A coalition of activists and community organizations plans to rally Sunday outside Anduril’s Seattle office, protesting the defense technology company’s development of artificial intelligence-powered military systems and its growing presence in the region.

The demonstration, scheduled for 9:30 a.m. at Anduril’s downtown Seattle office, is being organized by groups including BAYAN Washington, International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines and The International League of Peoples’ Struggle. Organizers say the event will highlight concerns about the use of AI in warfare, autonomous weapons systems and the expansion of defense technology companies in Washington state. They expect more than 50 to attend.

“The rally will respond to urgent developments in the expansion of AI weapons companies in Washington State and will expose Anduril as an engine of U.S.-led wars of aggression and a domestic threat to migrant and working class communities,” the organizations said in a statement.

Anduril said it recognizes the right to protest, while defending its work supporting the U.S. military and service members.

“We respect the right to free speech and we understand that protests are a hallmark of democratic expression,” Anduril said in a statement provided to GeekWire. “That said, it is perplexing when people choose to protest a company dedicated to supporting the very military that safeguards those rights.”

The company’s statement continued:

“At Anduril, we’re proud of our role in helping the brave men and women who risk their lives to defend the freedoms that we all enjoy, freedoms that include the right to stand outside and protest our existence. We’ll continue to honor those serving our country, even when others stand in opposition.”

The protest comes as Anduril expands its operations in the Seattle area, including a new maritime manufacturing and testing operation along Seattle’s historic Lake Washington Ship Canal. GeekWire reported earlier this year that the company has taken over the former Foss shipyard, where it is thought to be testing autonomous vessels for the U.S. Navy.

Founded in 2017 by entrepreneur Palmer Luckey, Anduril has become one of the most prominent defense technology companies in the country, developing autonomous aircraft, maritime systems, surveillance technologies and AI-powered software platforms for military and national security customers.

The company’s Seattle expansion has drawn attention because of the region’s long history as a hub for aerospace, maritime engineering, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing. The new maritime facility on the south bank of the Ship Canal represents a new chapter for a site with deep roots in Seattle’s shipbuilding history.

In announcing the rally, organizers cited the company’s work on autonomous systems, including underwater and surface vessels, and raised concerns about the role of artificial intelligence in global conflicts.

The groups also pointed to the ongoing Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) military exercises, a multinational naval exercise held in and around Hawaii. The exercise runs through July 31 and includes participation from dozens of nations.

Anduril has increasingly positioned itself as a technology company focused on modernizing defense capabilities, arguing that faster adoption of advanced software, autonomy and AI can improve the effectiveness and safety of military operations.

Sunday’s event is expected to include speeches, testimonials and cultural performances from participating community organizations.

The rally adds a new point of public debate around Anduril’s expansion in Seattle, as the company builds out its presence in a region already home to major technology companies, aerospace firms and a growing defense innovation sector.

In addition to the new facility at the Foss shipyard, Anduril operates facilities in downtown Seattle and Bellevue, where it expanded last summer with a lease for 39,851 square feet of space at Skyline Tower.

Anduril also is rapidly expanding its operations in California, where the company is headquartered. And it is building a massive facility just south of Columbus, Ohio, that it dubs Arsenal-1, described by the company as “the future of American defense manufacturing.”

In May, the company raised a $5 billion funding round from Thrive Capital, Andreessen Horowitz and others at a $61 billion valuation.

Seattle helped create the modern smartphone era. Now, nearly 40 people in the heart of one of the world’s biggest technology hubs are voluntarily putting theirs away.

The inaugural Month Offline Seattle cohort challenges participants to swap their smartphones for flip phones — or other “dumb phones” — for 35 days, gathering weekly for what organizers describe as part happy hour, part support group.

What started as a niche experiment in Washington, D.C. and Brooklyn has found an enthusiastic audience in Seattle, where organizers expected 10 to 20 participants but have already attracted the largest cohort outside those two cities.

Weekly programs are scheduled during the month-long detox from July 28 to Sept. 1, with activities on Tuesday evenings like bocce ball, bowling and mini golf slated to connect people in real time. There are also themed programs during the week, starting in week one with orientation and goal setting, and followed by topics such as “communication and relationships,” and “attention and boredom.” You can register here.

For a region like Seattle that’s home to Microsoft, Amazon, T-Mobile and a booming AI industry, the idea might sound almost rebellious. But organizers say the goal isn’t to reject technology — it’s to rethink how much of our lives should revolve around our smartphones.

James Wagar, a former investment banker and self-described techno-optimist who has carried a flip phone alongside his smartphone for years, teamed up with therapist and coach Maggie Hollinbeck, who describes herself as a techno-skeptic, to get the Seattle cohort launched. Together, they’re leading the gatherings, serving as the guides to those ready to take a break from their always-connected lifestyles.

“We (finally) seem to be at the beginning of a cultural moment with more people seriously evaluating their relationships with technology,” Wagar tells GeekWire. “Those using flip phones and simpler devices may be the canaries in the coal mine. While I remain a techno-optimist, the attention economy is not sustainable.”

Hollinbeck said she remembers when smartphones felt like a convenience — a way to replace multiple devices with one. But over time, she felt that same “rectangle of glass” had become harder to put down, prompting her to rethink her relationship with technology. She’s already ditched her Facebook and Instagram accounts, and was ready for the next step.

“I’m here to reclaim my time and attention, and I’m doing it in this way because I’ve found that it’s actually pretty hard to disentangle myself from this pocket-sized dementor,” said Hollinbeck. “It’s gonna take a village, so we’re building one.”

The concept has been spreading nationally through the Month Offline movement, but Seattle’s response has surprised the organizers. Most participants found the group not through social media, but through flyers, word of mouth, and conversations at neighborhood pubs during the FIFA World Cup.

Cohort members can use their own flip phone or purchase one at a discounted price of $10, and a commitment to subscribe for four months of discounted wireless service from dumb.co. That’s a total commitment of $42.

Denver, Austin, Los Angeles and Philadelphia also are jumping on the “Month Offline” bandwagon — which is kind of best described as a dry January for the tech obsessed. The organization says it is united by a common mission — “our commitment to attention liberation.”

Wagar and Hollinbeck are also encouraging a GeekWire reporter to join the movement.

So far, no takers.

Note: I actually tried a digital detox for one day back in 2013. Not sure I am ready for 35 days, 13 years later.

Salesforce’s Tableau business has renewed its lease for roughly 114,000 square feet at the Data 1 office building in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood, extending its long-term home in the city.

The lease renewal takes effect after the current agreement expires in 2029, according to an announcement Monday first reported by the Puget Sound Business Journal. It marks the largest office lease renewal in Seattle this year.

The renewal continues Tableau’s long association with Fremont, where the company added offices over the years to accommodate its rapid growth before its $15.7 billion acquisition by Salesforce in 2019. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff once said the Seattle region would become the company’s “HQ2” with the Tableau deal.

However, the years following the acquisition brought significant change. Salesforce conducted multiple rounds of layoffs that affected Tableau employees and trimmed its Seattle office footprint as hybrid work reshaped demand for office space.

Former Tableau CEO Mark Nelson also departed in 2024 after leading the business for two years. Before the acquisition, Tableau had grown to about 4,200 employees worldwide, about half of them in the Seattle region. 

Salesforce originally planned to sublease the Data 1 building at 744 N. 34th St., which Tableau opened in 2018. But it then quickly reversed course in 2023, instead choosing to put its nearby Fremont headquarters building on the sublease market.

The Tableau news also comes at a changing time for Fremont.

Last year, Google announced plans to leave its Fremont campus, bringing all of its employees in Seattle together at its South Lake Union campus. At the time, it cited a desire for better collaboration and community. The pending departure has meant a large chunk of prime office space remains available for lease along the Lake Washington Ship Canal.

However, other companies and organizations have discovered the so-called “Center of the Universe.” Chip maker Nvidia recently leased 28,000 square feet of space at The Fremont Lake Union Center building and the global biotech nonprofit PATH last year took over offices formerly occupied by Tableau in Fremont’s West Dock building.

We’ve reached out to Salesforce about the Tableau lease, and we will update this post as we learn more.

UPDATE with statements from Salesforce and Hess Callahan Grey Group:

“Data 1 has been a critical hub for our local employees and customers, and we are thrilled to continue our presence in Fremont,” said Rob McCorkindale, VP of Global Real Estate Portfolio & Transactions at Salesforce. “This renewal underscores our continued investment in the Seattle region and our focus on creating spaces that inspire our people to do their best work.”

“Salesforce has been an exceptional tenant and a valued presence in the Fremont community since Data 1 was completed,” said Mark Grey, partner at Hess Callahan Grey Group. “Their decision to extend their commitment to the building speaks to the enduring appeal of Fremont and the importance of creating great environments for leading employers. Salesforce is an integral part of the neighborhood’s technology ecosystem, and we are proud to continue supporting their long-term presence in Seattle.”

Enterprise software company LogicGate is establishing a Bellevue, Wash., office and rapidly expanding its Seattle-area executive team, betting on the region’s deep technology talent pool as it embarks on a new chapter under newly appointed CEO Diego Panama.

The Chicago-based governance, risk and compliance software company recently signed a lease in Bellevue with space for up to 25 employees and expects to have about 20 people working there by the end of the year.

It also recently recruited two Seattle-area executives to its leadership team: veteran marketing executive Michael Schultz as chief marketing officer and David Rostov as chief financial officer, whose appointment is being announced today.

“The tech talent market here is really second to none,” said Panama, the former LiveRamp and Microsoft sales leader who took the helm of the company in April. “As we looked to create a hub with a vibrant office culture, Bellevue is really a stand-out option.”  

The expansion comes as Panama succeeds co-founder Matt Kunkel in a planned leadership transition that the company hopes will position LogicGate for its next phase of growth.

“We are eyes wide open — this is hard to get right — and really proud/excited about how we are going about it,” said Panama. One of his main goals as CEO is to transform LogicGate from a cloud-based software-as-a-service business into an AI-centric company where agents and humans work seamlessly together.

Founded in 2015 and now employing about 200 globally, LogicGate develops governance, risk and compliance software used by enterprises to manage regulatory, cybersecurity and operational risk.

Rostov is a longtime Seattle technology finance executive who previously served as CFO at Avalara and Identity Digital before co-founding Aurion Biotech. Based in Seattle, he will oversee LogicGate’s finance and legal organizations while helping expand the company’s Pacific Northwest operations.

“We have a leadership team that can match the ambition of what we’re creating at LogicGate,” Panama said in a statement.

Rostov said he was drawn by both the market opportunity and the company’s strategy around AI.

“Enterprise GRC is at an inflection point, and companies need a trusted AI-focused platform that scales alongside their risk and compliance demands,” he said in a statement.

The Bellevue office reflects the company’s belief that the Seattle region’s concentration of enterprise software, cloud computing and AI talent can help fuel its next stage of growth as it expands both its leadership team and its AI capabilities.

LogicGate’s investment also adds another enterprise software company to a growing roster of firms choosing the Seattle area as a base for executive leadership, alongside engineering and product talent. GeekWire’s engineering center list now includes more than 100 companies with outposts in the region.

Anthropic is embarking on a major expansion in Seattle, underscoring how artificial intelligence companies are emerging as one of the few bright spots in the region’s office market.

The maker of the Claude AI model recently finalized a lease at Dexter Yard North in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood, capping months of speculation about the company’s expansion plans in the region.

Terms of the deal were not publicly disclosed, but CoStar News reports that the company leased 113,000 square feet of space across multiple floors in the north tower at 700 Dexter Avenue North. CoStar called it one of the largest office deals of the year so far in Seattle.

The expansion would significantly increase Anthropic’s footprint in Seattle, where the San Francisco-based company established an engineering office in 2024 as it recruited talent from the region’s deep pool of AI researchers and software engineers.

It would also place Anthropic next door to Amazon. The companies in April expanded their existing partnership: Amazon committed to invest up to $25 billion in Anthropic, which simultaneously made a $100 billion-plus spending commitment to AWS over 10 years. 

The following month, Anthropic announced $65 billion in funding at a $965 billion valuation, thought to be the last venture round before an initial public offering later this year.

On Thursday, Anthropic released Claude Sonnet 5, which the company says “can make plans, use tools like browsers and terminals, and run autonomously at a level that, just a few months ago, required larger and more expensive models.”

Also this week, The U.S. Department of Commerce removed export controls on the company’s Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models, part of an ongoing back-and-forth with the Trump administration.

Anthropic’s Seattle lease provides hope that demand from AI companies could help revive parts of Seattle’s office market after several years of elevated vacancy driven by remote work and tech industry cutbacks. Seattle’s office vacancy rate inched up to 28% during the first quarter, the highest in the region.

Other AI firms, including OpenAI and Databricks, have also expanded their Seattle-area office footprints in recent months. In those instances, the companies chose to grow in nearby Bellevue.

Dexter Yard, a two-building office and life sciences campus developed by BioMed Realty, opened in 2022 and was designed to accommodate both technology and biotech tenants. The north tower contains approximately 163,000 square feet of office and lab space.

Anthropic has a number of open engineering roles spread across Seattle, New York and San Francisco. The company says it expects all staff to be in one of their offices at least 25% of the time.

A spokesperson for Anthropic acknowledged the new lease, but did not respond to requests for additional comment.