It has been quite a year. But were you paying attention? Before we wave goodbye to 2020, we thought it would be fun to test your GeekWire news knowledge. Play along on this special episode as GeekWire co-founder John Cook quizzes editor Todd Bishop and managing editor Taylor Soper. It's a fun one, but before we start, a spoiler alert: we reveal the answers on this episode as we go, so if you want to challenge yourself first, go to geekwire.com/2020quiz before listening.  

It has been quite a year. But were you paying attention? Before we wave goodbye to 2020, we thought it would be fun to test your GeekWire news knowledge. Play along on this special episode as GeekWire co-founder John Cook quizzes editor Todd Bishop and managing editor Taylor Soper. It's a fun one, but before we start, a spoiler alert: we reveal the answers on this episode as we go, so if you want to challenge yourself first, go to <a href="http://geekwire.com/2020quiz" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://geekwire.com/2020quiz&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1609434352368000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEDUzjQSpHgrdZGf7W8VeF89khPOQ">geekwire.com/2020quiz</a> before listening.&nbsp;&nbsp;

GeekWire brings you the week's latest technology news, trends and insights, covering the world of technology from our home base in Seattle. Our regular news podcast features commentary and analysis from our editors and reporters, plus interviews with special guests.

GeekWire reporters John Cook, Todd Bishop and guests talk about the latest tech news and trends.

GeekWire

GeekWire's 2020 News Quiz

This week on the show: Todd reports from inside the Oakland federal courthouse where Elon Musk is suing OpenAI, Sam Altman, and Microsoft, with jury selection revealing just how hard it is to find anyone neutral about Musk these days.

Meanwhile, Microsoft and OpenAI restructured their partnership the same morning the trial began — and less than 24 hours later, OpenAI's models landed on Amazon's cloud.

Then, Microsoft and Amazon both dropped blockbuster earnings, with Azure up 40%, AWS posting its fastest growth in 15 quarters, and the two companies combining for nearly $400 billion in capital spending this year alone.

We also discuss a wild Semafor story about a serial entrepreneur who handed his entire life over to an AI agent that now emails people as him, sets up meetings without his knowledge, and even ordered him a computer.

Plus, John tells the story of how Seattle's Flying Fish Partners — a VC firm with less than $250 million under management — hustled its way into a $1.1 billion seed round alongside Sequoia, Google, and Nvidia.

And we tackle the quickly debunked rumor that Mark Zuckerberg and Tim Cook might buy the Seahawks. And finally, the return of the GeekWire Trivia Challenge.

This week on the show: Todd&nbsp;<a href="https://www.geekwire.com/2026/musk-v-altman-inside-the-courthouse-as-microsofts-13-billion-openai-bet-goes-on-trial/">reports from inside the Oakland federal courthouse</a> where Elon Musk is suing OpenAI, Sam Altman, and Microsoft, with jury selection revealing just how hard it is to find anyone neutral about Musk these days.
Meanwhile,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.geekwire.com/2026/microsoft-and-openai-revamp-partnership-with-trial-in-elon-musk-suit-set-to-begin/">Microsoft and OpenAI restructured their partnership</a> the same morning the trial began &mdash; and less than 24 hours later, <a href="https://www.geekwire.com/2026/openais-models-land-on-amazon-bedrock-one-day-after-microsoft-exclusivity-ends/">OpenAI's models landed on Amazon's cloud</a>.
Then,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.geekwire.com/2026/microsoft-tops-wall-street-expectations-reports-accelerating-azure-growth-and-37b-ai-run-rate/">Microsoft </a>and <a href="https://www.geekwire.com/2026/aws-growth-climbs-to-28-as-amazons-big-ai-bets-start-to-pay-off/">Amazon </a>both dropped blockbuster earnings, with Azure up 40%, AWS posting its fastest growth in 15 quarters, and the two companies combining for nearly $400 billion in capital spending this year alone.
We also discuss&nbsp;<a href="https://www.semafor.com/article/04/24/2026/the-man-who-is-paying-to-see-the-future">a wild Semafor story</a> about a serial entrepreneur who handed his entire life over to an AI agent that now emails people as him, sets up meetings without his knowledge, and even ordered him a computer.
Plus, John tells <a href="https://www.geekwire.com/2026/how-a-seattle-vc-firm-broke-into-the-1-1b-seed-round-for-a-deepmind-legends-superintelligence-startup/">the story of how Seattle's Flying Fish Partners</a> &mdash; a VC firm with less than $250 million under management &mdash; hustled its way into a $1.1 billion seed round alongside Sequoia, Google, and Nvidia.
And we tackle the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.geekwire.com/2026/seahawks-sale-rumor-names-mark-zuckerberg-and-tim-cook-as-potential-bidders-for-nfl-team/">quickly debunked rumor</a> that Mark Zuckerberg and Tim Cook might buy the Seahawks. And finally, the return of the GeekWire Trivia Challenge.

Elon takes the stand, Big Tech drops big numbers, and a small VC gets in on a billion-dollar deal

Bill Hilf has spent decades enterprise tech, open-source technologies, and AI, from IBM and Microsoft to running Paul Allen's portfolio as the CEO of Vulcan. He now chairs the Allen Institute for AI and American Prairie. His debut sci-fi novel, "The Disruption," imagines AI gone very wrong, and implicitly challenges the industry to think differently about how it's building our real future today.

With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop. Edited by Curt Milton.

<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-h-b554/">Bill Hilf </a>has spent decades enterprise tech, open-source technologies, and AI, from IBM and Microsoft to running Paul Allen's portfolio as the CEO of Vulcan. He now chairs the <a href="https://allenai.org/">Allen Institute for AI</a> and <a href="https://americanprairie.org/">American Prairie</a>. His debut sci-fi novel,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Disruption-Cycle-W-H-Hilf/dp/B0GD2NCLYW">"The Disruption,"</a> imagines AI gone very wrong, and implicitly challenges the industry to think differently about how it's building our real future today.
With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop. Edited by Curt Milton.

AI, fungi, and the future of enterprise tech: Industry vet Bill Hilf on his debut novel 'The Disruption'

Microsoft is offering a voluntary retirement program for the first time in its history, with thousands of U.S. employees eligible. GeekWire's Todd Bishop joins KIRO Newsradio hosts Angela Poe Russell and Mike Lewis to break down the details, what makes this so unusual in the tech industry, and what it says about the company's approach to managing costs in the AI era. 

Microsoft is offering <a href="https://www.geekwire.com/2026/microsoft-will-offer-voluntary-retirement-to-thousands-of-employees-in-a-first-for-tech-giant/">a voluntary retirement program</a> for the first time in its history, with thousands of U.S. employees eligible. GeekWire's Todd Bishop joins KIRO Newsradio hosts Angela Poe Russell and Mike Lewis to break down the details, what makes this so unusual in the tech industry, and what it says about the company's approach to managing costs in the AI era.&nbsp;

GeekWire's 2020 News Quiz

In 1 playlist(s)

GeekWire

Social links

Follow podcast

Recent clips