Amazon Autos aims to simplify car-buying experience

Amazon Autos is up and running. The e-commerce giant officially entered the automotive market where it hopes to simplify the car-buying process. The service is starting with Hyundai vehicles in a partnership with the automaker and dealers in 48 U.S. cities. Read more.

Auger , the supply chain technology startup founded by former Amazon Worldwide Consumer CEO Dave Clark , named its initial 11-person executive team this week, two months after announcing $100 million in Series A funding. Most of the execs share something in common: they’re former leaders at Amazon. Read more. 

Microsoft investors turned down six shareholder proposals at its annual meeting Tuesday, three of them focused on the risks of artificial intelligence to its business. Read more.

Tech Moves: Microsoft vet Shilpa Ranganathan is joining Expedia Group as chief product officer; Avanade named Gord Mawhinney, MA, ICD.D as new president; and more key personnel changes.

University of Washington professor David Baker accepted the Nobel Prize in chemistry today in Sweden. The protein design pioneer told GeekWire he doesn’t expect the pace of new startup formation out of his UW lab to slow down anytime soon. Read more. 

A new startup targeting vacation rental owners launched out of stealth mode with $10.1 million in funding. Portland-based Fairly was co-founded by CEO Eric Breon and other veterans of Vacasa , a leading rental management company. Read more. 

Can a high-tech fridge make your fruits and veggies last longer? That’s the promise from a new Seattle startup led by Outreach co-founder Andrew Kinzer . Read more.

Last chance for GeekWire Gala tickets! You’ve proven you’re a top-notch holiday procrastinator, but time’s up. Join us Thursday for Seattle’s geekiest holiday party and a night of networking, music, dancing, food, drinks, karaoke and much more.

Hot Links:

• A new class action lawsuit alleges that a security company working for Expedia was negligent after receiving complaints about hidden spy cameras in the company’s bathrooms. (Seattle Times; Securitaslawsuit.com)
• A federal jury convicted two former execs at Vancouver, Wash.-based CytoDyn for their roles in a scheme to deceive investors. (Department of Justice)
• Amazon is partnering with Intuit to make QuickBooks software available to third-party sellers. (CNBC)
• The Allen Institute in Seattle awarded $9 million to 14 researchers investigating cell and membrane biology. (Allen Institute)
• Seattle entrepreneur Paul Gambill writes about lessons learned from the closure of Nori, a carbon removal marketplace startup he led as CEO and co-founder. (LinkedIn)
• Santa’s House is back on Zillow in a festive holiday tradition. A new feature lets families notify Santa if they’ve moved, and he’ll send a reassuring note to children to let them know he’s got their new address. (Zillow)

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