This week on the GeekWire Podcast: A conversation with Daniel Rausch, Amazon’s vice president of Alexa and Echo, recorded at the company’s Seattle headquarters.

Rausch explained the company’s vision for Alexa+, Amazon's next-generation voice assistant, in advance of its upcoming rollout through an early access program. Alexa+ promises more fluid conversations with users, integrating with more services and devices for new capabilities, including the ability act autonomously on behalf of a user.

It's a significant upgrade for Amazon's longtime voice assistant, judging from the live demos that Rausch walked us through before and after the podcast recording.

But it remains to be seen how much value people will find in using their voice in those situations, rather than the tried-and-true simplicity of using a smartphone app or web browser. And at a fundamental level, Amazon is playing catch-up with OpenAI's ChatGPT and many other AI chatbots in the world of conversational artificial intelligence.

Related links:
What Alexa’s AI upgrade means for Amazon’s business and Alexa users
Amazon’s new Alexa+ uses generative AI to personalize conversations and automate tasks

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

This week on the GeekWire Podcast: A conversation with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielrausch/">Daniel Rausch</a>, Amazon&rsquo;s vice president of Alexa and Echo, recorded at the company&rsquo;s Seattle headquarters.
Rausch explained the company&rsquo;s vision for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/newalexa">Alexa+</a>, Amazon's next-generation voice assistant, in advance of its upcoming rollout through an early access program. Alexa+ promises more fluid conversations with users, integrating with more services and devices for new capabilities, including the ability act autonomously on behalf of a user.
It's a significant upgrade for Amazon's longtime voice assistant, judging from the live demos that Rausch walked us through before and after the podcast recording.
But it remains to be seen how much value people will find in using their voice in those situations, rather than the tried-and-true simplicity of using a smartphone app or web browser. And at a fundamental level, Amazon is playing catch-up with OpenAI's ChatGPT and many other AI chatbots in the world of conversational artificial intelligence.
Related links:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.geekwire.com/2025/what-alexas-ai-upgrade-means-for-amazons-business-and-alexa-users/">What Alexa&rsquo;s AI upgrade means for Amazon&rsquo;s business and Alexa users</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.geekwire.com/2025/amazons-new-alexa-uses-generative-ai-to-personalize-conversations-and-automate-tasks/">Amazon&rsquo;s new Alexa+ uses generative AI to personalize conversations and automate tasks</a></li>
</ul>
With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop; Edited by Curt Milton

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

Inside Amazon's attempt to reinvent Alexa for the new era of AI

Fresh off the big GeekWire AI summit this week, Todd and John unpack what they heard from Microsoft EVP Charles Lamanna, OpenAI applications CTO Vijaye Raji, and other speakers at the Agents of Transformation event in Seattle, presented by Accenture.

The big thread: the economics of AI, from token budgets becoming a hiring negotiation point to startups running on subsidized credits that may not last.

Plus, a startup founder whose engineer burned through $5,000 in AI tokens over a single weekend of vibe coding, OpenAI shutting down Sora amid $15 million-a-day processing costs, and why one panelist says the metrics most companies are tracking are "watermelon metrics" — green (profit) on the outside, red (losses) on the inside.

Also: how Todd used a Claude project over several months to prep for the event, John's experience bouncing between Gemini and ChatGPT, and why the simplistic chat era may be over. 

And in this week's trivia: Sound Transit's light rail starts crossing Lake Washington on a floating bridge — but when did the original I-90 floating bridge open?

With GeekWire co-founders John Cook and Todd Bishop. Edited by Curt Milton.

Fresh off the big GeekWire AI summit this week, Todd and John unpack what they heard from Microsoft EVP Charles Lamanna, OpenAI applications CTO Vijaye Raji, and other speakers at the <a href="https://www.geekwire.com/2026/beyond-the-chatbot-at-geekwire-summit-ai-leaders-say-the-era-of-autonomous-agents-is-already-here/">Agents of Transformation event in Seattle</a>, presented by Accenture.
The big thread: the economics of AI, from <a href="https://www.geekwire.com/2026/microsoft-exec-charles-lamanna-on-how-ai-is-creating-an-expensive-new-request-from-job-candidates/">token budgets</a> becoming a hiring negotiation point to startups running on subsidized credits that may not last.
Plus, a startup founder whose engineer burned through $5,000 in AI tokens over a single weekend of vibe coding, OpenAI shutting down Sora amid $15 million-a-day processing costs, and why one panelist says the metrics most companies are tracking are "watermelon metrics" &mdash; green (profit) on the outside, red (losses) on the inside.
Also: how Todd used a Claude project over several months to prep for the event, John's experience bouncing between Gemini and ChatGPT, and why the simplistic chat era may be over.&nbsp;
And in this week's trivia: Sound Transit's light rail <a href="https://www.geekwire.com/2026/geekwire-rides-the-worlds-first-floating-bridge-train-seattle-tech-commutes-will-never-be-the-same/https://www.geekwire.com/2026/geekwire-rides-the-worlds-first-floating-bridge-train-seattle-tech-commutes-will-never-be-the-same/">starts crossing Lake Washington on a floating bridge</a> &mdash; but when did the original I-90 floating bridge open?
With GeekWire co-founders John Cook and Todd Bishop. Edited by Curt Milton.

GeekWire AI summit takeaways: Token budgets, watermelon metrics, and the $5k weekend coder

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.

Amazon is working on a new smartphone, code-named "Transformer," more than a decade after the Fire Phone debacle, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/amazon-plans-smartphone-comeback-more-than-decade-after-fire-phone-flop-2026-03-20/">according to Reuters</a>. We dig into the connection to <a href="https://www.geekwire.com/2024/former-microsoft-xbox-leader-j-allard-joins-amazon-in-latest-surprise-career-twist/">a past GeekWire scoop</a>: former Microsoft Xbox leader J Allard joined Amazon's devices team in 2024, and he's now leading a group called <a href="https://www.geekwire.com/2025/amazon-has-a-secretive-new-hardware-group-led-by-former-xbox-leader-j-allard/">ZeroOne</a> 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&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theverge.com/podcast/816739/amazon-fire-phone-version-history">Vergecast "Version History" podcast.</a>
Then: Microsoft <a href="https://www.geekwire.com/2026/microsoft-revamps-copilot-structure-elevating-former-snap-exec-as-suleyman-shifts-to-ai-models/">shakes up its Copilot team</a>, 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 <a href="https://www.geekwire.com/2026/seattle-transits-new-tap-to-pay-feature-goes-live-next-week-well-ahead-of-world-cup/">new tap-to-pay feature</a> 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.

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

Brice Budke (President) and Zeek Earl (Executive Creative Director) run two Seattle studios: Shep, a video agency that works with tech companies like Amazon and Microsoft, and Packrat, a creative studio that specializes in miniature worlds, handmade sets, and retro creative projects.

You might know Packrat's work from the epic and widely watched 2025 Seahawks schedule release video, which won a Gold Clio. They also made Prospect, an indie sci-fi film that premiered at SXSW in 2018 with Pedro Pascal and Sophie Thatcher.

GeekWire met them last fall on the set of a stop-motion shoot for Kiro, an AI-powered agentic software development tool from Amazon Web Services. Check out the video they made from that shoot here.

On this episode, Brice and Zeek discuss how AI is transforming their work — from photorealistic storyboarding to stop-motion animation filled in by AI-generated frames — and what still requires human creativity, taste, and intuition. Plus: the psychology of working with "infinite tools," why AI doesn't always save money, and the GeekWire Trivia Challenge.

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

<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/bricebudke/">Brice Budke</a> (President) and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/zeek-earl-46962a33/">Zeek Earl</a> (Executive Creative Director) run two Seattle studios: <a href="https://www.shepfilms.com/">Shep</a>, a video agency that works with tech companies like Amazon and Microsoft, and <a href="https://www.packrat.studio/">Packrat</a>, a creative studio that specializes in miniature worlds, handmade sets, and retro creative projects.
You might know Packrat's work from the epic and widely watched 2025 Seahawks&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifvSa50l1hQ">schedule release video</a>, which won a Gold Clio. They also made <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7946422/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk">Prospect</a>, an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsrbNtUgEaY">indie sci-fi film</a> that premiered at SXSW in 2018 with Pedro Pascal and Sophie Thatcher.
GeekWire&nbsp;<a href="https://www.geekwire.com/2025/amazons-surprise-indie-hit-kiro-launches-broadly-in-bid-to-reshape-ai-powered-software-development/">met them last fall</a> on the set of a stop-motion shoot for <a href="https://kiro.dev/">Kiro</a>, an AI-powered agentic software development tool from Amazon Web Services. Check out the video they made from that shoot&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/pH6jRYwRfjI">here</a>.
On this episode, Brice and Zeek discuss how AI is transforming their work &mdash; from photorealistic storyboarding to stop-motion animation filled in by AI-generated frames &mdash; and what still requires human creativity, taste, and intuition. Plus: the psychology of working with "infinite tools," why AI doesn't always save money, and the GeekWire Trivia Challenge.
With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop; Edited by Curt Milton.

Inside Amazon's attempt to reinvent Alexa for the new era of AI

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