Amazon (AMZN) News

Amazon shutters Instagram-inspired shopping feed Amazon Spark

by Taylor Soper on June 15, 2019June 15, 2019 at 8:24 pmComment

Amazon has shuttered its Instagram-inspired shopping feed, Amazon Spark, according to TechCrunch. Amazon launched Amazon Spark in 2017 as one of its first forays into social media. The photo-focused feed… Read More

Amazon Game Studios confirms reorganization, reportedly cutting ‘dozens’ of developer jobs

by James Thorne on June 14, 2019June 14, 2019 at 1:39 pmComment

Amazon’s internal game development studio is letting go of dozens of game developers, according to a report from Kotaku on Friday. The news comes just a day after the conclusion… Read More

Amazon lets developers build premium Alexa content for kids with new in-skill purchasing feature

by Taylor Soper on June 14, 2019June 14, 2019 at 12:45 pmComment

Amazon will let developers build premium Alexa content directed at kids with an expansion of its in-skill purchasing feature. The company last year debuted in-skill purchasing, which lets developers sell… Read More

Amazon fires back at Joe Biden on Twitter over corporate taxes: ‘We pay every penny we owe’

by Taylor Soper on June 13, 2019June 14, 2019 at 10:33 am 31 Comments

It’s Amazon vs. Biden in Twitter land today. After democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden tweeted Thursday morning about how much Amazon pays in corporate taxes, the Seattle tech giant fired… Read More

Amazon hires Washington DC economic development lead in charge of HQ2 courtship

by Monica Nickelsburg on June 13, 2019June 13, 2019 at 11:14 am 2 Comments

The Washington D.C. official tasked with luring Amazon’s prized second headquarters project will join the tech giant’s public policy team. Brian Kenner is leaving his post as D.C.’s Deputy Mayor… Read More

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Satellite consultant outlines a way-out plan to turn space junk into lunar treasure

by Alan Boyle on June 13, 2019June 13, 2019 at 9:19 am1 Comment

What can be done with the thousands of dead satellites orbiting Earth? Some commercial ventures are hatching plans to get rid of them, but one expert has laid out a… Read More

Does Alexa illegally record children? Amazon sued for allegedly storing conversations without consent

by James Thorne on June 12, 2019June 14, 2019 at 9:35 am 4 Comments

Amazon’s Alexa is the target of a pair of lawsuits that allege the voice assistant violates laws in nine states by illegally storing recordings of children on devices such as… Read More

Video

Amazon ranks No. 1 as most dog-friendly company in America; Trupanion at No. 3

by Taylor Soper on June 12, 2019June 12, 2019 at 7:58 am 3 Comments

When it comes to having a pup-friendly workplace, Amazon is the top dog. Dog-sitting platform Rover released its inaugural “best dog-friendly companies” list, ranking the top 100 workplaces across the… Read More

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Amazon Web Services’ Mai-Lan Tomsen Bukovec is preparing for a future in which data lives forever

by Tom Krazit on June 11, 2019June 11, 2019 at 1:48 pmComment

Ridding themselves from the burden of managing hardware is one of the primary reasons why companies are moving their technology infrastructure into cloud computing. But removing that burden also unlocks… Read More

Affordable housing campaign raises $48.8M from Microsoft, Amazon, Ballmers, and others to combat homelessness in Seattle region

by Monica Nickelsburg on June 11, 2019June 12, 2019 at 10:39 am 5 Comments

A new campaign to build affordable housing for Seattle residents experiencing homelessness received a big boost from the tech industry. Microsoft, Amazon, Steve and Connie Ballmer, and other organizations in… Read More

Amazon donates $8M for affordable housing in ‘HQ regions,’ launches employee matching program

by Monica Nickelsburg on June 11, 2019June 11, 2019 at 10:28 am 2 Comments

Amazon is donating a total of $8 million across Seattle and Arlington, Va., to non-profits that provide housing for people experiencing homelessness. In its original headquarters town, Seattle, Amazon will… Read More

Seattle startup Pulumi unveils new service for brand-new Amazon Web Services customers looking for help

by Tom Krazit on June 11, 2019June 10, 2019 at 9:12 pmComment

If you want to take full advantage of cloud computing and providers like Amazon Web Services, it helps to have a cheat sheet as you make the move. Pulumi hopes… Read More

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Amazon Web Services CEO Andy Jassy supports federal regulation of facial-recognition technology

by Tom Krazit on June 10, 2019June 11, 2019 at 9:45 amComment

After widespread criticism of Amazon Web Services’ decision to sell cloud-based facial-recognition technology to law enforcement agencies, CEO Andy Jassy said Monday evening that he is open to federal regulation… Read More

Amazon to shut down its Amazon Restaurants business in the U.S.

by Taylor Soper on June 10, 2019June 12, 2019 at 12:25 pm 6 Comments

Amazon will shutter its Amazon Restaurants food delivery service in the U.S. later this month, GeekWire has learned. Amazon Restaurants first launched in Seattle back in 2015. Amazon expanded the… Read More

Amazon expands credit card lineup with new offering for people looking to build or rebuild credit

by Taylor Soper on June 10, 2019June 10, 2019 at 1:24 pmComment

Amazon rolled out a new credit card on Monday, targeting people looking to build or rebuild their credit. The new “Amazon Credit Builder” gives customers that have no credit or… Read More

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How AWS Ground Station is taking its giant leap for satellite links in small steps

by Alan Boyle on June 10, 2019June 10, 2019 at 9:48 amComment

LAS VEGAS – Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos says his company has gotten so big that it has to branch out into business lines that “move the needle,” like the recently… Read More

President Trump lauds ‘geniuses in Silicon Valley’ but claims tech titans ‘discriminate against me’ in same interview

by John Cook on June 10, 2019June 10, 2019 at 9:36 am1 Comment

President Donald Trump appeared this morning on CNBC’s Squawk Box, talking about tariffs and trade. But President Trump also used some of the airtime to respond to questions about the… Read More

Podcast

Robots, drones, satellites, and Amazon’s vision for the future of automation and humanity

by Todd Bishop on June 8, 2019June 8, 2019 at 9:32 amComment

Amazon gave a detailed look at its new warehouse robots and delivery drones, discussed its plans for a satellite constellation, and talked about the future of artificial intelligence, machine learning… Read More

FedEx ends U.S. air-shipping deal with Amazon as tech giant builds out its own delivery network

by Taylor Soper on June 7, 2019June 8, 2019 at 9:33 amComment

FedEx announced Friday that is ending its FedEx Express U.S. service contract with Amazon, a surprising decision made as Amazon continues to expand its own delivery network. FedEx said it… Read More

Video

Jeff Bezos explains Amazon’s bet on Project Kuiper satellites — and copes with an onstage protest

by Alan Boyle on June 6, 2019June 8, 2019 at 10:00 pm1 Comment

LAS VEGAS — For the first time in public, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos explained the rationale for his risky Project Kuiper satellite broadband venture, during a fireside chat that was… Read More

Video

Alexa gets smarter about combining AI skills, starting with dinner and a movie

by Alan Boyle on June 5, 2019June 5, 2019 at 11:45 pmComment

LAS VEGAS — Amazon’s Alexa virtual assistant will soon get savvier about juggling its thousands of skills — starting with arranging all the elements for a night out. Cross-skill action… Read More

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos gets a laugh out of his round with a robotic arm at re:MARS conference

by Alan Boyle on June 5, 2019June 8, 2019 at 10:02 pmComment

LAS VEGAS — Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ handshake is at least as firm as a robotic hand’s grip. I found that out for myself today at Amazon’s inaugural re:MARS conference,… Read More

Seattle is the ‘landlord’ of the internet, thanks to Amazon and Microsoft’s cloud prowess

by Nat Levy on June 5, 2019June 6, 2019 at 2:48 pmComment

Depending on the day, Amazon and Microsoft are the two most valuable companies in the U.S., and a big part of that is their dominance over the lucrative cloud computing… Read More

Video

Amazon Robotics unveils two new breeds of robots for its fulfillment centers

by Alan Boyle on June 5, 2019June 5, 2019 at 3:33 pm1 Comment

LAS VEGAS — Amazon says there are now 200,000 robots working alongside 300,000 people at its distribution facilities around the world, and there’s more to come. Brad Porter, vice president… Read More

Video

Amazon shows off new all-electric Prime Air drone that will start delivering packages ‘within months’

by Alan Boyle on June 5, 2019June 5, 2019 at 3:14 pm 5 Comments

LAS VEGAS — Amazon’s drone ambitions took another step forward today as the tech giant revealed its latest delivery drone design. At Amazon’s re:MARS conference, Amazon’s Worldwide Consumer CEO, Jeff… Read More

See it in person or watch online as Amazon’s latest rare corpse flower is set to bloom inside Spheres

by Kurt Schlosser on June 4, 2019June 5, 2019 at 9:00 amComment

The latest rare specimen inside Amazon’s Spheres is set to put on its final show, as a blooming corpse flower is nearing the end of its cycle in the company’s… Read More

Another open-source database company will tighten its licensing strategy, wary of Amazon Web Services

by Tom Krazit on June 4, 2019June 4, 2019 at 10:26 amComment

Cockroach Labs, the New York-based database company behind the open-source CockroachDB database, will change the terms of the license agreement in the next version of the open-source project to prohibit… Read More

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Amazon

Amazon shutters Instagram-inspired shopping feed Amazon Spark

Amazon Game Studios confirms reorganization, reportedly cutting ‘dozens’ of developer jobs

Amazon lets developers build premium Alexa content for kids with new in-skill purchasing feature

Amazon fires back at Joe Biden on Twitter over corporate taxes: ‘We pay every penny we owe’

Amazon hires Washington DC economic development lead in charge of HQ2 courtship

Satellite consultant outlines a way-out plan to turn space junk into lunar treasure

Does Alexa illegally record children? Amazon sued for allegedly storing conversations without consent

Amazon ranks No. 1 as most dog-friendly company in America; Trupanion at No. 3

Amazon Web Services’ Mai-Lan Tomsen Bukovec is preparing for a future in which data lives forever

Affordable housing campaign raises $48.8M from Microsoft, Amazon, Ballmers, and others to combat homelessness in Seattle region

Amazon donates $8M for affordable housing in ‘HQ regions,’ launches employee matching program

Seattle startup Pulumi unveils new service for brand-new Amazon Web Services customers looking for help

Amazon Web Services CEO Andy Jassy supports federal regulation of facial-recognition technology

Amazon to shut down its Amazon Restaurants business in the U.S.

Amazon expands credit card lineup with new offering for people looking to build or rebuild credit

President Trump lauds ‘geniuses in Silicon Valley’ but claims tech titans ‘discriminate against me’ in same interview

Robots, drones, satellites, and Amazon’s vision for the future of automation and humanity

FedEx ends U.S. air-shipping deal with Amazon as tech giant builds out its own delivery network

Jeff Bezos explains Amazon’s bet on Project Kuiper satellites — and copes with an onstage protest

Alexa gets smarter about combining AI skills, starting with dinner and a movie

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos gets a laugh out of his round with a robotic arm at re:MARS conference

Amazon Robotics unveils two new breeds of robots for its fulfillment centers

Amazon shows off new all-electric Prime Air drone that will start delivering packages ‘within months’

See it in person or watch online as Amazon’s latest rare corpse flower is set to bloom inside Spheres

Another open-source database company will tighten its licensing strategy, wary of Amazon Web Services

Amazon adds $250K to fund it created for Seattle students, increasing access to summer programs

Amazon and Google stocks tumble as tech world braces for increased antitrust scrutiny

Amazon one-ups Walmart on one-day shipping, will offer 10M products via accelerated Prime program

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