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One Friday last month, Jamie Raskin, a Democratic congressman from Maryland, spent a chunk of his day in court securing a protective order. Mr. Raskin, who played a leading role in Donald J. Trump’s second impeachment hearing, said he received about 50 menacing calls, emails and letters every month that are turned over to the Capitol Police. His latest court visit was prompted by a man who showed up at his house and screamed in his face about the Covid-19 vaccine, Mr. Trump’s impeachment and gender-related surgeries. Nearly two years earlier, the same man, with his 3-year-old son in his arms, had yelled profanities at Mr. Raskin at a July 4 parade, according to a police report. He just needs some parenting lessons,” Mr. Raskin said.

Persons: Jamie Raskin, Raskin, Donald J, Trump’s, profanities, “, ” Mr Organizations: Democratic, Capitol Police Locations: Maryland

☆ Law Firm Defending Trump Seeks to Withdraw From a Long-Running Case
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Ken Bensinger | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A law firm that has long defended Donald J. Trump’s campaign and businesses from employment lawsuits has abruptly asked to withdraw from a yearslong case over what it calls an “irreparable breakdown in the attorney-client relationship.”The firm — LaRocca, Hornik, Greenberg, Rosen, Kittridge, Carlin and McPartland — has represented Mr. Trump’s political operation in numerous suits dating to his first presidential run, helping secure several settlements and dismissals and billing nearly $3 million in the process. But late on Friday, it asked a federal magistrate judge to allow it to withdraw from a suit filed by a former campaign surrogate, A.J. Delgado, who says she was sidelined by the campaign in 2016 after revealing she was pregnant. Delgado in 2016. Credit... via YouTubeIn the request, filed in federal court in Manhattan, the lead lawyer, Jared Blumetti, did not provide any details about the dispute, asking permission to “explain” the matter privately with the judge. Mr. Blumetti did not respond to a request for comment.

Persons: Donald J, ”, —, Hornik, Greenberg, Rosen, Kittridge, Carlin, McPartland —, Delgado, Jared Blumetti, Blumetti Organizations: YouTube Locations: Manhattan

☆ A Mysterious Flier, a Tiny Charity and a Disinformation Campaign at the Border
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Ken Bensinger | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The two men rang the bell at the Resource Center Matamoros, a migrant aid group in the Mexican border city, and, speaking in broken Spanish, said they were looking for volunteer work. Security footage shared with The New York Times shows the pair standing on the sidewalk in shorts and flip flops as they talked via speakerphone with Gaby Zavala, the center’s founder. After about half an hour, they left. Ms. Zavala didn’t know it yet, but the men were not volunteers. They were provocateurs building an online following with hidden camera exposés and ambushes that claim to uncover abuse and election fraud in the American immigration system.

Persons: Gaby Zavala, Zavala didn’t Organizations: Resource Center, The New York Times Locations: Resource Center Matamoros, Mexican

☆ Questions Arise About Britt’s State of the Union Response
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-09 | by ( Ken Bensinger | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In her rebuttal to President Biden’s State of the Union speech Thursday night, Senator Katie Britt, Republican of Alabama, told a story about a Mexican woman who was a victim of sex trafficking at the age of 12, laying blame at the feet of the current administration. “President Biden’s border policies are a disgrace,” she said. Although Ms. Britt did not name the victim in her speech, she has previously shared the story of a woman who appears to be the same individual based on congressional testimony, news releases and news reports. In 2023, Ms. Jacinto participated in an event near the Texas border with Mexico that was also attended by three senators, including Ms. Britt. In a video released shortly after that trip, Ms. Britt discussed Ms. Jacinto’s experiences.

Persons: Katie Britt, ”, Britt, Karla Jacinto Romero, Jacinto Organizations: Republican Locations: Biden’s, Alabama, Mexican, United States, Texas, Mexico

☆ Britt Faces Accusations of Misleading on Border in State of the Union Response
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-09 | by ( Ken Bensinger | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Persons: Katie Britt, ”, Britt, Karla Jacinto Romero, Jacinto Organizations: Republican Locations: Biden’s, Alabama, Mexican, United States, Texas, Mexico

Credit Credit... The focus was a sign of how political the president’s address had been — and how central Mr. Trump is to Mr. Biden’s own political future. Video transcript Back bars 0:00 / 0:56 - 0:00 transcript In its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court majority wrote the following. Image Mr. Biden spoke at times in what seemed a near-shout during his State of the Union address. The morning of the State of Union began with an ad from Mr. Trump’s super PAC questioning if Mr. Biden would live to 2029.

Persons: Biden, Donald Trump, Trump, Biden’s, ’ —, Troy Nehls, Kenny Holston, —, Vladimir V, Putin, ”, Mr, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Doug Mills, heckles, Greene, “, Laken Riley, — Laken Riley, legals —, ’ Mr, Kate Cox, Latorya Beasley, Jill Biden, Roe, Wade, We’ll, we’ll, ” Roe, I’ve, chuckles, I’m, We’ve, we’ve, Nancy, Donald Trump Jr Organizations: Union, Capitol, Mr, New York Times, Republican, Credit, Associated, New York, Republicans, Democratic, Alabama, State of Union, Trump’s Locations: Wilmington, Russia, Europe, Russian, China, Georgia, Venezuelan, Texas, Alabama, America

☆ The Fed 'went crazy' with rates and did big damage to the real estate market, billionaire mogul Barry Sternlicht says
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-07 | by ( Jennifer Sor | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The real estate market is "collateral damage" in the Fed's inflation fight, Barry Sternlicht said. AdvertisementThe commercial real estate market is hurting, and that's largely thanks to the Federal Reserve's aggressive rate hikes which have battered the economy, real estate billionaire Barry Sternlicht said. In an interview on "In Depth with Graham Bensinger," the real estate investor and Starwood Capital CEO sounded off the Fed's policy-tightening campaign since early 2022. AdvertisementLast year, Sternlicht warned of a "Category 5 hurricane" coming for the real estate market, which he believed could be followed by a recession. Still, Sternlicht said he was optimistic about the real estate market going forward, and while property prices have plunged, that creates investment opportunity.

Persons: Barry Sternlicht, I've, Sternlicht, —, Graham Bensinger, Morgan Stanley, Sternlict, Powell, Joe Biden Organizations: Starwood, Service, Starwood Capital CEO, Bloomberg, Fed, Wall, Infrastructure Investment, Investors

☆ Pro-Trump Internet Trolls Escalate Ugly Attacks on Nikki Haley
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Jazmine Ulloa | Ken Bensinger | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For most of her presidential campaign, Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and former United Nations ambassador, has been spared the full onslaught from former President Donald J. Trump’s devoted following of internet trolls. The cadre of mostly anonymous personalities who wage near-constant battle in Mr. Trump’s name focused first on brutally attacking Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, who had been considered the former president’s most potent rival in the 2024 Republican primary. But with Ms. Haley now his last remaining opponent, the machine has turned her way. Some of the most disturbing material has been generated by artificial intelligence, and digitally manipulates her voice and likeness.

Persons: Shiva, Nikki Haley, Donald J, Trump’s, Ron DeSantis, Haley, Joan Donovan, Trump Organizations: United Nations, Republican, Boston University Locations: South Carolina, Florida

☆ Once an Escape, Sports Talk Embraces Politics
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-10 | by ( Ken Bensinger | Kellen Browning | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Just before flying to Las Vegas this week for the Super Bowl, Clay Travis announced his prediction for the game on his popular sports podcast, “OutKick.” The San Francisco 49ers would defeat the Kansas City Chiefs. Other topics on that episode: the future of college football and whether President Biden is “actually capable” of serving in the White House. The Super Bowl may be the one event that can bring Americans of all stripes together, but the chatter about it — and of sports in general — is increasingly fracturing along partisan lines. A growing number of sports pundits and personalities are eagerly blending sports and politics, taking advantage, like other media, of a thriving market in partisanship. Sports talk listeners skew male, just like Republican voters.)

Persons: Clay Travis, “, Biden, “ That’s, Mr, Travis, — Organizations: Super, San Francisco 49ers, Kansas City Chiefs, Sports, Republican Locations: Las Vegas

☆ Nikki Haley’s ‘Rock’ Is Watching Her Campaign From a Distance
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-04 | by ( Ken Bensinger | Matthew Rosenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

When Nikki Haley conceded her deflating third-place defeat in the Iowa caucuses this month, the first person she thanked was nearly 8,000 miles away. “I want to say to my husband, who is deployed, who I know may or may not be watching this right now — Michael, I love you,” she said, standing in front of a row of American flags. “What keeps me going at night is that we sleep under the same stars.”It was an unusually personal and almost saccharine note for a politician known for her tough exterior. But it was hardly out of place. Even in his absence, Maj. Michael Haley, a National Guardsman serving a voluntary, yearlong deployment in Africa, has played an outsize role in his wife’s increasingly lonely attempt to snatch the Republican nomination from former President Donald J. Trump.

Persons: Nikki Haley, Michael, ”, Michael Haley, Donald J, Trump Organizations: National Guardsman Locations: Iowa, Africa

President Biden is cruising to the Democratic nomination. Former President Donald J. Trump could begin to wrap up his party’s nod within days. Even as both men stroll toward likely summer coronations and a fall rematch, an undercurrent of disbelief is coursing through the country. Many Republicans view Mr. Biden as so politically and physically weak that they think his party will replace him. Many Democrats can’t fathom that Mr. Trump could win another nomination while he is facing 91 felony counts and four criminal trials.

Persons: Biden, Donald J, Trump, Mr, “, ” David Lage, “ They’ve, ” Organizations: Democratic, Republican Locations: Spring Hill , Iowa

☆ Amazon's AWS appeals to corporate customers with new chatbot, AI safety measures
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Greg Bensinger | Thomson Reuters | Greg Bensinger Joined Reuters As A Technology Correspondent In Focusing On The World'S Largest Technology Companies. He Was Previously A Member Of The New York Times Editorial Board | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The new software arrives roughly a year after OpenAI’s ChatGPT burst onto the scene, setting off a frenzy of investment in generative AI startups. AWS CEO Adam Selipsky, at Amazon’s annual cloud computing conference in Las Vegas, announced a new safeguard against objectionable content on generative AI applications, called Guardrails for Bedrock. Because generative AI is trained on publicly available content, offensive words or other objectionable content can slip through into results from users’ prompts. Selipsky said the new service was important for customers to put limits they see fit on the generative AI they use. Also at the conference, Amazon announced it would indemnify its customers against lawsuits based on the misuse of copyrighted materials.

Persons: Vincent West, Slack, OpenAI’s, Adam Selipsky, Selipsky, ”, Greg Bensinger, Marguerita Choy Organizations: REUTERS, Facebook, Amazon, Getty, Thomson Locations: Trapagaran, Spain, Las Vegas, Seattle

☆ GM Cruise cofounder, senior exec Dan Kan quits day after CEO exit
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Greg Bensinger | Thomson Reuters | Greg Bensinger Joined Reuters As A Technology Correspondent In Focusing On The World'S Largest Technology Companies. He Was Previously A Member Of The New York Times Editorial Board | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNov 20 (Reuters) - General Motors' (GM.N) Cruise co-founder and chief product officer Daniel Kan has resigned, the company told Reuters on Monday, a day after Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt quit. A spokesperson for Cruise said Kan announced his resignation in a Slack message. In his message to employees, seen by Reuters, Kan noted that Cruise had been serving 10,000 rides per week. GM shuffled leadership at Cruise including naming general counsel Craig Glidden as chief administrative officer, bringing in a third-party safety officer and appointing co-presidents. U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told reporters on Monday the federal government will do everything it can using existing regulatory powers to ensure that Cruise and other autonomous vehicles are deployed safely.

Persons: Elijah Nouvelage, Cruise, Daniel Kan, Kyle Vogt, Kan, Vogt, Kan didn't, Craig Glidden, Pete Buttigieg, Greg Bensinger, Chizu Nomiyama, Chris Reese, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: GM Bolt, REUTERS, General Motors, Reuters, Cruise, GM, U.S . Transportation, Thomson Locations: San Francisco , California, U.S, United States, San Francisco

☆ Sam Altman's firing at OpenAI reflects schism over future of AI development
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Greg Bensinger | Thomson Reuters | Greg Bensinger Joined Reuters As A Technology Correspondent In Focusing On The World'S Largest Technology Companies. He Was Previously A Member Of The New York Times Editorial Board | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

To many, he was considered the human face of generative AI. Those worries over generative AI came to a head with the surprise ousting of Altman, who was also OpenAI's cofounder. “Does the future then belong to the machines?”Sutskever reportedly felt Altman was pushing OpenAI’s software too quickly into users’ hands, potentially compromising safety. The fate of OpenAI is viewed by many technologists as critical to the development of AI. He advocated on social media in September for a "slowing down" of AI development.

Persons: Sam Altman, Altman, Ilya Sutskever, –, ”, Connor Leahy, Sutskever, OpenAI, Biden, Emmett Shear, Greg Bensinger, Kenneth Li, Matthew Lewis Organizations: FRANCISCO, Microsoft, European Union, Thomson Locations: OpenAI, San Francisco

☆ CEO of GM's Cruise robo-taxi unit resigns amid US safety review
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Greg Bensinger | Thomson Reuters | Greg Bensinger Joined Reuters As A Technology Correspondent In Focusing On The World'S Largest Technology Companies. He Was Previously A Member Of The New York Times Editorial Board | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Nov 19 (Reuters) - - Kyle Vogt, the CEO of General Motors' robot-taxi unit Cruise, has resigned from the company a day after apologizing to staff as the company undergoes a safety review of its U.S. fleet. The Cruise board met on Nov. 13 and the next day named GM general counsel Craig Glidden as Cruise's chief administrative officer. The board also said it would retain a third-party safety expert to assess safety operations and culture. Former Tesla President Jon McNeill, a GM director since 2022, was named vice chairman of the Cruise board alongside Barra, who is the chair. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in October opened an investigation into pedestrian risks at Cruise and the Cruise board hired law firm Quinn Emanuel to review Cruise management's responses to regulators investigating the Oct. 2 accident.

Persons: Kyle Vogt, Vogt, Cruise, Vogt's, Craig Glidden, Stephen Lam, Mary Barra, Glidden, Mo Elshenawy, Jon McNeill, Barra, Quinn Emanuel, Greg Bensinger, David Shepardson, Kenneth Li Organizations: General Motors, Reuters, GM, Cruise, Honda, REUTERS, California Department of Motor Vehicles, Traffic Safety Administration, Thomson Locations: United States, San Francisco , California, U.S, San Francisco

☆ GM's Cruise robo-taxi CEO resigns from company
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Greg Bensinger | Thomson Reuters | Greg Bensinger Joined Reuters As A Technology Correspondent In Focusing On The World'S Largest Technology Companies. He Was Previously A Member Of The New York Times Editorial Board | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Kyle Vogt, chief technology officer, president & co-founder of Cruise, a Honda and General Motors self-driving car partnership, speaks on stage at the launch of the Cruise Origin autonomous vehicle in San Francisco, California, U.S. January 21, 2020. REUTERS/Stephen Lam/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNov 19 - The CEO of General Motors' robot-taxi unit Cruise, Kyle Vogt, has resigned from the company a day after apologizing to staff as the company undergoes a safety review of its U.S. fleet. "The last 10 years have been amazing, and I'm grateful to everyone who helped Cruise along the way," he wrote in the email. Cruise in recent months had touted ambitious plans to expand to additional cities offering fully autonomous taxi rides. Cruise competes with Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O) Waymo in deploying autonomous vehicles and had been testing hundreds in several cities across the U.S., notably its home of San Francisco.

Persons: Kyle Vogt, Cruise, Stephen Lam, Vogt, Greg Bensinger, Kenneth Li Organizations: Honda, General Motors, Cruise, REUTERS, Reuters, California Department of Motor Vehicles, Thomson Locations: San Francisco , California, U.S, Vogt, San Francisco

In an email to staff reviewed by Reuters, Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt also said the firm would make a new tender offer to allow employees to sell shares, just two days after cancelling an earlier offer. "As CEO, I take responsibility for the situation Cruise is in today. Vogt also noted that the company's approach to working with regulators, press and the public "must improve." Cancelling the program helped to cut costs for GM after it had to pause Cruise operations. Cruise has said it showed officials of the California DMV the complete video of the accident multiple times and provided a copy to officials.

Persons: Heather Somerville, Cruise, Kyle Vogt, Vogt, We've, Greg Bensinger, Hyunjoo Jin, David Shepardson, Cynthia Osterman, Tom Hogue Organizations: General Motors Corp, REUTERS, General Motors, Reuters, Cruise, Cruisers, GM, California Department of Motor Vehicles, California DMV, Thomson Locations: San Francisco, California, U.S, United States, Washington

☆ In ousting CEO Sam Altman, ChatGPT loses its best fundraiser
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-18 | by ( Greg Bensinger | Thomson Reuters | Greg Bensinger Joined Reuters As A Technology Correspondent In Focusing On The World'S Largest Technology Companies. He Was Previously A Member Of The New York Times Editorial Board | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman testifies before a Senate Judiciary Privacy, Technology & the Law Subcommittee hearing titled 'Oversight of A.I. But on Friday it was the earnest Altman who was upended after OpenAI’s board, in a surprise move, stripped him of his CEO title and directorship. Directors of the company, now worth about $80 billion, cited a failure to be "consistently candid in his communications." Further details of what finally led to the ouster of Altman were not immediately clear Friday. “You and a small group of rebels get the space to solve an important problem that might otherwise not get solved."

Persons: Sam Altman, Elizabeth Frantz, Sam Altman’s, Altman, Elon Musk’s, “, what’s, ” Altman, Satya Nadella, OpenAI, ”, Greg Bensinger, Diane Craft Organizations: Privacy, Technology, Intelligence, REUTERS, Microsoft, Wednesday, Google, Stanford, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, OpenAI, San Francisco, St, Louis , Missouri

☆ Cruise testing continues in Japan, Dubai, even as vehicles parked in US
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Greg Bensinger | Thomson Reuters | Greg Bensinger Joined Reuters As A Technology Correspondent In Focusing On The World'S Largest Technology Companies. He Was Previously A Member Of The New York Times Editorial Board | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

At issue is an Oct. 2 accident in which a Cruise vehicle dragged a pedestrian in San Francisco after striking her. As recently as October, it had hundreds of autos carrying passengers around San Francisco with no drivers and had announced aggressive expansion plans. In Dubai, Cruise vehicles have primarily been seen recently on a couple of islands on the outskirts of the main city. In Japan, Honda (7267.T) and Cruise have jointly been testing self-driving vehicles on public roads in the city of Utsunomiya - a regional hub of about 513,000 people - and the adjacent Haga town. Reporting by Greg Bensinger in San Francisco; Additional reporting by Daniel Leussink in Toyko and Rachna Uppal in Dubai Editing by Ben Klayman and Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Elijah Nouvelage, General Motors, Cruise, ”, “, Bryant Walker Smith, Greg Bensinger, Daniel Leussink, Ben Klayman, Matthew Lewis Organizations: GM Bolt, REUTERS, FRANCISCO, General, Reuters, University of South, National, Traffic Safety Administration, California Department of Motor Vehicles, Cruise, Honda, Thomson Locations: San Francisco , California, U.S, Dubai, Japan, University of South Carolina, Arizona, San Francisco, California, Utsunomiya, Haga town, Toyko

☆ Amazon.com to cut 'several hundred' Alexa jobs
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Greg Bensinger | Thomson Reuters | Greg Bensinger Joined Reuters As A Technology Correspondent In Focusing On The World'S Largest Technology Companies. He Was Previously A Member Of The New York Times Editorial Board | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Steve Marcus/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNov 17 (Reuters) - Amazon.com (AMZN.O) on Friday announced it is trimming jobs at its Alexa voice assistant unit, citing shifting business priorities and a greater focus on generative artificial intelligence. Many companies are shifting resources to generative AI, which can create software code and lengthy text responses from short prompts. Alexa is a voice assistant that can be used to set timers, ask search queries, play music, or as a home automation hub. In particular, people familiar with the matter pointed to the Alexa voice assistant, now nearly a decade old, as having failed to keep pace in the age of generative artificial intelligence. The Seattle-based online retailer's voice assistant products compete with offerings from Alphabet (GOOGL.O) and Apple (AAPL.O).

Persons: Steve Marcus, Daniel Rausch, Panos Panay, David Limp, Jeff Bezos, Rausch, Greg Bensinger, Kenneth Li, Chizu Nomiyama, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: REUTERS, Alexa, Fire, Reuters, Devices, Microsoft, Amazon, Origin, Echo, Amazon.com, Apple, Thomson Locations: Las Vegas , Nevada, U.S, Panay, Seattle, San Francisco

A Cruise self-driving car, which is owned by General Motors Corp, is seen outside the company?s headquarters in San Francisco, California, U.S., September 26, 2018. In an email to staff seen by Reuters, Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt said the company will re-evaluate the employee equity program in light of the suspension, which "pushed out our commercialization and revenue generation timelines." The regulator said Cruise had not initially disclosed all video footage of an Oct. 2 accident where Cruise's car dragged a pedestrian in San Francisco. The unlisted Cruise unit last year introduced the equity program under which current and former employees can sell their vested equity to GM and other investors every quarter. Asked about the Thursday's email from Vogt, a Cruise spokesperson said, "GM and Cruise are working together on what competitive compensation packages at Cruise will look like going forward."

Persons: Heather Somerville, Kyle Vogt, Cruise, Sam Abuelsamid, Vogt, Hyunjoo Jin, Greg Bensinger, David Shepardson, Jonathan Oatis, Matthew Lewis, Daniel Wallis Organizations: General Motors Corp, REUTERS, General Motors, GM, Reuters, Cruise, California Department of Motor Vehicles, United Auto Workers, UAW, Thomson Locations: San Francisco , California, U.S, California, San Francisco, California , Arizona, Washington

☆ Alphabet CEO, in Play store trial, acknowledges some materials not retained
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Greg Bensinger | Thomson Reuters | Greg Bensinger Joined Reuters As A Technology Correspondent In Focusing On The World'S Largest Technology Companies. He Was Previously A Member Of The New York Times Editorial Board | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

He largely stuck to one-word answers but was occasionally admonished by Epic Games' attorney for straying beyond simple answers. Pichai, in examination by a Google attorney, denied he had ever tried to keep any document hidden from a lawsuit. Epic Games has alleged in its lawsuit that app store policies amount to an illegal monopoly and have caused consumers to pay artificially high prices. Google has said changing its systems would cause its Android-based app store to be less secure and damage its ability to compete with Apple (AAPL.O). Google has settled claims over its app store with dating app maker Match Group and from U.S. consumers and U.S. states.

Persons: Sundar Pichai, Joe Biden, Narendra Modi, Evelyn Hockstein, Pichai, ” Pichai, Epic's, “ Fortnite ”, Cary, Greg Bensinger, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Google, U.S, India's, White, REUTERS, Alphabet's Google, Epic Games, Games, Apple, Supreme, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, San Francisco, North Carolina, U.S

☆ Amazon cuts jobs in games unit, part of broader restructuring
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( Greg Bensinger | Thomson Reuters | Greg Bensinger Joined Reuters As A Technology Correspondent In Focusing On The World'S Largest Technology Companies. He Was Previously A Member Of The New York Times Editorial Board | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol Acquire Licensing RightsNov 13 (Reuters) - Amazon.com (AMZN.O) has cut around 180 jobs in its games division, at least the second round of cuts in under a week, as part of a broader restructuring, according to an email viewed on Monday by Reuters. It represents the second cut to the division this year. Amazon last week also began cutting jobs in its streaming music and podcast division, according to people familiar with the matter. The games division offers downloadable versions of many video games, on a monthly rotation, as well as some Twitch channels and other services. In April, Amazon cut about 100 jobs in the games unit.

Persons: Pascal Rossignol, Christoph Hartmann, Hartmann, We've, Greg Bensinger, Sayantani Ghosh Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Amazon Games, Amazon, Technology, Gaming, Thomson Locations: Lauwin, France, Seattle, United States

☆ Exclusive: Amazon.com previews FTC defense at companywide meeting -transcript
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Greg Bensinger | Thomson Reuters | Greg Bensinger Joined Reuters As A Technology Correspondent In Focusing On The World'S Largest Technology Companies. He Was Previously A Member Of The New York Times Editorial Board | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Nov 7 (Reuters) - Amazon.com's (AMZN.O) top lawyer on Tuesday previewed the broad outlines of the company's possible defense against the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's antitrust lawsuit against the retailer, at a private companywide meeting. The lawsuit, which was joined by 17 state attorneys general, was filed in federal court in Seattle and follows a four-year investigation into the company's practices. The FTC takes "issue with us refusing to show prices that are higher than our biggest competitors," Zapolsky said on Tuesday, according to the transcript. "It’s not that we don’t let customers sell at these prices, we just don’t feature that product at that price." Amazon has said it disagrees with the FTC and would defend itself in court.

Persons: David Zapolsky, Taylor Swift, Zapolsky, Andy Jassy, Ty Rogers, Greg Bensinger, Kenneth Li, Matthew Lewis, Leslie Adler Organizations: U.S . Federal Trade, Reuters, Amazon, U.S . Federal Trade Commission, Big Tech, FTC, Thomson Locations: Seattle, San Francisco

☆ Amazon cuts jobs in music streaming unit
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Greg Bensinger | Thomson Reuters | Greg Bensinger Joined Reuters As A Technology Correspondent In Focusing On The World'S Largest Technology Companies. He Was Previously A Member Of The New York Times Editorial Board | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The logo of Amazon is seen on the door of an Amazon Books retail store in New York City, U.S., February 14, 2019. Employees in Latin America, North America and Europe received notices that their jobs had been eliminated Wednesday, according to people familiar with the matter. “Some roles have been eliminated on the Amazon Music team. Amazon has been quietly trimming jobs, including communications staff in its Studios, Video and Music divisions last month. Amazon Music, which also includes podcasts, competes with Spotify , Pandora, Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O) Google and Apple (AAPL.O) in offering unlimited music streaming services for a fee.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Greg Bensinger, Peter Henderson, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: Amazon, REUTERS, Employees, Reuters, Amazon Music, Studios, Spotify, Google, Apple, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, Latin America, North America, Europe, Washington, California, New York

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