In Brief Four years ago, Ford and South Korean battery maker SK On struck a deal to form a joint venture and spend $11.4 billion to build factories in Tennessee and Kentucky that would produce batteries for the next generation of electric F-Series trucks.The factories live on; the joint venture will not. SK On, a subsidiary of SK Innovation, said Thursday it reached an agreement with Ford to end the joint venture. The two companies will divide the assets: Ford will take ownership and operation of the twin ...

The Walt Disney Company announced on Thursday that it has signed a three-year partnership with OpenAI that will bring its iconic characters to the company’s Sora AI video generator. Disney is also making a $1 billion equity investment in OpenAI.Launched in September, Sora allows users to create short videos using simple prompts. With this new agreement, users will be able to draw on more than 200 animated, masked, and creature characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars, including costumes, props, ...

In Brief Nvidia is allegedly testing software that can track the location of its AI chips as reports of its chips being smuggled into China are on the rise.Nvidia has built location verification technology that would allow it to track which country a chip is located in, Reuters originally reported, citing anonymous sources. This software tracks computing performance but the delay in communication between servers also offers a sense of a chip’s location. This software will be optional for customers to use a ...

In Brief Park Dae-jun has resigned as chief executive of South Korean retail giant Coupang after a data breach exposed the personal information of more than half of the country’s population.In a statement, Park apologized for the breach, citing a “deep sense of responsibility for the outbreak and the subsequent recovery process.” Coupang has replaced Park with Harold Rogers, the top lawyer at Coupang’s U.S.-based parent company, according to a machine translation of the company statement.The retail giant, ...

Core Insights - Amazon has expanded its Same-Day Delivery service for fresh groceries to over 2,300 cities and towns in the U.S., with plans for further expansion in 2026 [1] - The service was launched in August to compete with Instacart and Walmart+ in the quick-commerce sector [1] Delivery Service Details - Customers can order a variety of fresh items including fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, seafood, baked goods, and frozen foods, alongside other household essentials [2] - Amazon employs a specialized temperature-controlled fulfillment network to ensure the integrity of perishable items, with a six-point quality check for orders [3] - Temperature-sensitive products are delivered in insulated bags, enhancing the delivery quality [3] Popularity and Sales Growth - Fresh groceries constitute nine of the top ten most-ordered items for fast delivery [3] - Perishable grocery sales have increased 30 times since January, indicating strong demand [4] - Customers who include fresh groceries in their Same-Day Delivery orders tend to shop about twice as often as those who do not [4] Pricing Structure - Same-day delivery is free for Prime members on orders over $25; otherwise, a $2.99 fee applies for Prime members and a $12.99 fee for non-members [5] - The selection of perishable items available for Same-Day Delivery has grown by over 30% since August, including thousands of items from Whole Foods Market [5]

Core Insights - Amazon plans to invest an additional $35 billion in India by 2030, raising its total commitment to approximately $75 billion to expand its retail and cloud operations in the country [1][3] Investment and Economic Impact - The new investment will focus on digitizing small businesses and enhancing logistics and operations in India, aiming to provide AI access to up to 15 million small businesses and create 1 million jobs by 2030 [2] - To date, Amazon has invested nearly $40 billion in India, with a commitment of $15 billion by 2030, of which $12.7 billion is allocated for its cloud business through Amazon Web Services [3] Competitive Landscape - India is a significant market for major tech companies due to its large population, with over a billion internet users and hundreds of millions of smartphone users [4] - Amazon faces competition from Walmart-backed Flipkart, Meesho, and quick-commerce firms like Swiggy's Instamart, Zomato's Blinkit, and Zepto, which are rapidly expanding in the urban consumer market [5] Strategic Importance - Amazon views India as one of its largest long-term opportunities, indicating a strong commitment to the region's growth potential [8]

It’s been quite the year for Coreweave. In March, the AI cloud infrastructure provider went public in one of the biggest and most anticipated IPOs of the year that didn’t live up to its hype.Another setback took place in October, when a planned acquisition of the cloud provider’s business partner, Core Scientific, faltered due to skepticism from the acquisition target’s shareholders.  In the meantime, the firm has acquired a number of different companies, its stock has gone up and down, and it’s been both ...

Rivian has spent nearly two years building its own AI assistant, an effort that remains separate from its multi-billion dollar technology joint venture with Volkswagen, TechCrunch has learned.Rivian hasn’t revealed when it will put the AI assistant in consumers hands. However, in an interview earlier this year, Rivian’s software chief Wassym Bensaid told TechCrunch it was targeting the end of the year. The company will likely share more during its upcoming AI and Autonomy day, which will be live streamed st ...

Core Insights - Ford is facing significant competition in Europe, particularly from Chinese automakers, and is committed to remaining competitive in the market [1][3] - The partnership with Renault aims to introduce two affordable Ford-branded electric vehicles in Europe by 2028, with Ford leading the design and Renault handling assembly [2][3] - This collaboration is part of Ford's broader strategy to enhance agility and cost efficiency in response to the influx of cheaper vehicles from competitors like BYD and SAIC Motor [3][4] Company Strategy - Ford's CEO emphasized the importance of the European market as a critical battleground for the global transformation of the automotive industry [4] - The partnership with Renault is seen as a strategic move to innovate and invest more effectively in Europe [4] - Ford is committed to accelerating its operations in Europe to ensure a vibrant future in the region [4]

NASA and the United States Postal Service have stopped using electric vans made by now-bankrupt EV startup Canoo, despite the former CEO’s claim that he would provide support for the vehicles.NASA purchased three of Canoo’s EVs in 2023 with the intention of using the vans to shuttle astronauts to the launchpad for its Artemis missions to the Moon. The space agency told TechCrunch that Canoo “was no longer able to meet our mission requirements.” As of October, NASA said it is leasing the Airstream-built “Ast ...