Microsoft’s Copilot shakeup, Amazon’s new phone ambitions, and pushing Claude to the limits of LinkedIn

About this episode

The episode discusses Amazon's new smartphone ambitions, Microsoft's Copilot team shakeup, and various tech innovations.

Amazon is working on a new smartphone, code-named "Transformer," more than a decade after the Fire Phone debacle, according to Reuters . We dig into the connection to a past GeekWire scoop : former Microsoft Xbox leader J Allard joined Amazon's devices team in 2024, and he's now leading a group called ZeroOne with a mandate to create "breakthrough" gadgets. Is this an AI-native device? A companion to your iPhone? J Allard's shot at redemption? Maybe all of the above. There's more great Fire Phone background in this  Vergecast "Version History" podcast. Then: Microsoft shakes up its Copilot team , shifting Mustafa Suleyman to a narrower role and unifying consumer and enterprise AI under a new leader. Todd has strong feelings about Microsoft's history of cutesy consumer tech, from Clippy to Mico. Plus: Todd's adventure using Claude CoWork to browse LinkedIn (and the stern warning he got in response), King County Metro's slick new tap-to-pay feature catches the transit system up with the modern world, the opening of cross-lake light rail, and an Amazon Treasure truck trivia question. With GeekWire co-founders Todd Bishop and John Cook. Audio editing by Curt Milton. See…

People in this episode

Hosts: Todd Bishop, John Cook

Topics covered

• Microsoft Copilot
• Amazon smartphone
• AI technology
• LinkedIn browsing
• transit innovations
• J Allard
• tech industry news

Keywords

• Microsoft
• Amazon
• smartphone
• Copilot
• AI
• J Allard
• LinkedIn
• transit
• King County
• tech news

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Amazon, Microsoft, GeekWire, Vergecast

Products: Fire Phone, Copilot, Claude CoWork, Transformer

Places: King County

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