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Rantz: Microsoft Build conference ditches Seattle over homelessness, open-air drug use

Jun 9, 2025, 5:30 AM
BY JASON RANTZ
Talk Show Host and Columnist at AM 770 KTTH


Seattle just lost a high-profile Microsoft conference due to the city’s rampant homelessness, open-air drug use, and other criminal behavior. In addition to canceling next year’s event, Microsoft will also be “releasing holds for all future years,” according to an internal Visit Seattle email obtained by “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH.

Microsoft’s Build conference, which draws thousands of developers and industry insiders to the city, is officially relocating from Seattle in 2026. According to the email, with the subject line “DEFINITE CANCELLATION,” Microsoft’s decision to leave Seattle was heavily influenced by “leadership & attendee experience walking the convention core from the Hyatt Regency to the Arch building on 8th street.”

“The customers cited the general uncleanliness of the street scene, visibility of individuals engaging in drug use, and unhoused individuals, including the recurring tent in the Arch Tunnel,” the email said. “Microsoft has previously addressed these concerns and Visit Seattle has been working actively with SPD, DSA [Downtown Seattle Association], the Care team and others on trying to solve for them. Unfortunately for Build, it was a contributing factor to their final decision to move out of Seattle.”

Visit Seattle is the official destination marketing organization for the City of Seattle.

Microsoft confirmed the cancellation, issuing a brief statement.

“Our plans for Build 2026 have changed, but our vision to empower builders and developers at a major event next year remains the same,” a Microsoft spokesperson said. “We thank the city and the community for their support over the years.”

The company added that it would be inaccurate to say the 2026 decision was “influenced by the environment of this year’s event,” but clearly that’s spin. The internal memo from Visit Seattle tells a different story—and it’s backed by years of mounting complaints from business owners, residents, and now, event organizers.

n a statement to “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH, Visit Seattle did not directly address the content of the email. But it noted that it is “proud to have hosted a wide range of events with leading organizations—from global companies to Seattle-based innovators—and looks forward to continuing those relationships.”

A spokesperson deflected from concerns over homelessness, instead positioning the decision by Microsoft as being driven by a post-COVID environment.

“The event landscape continues to shift post-pandemic, reflecting how people work and connect today and Seattle remains a top-tier destination for ideas, collaboration, and innovation,” the spokesperson explained. “We’re focused on delivering exceptional experiences for all future attendees, organizers, and partners.”

The Microsoft event cancellation isn’t just symbolic for Seattle. The email called the move “a huge loss for the city,” and that may be an understatement.

According to the email, the 2026 conference was expected to bring in 4,500 attendees, generate 2,000 peak room nights, and result in over 9,300 total hotel room nights. That’s thousands of tourists, millions in economic impact, and a chance to showcase the city to global influencers. All gone due to inaction on homelessness, which residents have come to expect from Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell.

And it’s not just Build. The email notes that Microsoft is releasing “holds for all future years,” suggesting this is not a temporary pause or strategic pivot—it’s a divorce.

Let’s not pretend this was shocking. If anything, this should have happened sooner.

For years, Seattle’s progressive leaders have ignored the cries of downtown businesses and event organizers who have begged the city to clean up its act. Instead, they leaned into failed “harm reduction” strategies that treat drug addiction as a lifestyle rather than a crisis, handing out the very tools the homeless addicts use to slowly kill themselves and downtown Seattle. They tolerated open-air drug markets, normalized encampments, and defanged police.

The consequences were inevitable.

Tourists don’t want to dodge fentanyl zombies or step over used needles on their way to a keynote address. Tech leaders don’t want to send their teams into unsafe, unstable environments where the city has all but surrendered public spaces to addiction and chaos.

Visit Seattle, for its part, said they’ve been “working actively with SPD, DSA, the Care team and others” to resolve these issues. But clearly, it wasn’t enough. A tent is still blocking the tunnel. Drug use is still rampant. And now Microsoft is gone. Which conference will be next?

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A spokesperson deflected from concerns over homelessness, instead positioning the decision by Microsoft as being driven by a post-COVID environment.