Rufus, Amazon’s recently launched, shopping-focused chatbot, is getting ads soon. That’s according to a changelog published by Amazon this week (first spotted by AdWeek), which states that sponsored ads could soon start appearing in placements for Rufus users in the U.S. Ads will be shown based on Amazon search and conversational context, Amazon says, and […]
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Audible, Amazon’s audiobook business, on Monday announced that it’ll use AI trained on professional narrators’ voices to generate new audiobook recordings. A select, U.S.-based cohort of audiobook narrators will be invited to train AI on their voices starting this week, Audible said. The trained AI will be used to make recordings, and narrators will have
Audible recruits voice actors to train audiobook-generating AI Read More »
“The Jetsons” debuted September 23, 1962. The first episode, titled “Rosey the Robot,” was an origin story of sorts for the titular character, describing how an overworked Jane hired the housekeeper. Sixty-two years after her debut, Rosey remains an important pop cultural touchstone for the unfulfilled promise of home robots. The home of 2024 isn’t
Why do so many home robots still suck? Read More »
Global technology giants are pushing back against attempts by India’s telecom networks to bring internet services under stricter regulation, rejecting arguments that such measures are necessary to create a “level playing field” and address national security concerns. The Asia Internet Coalition (AIC), a powerful industry body that represents Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Netflix and
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Amazon is considering shifting its payments offerings in India into a standalone app, three sources familiar with the matter told TechCrunch, as the e-commerce giant aims to boost usage of Amazon Pay in the country. Amazon Pay is currently housed within the company’s primary e-commerce app in India, and lets users transfer money to individuals
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Amazon loses money on Echo smart speakers. It’s been an open secret for the duration of Alexa’s existence. It’s the product of the kind of loss leader strategy only a company of Amazon’s size can get away with for a decade. Selling hardware at a loss can be an effective strategy, of course. Think about
As Alexa turns 10, Amazon looks to generative AI Read More »
OpenAI co-founder John Schulman has left the company for rival AI startup Anthropic. In addition, OpenAI co-founder and president Greg Brockman is taking an extended leave after nine years at the company to “relax and recharge.” Schulman said his decision stemmed from a desire to deepen his focus on AI alignment — the science of
OpenAI faces more leadership shake-ups Read More »
About two years ago, a VC firm was evaluating an investment in a quick-commerce startup in India. The company’s instant delivery model was showing signs of success in the South Asian market, even as many startups in the space were struggling in developed markets. But the firm was wary: Could Amazon swoop in and dominate
Amazon is fumbling in India Read More »
Amazon has released an upgraded version of its in-house image-generating model, Titan Image Generator, for AWS customers using its Bedrock generative AI platform. Simply called Titan Image Generator v2, the new model brings with it several new capabilities, AWS principal developer advocate Channy Yun explains in a blog post. Users can “guide” the images they
Amazon upgrades its AI image generator Read More »
Amazon’s Prime Day event clocked record sales this year, as U.S. consumers spent $14.2 billion across July 16 and 17, according to Adobe Analytics. This marks an 11% jump from last year’s $12.7 billion total. Buyers spent $7.2 billion on day one of the 2024 online event, up 11.2% from a year prior. Adobe Analytics
Amazon Prime Day 2024 sales hit record $14.2 billion Read More »
