Amazon is denying that it’s shutting down Wondery, the podcast studio it acquired in late 2020, after Bloomberg reported on Monday that the company was closing the studio and cutting 110 jobs. Amazon told TechCrunch that Wondery will continue to develop creator-led podcasts under the Wondery brand within a new team. What’s changing is that the […]
Amazon denies report it’s shutting down Wondery podcast studio Read More »
Amazon is denying that it’s shutting down Wondery, the podcast studio it acquired in late 2020, after Bloomberg reported on Monday that the company was closing the studio and cutting 110 jobs. Amazon told TechCrunch that Wondery will continue to develop creator-led podcasts under the Wondery brand within a new team. What’s changing is that the
Amazon denies report it’s shutting down Wondery podcast studio Read More »
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy sees an opportunity to deliver ads to users during their conversations with the company’s AI-powered digital assistant, Alexa+, he said during Amazon’s second-quarter earnings call Thursday. “People are excited about the devices that they can buy from us that has Alexa+ enabled in it. People do a lot of shopping [with
Amazon CEO wants to put ads in your Alexa+ conversations Read More »
A report in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) last week found that prices on Amazon’s low-cost essentials had risen since President Trump announced his plans for massive tariffs on international goods. Amazon responded with a lengthy blog post in response to the article, which describes the WSJ’s reporting as “fundamentally flawed.” WSJ analyzed the prices
Amazon disputes report that it raised prices of popular items since Trump took office Read More »
The big AI companies seem to be in a celebratory mood after President Donald Trump unveiled his AI Action Plan — not surprising, perhaps, since the plan was shaped by Trump’s Silicon Valley allies. Today, on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Max Zeff, and Anthony Ha look at how the Trump administration plans to
Should Silicon Valley celebrate Trump’s AI plans? Read More »
Amazon is making its color screen Kindle more affordable. Following the launch of the Kindle Colorsoft last year, the retailer on Thursday introduced a lower-cost version of the normally $279.99 device. The new device offers a $30 discount for 16GB of storage instead of 32GB, bringing the cost down to $249.99. A kids edition is
Amazon introduces a more affordable color screen Kindle Read More »
Amazon has acquired the AI wearables startup Bee, according to a LinkedIn post by Bee co-founder Maria de Loudres Zollo. Amazon confirmed the acquisition to TechCrunch, but noted that the deal has not yet closed. Bee, which raised $7 million last year, makes both a standalone Fitbit-like bracelet (which retails for $49.99, plus a $19-per-month
Amazon acquires Bee, the AI wearable that records everything you say Read More »
Programmable optics startup Lumotive has added a few more strategic backers to its recent Series B round. Redmond, Washington-based Lumotive reopened its recent Series B funding round to bring in Amazon, through its Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund, and ITHCA Group, the technology investment arm of Oman’s sovereign wealth fund, as investors. These fresh funds bring
Amazon backs programmable optics startup Lumotive Read More »
Amazon’s Prime Day, which leads to an overall boost to U.S. e-commerce thanks to competitive sales, saw a significant increase in retail traffic driven by generative AI products, including chatbots and browsers. According to a post-Prime Day analysis by Adobe Analytics, gen AI traffic to U.S. retail sites increased by 3,300% year-over-year — which was
Prime Day event drove over $24B in U.S. e-commerce sales, gen AI traffic was up 3,300% Read More »
The independent online bookseller Bookshop.org took a swipe at Amazon to celebrate the start of Prime Day, Amazon’s annual sale (which, despite its name, is actually four days this year). Like many other retailers, Bookshop.org holds a sale to coincide with Amazon’s big event — it’s a way to lure away consumers who may be
Bookshop.org mocks Jeff Bezos wedding invite in anti-Prime Day promo Read More »
