Capital spending soars in the cloud | Amazon makes AI assistant generally available

The cost of AI: Tech giants are investing billions of dollars in technical infrastructure required to meet the demand for artificial intelligence services and products. But whether that demand will be worth the investment remains to be seen. In the meantime, companies are trying to control costs to avoid capital expenditures cutting significantly into profit margins. Read more .

SPONSOR MESSAGE: Washington state’s second-largest city is the hub of an ambitious regional tech community seeking to leverage new realities to achieve its longstanding goals. Read more.

Amazon made its Amazon Q AI assistant generally available as the company aims to help businesses and developers with generative AI-powered tools. It also released Q Apps, which gives non-developers the ability to create apps using natural language. Read more .

• Amazon reports its first quarter earnings Tuesday —?read our preview , and check GeekWire.com later today for updates.

Forget the text prompts, this AI startup built a tool that analyzes video and creates suitable music for the footage in seconds, saving time for content creators such as filmmakers. GenreX is being incubated at Seattle’s AI2 Incubator. Read more. ?

Tableau will enable local file-saving for the free version of its data visualization software, addressing a longstanding request from Tableau Public users. It's one of several announcements at the company's annual conference today. Read more .?

As artificial intelligence increasingly makes its way into classrooms, two Seattle-area high school teens are leading a new startup called Professor AI that harnesses the tech to help students study for advanced placement, or college-level courses. Read more .

An innovative battery startup and a Pacific Northwest tribe are partnering to manufacture long-duration energy devices housed inside modified shipping containers. Read more . (Above: Skip Technology engineering leader Madisen McCleary makes a hydrophobic coating for the interior of a flow cell for the startup’s hydrogen bromine batteries)

Vancouver, .B.C.-based startup Bioform Technologies raised investment?to develop a compostable plastic made from wood pulp. Read more .

Bothell, Wash.-based Portal Space Systems emerged from stealth mode to share its vision for satellites that make use of solar thermal propulsion to provide a quantum leap in space mobility. Read more .

Get your last-minute GeekWire Awards tickets: The big event returns May 9 to celebrate the leading innovators, entrepreneurs, scientists and business leaders in the Pacific Northwest. Limited individual tickets still available . Read all about the awards finalists .

Hot Links:

• More major U.S. newspapers are suing Microsoft and OpenAI for copyright infringement. (Axios )
• JumpStart, the payroll tax in Seattle targeting large employers such as Amazon, is keeping the city’s budget afloat —?and could be used to plug holes. (The Seattle Times )
• The FCC fined major wireless carriers — including T-Mobile, which faces the largest fine — for allegedly illegally sharing customers’ location data. (The Verge )
• Twin Protocol, a new startup out of Seattle, launched the first phase of its AI voice twin platform. (Business Wire )

SPONSOR MESSAGE: Local Bank Offering A Frictionless Loan Application Process For Small Businesses in Washington State. 40-50% of small businesses rank access to capital as their main obstacle. Unlike traditional banks that tend to be encumbered by legacy tech, community banks can bring agility and innovation to small business lending. Learn how a Seattle-based financial institution leveraged open banking to offer a frictionless loan process for small business borrowers in Washington State. Learn more.

Sign up here to receive GeekWire's daily newsletter in your email inbox each day at 11 a.m. PT.