Microsoft’s Imagine Cup opens to startups, drops diversity scoring – LinkedIn

GeekWire GeekWire Breaking News in Technology and Business. Subscribe to our newsletter: geekwire.com/newsletters Published Nov 3, 2026 Imagine Cup grows up: Microsoft ’s longtime student developer competition is opening to startups for the first time, with new rules that offer a window into the company’s shifting AI strategy and broader changes in the industry. Entrants once had to build with Microsoft or OpenAI services, but for 2027 any AI is fair game, as long as the teams use Azure. Judges will now look for revenue and customer traction, while diversity and inclusion are out of the scoring.  AI accent gap: Audio AI models from Google , OpenAI and Alibaba Group rated American and British English speakers higher than Chinese and Nigerian speakers when scoring job interviews, presentations and English proficiency tests, new University of Washington research found. The gap held even when every speaker read the same script. What San Francisco got right: Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce CEO Joseph Nguyen returned from a trip to San Francisco convinced that Seattle’s missing ingredient is leadership , not talent or resources. In a GeekWire guest column, he cites falling crime and office vacancy under Mayor Daniel Lurie, and urges Seattle leaders
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