Is Amazon’s ‘Just Walk Out’ technology powered by AI or by hundreds of underpaid workers in India? The world’s first Amazon Go store in Seattle opened on Jan. 22, 2018. The New York Times called it “A Store of the Future,” where all customers had to do was pop an item in their cart and walk out. A little over six years in the future, developers for Amazon's “Just Walk Out” technology are facing layoffs, and the technology itself is being fazed out at 40 Amazon Fresh grocery stores. Libby Denkmann Play AudioListen 21 mins
Amazon is cutting hundreds of jobs in its cloud computing unit AWS The AWS layoffs follow other layoffs that happened at Amazon and its subsidiaries this year, including at Prime Video, the MGM Studios unit and Twitch, the social media platform owned by Amazon. The Associated Press
No more 'just walk out' at Amazon grocery stores. The new bet is smart shopping carts The retailer banked big on the cashier-less tech. It's now out at Amazon Fresh stores in the U.S. But Amazon's grocery ambitions are only shapeshifting. Alina Selyukh
Climate protesters block Amazon’s Seattle HQ to oppose fossil fuel plans A few dozen climate protesters blocked entrances to Amazon's Seattle headquarters for over an hour Wednesday, chanting “No fracking gas!” as they draped banners and stood across the doorways. Employees denied entrance to their offices were not amused. Amy Radil
The rise and fall of ecommerce giant Zulily When you need new stuff, odds are you reach for your phone instead of your car keys. Buying things online is just a way of life for many of us. But the market is changing, and there have been local casualties. Seattle Times Business reporter Lauren Rosenblatt tells the story of Zulily… a local internet retail company that boomed, and busted. It points to the way ecommerce is changing. Clare McGrane Play AudioListen 13 mins
Jeff Bezos sells nearly 12 million Amazon shares worth at least $2 billion Jeff Bezos filed a statement with federal regulators indicating his sale of nearly 12 million shares of Amazon stock worth more than $2 billion. The Associated Press
TikTok Shop is taking on Amazon — one viral video at a time TikTok has surged into the e-commerce space, positioning itself as a kind of Amazon for the social media age. Analysts say it might work, but users and sellers are asking: At what price? Emma Klein
France fines Amazon $35 million for ‘excessively intrusive’ monitoring of warehouse staff Associated Press
From Amazon to Facebook and Google, here's how platforms can 'decay' If you feel like some important places on the internet have been getting worse, you're not alone. In fact, there has been a whole lot of action in the last 12 months. Michael Levitt Play AudioListen 5 mins
Amazon, Starbucks worker unions are in limbo, even as UAW and others triumph Amazon workers formed their first union. And at Starbucks, 380 stores are unionized, but not one has a contract. But the big, established unions have won big raises for workers. Andrea Hsu
