NASA's massive Space Launch System rocket crept toward its Florida launch pad today at a top speed of about 1 mph, marking the first step in a journey that will eventually send astronauts around the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. ET (4 a.m. PT) and was expected to take about 12 hours. “We have, I think, zero intention of communicating an actual launch date until we get through wet dress,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman told reporters. The trip will take them as far as 4,800 miles beyond the lunar far side — farther out than any human has gone before. One of the crew members, Christina Koch, recalled an exchange she had with Apollo 13's Fred Haise at a commemorative event. “Before I even said, ‘Hello, sir, great to see you,' he goes, ‘I heard you're going to break our record,'” she said. Mission commander Reid Wiseman said he's already seeing the moon in a different light. “One of the most magical things for me in this experience is, when I looked out a few mornings ago, there was a beautiful crescent in the morning sunrise, and I truly just see the far side,” he said. And seeing Earthrise, just flipping the moon over and seeing it from the other perspective, is what I think when I look out right now.” That mission is officially set for no earlier than mid-2027, but industry experts expect the schedule to slip. During today's news briefing, Isaacman took an even longer view. “This is the start of a very long journey,” he said. Isaacman, who served as the billionaire CEO of the Shift4 payment processing company before becoming NASA's chief last month, said that America's space effort is sending humans back to the moon “to figure out the orbital and lunar economy, for all of the science and discovery possibilities that are out there, to inspire my kids, your kids, kids all around the world, to want to grow up and contribute to this unbelievable endeavor that we're on right now.” Several companies with a presence in the Seattle area are already part of that lunar economy. And Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin space venture, headquartered in Kent, is building a Blue Moon lander that's meant to put Artemis crews on the lunar surface starting in 2030. Isaacman hinted that Blue Origin could be in for a bigger role in the lunar economy as the Artemis program hits its stride. GeekWire Studios has partnered with AWS for the Guide to re:Invent. This interview series took place on the Expo floor at AWS re:Invent 2025, and features insightful conversations about the future of cloud tech, as well as partnership success stories. Click for more about underwritten and sponsored content on GeekWire. Have a scoop that you'd like GeekWire to cover? Blue Origin puts a lunar spin on suborbital research flight of New Shepard rocket ship Rocketdyne redux: Seattle area's oldest rocket factory to get new ownership under old name

Anahita Laverack was set on becoming an aerospace engineer, but her career took a different turn after a realization at an autonomous robotics challenge inspired her to launch Oshen, a company that builds fleets of robots that collect ocean data. She, like everyone else that has tried this challenge, was unsuccessful. “I realized half the reason that all of these attempts were failing is, number one, obviously it's hard to make micro-robots survive on the ocean,” Laverack told TechCrunch. Laverack set out for different conferences, like Oceanology International, to find this missing ocean data. She quickly realized that no one had really figured out a good way to collect it yet. Those conversations were the basis for Oshen, which Laverack founded alongside Ciaran Dowds, an electrical engineer, in April 2022. The company now builds fleets of autonomous micro-robots, called C-Stars, that can survive in the ocean for 100 days straight and are deployed in swarms to collect ocean data. Laverack said she and Dowds chose not to pursue venture capital right away when launching the company. “The problem is you really need your boats to work in all seasons. So, that led to some adventure, which I wouldn't say any more about, but there were certainly some interesting events there.” Getting the tech just right was difficult, Laverack said, because it's not as easy as just taking an existing larger robot and shrinking it down. Many other companies have successfully gotten two of the three correct, Laverack said. The company caught the attention of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) two years ago, but Laverack said that their tech just wasn't ready to be deployed reliably yet. Five of these C-Stars were thrown overboard and made their way into position by the U.S. Virgin Islands where NOAA predicted Hurricane Humberto was headed. Now, the company has moved to a hub for marine tech companies in Plymouth, England, and has started racking up contracts with customers, including the U.K. government, for both weather and defense operations. Becca is a senior writer at TechCrunch that covers venture capital trends and startups. You can contact or verify outreach from Becca by emailing rebecca.szkutak@techcrunch.com. Parloa triples its valuation in 8 months to $3B with $350M raise Mira Murati's startup, Thinking Machines Lab, is losing two of its co-founders to OpenAI AI models are starting to crack high-level math problems Google announces a new protocol to facilitate commerce using AI agents

Someone listening to last week's GeekWire Podcast caught something we missed: a misleading comment by Alexa during our voice ordering demo — illustrating the challenges of ordering by voice vs. screen. We followed up with Amazon, which says it has fixed the underlying bug. We discuss the larger issues and play a highlight from our interview with Microsoft President Brad Smith. Also: the technology capturing images of every fan at Lumen Field, UK police blame Copilot for a hallucinated soccer match, and Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman departs six months after the company's acquisition by Rocket. Does Compute, presented by Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science and GeekWire Studios, is a podcast exploring the ways that computer science is reshaping our world through building useful stuff that works. GeekWire Podcast: Alexa's next act, Microsoft's retail play, Google's AI Inbox, and a smart bird feeder fail GeekWire Podcast: Silver lining for Seattle in DJI ban, and a verdict on the 2007 Camry tech retrofit The stories that defined 2025: AI dreams, brutal realities, and Seattle tech at a turning point GeekWire Podcast: Alexa's next act, Microsoft's retail play, Google's AI Inbox, and a smart bird feeder fail Claude meets Alexa: Amazon will reportedly use Anthropic's AI to help power its voice assistant Alexa+ in the real world: How I'm using Amazon's new assistant, and where it could still improve

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. The KTC H27E6 leaves out a few minor bits but provides a superb image and premium video processing for an addictive gaming experience. It delivers impressively high performance for the price. Premium video processing with low input lag Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test. One of the great things about competition among the best gaming monitors is that more product choices ensure better performance for all. I'm checking one out here with my first review of a monitor from KTC, which stands for “Key To Combat.” It's called the H27E6, and it's a 27-inch QHD IPS panel with a 300 Hz refresh rate (320 Hz with overclock), Adaptive-Sync, HDR400, and wide gamut color. That already puts it ahead of nearly every other monitor at a similar price. And a reliable overclock bumps the refresh rate up to 320 Hz. Adaptive-Sync is also included with faultless operation on both AMD and Nvidia platforms. HDMI 2.1 means consoles can join the VRR party too. Though there are no Quantum Dots, the H27E6 covers over 101% of DCI-P3, which also puts it ahead of many other screens. I got decent accuracy from my sample after a calibration, more on that later. The picture is very dynamic too, thanks to a class-leading contrast ratio of 1,500:1. Though that isn't quite in VA or OLED territory, it is higher than nearly all the other IPS panels you can buy. Features and styling have not been skimped on. And you get MPRT backlight strobing as an alternative to G-Sync or FreeSync. The H27E6 sets itself apart from others with white elements on the back, base, and upright, and you get a solid stand with full ergonomics. A handy joystick controls all functions, and there's LED lighting that you can control from the OSD. The only things left out here are speakers and USB ports. Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. The H27E6 arrives packed securely in crumbly foam and assembles without tools. If you'd rather use your own arm or bracket, there's a 100mm VESA mount in back, but you'll need to source your own fasteners. White displays always stand out, and the H27E6 manages to look different without screaming for attention. The stand is of decent quality with just a little wobble, but firm movements that maintain position. G-Sync works only through DisplayPort, but FreeSync will operate over any input. The HDMIs support VRR for consoles as well. You can see a USB port in the photo, but it's just for firmware updates. There are no internal speakers, but you get a 3.5mm headphone jack. It's the first one I've seen with selectable color schemes, there are four to choose from. User is the default, and it makes all image controls available. Calibration options are all in the Color menu where you get four fixed color temps and five gamma presets. You can also adjust hue and saturation for all six colors and engage a low blue light mode. The aids include crosshairs (two shapes in five colors), a timer and an FPS counter. The overdrive has three fixed levels and a dynamic option. I found it worked without artifacts at the Standard setting. Dynamic showed slight ghosting, but it stayed consistent with changes in frame rate. You also get MPRT (backlight strobing) that works up to 320 Hz and retains the overdrive. However, you can't use it with Adaptive-Sync. But it is one of the better examples I've seen with only a slight phasing artifact. My H27E6 sample needed a bit of tweaking for the best picture. My settings are below, and you'll notice the RGB values for HDR as well. This is one of the only monitors I've encountered that includes HDR calibration, and it too makes a positive difference. The image is superb once calibrated and gaming feel is on par with any premium display I've encountered. The picture is superb for SDR and HDR. It's the only monitor I've seen that leaves the RGB sliders active for HDR, so I used them to make a visible improvement in both color accuracy and perceived contrast. It doesn't have any dynamic dimming for HDR, but the IPS panel renders around 1,500:1, which is 50% better than the class average. Panel response is super quick and smooth at 320 Hz, which ran reliably for the entirety of my review. You can set the overclock once and forget it. My test PC, with its GeForce RTX 4090, had no trouble maintaining 320 fps at QHD resolution with Doom Eternal's detail set to max. And it took no time for me to commit those movements to muscle memory so I could stop where I wanted. If you don't have a high-performance video card, the MPRT feature works very well, as does the overdrive. MPRT cancels out Adaptive-Sync but still lets you use the overclock to 320 Hz. It also retains the overdrive, so you can get excellent motion resolution at lower framerates. If you can keep it above 200 fps, though, stick with AS and overdrive on the Standard setting for tear-free operation. As a 27-inch flat QHD monitor, it is ideally suited for day-to-day use, with 109 ppi pixel density and a sharp picture. The screen's anti-glare layer works as advertised without imparting any grain or artifacts. Color is vivid and bright with just the right balance. The native gamut covers 101% of DCI-P3, which makes it a little oversaturated for SDR but pleasing, nonetheless. The gamma presets were grayed out, but I could calibrate grayscale in this mode, which is a standout feature. Most monitors gray out all picture options in their alternate gamut modes. I enjoyed the H27E6's styling very much, mainly because its white accents set it apart from the sea of black displays that come across my desk. The white back, base, and stand have just enough black parts to keep it from screaming for attention while still making a nice statement. Physical details are just enough to maintain elegance without becoming gaudy. The only things left out here are USB ports and internal speakers. It combines excellent picture quality with premium video processing and mature styling. You'd never expect its price to be so low, but it truly delivers a lot for the money. Christian Eberle is a Contributing Editor for Tom's Hardware US. He's a veteran reviewer of A/V equipment, specializing in monitors. Christian began his obsession with tech when he built his first PC in 1991, a 286 running DOS 3.0 at a blazing 12MHz. In 2006, he undertook training from the Imaging Science Foundation in video calibration and testing and thus started a passion for precise imaging that persists to this day. He enjoys watching movies and listening to high-end audio in his custom-built home theater and can be seen riding trails near his home on a race-ready ICE VTX recumbent trike. Christian enjoys the endless summer in Florida where he lives with his wife and Chihuahua and plays with orchestras around the state. Tom's Hardware is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. © Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York,

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. AMD has committed to keeping its Radeon products, among the best graphics cards available, affordable for everyday consumers, not just for enthusiasts with deep pockets. As graphics card prices have already spiraled out of control due to the DRAM shortage, David McAfee, Vice President and General Manager of Ryzen and Radeon, told Gizmodo that the chipmaker aims to keep the price hikes within reasonable limits. AMD has cultivated long-term relationships with DRAM suppliers to ensure consistent memory availability for its Radeon graphics cards, McAfee explained. While the chipmaker continues collaborating with AIC partners to maintain competitive pricing, sustaining these efforts amid the ongoing shortage remains unrealistic. Pricing for Nvidia's GeForce RTX 50-series (codename Blackwell) graphics cards has already gone through the roof, so the situation presents a potential opportunity for AMD. The chipmaker could gain some market share if it can keep price increases moderate, even though RDNA 4 doesn't have an answer for Nvidia's top-end models, such as the GeForce RTX 5080 and above. AMD's previous-generation Radeon RX 7000 series didn't escape the price increases, either. However, the larger markups we're seeing today may reflect retailers adjusting prices to align with market conditions. Then again, our sources had indicated another price hike for Radeon RX 9000-series graphics cards is likely this month, so that could be the culprit as well. Consumers who survived the COVID-era graphics card shortage know the best strategy is to wait it out until prices return to normal. Fortunately, that previous shortage lasted just two years. Some industry experts predict the NAND and DRAM shortage could persist until 2028 or even stretch to a full decade. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds. Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. Zhiye Liu is a news editor, memory reviewer, and SSD tester at Tom's Hardware. Tom's Hardware is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher.

I'm a huge fan of the Kitchen Confidential subreddit and have been since I first read Anthony Bourdain's book of the same name back in 2013. The community is full of snarky line cooks, stressed-out front-of-house staff, and dishwashers quietly holding the whole operation together (much like they do in real life). If you scroll Reddit often, you might be familiar with this subreddit because of its surge in popularity when a user called F1exican started posting a pile of cut chives every day until the subreddit deemed them perfect. Left bereft of its Chivelord and his daily posting, the subreddit quickly moved on to a new meme: Paris Hilton cookware. While scrolling, it dawned on me that I happened to have a few pieces of this very cookware in my never-ending “to test” pile of gear. It feels important here to note that I generally love Paris Hilton. I also think it's important to point out that I am the resident WIRED Reviews team “color pink” enthusiast. But I am sorry to say that her knife block is not it. The Paris Hilton cleaver has been out of stock since I started looking for it, but this knife block is still available, as are several other iterations with slightly fancier bases or different inclusions. Fitting the steak knives into their dedicated slots in the rubberwood knife block was a master class in overcoming my sensory difficulties. As the serrated teeth of each blade bit into the soft, pliable wood of the block, I wondered out loud to myself whether I was placing them correctly. They wiggled around with abandon, barely seated unless I babied each one home. The steak and paring knives were perfectly plasticized, with a slippery grip and short, lightweight handles that made me fear I would stab myself at any given moment. I'm not a professional line cook, but I am an adept home chef, and these knives made me nervous. When it was time to hand-wash and “dry immediately” per the manufacturer's instructions, I could look forward to finagling them with utmost care to their dedicated slots along the bottom of the knife block, where at least one serrated tooth would inevitably catch and be just inconvenient enough to elicit a sigh. The paring and utility knives were not much better, with their powdery, soft-touch handles and awkward finger guards. If I were slicing the daintiest and firmest of fruits, perhaps they'd do. I was really looking forward to testing the chef's and Santoku knives, and of course, I used them to cut chives in my best impression of my favorite chef on Reddit. I'm used to the Kiwi cleaver, which feels like an extension of myself. Nevertheless, I persisted, having bought my local rural grocery store out of chives (meaning three tiny, slightly sad packages). In use, the Santoku knife is fine. Nothing to write home about, but not the worst knife I've ever used. The short blade would make quick work of things like fingerling potatoes or carrots, though it lost its edge quickly, particularly near the bolster. The small design makes it hard to scoop up your prepped ingredients, furthering the impression that these are children's toys. (Legal disclaimer: These are not children's toys.) I prefer a heavier knife, especially considering how slippery the handle feels. But I was able to slice through my pile of chives, plus garlic and onions. That's the best assessment I can give: I was able to use this knife to cut things. Did I mention that my beloved Kiwi cleaver costs $15? One Reddit user mentioned that the knives leach color, which I'm not surprised about, given my aforementioned “these are basically children's toys” note. (Chefs on the subreddit have echoed my sentiments.) This Paris Hilton cookware set would've been the perfect gift for me when I got my first apartment. The exact set that I tested is no longer available online, but a very similar version exists that includes the same main pots and pans. (Which is probably a good thing, because my set came with nylon tools that were not as heat-safe as they should be, and the new set includes silicone versions.) The pots and pans are very, very cute, with a glittery ceramic nonstick coating, a pink body, and gold, heart-shaped handles on the lids. (The manufacturer recommends using low or medium heat, but I tested on high, too.) Eggs released without a trace, and melted American cheese was easy to scrape away. Every pan is on the lightweight side, and they aren't oven-safe. But it's not my favorite nonstick Our Place Always Pan, and I think it's better to invest in one or two really good pans than an entire set of just OK options. If this is your very first cookware set, and you really want something pink and girly, go for it. Just be aware that you'll likely be investing in another set within a couple of years—I don't have faith that these would hold up well over time, especially with daily use. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a Dutch oven to order. (And some chive chopping skills to finesse.) WIRED may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. With DDR5 pricing increasing seemingly daily, some gamers are flocking to older platforms that support older memory types to escape the DRAM shortage, even going as far back as rebuilding old DDR3-supported platforms. RandomGaminginHD, aware of this problem, published a video benchmarking Intel's now ancient Core i7-4790K paired with 32GB of DDR3 memory, to see how a system like this would perform in 2026. Despite its age, he found the old Haswell quad-core was capable of playing several modern AAA games today at 60 FPS. The YouTuber claimed that he bought 32GB of DDR3 RAM for just $40 worth, which is almost a third of the price compared to what a single 4800MT/s 8GB DDR5 stick costs today. The YouTuber ran the i7-4790K powered setup in eight modern titles: Baldur's Gate 3, Battlefield 6, Counter-Strike 2, Cyberpunk 2077, Fortnite, GTA 5 Enhanced, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, and Red Dead Redemption 2. All games were benchmarked at medium settings and 1080p resolution, except for a couple of the lighter games (such as GTA V Enhanced), which were run at higher settings. RandomGamingInHD's benchmarks prove that hardware from 12 years ago can still provide a playable gaming experience, even on modern AAA games, as long as you have an adequate GPU installed. Granted, the 1% lows leave much to be desired, but lowering graphics settings further would help alleviate this problem (at least partially). Used DDR3 memory is also ridiculously cheap on eBay, with a set of four 8GB sticks (32GB total) costing around $70 - $120. Counting a Z97 motherboard, cheap SSD, case, and PSU, you likely could build a full-blown 4790K/2060 Super gaming PC from scratch for less than $600 using used parts. For perspective, that's less money than what a 64GB DDR5 dual-channel kit costs today. Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. Aaron Klotz is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware, covering news related to computer hardware such as CPUs, and graphics cards. Tom's Hardware is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher.

Kia has managed to make the boxy design endearing, making the electric vehicle appear ready for any urban adventure you wish to throw at it. Being an entry-level electric car, the EV2 will apparently retail somewhere around $32,000, but don't be fooled by the price or small size (it's barely more than 13 feet long)—the top-spec version will have a 61-kWh battery that should be good for just shy of 280  miles. Meanwhile, the 400-volt e‑GMP platform lets you recharge in 30 minutes from 10 to 80 percent. This is a city car, so adjust your performance expectations accordingly. Still, the EV2 is good for 144 horsepower, a zero to 60 mph time of 8.6 seconds, and a top speed of 99 mph—more than enough for school and supermarket runs, as well as freeway missions. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard, and the quality interior continues with USB-C charging ports alongside a domestic plug socket, lots of storage, a triple‑screen infotainment setup, seating available in four‑ or five‑seat layouts, and a maximum of 403 liters of trunk space. With all this in such a small package, the EV2 should do very well for Kia. Fujifilm has announced two new Instax instant cameras and printers: the Mini Link+, a printer, and the Mini Evo Cinema hybrid instant camera, which looks something like a Super 8 film camera from the 1970s. The outer design is different in the Link+, though, with a boxy look reminiscent of some external hard drive cases I've used. The same process has been around for a while with other Instax cameras, like the recently released Mini LiPlay+, though until now, these have only relied on audio or videos made from stills. The Mini Evo has what Fujifilm is calling an “Eras Dial” that lets you style your images to look like the 1930s, '40s, '50s, and so on up through 2020. Depending on your age, you will likely find this appealing or cringe-inducing. I tend toward the latter camp, but some of these are actually quite well done based on the prints Fujifilm has shared. The 1930s setting does a nice job of mimicking the soft black and white look of cinema in that era (if you're not familiar, watch Angels with Dirty Faces). The Mini Evo Cinema camera will be available in early February 2026 for $410. Ricoh unveiled a new Monochrome GR IV camera, which comes on the heels of the new, full-color GR IV released late last year. It might seem strange to buy a camera that can only shoot black-and-white when you can take the output of a color sensor and convert it to black and white afterward. If you're a dedicated black-and-white shooter, it's worth considering. Inside the GR IV is a 26-megapixel sensor with no color filter array. Based on my experience with other monochrome sensors, you can expect marginally less shadow noise and slightly better high ISO performance compared to the color version. I especially like that there will be an optional built-in red filter for upping contrast. Big news for guitarists and fans of home recording: After having purchased PreSonus in 2021, Fender has decided to rebrand the music production software previously known as PreSonus Studio One as Fender Studio Pro. The move comes in addition to several native amplifier and effects pedal models that are now included in the re-skinned app, as well as a few other features that should keep longtime Studio One users (like yours truly) happy. The name makes everything easier to understand for Fender users, who can use the Fender Studio app (akin to GarageBand) on their tablets and mobile devices, then easily export it to Fender Studio Pro for more in-depth recording. It also makes Fender the only major instrument manufacturer that owns its own top-tier recording software. I have been testing a preview version of the software for several weeks and have been impressed with the update's streamlined looks and added functionality, though admittedly, I am not the biggest power user out there. After the much-admired white-dial Speedmaster Professional in 2024, Omega clearly feels that now is the time to give its most iconic wristwatch a new “reverse-panda” makeover. Instead of a classic “panda” design of white dial and black sub-dials, the aesthetic is switched (hence the name), and it's just the sort of style tweak that makes collectors come running. Landing in 18-karat yellow gold ($49,300) and a more attainable steel version ($10,400), these two new Speedys are essentially identical to Omega's current Moonwatch models, apart from ceramic bezels and those reverse-panda dials, which actually consist of two layers. Big Interview: Margaret Atwood wants to keep up with the latest doom WIRED may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast.

Leaders at Mira Murati's Thinking Machines Lab confronted the startup's cofounder and former CTO, Barret Zoph, over an alleged relationship with another employee last summer, WIRED has learned. The individual, who worked in a different department than Zoph and was in a leadership role, is no longer at the lab. Murati approached Zoph to discuss the relationship, sources say. The cofounders' working relationship broke down in the months following that conversation, according to multiple sources, and Zoph started speaking to competitors about other opportunities. Before Zoph left the company, he was in conversation with leaders from Meta Superintelligence Labs, according to a source familiar with the matter. Simo also noted that she did not share Thinking Machines' concerns over Zoph's ethics. Zoph and OpenAI declined to comment for this story. This week, a third Thinking Machines cofounder, Luke Metz, and at least three other researchers from Murati's startup also departed for OpenAI. In October, the startup's cofounder Andrew Tulloch left for Meta. While tensions between Murati and Zoph came to a head in recent days, they do not entirely explain the broader exodus of Thinking Machines employees. WIRED previously reported that there was misalignment within Thinking Machines about what the startup should build. Thinking Machines Lab declined to comment for this story. WIRED may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast.

Washington Sen. Patty Murray believes the future of artificial intelligence shouldn't be dictated solely by billionaires and shareholders. Sen. Murray said the funding will help provide a counterweight to AI development driven primarily by private capital. “If just billionaires are creating and using AI for their own projects that make money, then we lose out on most of the benefits of AI,” Murray told GeekWire. Universities play a critical role in ensuring AI advances serve public needs, Murray said, pointing to applications ranging from healthcare and environmental research to workforce training and job creation. University leaders say the investment will enable faster research cycles and broader access — while reducing reliance on commercial cloud providers. “That means our goal is to do what's best for society,” she said. Balazinska called the new funding a “very significant amount,” saying that even relatively modest investments can be transformative in an academic setting. Several students demonstrated AI projects that rely on large volumes of personal or scientific data, including a health-focused system that uses voice input and AI analysis to track symptoms and generate summaries for doctors. Researchers said developing such tools on UW-owned infrastructure avoids sending sensitive data to third-party cloud providers. Having in-house compute also allows students and faculty to iterate more quickly. “So this benefits everybody — whether it's creating jobs, whether it's creating better healthcare, whether it's creating more innovators who come here to Washington state to be able to create jobs for the future and make a better way of life for all of us.” The broader federal spending bill boosts funding for other scientific agencies such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology, pushing back on proposals from President Trump to sharply cut federal research spending. Microsoft's mission: empowering every person and organization on the planet to achieve more. Learn how Microsoft is thinking about responsible artificial intelligence, regulation, sustainability, and fundamental rights. What Microsoft has learned about housing, and why it's urging the state to unlock commercial land GeekWire Studios has partnered with AWS for the Guide to re:Invent. This interview series took place on the Expo floor at AWS re:Invent 2025, and features insightful conversations about the future of cloud tech, as well as partnership success stories. Trump's mega bill blasted by Washington leaders: Clean energy cuts threaten AI boom, hike costs UW lands $50M from National Science Foundation to lead new center for research security Feds may reinstate cancelled funding for signature women's health study led by Fred Hutch