Once a modest online seller of books, Amazon is now one of the largest companies in the world, and its former CEO, Jeff Bezos, is the world’s most wealthy person. We track developments, both of Bezos and Amazon, its growth as a video producer, the popular Prime service, as well as its own hardware, which includes the Amazon Kindle e-reader, Amazon Kindle Fire tablets, and Amazon Fire TV streaming boxes.
The new voice assistant has been a long time coming, but it won’t get here all at once.
In a statement to Reuters, Amazon spokesperson Alice Zou said the layoffs impact a “small number of roles” without offering any specifics. Amazon acquired Wondery in 2020, which has produced podcasts like New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce and Dr. Death.
[reuters.com]
I grabbed a few minutes with the new Alexa at Amazon’s event and was impressed. Gone is the need for “Alexa speak.” Instead, I created a morning wake-up routine just by talking about what I wanted, and controlled several smart home devices without knowing their names or locations.
Of all the new features Amazon announced for the voice assistant, talking to Alexa and having it reliably understand you is easily the biggest improvement.
We’re down on the demo floor now, and we were hoping to try out the new AI-powered assistant. There are six rooms, one with a Fire TV and the rest with Echo Show 21 screens. But all the demos are being run by Amazon reps.
That’s according to Amazon’s new devices and service chief Panos Panay, who just took the stage at Amazon’s big Alexa event in New York City.
The engagement metrics he’s referencing are a little unclear, but he says customers used Amazon’s virtual assistant 20 percent more in 2024 than they did in 2023.
The show is set to start at 10AM ET. We’re in a (chilly) line outside, waiting to get live blogging. Follow along for all the big announcements.
A smarter Alexa, new Echo hardware, and a lot of Panos Panay. We’re pumped!
Money was the obviously part of what convinced Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson to give Amazon complete creative control over the James Bond franchise after years of telling the studio to kick rocks. None of the involved parties have disclosed exactly how much cash it took to secure the deal, but Deadline is pretty sure 007 wound up costing Amazon a cool $1 billion — that’s in addition to the $8.5 billion Amazon already spent acquiring MGM.
Amazon announced today that it’s ending support for its Amazon Chime service for business calls and meetings. The company is no longer accepting new customers for Chime, and you won’t be able to host meetings after February 20th, 2026.
[aws.amazon.com]
That’s just one line in this Wall Street Journal article detailing money flowing to the presidential family via crypto or other means. Another section highlights Melania Trump’s documentary pitch to Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez during their December visit preceding Amazon’s $40 million deal that reportedly nearly tripled the next-closest offer.
But if you wondered how that January 6th Twitter lawsuit got settled, we have an answer:
The settlement talks with X began after the election and were more informal, with both Trump and Musk personally involved in hammering out the $10 million number, people familiar with the matter said.
The toaster-shaped vehicle made safe if conservative decisions and offered a relatively comfortable ride through Las Vegas.
It is still kind of hard to believe that Amazon MGM is producing a live-action Masters of the Universe movie starring Nicholas Galitzine as He-Man and Jared Leto as Skeletor. But it’s true, and Deadine reports that Morena Baccarin (Deadpool) and Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson (Vikings: Valhalla) have signed on to play The Sorceress of Castle Grayskull and Fisto, respectively.
The company’s annual report no longer says it’s focused on “inclusion and diversity,” a line it included in past filings, as reported by CNBC. Amazon has already announced that it’s “winding down” some of its DEI programs, similar to Meta and Google.
In its Q4 2024 earnings release, Amazon said it had “the biggest Q4 for Kindle device sales in over a decade, with a new lineup of Kindles driving a 30% year-over-year increase in devices sold.” During the quarter, Amazon announced the Kindle Colorsoft, an updated Kindle Paperwhite and entry-level Kindle, and a second-generation Kindle Scribe.
Amazon’s earnings call is at 5PM ET. I’m curious if the company will discuss the potential impact of Trump’s tariffs.
[press.aboutamazon.com]
Donald Trump suspended a 100-year-old law this week that companies shipping online orders directly from China depended on. The de minimis exemption was used as a loophole by Temu, Shein, Amazon, and countless drop shipping operations. Check out my explainer below.
