This Month's Latest Tech News in Tacoma, WA - Saturday May 31st 2025 Edition

AI-led innovation is powering Tacoma and the broader Washington state tech ecosystem into the national spotlight, with over 480 AI startups and $4.5 billion in investments between 2013 and 2023, securing Washington's rank as the nation's 5th most active AI startup hub.

Key sectors like enterprise SaaS, life sciences, and ICT have drawn substantial investment, while established giants - including Microsoft and Amazon - anchor a dynamic economy where nearly half of AI jobs are in startups and 33% of AI founders are immigrants.

However, challenges persist: the region faces gaps in late-stage AI funding and needs to deepen diversity in its leadership pipeline, as only 13% of founders are women (see detailed industry and founder metrics in the Washington AI Startup and Investment Landscape Report).

Driving this growth, Tacoma-based and statewide companies are attracting global investors and deploying AI in healthcare, e-commerce, and sustainability, such as the adoption of energy-efficient data centers - a necessity given AI infrastructure's rapidly rising power and water demands highlighted by local media.

As AI automates more entry-level tasks, educational pathways like bootcamps and universities are evolving to help residents build cutting-edge skills, supporting Tacoma's trajectory as a competitive, inclusive, and resilient innovation hub (explore more sector data and job activity at WTIA's AI Landscape Report).

Microsoft's unprecedented $80 billion investment in artificial intelligence for 2025 marks a transformative moment for Washington state and the wider U.S. technology sector.

Over half of this funding is directed toward building cutting-edge AI data centers within the U.S., fueling innovation in AI models, datacenter infrastructure, and workforce training.

As Brad Smith, Microsoft President and Vice Chair, noted,

“The country has a unique opportunity to pursue this vision and build on the foundational ideas set for AI policy during President Trump's first term. Achieving this vision will require a partnership that unites leaders from government, the private sector, and the country's educational and non-profit institutions.”

Read more about Microsoft's $80 billion AI investment to boost U.S. innovation.

This strategic push supports training 2.5 million Americans in AI skills and aims to anchor U.S. leadership in an era where AI is considered the “electricity of our age.” According to Smith,

“AI is fundamental to the future and economic competitiveness of the US and humanity,”

with applications touching sectors from drug discovery to education and science.

See the interview summary of Microsoft's AI innovation and community impact.

However, this massive capital shift also comes with workforce implications, including the layoff of 7,000 employees - 2,000 in Washington alone - demonstrating how investment in AI is actively reshaping tech employment and local economies.

Read the details of Microsoft layoffs amid AI investment.

Collectively, these moves underscore Microsoft's approach to securing global AI leadership, catalyzing economic growth, and preparing communities for the opportunities and challenges of the AI era.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has delivered an urgent warning that artificial intelligence could eliminate up to 50% of entry-level white-collar jobs within the next five years, pushing U.S. unemployment rates as high as 10–20% by 2030.

Amodei's projection underscores particular vulnerability in technology, finance, law, and consulting, and reflects a larger trend: major companies are already pausing new hiring and backfilling as AI-driven automation accelerates.

In his words,

“AI is starting to get better than humans at almost all intellectual tasks, and we're going to collectively, as a society, grapple with it... Most of them are unaware that this is about to happen. It sounds crazy, and people just don't believe it.”

While economists and some business leaders argue that labor markets can adapt - as with previous technological revolutions - recent studies note Big Tech hiring for new graduates has dropped 50% from pre-pandemic levels, with senior hires and AI-powered productivity taking precedence.

Amodei advocates for policy interventions, educational reform, and possibly even AI-specific taxes to buffer the shock, cautioning against “sugar-coating” the risks.

Yet, research indicates AI will also create millions of specialized roles in AI oversight, integration, and risk mitigation, though rapid upskilling will be essential.

To track and respond to these shifts, initiatives like the Anthropic Economic Index and public advisory councils have launched, reflecting the consensus that society must “steer the train” of AI transformation before mass unemployment becomes reality.

For deeper insights, see Amodei's call for transparency in Axios's in-depth analysis of looming unemployment, Fortune's coverage of entry-level job risks and solutions, and Business Insider's report on hiring trends and the sweeping impact on the modern workforce.

Tacoma and Seattle are at the forefront of a life sciences boom, fueled by breakthroughs in artificial intelligence that are transforming biotech research and health care.

The recent formation of the Cancer AI Alliance coordinated by Seattle's Fred Hutch Cancer Center unites top cancer institutes and tech titans - AWS, Microsoft, and NVIDIA - to use AI for unlocking insights from complex patient data, while prioritizing patient privacy through federated learning.

Recognized as Health Innovation of the Year at the 2025 GeekWire Awards, this collaboration demonstrates how AI is reshaping cancer detection and treatment.

At the same time, University of Washington researchers are leveraging cutting-edge AI tools to design novel proteins and enzymes, enabling more affordable diagnostics, new medicines, and even green technologies, such as custom enzymes for industrial and environmental applications.

These advances were recently highlighted in studies showing record-setting binding strength of AI-generated proteins for disease detection and breakthroughs in enzyme design that herald a greener, more efficient biotech industry.

The region's collaborative ethos, robust funding, and commitment to ethical development keep Tacoma and Seattle at the epicenter of the AI-biotech revolution, promising innovations that will benefit global health and sustainability.

This month, Microsoft is deepening its commitment to Washington's innovation ecosystem by announcing $5 million in Azure cloud credits and collaborative expertise through the AI for Good Lab's Open Call, supporting twenty projects that use AI to advance sustainability, health, and education across the state.

Notable local recipients include Washington State University's wildfire vulnerability assessment platform, Stock-Smart.com's virtual fencing to protect rangelands, and Long Live the Kings' ecosystem modeling for Puget Sound - each leveraging cutting-edge machine learning and remote sensing to benefit communities and environments statewide.

The initiative, which coincides with Microsoft's 50th anniversary, prioritizes ethical, open-source AI and aims to empower nonprofits, researchers, startups, and community organizations to drive measurable and scalable social impact.

Microsoft emphasized,

“We are committed to investing and honouring the people and organisations that make our region a centre of innovation and inclusion.”

This grant program spotlights the evolving role of cloud resources - fueling homegrown solutions for climate resilience, equitable healthcare, and education equity - and cements Washington's reputation as a public-good technology leader.

For details on the winning teams and project objectives, see the list of awardees in Microsoft's official announcement, explore recent coverage of the AI for Good initiative in Sustainability Magazine's deep dive on Microsoft's AI for Good program, and review how the $5M cloud grants accelerate AI-driven social impact across Washington in this comprehensive analysis at Windows News AI.

AI and automation are rapidly transforming entry-level tech careers in Tacoma, with recent data illustrating the dramatic pace of change. Microsoft's May 2025 layoffs led to over 2,000 jobs cut in Washington - 40% of them software engineers - as AI now writes up to 30% of the company's code, putting routine programming roles at heightened risk (detailed Microsoft layoff report).

This pattern is reflected across the industry: recruiting among Big Tech for new graduates fell by 25% in 2024, while more experienced professionals saw increased demand (TechCrunch analysis of AI's impact on hiring).

The entry-level squeeze is most acute in roles involving repetitive, automatable tasks, including market research analysts (53% of tasks automatable) and sales representatives (67%), while managerial roles face much less disruption (just 9-21%).

See the table below.

Unemployment for recent college graduates surged to 5.8% this spring, especially affecting tech and finance fields, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York cautions the job market for these grads has “deteriorated noticeably.” As one recruiter put it,

“We are not seeing as many entry-level job openings anymore.”

Experts agree the career ladder is being redrawn: success will increasingly favor those who master AI tools, as companies shift entry-level tasks to automation and prioritize investment in upskilling and more complex human-AI collaboration.

For more on the broader market's evolution and detailed case studies, visit the New York Times report on AI-driven shifts in hiring.

Meta has officially introduced its standalone Meta AI app, raising the bar for consumer artificial intelligence by offering a highly personalized and conversational assistant experience powered by the Llama 4 model.

This new app stands apart with its advanced voice-first interactions - supporting natural full-duplex speech for lifelike, real-time conversations - alongside robust image generation, editing features, and cross-platform integration across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.

A key highlight is the Discover feed, which allows users to share, remix, and interact with AI-generated prompts, blurring the lines between social media and AI collaboration.

According to Meta,

“Our goal is to make AI that feels like it's yours. It's not just helpful, it's personal.”

Privacy and user control are built in: users decide what gets shared, manage their data, and receive personalized responses based on their profiles across Meta's platforms.

The Meta AI app is currently available on iOS and Android in select countries (US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand). For a deeper look at the app's features and its competitive positioning against ChatGPT and Google Gemini, see this comprehensive guide to Meta's standalone AI assistant.

For information on voice, image, and document integration, visit Meta's official AI app announcement, and learn how the Discover feed is transforming social AI engagement in this industry overview on Meta's AI app innovation.

Washington State University researchers have made a major breakthrough by developing a machine learning model that accurately predicts which animal species are likely to serve as reservoirs for viruses with the potential to infect humans, focusing initially on orthopoxviruses such as those causing smallpox and mpox.

This pioneering approach integrates both the ecological traits of host species and the genetic characteristics of viruses, surpassing previous models in predictive accuracy and adaptability for other zoonotic threats.

The model identified global hotspots - including Southeast Asia, equatorial Africa, and the Amazon - where risk of virus spillover is greatest due to high biodiversity and limited vaccination coverage since the cessation of smallpox immunization in 1980.

Likely mpox hosts include rodents, cats, canids, skunks, mustelids, and raccoons, with the exclusion of rats based on laboratory resistance data. The collaborative, NSF-funded effort, involving computational biologists, ecologists, and virologists, aims to guide targeted wildlife surveillance, optimize resource allocation, and pivot from reactive outbreak response to proactive prevention.

As Dr. Stephanie Seifert of WSU explains,

“Nearly three-quarters of emerging viruses that infect humans come from animals. If we can better predict which species pose the greatest risk, we can take proactive measures to prevent pandemics.”

For a deep dive into the research and its implications for future pandemic prevention, read the full story on Washington State University's machine learning model for virus reservoir prediction, learn about its global collaboration and technical details in the comprehensive AI model analysis by ID-EA, and explore additional coverage in Fox28 Spokane's report on WSU's AI tool for pandemic prevention.

South Sound is witnessing a leap in recycling efficiency as Recology King County deploys Glacier's advanced AI-powered robots at its Seattle Material Recovery Facility (MRF), bolstered by a recent $16 million investment.

These robots, developed by Glacier, are designed to address persistent issues of contamination and material loss in recycling by rapidly identifying and sorting over 30 distinct types of materials - such as PET plastics, aluminum cans, and toothpaste tubes - at a rate of 45 items per minute.

Their compact build, requiring just three feet of conveyor space, allows for seamless integration with existing systems and installation in less than a day with no downtime.

According to Recology, this technology not only improves operational safety and recycling purity, but also provides actionable real-time data, aligning recovery with market pricing and supporting sustainability goals.

As highlighted by Glacier CEO Rebecca Hu-Thrams, King County's deployment demonstrates the “MRF of the future” in action. The impact of these AI robots includes diverting millions of recyclables from landfills and preventing over 2,000 tons of CO₂ emissions.

The following table summarizes key features of the system:

As Sasha Brown of Ecosystem Integrity Fund observes,

“With nearly 80 percent of residential recyclables not recycled, the U.S. is simultaneously depleting natural resources, increasing carbon emissions, and failing to meet growing industry demand for recycled materials. Glacier's purpose-built AI solves critical challenges in the recycling industry with a practical, affordable approach.”

Read more on Recology's deployment at WebWire's feature on Glacier's AI recycling robots in Washington, explore additional insights at Recycling Today's deep dive into data-driven recycling operations, and learn about the $16 million funding and national expansion on PackWorld's report on Glacier's funding and scale-up.

The debate over who should regulate artificial intelligence has intensified in Washington, with state Attorney General Nick Brown leading bipartisan opposition to a proposed federal 10-year ban on state-level AI regulations.

Brown, joined by 38 other attorneys general, warned that “limiting state laws and regulations for 10 years is dangerous,” arguing that rapid AI advances require local flexibility to address risks like election interference and consumer exploitation.

The controversial amendment, now before Congress, would preempt state regulation in all areas, from business to education, unless a new federal framework is established.

The intent, according to proponents including AI industry leaders such as OpenAI's Sam Altman and Microsoft's Brad Smith, is to avoid a complex patchwork of state laws and maintain a competitive, innovation-friendly environment; Altman testified,

“One federal framework, that is light touch… seems important and fine.”

However, critics fear it will leave Americans without protection as federal lawmakers remain gridlocked.

To highlight the policy divide, a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general - including those from Arizona, California, New York, South Carolina, and others - emphasized in their joint letter that state regulations have been crafted with broad stakeholder input over years and should not be swept aside.

For a deeper look at Brown's leadership and bipartisan opposition, see the full article on the dangers of an AI regulation ban.

Read the official news release on Washington's bipartisan letter to Congress, and review the broader coalition's arguments in Hoodline's coverage of the 39-state coalition pushback.

Tacoma-area students took center stage in agricultural innovation at this year's Washington Future Farmers of America (FFA) State Convention and Expo, held at Washington State University, where nearly 3,000 FFA members gathered to explore careers and compete in the inaugural Agricultural Innovations Event.

Teams faced hands-on challenges ranging from robot programming and drone piloting to data analytics using Microsoft's Farm Beats platform, often with little computer science experience, highlighting the event's accessible approach to STEM education.

Jordan Jobe, AgAID's manager, described the impact in a

“Bringing in something new and contemporary is a cool way to get these kids who already have a lot of agricultural experience a chance to diversify their knowledge…It's an opportunity for kids who are interested in technology, like drones or computers, to experience FFA while also doing something more high tech.”

The event exemplified the ongoing partnership between FFA, Microsoft, and the multi-institutional AgAID Institute, which drives workforce development through a $20 million federal grant supporting AI-powered solutions for pressing agricultural issues such as labor, water, and climate adaptation (Washington State University's AgAID and FFA collaboration on AI in agriculture).

Complementing these efforts, the nationwide rollout of FarmBeats for Students brings sensor kits and AI curriculum to classrooms at no cost, empowering over 185 schools - including many in Washington - to analyze plant health and practice real-time, data-driven agriculture (Microsoft and FFA's FarmBeats for Students program to educate on precision agriculture).

Opportunities for students to further apply their skills are expanding through student contests and hackathons sponsored by the AgAID Institute, where participants design AI solutions for challenges like water prediction and sustainable farming (AgAID's Digital AgAthon hackathon supporting AI in agriculture).

Collectively, these initiatives are equipping Tacoma's next generation with the tools, curiosity, and practical skills to drive the AI-powered future of agriculture.

Tacoma stands at the forefront of adapting to the rapid advances and challenges of the AI era, balancing innovation with robust workforce and regulatory responses.

As automation disrupts traditional entry-level roles and intensifies competition for tech jobs, local and state programs like Tacoma's Workforce Development Programs are critical in bridging skills gaps by providing training and apprenticeship opportunities to residents of all ages.

Amid national debates over AI oversight, Washington's Attorney General has warned that restricting state regulation for a decade would be “dangerous,” emphasizing the need for local protections as federal guidance evolves - calling for a flexible, responsive approach to citizen safety and economic inclusion.

Meanwhile, the newly established state AI Task Force brings together experts, workers, and policymakers to set guidelines in areas such as bias, privacy, and workplace impacts, reflecting a community-driven commitment to ethical tech deployment.

As AI transforms labor markets, especially for those starting their careers, Tacoma's collaborative efforts - including upskilling, innovation hubs, and tailored education - signal resilience and opportunity in a climate of uncertainty.

For those seeking to future-proof their careers and embrace entrepreneurship or cybersecurity, programs like Nucamp's Solo AI Tech Entrepreneur bootcamp offer accessible, flexible pathways into AI-driven industries, complementing citywide initiatives and ensuring Tacoma residents can thrive in the age of intelligent automation.