captive audience, said Rhys Elliott of specialist games data firm Alinea Analytics. Around 30,000 workers have lost their jobs since early 2023, according to tracking site Games Industry Layoffs -- more than 4,000 of them so far this year. Revenue in the global games market should hold steady at just under $190 billion this year, data firm Newzoo has forecast. The number of players and hours spent with the medium are stable while an ever-expanding number of titles are jostling for attention. And with leviathans like "Roblox" or "Fortnite" swallowing the attention of hundreds of millions of monthly users, "everyone's fighting for a smaller share of that pie," said Circana expert Mat Piscatella. The need to find new audiences has pushed Microsoft's Xbox, the biggest games publisher in the world, to switch strategy, increasingly offering its titles on competing console makers' hardware. "They've had really great success on the PlayStation platform. Sony is making a bunch of money on that too," Piscatella said "It's a little bit of a win-win all the way around." Some PlayStation games are making the trip in the opposite direction, with "Helldivers 2" the first to be made available on Xbox as well as the traditional PC port. - Success on a budget - Shoring up sales is vital in an era where the cost of developing high-spec "AAA" games has mounted into the hundreds of millions of dollars -- exposing studios to massive risk should their games not perform as hoped. But several breakout hits have recently shown that lower-budget games can still win over players with gameplay, story and art style, such as four-million-selling French turn-based battler "Clair Obscur: Expedition 33". "There's a realisation you don't need to spend masses of money to deliver a high-quality game that can appeal broadly and so everyone is rushing towards that model," said Christopher Dring, founder of industry website The Game Business. But "for every 'Clair Obscur' success story, there are 10 games that fail to find an audience at all," Piscatella pointed out. "It's hyper-competitive for those products outside of that big sphere" and smaller developers must fight hard for the funding they need to get games to market. Nor is the cult-hit trend likely to displace the mega-budget mastodons. Analysts predict that Rockstar Games' vast "Grand Theft Auto VI" could notch up the biggest launch for any entertainment product in history. That might be the juice the flagging industry needs to regain some of its mojo. kf/tgb/gv/lb Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
S&P 500 Hits 6,400 on AI Boom: ETFs in Focus
The S&P 500 reached a new milestone on Aug. 13, 2025, closing above 6,400 for the first time. The rally was driven by large-cap technology stocks. While Trump's tariffs caused some upheavals in the early phase of the year, the tech stocks once again have led the charge. Jessica Rabe, co-founder of DataTrek Research, noted that investors are continuing to favor large-cap U.S. tech stocks over large caps in general — and that this trend is not done yet. Top 20 Stocks Outperforming the Index Rabe highlighted that the 20 largest companies on the S&P 500 have risen at an average of 40.6% since the market bottom compared to the index's overall 27.9% gain. This means these top holdings have pulled the index higher, while the remaining 480 stocks have been a relative drag. Most of the outperformers — including NVIDIA (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG), Meta (META), Broadcom (AVGO), Tesla (TSLA), JPMorgan (JPM), Netflix (NFLX), Oracle (ORCL), and Palantir (PLTR) — share a common chord: AI-backed fundamentals. Industrials Also Riding the AI Wave Citi US equity strategist Scott Chronert, who recently boosted his year-end S&P 500 target to 6,600, said the Industrials rally is also tied to AI spending, with companies benefiting from the technology's infrastructure demands, as quoted on Yahoo Finance. Chronert believes the real opportunity lies in the longer term, as more companies will be adopting AI to improve margins and productivity. AI ETFs in Focus Against this backdrop, below we highlight a few AI-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that deserve a place in your portfolio. Global X Artificial Intelligence & Technology ETF AIQ The underlying Indxx Artificial Intelligence & Big Data Index is designed to provide exposure to exchange-listed companies in developed markets that are positioned to benefit from the further development and implementation of artificial intelligence technology, as well as to companies that provide critical technology and services for the analysis of large and complex data sets. The fund charges 68 bps in fees. Invest in Gold Thor Metals Group: Best Overall Gold IRA Priority Gold: Up to $15k in Free Silver + Zero Account Fees on Qualifying Purchase American Hartford Gold: #1 Precious Metals Dealer in the Nation iShares Exponential Technologies ETF XT The underlying Morningstar Exponential Technologies Index measures the performance of equity securities that are involved with the creation of groundbreaking technologies or that are users that apply such technologies within their businesses. The fund charges 46 bps in fees. Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF BOTZ The underlying Indxx Global Robotics & Artificial Intelligence Thematic Index invests in companies that potentially stand to benefit from increased adoption and utilization of robotics and artificial intelligence, including those involved with industrial robotics and automation, non-industrial robots, and autonomous vehicles. The fund charges 68 bps in fees. ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF ARKQ The ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF is an actively managed ETF that seeks long-term growth of capital by investing under normal circumstances primarily in domestic and foreign equity securities of autonomous technology and robotics companies that follow the theme of disruptive innovation. The fund charges 75 bps in fees. ROBO Global Robotics & Automation Index ETF ROBO The underlying ROBO Global Robotics and Automation Index measures the performance of companies that derive a portion of their revenues and profits from robotics-related or automation-related products or services. The fund charges 95 bps in fees. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF (ARKQ): ETF Research Reports ROBO Global Robotics and Automation Index ETF (ROBO): ETF Research Reports Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF (BOTZ): ETF Research Reports iShares Exponential Technologies ETF (XT): ETF Research Reports Global X Artificial Intelligence & Technology ETF (AIQ): ETF Research Reports This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research
