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Amazon is fumbling in India

Manish Singh — Thu, 08 Aug 2024 19:56:19 +0000

Amazon's decision to overlook quick-commerce in India is now looking like a significant misstep.

UK launches formal probe into Amazon’s ties with AI startup Anthropic

Paul Sawers — Thu, 08 Aug 2024 11:16:52 +0000

The U.K.’s antitrust regulator has confirmed that it’s carrying out a formal antitrust investigation into Amazon’s ties with Anthropic, after Amazon recently completed a $4 billion investment into the AI startup. The news comes a week after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) revealed it was launching an invitation to comment into Google’s own ties with […]

Amazon upgrades its AI image generator

Kyle Wiggers — Tue, 06 Aug 2024 19:43:54 +0000

Amazon has released an upgraded version of its in-house image-generating model, Titan Image Generator, for AWS customers using its Bedrock generative AI platform. Simply called Titan Image Generator v2, the new model brings with it several new capabilities, AWS principal developer advocate Channy Yun explains in a blog post. Users can “guide” the images they […]

Amazon’s India chief resigns amid intensifying competition

Manish Singh — Tue, 06 Aug 2024 12:39:03 +0000

Manish Tiwary, the head of Amazon’s India operations, is leaving the firm “to pursue an opportunity outside of the company” as the U.S. e-commerce giant grapples with mounting pressure from competitors in one of its crucial international markets, TechCrunch has confirmed. Tiwary, who took over as country manager in late 2020, is departing as Amazon […]

Amazon Prime Day 2024 sales hit record $14.2 billion

Ivan Mehta — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 14:52:06 +0000

Amazon’s Prime Day event clocked record sales this year, as U.S. consumers spent $14.2 billion across July 16 and 17, according to Adobe Analytics. This marks an 11% jump from last year’s $12.7 billion total. Buyers spent $7.2 billion on day one of the 2024 online event, up 11.2% from a year prior. Adobe Analytics […]

US buyers spent $7.2B on the first day of Amazon’s Prime Day sales event

Ivan Mehta — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 15:42:14 +0000

Adobe's report noted that consumers spent $7.2 billion on the first day as compared to $6.4 billion on the first day in 2023.

Amazon AI chatbot Rufus is now live for all US customers

Sarah Perez — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 13:42:13 +0000

The AI chatbot has been trained on Amazon's product catalog, customer reviews, community Q&As, and other public information found around the web.

AWS App Studio promises to generate enterprise apps from a written prompt

Ron Miller — Wed, 10 Jul 2024 16:30:00 +0000

Generative AI is everywhere these days, but Amazon Web Services has been perceived in some circles as being late to the game. In reality it’s still early, and the market is still shaking out. On Wednesday, AWS might have raised its generative AI street cred with a new tool called App Studio. App Studio promises […]

Amazon revives its Echo Spot with an upgraded look and improved audio

Aisha Malik — Mon, 08 Jul 2024 16:45:22 +0000

Amazon has released an all-new version of its Echo Spot ahead of Prime Day, the company announced on Monday. The 2024 version of the Alexa-enabled smart alarm clock costs $79.99, but is currently on sale for $44.99 for Prime members. The company says the latest iteration of the product comes with better visuals and improved […]

What happens if you shoot down a delivery drone?

Brian Heater — Sun, 07 Jul 2024 14:50:54 +0000

As deep-pocketed companies like Amazon, Google and Walmart invest in and experiment with drone delivery, a phenomenon reflective of this modern era has emerged. Drones, carrying snacks and other sundries, are being shot out of the sky. Incidents are still rare. However, a recent arrest in Florida, in which a man allegedly shot down a […]

Amazon hires founders away from AI startup Adept

Kyle Wiggers — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 23:07:26 +0000

Adept, a startup developing AI-powered “agents” to complete various software-based tasks, has agreed to license its tech to Amazon, and the startup’s co-founders and portions of its team have joined the e-commerce giant. GeekWire’s Taylor Soper first reported the news. According to Soper, Adept co-founder and CEO David Luan will join Amazon, along with Adept […]

Amazon consolidates Amazon Clinic into the One Medical brand

Lauren Forristal — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 15:32:23 +0000

Amazon is folding its Amazon Clinic telehealth service into its primary care business One Medical, the company announced on Thursday. The company explained in today’s blog post that, to simplify Amazon’s primary care offering for customers, the service has now been rebranded to Amazon One Medical Pay-per-visit, and now offers more affordable per-visit pricing. Customers […]

TikTok to challenge Amazon Prime Day with its own sales event in July

Aisha Malik — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 14:03:11 +0000

TikTok is gearing up to challenge Amazon’s Prime Day event in July. The social network announced on Thursday that TikTok Shop is holding a “Deals For You Days” sales event in the U.S. starting on July 9. The announcement comes a few days after Amazon revealed that its annual Prime Day sales will take place […]

Amazon hit with fresh class action-style suit in UK — $3.4B in competition damages sought for 200,000+ sellers

Natasha Lomas — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 11:03:54 +0000

Amazon is facing another competition lawsuit in the U.K. The latest claim, which was filed Thursday, is seeking more than £2.7 billion in damages — or around $3.4 billion at current exchange rates — before the U.K.’s Competition Appeals Tribunal. The case is being brought by Andreas Stephan, a professor of competition law at the […]

Streaming execs think TV’s future looks a lot like its past

Anthony Ha — Sun, 23 Jun 2024 19:13:45 +0000

We’re at a transitional moment in streaming — user growth is slowing and major players are looking to consolidate, but the long-promised dream of profitability finally seems within reach (especially if you’re Netflix). This is the perfect time, then, for The New York Times to interview many of the industry’s big names — including Netflix […]

Amazon extends generative AI-powered product listings to Europe

Paul Sawers — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 11:31:01 +0000

Amazon is bringing its generative AI listing smarts to more sellers, revealing today that those in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K. can now access tools designed to improve product listings by generating product descriptions, titles and associated details. Additionally, sellers can “enrich” existing product listings by automatically adding missing information. The launch comes […]

Can quick commerce leapfrog e-commerce in India?

Manish Singh — Mon, 17 Jun 2024 22:01:00 +0000

Even as quick commerce startups are retreating, consolidating or shutting down in many parts of the world, the model is showing encouraging signs in India. Consumers in urban cities are embracing the convenience of having groceries delivered to their doorstep in just 10 minutes. The companies making those deliveries — Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy’s Instamart […]

Amazon says it’ll spend $230 million on generative AI startups

Kyle Wiggers — Thu, 13 Jun 2024 15:43:11 +0000

To sweeten the pot, Amazon is pledging that startups in this year's Generative AI Accelerator cohort will gain access to experts and tech from Nvidia, the program's presenting partner.

Amazon slammed with £1.1B data abuse lawsuit from UK retailers

Ingrid Lunden — Thu, 06 Jun 2024 16:14:57 +0000

The British retailers association also takes aim at Amazon’s “Buy Box,” claiming that Amazon manipulated which retailers were selected for the coveted placement.

Amazon buys Indian video streaming service MX Player

Manish Singh — Thu, 06 Jun 2024 08:19:02 +0000

Amazon has agreed to acquire key assets of Indian video streaming service MX Player from the local media powerhouse Times Internet, the latest step by the e-commerce giant to make its services and brand popular in smaller cities and towns in the key overseas market. The two firms reached a definitive agreement for the deal […]