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☆ Amazon applies therapy to retail
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Rising costs and customers battered by inflation are hampering Amazon’s efforts to get its retail division on a path to sustainable profitability. While the rate of sales growth has outstripped growth in costs of distribution, the retail business over the past 12 months has lost $8 billion. More important, investors haven’t loved the idea of subsidizing delivery costs at the expense of profit. Applying therapy to its retailing business won’t change its consumers’ co-dependency. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Corporate Giants Buy Up Primary Care Practices at Rapid Pace
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Reed Abelson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It’s no surprise that the shortage of primary care doctors — who are critically important to the health of Americans — is getting worse. So why are multibillion-dollar corporations, particularly giant health insurers, gobbling up primary care practices? CVS Health, with its sprawling pharmacy business and ownership of the major insurer Aetna, paid roughly $11 billion to buy Oak Street Health, a fast-growing chain of primary care centers that employs doctors in 21 states. And Amazon’s bold purchase of One Medical, another large doctors’ group, for nearly $4 billion, is another such move. The appeal is simple: Despite their lowly status, primary care doctors oversee vast numbers of patients, who bring business and profits to a hospital system, a health insurer or a pharmacy outfit eyeing expansion.

☆ Ukraine War Coverage Earns Pulitzers for The A.P. and The Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Katie Robertson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Coverage of the war in Ukraine dominated the Pulitzer Prizes on Monday, with The Associated Press winning two awards for its reporting and photography, including the prestigious public service prize, and The New York Times winning for a mix of news and investigative articles about the conflict. The Times also won for illustrated reporting and commentary, for a piece by Mona Chalabi in The Times Magazine examining the wealth of Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos. The A.P.’s journalists were the last from an international news organization to remain in the Ukrainian town of Mariupol after it came under fire from Russian troops. In addition to the public service award, considered the top prize, the news organization also won the breaking news photography award for its coverage. An Alabama news website, AL.com, received two Pulitzer Prizes.

☆ 10 Things in Tech: AI-generated Drake songs, discounted startups, and Amazon’s upgraded Alexa
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

I'm Diamond Naga Siu, and in this turbulent economy, I definitely want stability over most other things. And my colleague Grace Mayer highlights how retail, finance, and other (seemingly more stable) industries are piquing our interest instead. A leaked document viewed by Insider revealed that Amazon wants to focus on entertainment features for Alexa. The upgrade will feature Amazon's own generative AI technology instead of using OpenAI's technology (like how Microsoft paired ChatGPT with Bing). Bell dished to my colleague Ashley Stewart on why he made the move, how he met Satya Nadella, and more.

☆ Amazon’s Cloud Casts a Shadow
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Dan Gallagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Amazon reported strong quarterly results, but its cloud business rained a bit on the party. Photo: Cfoto/Zuma PressAmazon .com sells an awful lot of goods and services to generate half a trillion dollars in annual revenue. Amazon’s first-quarter results late Thursday were strong in many respects. Revenue rose 9% year over year to $127.4 billion, beating Wall Street’s projections for 7% growth. That was driven by better-than-expected sales across most of the company’s business lines, particularly advertising, subscription services and third-party seller services.

☆ Amazon earnings: Company posts $3.2 billion profit as it goes through multiple rounds of layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Krystal Hur | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

The e-commerce giant on Thursday reported a profit of $3.2 billion for the first quarter, up from a loss of $3.8 billion in the year ago quarter and far exceeding analysts estimates. The swing to a profit comes as Amazon (AMZN) has ramped up its cost-cutting measures in recent months. It also comes as key areas of Amazon’s business continue to grow despite lingering recession fears possibly weighing on corporate and consumer spending. Amazon expects second-quarter net sales to grow between 5% and 10% from the same period the year before, or be between $127 billion and $133 billion. “The results indicate that ongoing cost-cutting measures are having a positive impact on Amazon’s business prospects,” said Jesse Cohen, senior analyst at Investing.com.

☆ As New York Boosts Tax Breaks for Movies, Some Critics Pan the Program
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Dana Rubinstein | Nicholas Fandos | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Four years ago, Amazon pulled the plug on its plans to build a headquarters in New York City, amid left-wing outrage over a $3 billion public subsidy package. But New York has hardly cut the company off: Amazon’s film and TV arm has received more than $108 million in state tax credits since then, and the left has raised nary a peep. Kathy Hochul is pushing to expand the program by nearly 70 percent, using the proposed state budget to shower as much as $7.7 billion in tax credits on the industry over the next 11 years. As it now stands, the subsidy is the most generous of any offered by the state, according to an analysis by Reinvent Albany, a watchdog group. The proposed expansion to $700 million a year from $420 million has drawn stern rebukes from a range of critics who argue the decades-old program has consistently been a bad deal for taxpayers.

☆ Amazon launches program to identify and track counterfeiters
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Online marketplaces in the United States including Amazon face hurdles in keeping counterfeiters off their platforms and fake merchandise from entering their warehouses. The new program mimics data exchange programs by the credit card industry to find scammers and identify their tactics. Stores and Amazon marketplace sellers can anonymously contribute information and records flagging counterfeiters to a third-party database or use the database to avoid doing business with the bad actors. The Seattle-based retail giant piloted the anti-counterfeiting initiative in 2021 with an undisclosed number of apparel, home goods and cosmetics stores, where counterfeiting is most common. Reporting by Arriana McLymore in New York City; Editing by Kirsten DonovanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

April 19 (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) must face a proposed U.S. nationwide class action accusing the company of illegally monitoring private Facebook groups that delivery drivers used to discuss working conditions, a U.S. appeals court said on Wednesday. Circuit Court of Appeals said an agreement that driver Drickey Jackson signed requiring him to bring work-related disputes in arbitration rather than court did not apply to his 2020 lawsuit. The ruling means Jackson can continue seeking to represent a class of at least 800 Amazon drivers instead of pursuing his claims in individual arbitration. Jackson in court filings cited a leaked document purporting to show an internal social media monitoring list of 43 private Facebook groups that drivers ran in different cities. Amazon has argued the case belongs in arbitration, citing the agreement Jackson signed.

☆ Amazon’s Slowdown Has Yet to Pinch Its Landlord
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Carol Ryan | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Warehouse owners boomed during the height of the pandemic. Its top tenant, Amazon , might no longer be taking all the space it can get its hands on, but warehouse owner Prologis is still passing on eye-popping increases in the rent. On Tuesday, the world’s largest real-estate investment trust said starting rents in the first quarter for new and renewed leases were 42% above the previous rates in that same space—a record high. The company said in January it expects rents to grow 9% year-over-year globally in 2023, and by 10% in its main U.S. market.

☆ Porn on Amazon's Kindle app prompts warnings from Apple, Alphabet
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | 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: +6 min

Reuters learned of the issue when two families told Reuters their pre-teen sons downloaded the explicit material via Amazon's Kindle Unlimited e-book subscription service and viewed the full-color photographs on the Kindle iPhone app. Pornography also is available through Amazon's Kindle online store and viewable on versions of the Kindle app. The adult material at issue is primarily self-published through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing arm. The Apple app store’s guidelines “prohibit apps dedicated to portraying overtly sexual or pornographic material,” the company said in a statement. As of Monday, adult materials were still accessible on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited via the iOS and Android apps.

☆ The American consumer has bad news for the economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

That’s why Wall Street is already fretting over Friday’s retail sales report, which is expected to show that the mighty American consumer is pulling back. Economists forecast that retail sales fell 0.4% in March from the month before. But Goldman Sachs and Bank of America analysts say core sales — that’s without autos, gasoline, and building materials — slowed by about 1%. A taxing problem: Still, the health of the American consumer is still relatively strong, the BofA analysts said. A one-bedroom apartment had a median rent of $4,150, up 9.6% from last year, while a two-bedroom apartment had a median rent of $5,680, up 18.3% from a year ago.

☆ Amazon’s Roomba Deal Keeps Getting Messier
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Dan Gallagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazons-roomba-deal-keeps-getting-messier-73f09651

☆ Amazon is ‘investing heavily’ in the technology behind ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Amazon wants investors to know it won’t be left behind in the latest Big Tech arms race over artificial intelligence. In a letter to shareholders Thursday, Amazon (AMZN) CEO Andy Jassy said the company is “investing heavily” in large language models (LLMs) and generative AI, the same technology that underpins ChatGPT and other similar AI chatbots. Since ChatGPT was released to the public in late November, Google (GOOG), Facebook (FB) and Microsoft (MSFT) have all talked up their growing focus on generative AI technology, which can create compelling essays, stories and visuals in response to user prompts. With that in mind, Amazon on Thursday unveiled a new service called Bedrock. It essentially makes foundation models (large models that are pre-trained on vast amounts of data) from AI21 Labs, Anthropic, Stability AI and Amazon accessible to clients via an API, Amazon said in a blog post.

Deal Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (256GB) Amazon’s $200 deal on the Galaxy S23 Ultra is an all-time low price for Samsung’s most powerful smartphone to date. Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus vs. Galaxy S23 Ultra: Performance and battery lifeBoth the Galaxy S23 Plus (left) and Galaxy S23 Ultra (right) have the same performance, but the Galaxy S23 Plus surprisingly has better battery life. Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus vs. Galaxy S23 Ultra: CamerasOne of the Galaxy S23 Ultra's main differentiating factors is its camera system. Galaxy S23 Plus Galaxy S23 Ultra 256GB $999.99 $1,199.99 512GB $1,119.99 $1,379.99 1TB N/A $1,619.99To be sure, Samsung and carriers (especially carriers) offer tempting trade-in deals for your old phone to offset the cost of a new Galaxy S23 Plus and Galaxy S23 Ultra. Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus vs. Galaxy S23 Ultra: Which should you buy?

☆ Amazon is cracking down on returns
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Amazon is attempting new measures to get customers to return fewer of their online orders, including charging a fee to return items to UPS stores. So, Amazon will start charging customers a $1 fee if they return items to a UPS store when there is a Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh grocery store or Kohl’s closer to their delivery address. Shoppers have become accustomed to endless free returns in recent years, but Amazon and other companies are trying to curb this customer habit. Amazon also recently started flagging “frequently returned” products on its website. More often, returned products can end up in liquidation warehouses or even landfills, which are an environmental threat.

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Amazon is currently hosting deals for Samsung's latest Galaxy S23 phones, including the standard Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23 Plus, and Galaxy S23 Ultra, for a limited time. And the Galaxy S23 Ultra that typically costs $1,200 is down to $1,000 — that's $200 off, and the same regular price as the Galaxy S23 Plus. Deal Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (256GB) Amazon’s $200 deal on the Galaxy S23 Ultra is an all-time low price for Samsung’s most powerful smartphone to date. Deal Samsung Galaxy S23+ (256GB) Save $150 on Amazon for the Galaxy S23+, a larger-screen version of the S23 (6.6 inches versus 6.1). Deal Samsung Galaxy S23 (128GB) Amazon is taking $100 off the Galaxy S23 (2023), the entry model in Samsung's flagship smartphone series.

☆ A grassroots group took on Amazon and won. Then came the hard part
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Amazon still refuses to recognize the union or come to the bargaining table, dashing the Staten Island workers’ hopes of creating their first contract. Union organizer Christian Smalls (L) celebrates following the April 1, 2022, vote for the unionization of the Amazon Staten Island warehouse in New York. “I told Christian, ‘We have a problem, you need to stop traveling, you need to focus on the workers,’” Goodall told CNN. The company has claimed the independent federal agency tasked with overseeing union elections exerted “inappropriate and undue influence” with the Staten Island effort. An Amazon employee signs a labor union authorization for representation form outside the Amazon LDJ5 fulfillment center in the Staten Island borough of New York, on Monday, Feb. 7, 2022.

☆ Amazon must face California lawsuit claiming its prices are too high
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Reuters Staff | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FILE PHOTO: An Amazon worker loads a trolley from a Prime delivery van in Los Angeles, California, U.S. February 25, 2019. REUTERS/Chris Helgren(Reuters) - A California judge has rejected Amazon.com Inc’s bid to dismiss the state’s antitrust lawsuit accusing the online retailer of illegally forcing merchants to accept policies that result in artificially high prices for consumers. California sufficiently alleged that Amazon’s policies “have had the anticompetitive effect of raising prices on competing retail marketplaces as well as on third-party sellers’ own websites,” Judge Ethan Schulman in San Francisco Superior Court wrote. Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. Washington, D.C. is appealing a judge’s March 2022 dismissal of a similar lawsuit there.

☆ How a Fictional Band Made It to No. 1 on the Charts
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Natalia Barr | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

On ‘Daisy Jones & the Six,’ musicians worked to establish a sound in keeping with the show’s 1970s setting that still felt fresh enough for today’s listeners. In the series “Daisy Jones & the Six” on Amazon’s Prime Video, a Los Angeles rock band writes and records their seminal 1976 album. The group, their rise to stardom and their mysterious breakup are all a work of fiction—but the 11-track “Aurora” is real. Since the album’s release in early March, its songs have been streamed more than 30 million times. “Aurora,” released by Atlantic Records, serves as a companion piece to the show, which is inspired in part by the lore around Fleetwood Mac.

☆ Amazon’s head of HR rejects employees’ return-to-office petition
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Beth Galetti, the company's HR head, formally responded to a letter that gathered ~30,000 employee signatures. Galetti wrote in her email that Amazon's guiding principle is to "make our customers' lives better and easier every day." My colleague Eugene Kim obtained Galetti's full email and walks us through how Amazon employees feel about the response. In other news:MSCHF's Tax Heaven 3000 dating simulator is supposed to help you prepare your 2022 US federal tax return. Carta offers popular software to help employees manage their equity.

TikTok was the top downloaded app in the United States in 2021 and 2022, according to data from analytics firm Sensor Tower. And legacy news organizations like the 176-year-old Associated Press have recently joined TikTok to reach new audiences. Goodwin told CNN that more than 90% of her orders currently come from people who discover her business through TikTok. “If it were to get banned, I would see business plummeting,” Goodwin told CNN. (Laurie Gomez)At a time when major tech giants including Meta and Twitter are slashing staff, TikTok is still hiring American engineers.

☆ How Amazon’s flawed job posting process caused it to overhire
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Before I go check my remaining stash to make sure it's all real, let's dive into today's tech. Amazon's flawed job posting process. The company had little oversight of the hiring process until last year, Insider learned. Check out this leaked, all-hands message about "single-digit" percentage cuts to AWS)My colleague Eugene Kim breaks down Amazon's flawed hiring process. He shared the red flags he overlooked during the hiring process, including the hiring of a new chief revenue officer.

☆ Big Tech’s Cuts Now Hitting Growth Areas
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Dan Gallagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A company that employs more than 1.5 million people ought to be able to get by with a few less. But a few less in the wrong areas still sends a worrisome message. Amazon announced a new round of layoffs on Monday affecting 9,000 employees. This comes on top of 18,000 job cuts that the company announced in early January. The two rounds combined will affect a little less than 2% of the head count Amazon reported for the end of 2022, though they reflect a higher proportion of the company’s corporate staff given that a large number of Amazon’s employees work in its warehouses and other fulfillment operations.

☆ Amazon to cut 9,000 jobs in second round of layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] The logo of Amazon is seen at the company logistics center in Lauwin-Planque, northern France, November 15, 2022. Whereas prior cuts had focused on the company's e-commerce and devices business as well as human-resources staff, now the company would eliminate roles from Amazon Web Services, its advertising and Twitch streaming units. Amazon follows Facebook-parent Meta in becoming the second bellwether to announce a second round of cuts. Amazon has scaled back or shut down entire services like its virtual primary care offering for employers. Facebook-parent Meta Platforms said it would cut 10,000 jobs this year, following the first mass layoff in the fall, which eliminated more than 11,000 jobs.

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