It’s been less than a year into the second Trump administration, and to many outside observers, US government policies appear confusing or incoherent. Yesterday provided a good example from the automotive sector. As has been widely expected, the White House is moving ahead with plans to significantly erode fuel economy standards, beyond even the permissive levels that were considered OK during the first Trump term.

Yet at the very announcement of that rollback, surrounded by compliant US automotive executives, the president decided to go off piste to declare his admiration for tiny Japanese Kei cars, telling Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to make them street-legal in the US.

50.4 mpg 40.4 mpg 34.5 mpg

A little over a decade ago, the Obama administration announced new fuel economy standards for light trucks and cars that were meant to go into effect this year, bringing the corporate fleet fuel economy average up to 50.4 mpg. As you can probably tell, that didn’t happen. It wasn’t a popular move with automakers, and the first Trump administration ripped up those rules and instituted new, weaker targets of just 40.4 mpg by 2026.

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[Editor’s Note: Agents of Transformation is an independent GeekWire series and 2026 event, underwritten by Accenture, exploring the people, companies, and ideas behind the rise of AI agents.]

What separates the dot-com bubble from today’s AI boom? For serial entrepreneur David Shim, it’s two things the early internet never had at scale: real business models and customers willing to pay.

People used the early internet because it was free and subsidized by incentives like gift certificates and free shipping. Today, he said, companies and consumers are paying real money and finding actual value in AI tools that are scaling to tens of millions in revenue within months.

But the Read AI co-founder and CEO, who has built and led companies through multiple tech cycles over the past 25 years, doesn’t dismiss the notion of an AI bubble entirely. Shim pointed to the speculative “edges” of the industry, where some companies are securing massive valuations despite having no product and no revenue — a phenomenon he described as “100% bubbly.”

He also cited AMD’s deal with OpenAI — in which the chipmaker offered stock incentives tied to a large chip purchase — as another example of froth at the margins. The arrangement had “a little bit” of a 2000-era feel of trading, bartering and unusual financial engineering that briefly boosted AMD’s stock.

But even that, in his view, is more of an outlier than a systemic warning sign.

“I think it’s a bubble, but I don’t think it’s going to burst anytime soon,” Shim said. “And so I think it’s going to be more of a slow release at the end of the day.”

Shim, who was named CEO of the Year at this year’s GeekWire Awards, previously led Foursquare and sold the startup Placed to Snap. He now leads Read AI, which has raised more than $80 million and landed major enterprise customers for its cross-platform AI meeting assistant and productivity tools.

He made the comments during a wide-ranging interview with GeekWire co-founder John Cook. They spoke about AI, productivity, and the future of work at a recent dinner event hosted in partnership with Accenture, in conjunction with GeekWire’s new “Agents of Transformation” editorial series.

We’re featuring the discussion on this episode of the GeekWire Podcast. Listen above, and subscribe to GeekWire in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Continue reading for more takeaways.

Successful AI agents solve specific problems: The most effective AI implementations will be invisible infrastructure focused on particular tasks, not broad all-purpose assistants. The term “agents” itself will fade into the background as the technology matures and becomes more integrated.

Human psychology is shaping AI deployment: Internally, ReadAI is testing an AI assistant named “Ada” that schedules meetings by learning users’ communication patterns and priorities. It works so quickly, he said, that Read AI is building delays into its responses, after finding that quick replies “freak people out,” making them think their messages didn’t get a careful read.

Global adoption is happening without traditional localization: Read AI captured 1% of Colombia’s population without local staff or employees, demonstrating AI’s ability to scale internationally in ways previous technologies couldn’t.

“Multiplayer AI” will unlock more value: Shim says an AI’s value is limited when it only knows one person’s data. He believes one key is connecting AI across entire teams, to answer questions by pulling information from a colleague’s work, including meetings you didn’t attend and files you’ve never seen.

“Digital Twins” are the next, controversial frontier: Shim predicts a future in which a departed employee can be “resurrected” from their work data, allowing companies to query that person’s institutional knowledge. The idea sounds controversial and “a little bit scary,” he said, but it could be invaluable for answering questions that only the former employee would have known.

Subscribe to GeekWire in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.

Editor’s Note: GeekWire co-founders Todd Bishop and John Cook created this column by recording themselves discussing the topic, asking AI to draft a piece based on their conversation, and then reviewing and editing the copy before publishing. Listen to the raw audio below.

If we look out GeekWire’s office window right now, down at Seattle’s Burke-Gilman Trail, we can practically guarantee one thing: if we wait 5 minutes, at least one Rad Power Bike will zip past. Probably more. They are ubiquitous — the “Tesla of e-bikes” that seemed to redefine urban transport during the pandemic.

But that physical prominence masks a brutal business reality. 

In the last few weeks, the Seattle tech scene has been rocked by two stories that feel like different verses of the same sad song, as documented by GeekWire reporter Kurt Schlosser. First, Glowforge — the maker of high-end 3D laser printers — went into receivership and was restructured. Then came the news that Rad Power Bikes might be forced to close entirely.

We’ve each covered the Seattle region’s tech ecosystem for around 25 years, and if there is one enduring truth in the Pacific Northwest, it is that hardware is not only hard, as the old saying goes, but for some reason it seems harder here.

It is naturally harder to manipulate atoms than digits. If Windows has a bug, Microsoft pushes an update. If a Rad Power Bike has a busted tire or a faulty component, you can’t fix it with a line of code. You need a supply chain, a mechanic, and a physical presence.

But the struggles of Rad and Glowforge go beyond the physical manufacturing challenges. They are victims of two specific traps: the quirks of the pandemic and the curse of too much capital.

The COVID mirage 

Both companies were born before the pandemic, but they boomed during it. When the world locked down, the thesis for both companies looked invincible. We were all sitting at home in our PJs, desperate for a hobby — so why not buy a Glowforge and laser-print trinkets? We were wary of public transit and looking for recreation — so why not buy an e-bike?

Many tech companies, including giants like Amazon and Zoom, bet big that these behavioral changes were permanent. They weren’t. And we are seeing some of the indigestion of that period play out with massive layoffs at tech companies that got too big, too fast during the pandemic years.  

The world went back to normal, or at least found a new normal, but in the meantime these companies had scaled for a reality that no longer exists.

The VC curse

Then there is the money. In 2021, Rad Power Bikes raised over $300 million.

When you raise that kind of cash, you are no longer allowed to be a nice, profitable niche business. You have to be a platform. You have to be a world-changer. Rad tried to build a massive ecosystem, including direct-to-consumer retail stores and mobile service vans to fix bikes in people’s driveways.

Building a physical service network is agonizingly expensive. Had they raised less and stayed focused on being a great bike maker, we might be having a different conversation. But venture capital demands a “Tesla-sized” outcome, and that pressure can crush a consumer hardware company.

The ghosts of Seattle hardware 

History tells us we shouldn’t be surprised. Seattle has a painful relationship with consumer hardware. We’ve got one word for you: Zune. Or how about the Fire Phone? Or Vicis, the high-tech football helmet maker that crashed and burned.

For those with long memories, the current situation rhymes with the saga of Terabeam in the early 2000s. They raised over $500 million to beam internet data through the air using lasers. It was a B2B play, not consumer, but the pattern was identical: massive hype, massive capital, and a technology that was difficult to deploy in the real world. They eventually sold for a fraction of what they raised.

We still love seeing those bikes on the Burke-Gilman. But in this economy, with inflation squeezing discretionary spending, $1,500 e-bikes and $4,000 laser printers are a tough sell.

Seattle may be the cloud capital of the world, but when it comes to consumer hardware, we’re still learning that you can’t just download a profit margin.

Thoughts on this story-writing approach? Email: todd@geekwire.com and john@geekwire.com.

Interview transcript: 

Terry Gerton You and your company, Indeed Flex, have just done a recent survey that showed nearly 40% of furloughed federal workers are seeking flexible jobs within two weeks. What does that tell us about the shutdown and how it’s reshaping financial reality for folks?

Novo Constare I think the reality of the shutdown is that it’s put a lot of people in severe financial hardship, where they’re struggling to pay key bills that matter to them, whether it be rent, energy, you name it. And we surveyed 1,000 adults, and as you mentioned, 40% of people were looking for extra work. However, when we did the survey, it’s been about three weeks now, and as we all know, I think yesterday marked that this is the longest shutdown ever. And at the moment it seems there’s no particular end in sight. And so that 40% may be a lot higher right now as the increasing financial burdens, because the shutdowns are just going to impact more and more people that are being affected.

Terry Gerton You found that many federal workers are turning to freelance platforms, gig apps and remote work, and that some said they plan to stick with it even after the shutdown ends. Do you see this as a long-term shift in mindset?

Novo Constare I think this is a continuous shift that’s been going on for quite some time, with the launch of many gig platforms, whether it be the likes of Uber or DoorDash, people have been migrating to gig work for the last sort of 10 years now, and it increased over COVID. And what we saw when the cost of living crisis kicked off, where inflation reached rampant levels, it impacted a lot of people’s wallets today, and whilst inflation has come down, things are still very, very expensive relative to what people’s wages have been. And so people are finding they’re having to supplement their income by any means necessary. And what flexible work does, what these gig apps do, it allows people to maintain their full-time job, but be able to pick up gigs, pick up work that fits around their work-life schedules to enable to earn more money. And I think for those in government work, they’ve probably historically felt they’re in very stable jobs, not very susceptible to the ups and downs of the global economy. And what this shutdown has shown is that actually things may be changing even for them. I think for many of the people surveyed, they said this shutdown felt different compared to other shutdowns in the past. And as we’ve seen, it’s the longest one on record and breaking that record every single day. And so I think they’re going to get that experience of leveraging flexible work and realizing it’s something that if it provides good pay and stability, that they’ll be looking to continue it on.

Terry Gerton You mentioned Uber and DoorDash as a couple of examples. Were there particular trends that you saw in the survey response about the kinds of flexible work that federal employees are looking for?

Novo Constare One thing that was interesting about the workers surveyed who were impacted by the shutdown, the sectors or the jobs they were looking to do as part of supplementing their income, they were jobs in administrative, clerical, customer service and call center work. So I guess these are jobs that they do for government already and sort of see an opportunity to transfer those skills that they already know into these other areas, versus saying, I will become an Uber driver overnight. So like, if they were looking for flexible work, that sort of suited or matched their current skill set, which is perfectly natural for anyone.

Terry Gerton Were there responses that indicated interest in things like writing or editing or strategic planning, augmentation, those kinds of things as well?

Novo Constare One thing popped up that was very consistent is nearly half of them, actually I think 43% of them were looking for sort of remote and freelance opportunities. So things that allow them to, things like virtual assistants or writing as you just said. So they can do those things from the confines of where they’re currently based and hopefully open themselves up to more opportunities across the entire U.S., versus being locked into wherever’s available to them locally.

Terry Gerton And it seems like that may be an opportunity to kind of build a broader employment network given the uncertainty of federal employment right now.

Novo Constare Exactly, 100%.

Terry Gerton I’m speaking with Novo Constare. He’s the CEO and co-founder of Indeed Flex. So let’s back up for a minute outside of the need to supplement their salaries. Federal employees face some pretty strict legal rules around outside employment. What sort of legal and ethical considerations should they be aware of before they take on a side gig?

Novo Constare So for those workers who pick up other jobs, they will generally not be eligible for unemployment benefits. And so there is a risk, depending on what they do, that the unemployment benefits they will be getting, having been furloughed by the government, they would lose access to. So there’s an element where they’ve got to understand the trade-off of what they potentially could be earning if they go pick up these side gigs, versus what they’re getting from unemployment benefits. So they have to be cautious in their approach and just like, it isn’t as simple as like, I’m picking up an unemployment benefit and I’m also just going to go pick up some seasonal work at the same time.

Terry Gerton That’s a really important consideration. And traditionally, federal jobs have been seen as very stable and very secure. You mentioned that early on. So how does the rise of this interest in side gigs challenge that narrative? What does it mean for agencies who want to retain talent? What does it mean for folks who are thinking about coming into the government? What do you see as the narrative there?

Novo Constare The thing for, so a lot, like 68% said they would return, after they returned to regular positions, they would still consider remaining in flexible and temporary work. However, there was a caveat with that. It would be if it was good pay, sufficient, and it was stable as well. So what we’ve learned in our business is the quickest way to lose a worker is not be able to buy them an opportunity when they need it, which is one of our strategic advantages in our product, is to be able to scale our platform and ensure we recruit enough workers to fulfill the needs of our customer, but not too many workers so that when workers need a job, there’s not enough jobs for them. And so for agencies out there, for ourselves, we’ve got to be constantly monitoring how consistent is the work we have available for workers, so that we retain them because they want to have stable and reliable pay.

Terry Gerton And so if federal workers are thinking about flexible work, what should they be looking for in terms of pay and in scheduling and compatibility with their primary job, assuming they’ve got clearance to engage?

Novo Constare For us, our core values is giving workers ownership, control and choice. And so we’re not the only platform out there, but the great thing about a platform like ours, it gives the workers complete visibility and transparency to the work that is available out there that meets their skills. And I think that’s super important because in some scenarios where you don’t have that visibility, you could be forced to take work that you otherwise wouldn’t take because it feels like there’s no other opportunities. So if you’re making this decision, make sure you’re looking to join an agency or a platform that gives you that ownership over so you can manage your schedule effectively. And look for other opportunities of like, it’s not just the work, it’s who gives you good access to your pay. We’ve got this initiative where we want to make sure people get paid as quickly as possible. So in some scenarios for certain jobs that you complete on our platform, you can get paid instantly, where you can clock in and clock out of your shift and get access to that pay immediately, which is super important. And I think for the government workers who are looking at these gig opportunities, it’s probably even extra important cause there’s no other income coming towards you right now. Having instant access to the money that you’ve earned is super important and it helps stave off utilizing loans and things of that nature.

Terry Gerton You’re obviously deeply engaged in the gig economy and supply and demand for gig workers. Do you see this interest from federal employees as a temporary blip related specifically to this shutdown circumstance, or do you think this is a longer-term structural shift? And what might that mean if it is?

Novo Constare I believe it’s a long-term structural shift. I believe that those who start to pick up some extra gigs through platforms or seasonal work will see how that flexibility can work around their schedule and they’ll utilize an opportunity to continue to supplement their core income from their permanent job, because the technology out there allows it to be more possible today. And then at the same time, I know companies who are struggling to manage budgets in uncertain macroeconomic conditions are looking to employ more flexible scheduling. And therefore their demand for these type of work is also increasing. So there’s a natural synergy there in terms of the flexibility and needs of the workforce and the need to earn extra money, and also the flexibility the employers need to be able to manage the scheduling of their labor.

Terry Gerton So you’re seeing this as a big part of the future labor market.

Novo Constare 100%, yes.

The post Shutdowns are driving federal workers to pick up side hustles first appeared on Federal News Network.

Corporate Crypto Treasuries Under Pressure — What It Means for the Broader Crypto Market

As Bitcoin’s slide squeezes firms with large crypto hoards, the trend exposes hidden risk and signals what traders should watch next.

Introduction

Corporate treasury strategies that were once touted as bold moves to capture upside from crypto are now coming under strain. Firms that built large positions in digital assets on their balance-sheets are facing a dual-threat: a decline in the crypto market and an erosion of investor confidence in the treasury model. For traders, analysts and market watchers, this isn’t just a firm-level problem — it signals broader shifts in how crypto risk is priced and managed.

1. What’s happening with crypto treasury firms

Recent reports show a clear strain in the “crypto-treasury” business model:

• According to CryptoNews Australia, companies holding substantial crypto treasuries are seeing billions of dollars eroded as crypto markets slump.
• Reuters notes that “treasury firms shift to fringe tokens as Bitcoin rally cools”, meaning some companies are chasing speculative plays to recover earlier losses.
• A piece from CoinDesk highlights that firms like MicroStrategy’s stock multiple fell from ~2.5× mNAV to ~1.23×, showing how the treasury premium has collapsed.

In short: A model that once benefitted from rising crypto prices is now exposed when prices fall — and investors are waking up to that risk.

2. Why the treasury-model amplifies risk

To understand the significance, consider how the treasury model works — and why it becomes a liability in a downturn.

• Leverage by proxy: These firms often hold crypto as a significant portion of their assets; when crypto falls, the equity value of the firm drops even more.
• Mark-to-market pain: Crypto holdings are volatile; in a drawdown their balance-sheet loss is immediate, whereas the business model may not be earning enough to offset it.
• Investor sentiment flips: The “treasury premium” (the extra valuation investors give a company for having crypto reserves) can evaporate quickly when risk returns.
• Herd moves to the speculative side: As noted by Reuters, many treasury firms are pivoting to “fringe tokens” hoping for outsized gains — this increases risk, not reduces it.

For your forecast-oriented readers, this means: corporate crypto exposure is not just an asset-class play, it’s a systemic vulnerability when crypto markets wobble.

3. Which companies are in focus — and what to look for

While I won’t name every firm, some public corporates worth monitoring include those tracked by the resource “Corporate Crypto Treasury Holdings” from The Block.
Here are the key indicators you should watch when assessing treasury firms:

• mNAV multiple: How the stock is valued relative to the estimated net-asset-value of the crypto holdings. (MicroStrategy dropped sharply in this metric.)
• Proportion of crypto to total assets: Higher percentages mean higher exposure.
• Liquidity of holdings: Are the crypto assets easily liquidated? Are they locked/staked/illiquid?
• Revenue/operating income: If the company’s business model cannot cover its cost base without crypto gains, it’s at greater risk.
• Shift in strategy: If a company is pivoting to riskier tokens or ventures to repair losses, that’s a red flag for increased downside.

4. What this means for the broader crypto market

So why should crypto traders and market watchers care? Because these treasury firms act as amplifiers of market sentiment. Here’s how:

• When treasury firms are buying crypto, it signals institutional accumulation and can support prices.
• When they are under stress or forced sellers, it signals distribution risk and can magnify drawdowns.
• The pivot to speculative tokens by treasury firms suggests risk capital is being redeployed, which may push money into smaller caps or niche sectors rather than major tokens.
• The systemic nature of this means crypto markets aren’t only driven by retail momentum or macro sentiment — they’re partially driven by corporate balance-sheet decisions.

Therefore, when you see headlines like “Treasury firms shift to fringe tokens” or “Treasury multiple collapses”, treat it as a warning signal: the market may be past the easy upside phase and entering a tougher risk-adjustment phase.

5. Forecast-oriented takeaways for traders

• Positive scenario: If crypto prices stabilize and treasury firms hold their positions (i.e., no forced selling), this could reduce one layer of downside risk and improve market sentiment.
• Risk scenario: If treasury firms begin liquidating crypto holdings en-masse or pivot heavily into speculative assets, market breadth could thin and major tokens could underperform smaller, riskier ones.
• What to watch now:
• A spike in treasury-firm disclosures of crypto write-downs or asset sales.
• A collapse in the mNAV multiple for treasury-exposed firms.
• Shift of corporate crypto holdings into fringe tokens or non-crypto assets.
• On-chain indicators of accumulation vs distribution by large holding entities (whales/corporates).

Conclusion

The recent squeeze on corporate crypto treasuries isn’t merely a side-show — it’s a frontline indicator of how risk is being priced in the crypto market right now. As traders, your edge lies in watching these balance-sheet signals, not just token charts.

In today’s uncertain environment, look past the price spikes and ask: Which firms are holding? Which are changing strategy? That’s where the real signal lies.

Related reading: DigitalX expands Bitcoin treasury amid market volatility — a recent example of how companies are still doubling down on crypto holdings despite short-term market stress.

Visit: Bitcoin World News
Contact: media@bitcoinworld.news

Corporate Crypto Treasuries Unr Pressure — What It Means for the Broader Crypto Market was originally published in Coinmonks on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Seattle is looking to celebrate and accelerate its leadership in artificial intelligence at the very moment the first wave of the AI economy is crashing down on the region’s tech workforce.

That contrast was hard to miss Monday evening at the opening reception for Seattle AI Week 2025 at Pier 70. On stage, panels offered a healthy dose of optimism about building the AI future. In the crowd, buzz about Amazon’s impending layoffs brought the reality of the moment back to earth.

A region that rose with Microsoft and then Amazon is now dealing with the consequences of Big Tech’s AI-era restructuring. Companies that hired by the thousands are now thinning their ranks in the name of efficiency and focus — a dose of corporate realism for the local tech economy.

The double-edged nature of this shift is not lost on Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson.

“AI, and the future of AI, and what that means for our state and the world — each day I do this job, the more that moves up in my mind in terms of the challenges and the opportunities we have,” Ferguson told the AI Week crowd. He touted Washington’s concentration of AI jobs, saying his goal is to maximize the benefits of AI while minimizing its downsides.

Seattle AI Week, led by the Washington Technology Industry Association, was started last year after a Forbes list of the nation’s top 50 AI startups included none from Seattle, said the WTIA’s Nick Ellingson, opening this year’s event. That didn’t seem right. Was it a messaging problem?

“A bunch of us got together and said, let’s talk about all the cool things happening around AI in Seattle, and let’s expand the tent beyond just tech things that are happening,” Ellingson explained.

So maybe that’s the best measuring stick: how many startups will this latest shakeout spark, and how can the Seattle region’s startup and tech leaders make it happen? Can the region become less dependent on the whims of the Microsoft and Amazon C-suites in the process? 

“Washington has so much opportunity. It’s one of the few capitals of AI in the world,” said WTIA’s Arry Yu in her opening remarks. “People talk about China, people talk about Silicon Valley — there are a few contenders, but really, it’s here in Seattle. … The future is built on data, on powerful technology, but also on community. That’s what makes this place different.”

And yet, “AI is a sleepy scene in Seattle, where people work at their companies, but there’s very little activity and cross-pollinating outside of this,” said Nathan Lambert, senior research scientist with the Allen Institute for AI, during the opening panel discussion.

No, we don’t want to become San Francisco or Silicon Valley, Lambert added. But that doesn’t mean the region can’t cherry-pick some of the ingredients that put Bay Area tech on top.

Whether laid-off tech workers will start their own companies is a common question after layoffs like this. In the Seattle region at least, that outcome has been more fantasy than reality. 

This is where AI could change things, if not with the fabled one-person unicorn then with a bigger wave of new companies born of this employment downturn. Who knows, maybe one will even land on that elusive Forbes AI 50 list. (Hey, a region can dream!)

But as the new AI reality unfolds in the regional workforce, maybe the best question to ask is whether Seattle’s next big thing can come from its own backyard again.

Related: Ferguson’s AI balancing act: Washington governor wants to harness innovation while minimizing harms

Hundreds of global leaders gathered in the Pacific Northwest this week for the inaugural One Ocean Week Seattle, a maritime conference with dozens of events that brought together company executives, government officials and advocates charting paths toward cleaner shipping, sustainable fishing and ocean conservation.

The conference, organized by Washington Maritime Blue, was anchored by Wednesday’s One Ocean Summit, where leaders from global companies with Seattle ties discussed their climate progress and the challenges of deploying sustainable technologies.

Seattle-based SSA Marine, a global marine terminal operator, has 200 locations worldwide, moving cargo from ships to terminals and onto trains and trucks. The company has carbon emissions targets and is working to shift from gas and diesel to electrical power for the machines moving moving the cargo, but the move requires juggling sometimes competing factors.

“If you have a piece of electrical equipment, you have to think about charging time that’s required in between shifts, and when can you actually fit it in there?” said Meghan Weinman, SSA Marine’s vice president of sustainability. “One of those big pieces of innovation that we really have to think about is the overlay of technology, labor planning, and can it do the job that we need it to do.”

Corvus Energy is a Norwegian clean shipping company with Seattle offices and a manufacturing facility in Bellingham, Wash. The business is helping vessels go electric with its maritime battery technologies, serving ferries, cruise ships, tugs, cranes and fishing boats.

It’s an evolving sector and the company spends up to 15% of its annual revenue on research and development to fine-tune its technology to meet demanding oceanic conditions.

“It is totally different to operate a battery in an EV versus a maritime setting,” said Corvus CEO Fredrik Witte. “For an EV, you’re traveling three, four hours a day, maybe. But in a maritime setting, you’re potentially operating 24/7.”

Seattle’s Trident Seafoods operates fishing boats and onshore production facilities, including the largest seafood processing plant in North America in Akutan, Alaska. While seafood typically has a much lower carbon footprint than beef, pork or dairy, the company wants to reduce the climate impacts associated with its operations.

But Paul Doremus, Trident Seafoods’ vice president of policy and sustainability, pointed to a hard reality: the company competes directly with Russian and Chinese seafood companies that are doing business under less stringent environmental regulations.

He said the seafood sector — “which has been kind of famously fragmented, small, fairly scrappy” — needs to come together to collectively make improvements.

Doremus applauded events like One Ocean Week Seattle for gathering maritime interests to draw attention and capital toward “sustainable use of the ocean for the benefit of local communities, regional and national.”

“I think that’s the next wave,” he said.

Collaboration and innovation

The call for collaboration echoed throughout the One Ocean Summit, which also featured former NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco, United Nations officials, and Norway’s ambassador to the U.S.

Washington Lt. Gov. Denny Heck gave a welcome address, highlighting the state’s maritime economy while calling out threats from plastic pollution, undersea noise, and environmental degradation.

“To face these challenges, we will need to develop new technologies and strengthen our institutions,” Heck said. “It will require sustainable fuel storage, habitat restoration, quiet propulsion and so many other inventions and innovations. But more importantly, it will require the dedication and teamwork of thousands of people.”

The message was reinforced by Haakon Vatle, leader of the One Ocean Expedition, which is sailing a 111-year-old Norwegian tall ship across the globe. The ship, named the Statsraad Lehmkuhl, was moored just outside Bell Harbor International Conference Center during the event.

“The role of our ship is to create attention and share knowledge of the crucial role of the ocean for a sustainable future,” Vatle said. “We’re going to use a ship to reduce the gap between science and the public — get the people we need for the ocean we want. We cannot save the ocean alone.”

Editor’s note: GeekWire reporter Lisa Stiffler was the volunteer emcee of the One Ocean Summit.

Argentina officially launched a new government agency on Wednesday as part of an effort to bolster the country’s medical marijuana and hemp industry. 

Reuters reports that the agency, known as the Regulatory Agency for the Hemp and Medicinal Cannabis Industry, or ARICCAME, represents “the first working group of a new national agency to regularize and promote the country’s nascent cannabis industry, which ministers hope will create new jobs and exports generating fresh income for the South American nation.” 

“This opens the door for Argentina to start a new path in terms of industrial exports, on the basis of huge global demand,” said Argentina’s economy minister Sergio Massa at an event marking the launch of the new agency.

According to Reuters, “Massa said that the agency would from Thursday begin regularizing programs and coordinating with various provinces and [the] industrial sector, adding Argentina already counted on demand for projects linked to the agro-industrial sector.”

On the official website for ARICCAME, the agency outlines its mission and objectives.

“We are the Agency that regulates the import, export, cultivation, industrial production, manufacture, commercialization and acquisition, by any title, of seeds of the cannabis plant, cannabis and its derivative products for medicinal or industrial purposes,” the website reads, via an English translation. 

The website lists the following “general objectives” for the agency: “Establish through the respective regulations, the regulatory framework for the entire production chain and national marketing and/or export of the Cannabis Sativa L. plant, seeds and derivatives for use in favor of health and industrial hemp; Promote a new agro-industrial productive sector for the commercial manufacture of medicines, phytotherapeutics, food and cosmetics for human use, medicines and food for veterinary use, as well as the different products made possible by industrial hemp; Generate the framework for the adaptation to the regulatory regime, of the cultivation and production of cannabis derivatives for use in existing health, guaranteeing the traceability and quality of the products in order to safeguard the right to health of the users of medical cannabis; Reintroduce hemp in Argentina and all its derivatives: food, construction materials, textile fiber, cellulose and bioplastics with low environmental impact; [and] Promote scientific research and sectoral technological progress, promoting favorable conditions for these existing industries in our country.”

ARICCAME’s specific objectives include: “Establish clear rules that provide legal certainty to the sector and encourage federal participation; Articulate through agreements and conventions with other State entities with intervention in the matter: INASE, SENASA, INTA, INTI, AFIP, INAES, BCRA, UIF, National Universities, etc; Determine the system of licenses and administrative authorizations for the productive chain; Generate quality standards that safeguard the right to health of users and consumers of cannabis/hemp products; [and] Control non-compliance with the regulatory regime.”

Argentine policymakers legalized cannabis oil for medical use in 2017. Three years later, the country legalized home cannabis cultivation for medical marijuana patients. 

The launch of the new agency is part of a border effort by the Argentine government to continue to reform the medical cannabis program, something that the South American country identified as a priority last year. 

According to Reuters, the newly launched agency will be helmed by Francisco Echarren, who “said the industry could generate thousands of new jobs, as well as create technological developments and new products for export.”

“We have a huge challenge ahead of us,” Echarren said, as quoted by Reuters, “not only getting a new industry on its feet, but giving millions of Argentines access to products that improve quality of life.”

The post Argentina Launches New Agency To Boost Cannabis Industry appeared first on High Times.