R E S E A R C H
Everyone in Seattle Hates AI - Microsoft's culture collapse
A former Microsoft engineer shares a stark observation: Seattle's tech culture has turned hostile toward AI innovation, while other cities remain curious and engaged.
The Lunch That Changed Everything
I grabbed lunch with a former Microsoft coworker—one of those engineers who can take any idea and immediately find the gold in it. I wanted her take on Wanderfugl, the AI-powered map I've been building full-time. I expected encouragement or at worst, overly generous feedback.
Instead, she reacted with a level of negativity I'd never seen her direct at me before. When I finally got her to explain, none of it had to do with what I built. She talked about Copilot 365, Microsoft AI, and every miserable AI tool she's forced to use at work.
Her reaction wasn't about me at all. It was about her entire environment.
"Her reaction wasn't about me at all. It was about her entire environment."
The AI Layoffs
The Layoff
Her PM had been laid off months earlier. The team asked why.
The Reason
Their director said it was because the PM org "wasn't effective enough at using Copilot 365."
The Shock
This director got up in a group meeting and said someone lost their job over this.
I nervously laughed, then tried to share how much better I'd been feeling—how AI tools helped me learn faster, accelerated my work on Wanderfugl. I didn't fully grasp how tone deaf I was being. She's drowning in resentment.
I left the lunch deflated and weirdly guilty, like building an AI product made me part of the problem.
A Tale of Two Cities
San Francisco
Curious, engaged, wanted to understand what I was building. People still believe they can change the world.
Seattle
Instant hostility the moment they heard "AI." Reflexive, critical, negative response from every engineer.
Every time I shared Wanderfugl with a Seattle engineer, I got the same response. This wasn't true in Bali, Tokyo, Paris, or San Francisco. But in Seattle? The culture had fundamentally shifted.

Bring up AI in a Seattle coffee shop now and people react like you're advocating asbestos.
The Culture That Was
1
The Golden Era
When I joined Microsoft, there was still a sense of possibility. Satya pushed "growth mindset" everywhere. Leaders talked about empowerment and breaking down silos.
2
The Innovation
I pushed into areas nobody wanted to touch, like Windows update compression. A 40% improvement made it out alive. Leadership backed it. It felt like the culture wanted change.
3
The Collapse
When the layoff directive hit, every org braced for impact. Anything not strictly inside the org's charter was axed. I went from shipping a major improvement to having zero projects overnight.
The AI Panic
The Protected Class
If you could classify your project as "AI," you were safe and prestigious. If you couldn't, you were nobody. Overnight, most engineers got rebranded as "not AI talent."
AI teams became a protected class. Everyone else saw comp stagnate, stock refreshers evaporate, and performance reviews tank. And if your team failed to meet expectations? Clearly you weren't "embracing AI."
Copilot for Word
Worse than the tools they replaced
Copilot for PowerPoint
Worse than competitors' tools
Copilot for Code
Sometimes worse than doing the work manually
Then came the final insult: everyone was forced to use Microsoft's AI tools whether they worked or not. But you weren't allowed to fix them—that was the AI org's turf. You were supposed to use them, fail to see productivity gains, and keep quiet.
The Amazon Exception
Amazon folks are slightly more insulated, but not by much. The old Seattle deal—Amazon treats you poorly but pays you more—only masks the rot.
The same cultural shift is happening across all of Seattle's big tech companies. The belief that AI is both useless and inaccessible has taken root throughout the ecosystem.
"The old Seattle deal only masks the rot."
Three Groups Hurt by Self-Limiting Beliefs
The Companies
They've taught their best engineers that innovation isn't their job. The culture of empowerment has been replaced with rigid hierarchies and protected territories.
The Engineers
They're stuck in resentment and self-doubt while their careers stall. Talented people now believe they're both unqualified for AI work and that AI isn't worth doing anyway.
The Innovators
Anyone trying to build anything new in Seattle faces instant hostility. Say "AI" and people treat you like a threat or an idiot.
The Self-Reinforcing Spiral
Engineers Don't Try
They think they can't work on AI
Companies Don't Empower
They assume engineers shouldn't innovate
Bad Products Ship
Reinforcing the belief that AI is doomed
The Spiral Locks In
Culture becomes increasingly negative
My former coworker—the composite of three people for anonymity—now believes she's both unqualified for AI work and that AI isn't worth doing anyway. She's wrong on both counts, but the culture made sure she'd land there.
Seattle Has the Talent
The Difference
Seattle has talent as good as anywhere. The engineers are brilliant, experienced, and capable of building world-changing products.
But in San Francisco, people still believe they can change the world—so sometimes they actually do.
The difference isn't ability. It's belief. And belief is shaped by culture.

The question isn't whether Seattle's engineers can build the future. It's whether the culture will let them believe they can.