Amazon has announced it’s launching a new service that completes deliveries in 30 minutes or less in Seattle and Philadelphia. The new “ultra-fast” delivery option will allow Amazon to better compete with services like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Instacart.Customers will be able to order a range of different items, including milk, eggs, fresh produce, toothpaste, cosmetics, pet treats, diapers, paper products, electronics, seasonal items, over-the-counter medicines, chips, dips, and more, according to the comp ...

Core Insights - Amazon Web Services (AWS) has launched its new AI training chip, Trainium3, which offers significant performance improvements over its predecessor [1][2] - The company is also developing Trainium4, which will enhance interoperability with Nvidia's chips [7][8] Performance Enhancements - Trainium3 UltraServer, powered by a 3 nanometer chip, provides over four times the speed and memory compared to the second generation [2][3] - Each UltraServer can host 144 Trainium3 chips, allowing for configurations of up to 1 million chips linked together [3] Energy Efficiency - The new systems are reported to be 40% more energy efficient than the previous generation, aligning with industry trends towards sustainable data center operations [4] Cost Savings for Customers - AWS claims that customers using Trainium3 have significantly reduced their inference costs, benefiting from the enhanced performance and efficiency [5] Future Developments - Trainium4 is in development and is expected to support Nvidia's NVLink Fusion technology, potentially attracting more AI applications to AWS [7][8] - No specific timeline for the release of Trainium4 has been announced, but further details are anticipated at next year's conference [9]

In a carefully worded announcement on Monday, Apple said John Giannandrea, who has been the company’s AI chief since 2018, is “stepping down” to, well, not work at Apple anymore. He’ll stick around through spring as an advisor.His replacement is Amar Subramanya, a highly regarded Microsoft executive who spent 16 years at Google, most recently leading engineering for the Gemini Assistant. It’s a savvy hire, given that Subramanya knows the competition intimately. The move is being characterized as a shake-up ...

Core Insights - Shopify experienced a significant outage that disrupted operations for numerous merchants, preventing them from fulfilling transactions [1][2] - The outage occurred during Cyber Monday, a peak online shopping day, which is critical for e-commerce sales [2] - Shopify merchants account for over 10% of all e-commerce transactions in the U.S., highlighting the platform's importance in the industry [2] Incident Details - The issues began around 6:45 a.m. PT, with merchants reporting difficulties logging into their accounts and accessing point-of-sale (POS) systems [3] - Shopify identified the cause of the problem as its login authentication flow, which affected POS logins, and has since fixed the issue [4] - Recovery signs are being observed, and the company is monitoring the situation while advising merchants of longer wait times for support due to the outage [4] Impact Assessment - The exact number of affected merchants is unclear, but Downdetector reported approximately 4,000 outage incidents [5]

Nvidia announced new infrastructure and AI models on Monday as it works to build the backbone technology for physical AI, including robots and autonomous vehicles that can perceive and interact with the real world.The semiconductor giant announced Alpamayo-R1, an open reasoning vision language model for autonomous driving research at the NeurIPS AI conference in San Diego, California. The company claims this is the first vision language action model focused on autonomous driving. Visual language models can ...

Core Insights - Nvidia is investing $2 billion into Synopsys to enhance their partnership and integrate AI capabilities into Synopsys's software [1][2] - The investment aims to transition Synopsys's platform from CPU-based computing to GPU-based systems, improving chip-design workflows [2] - The deal positively impacted Synopsys's stock, indicating long-term growth potential despite recent weaknesses in its IP segment [3] Company Developments - Nvidia purchased Synopsys shares at $414.79 each as part of a multi-year partnership [2] - The investment strengthens Nvidia's influence over Synopsys's electronic design automation (EDA) tools amid increasing competition in chip design [3] - The deal follows significant sell-offs of Nvidia positions by major investors like SoftBank and Peter Thiel [3] Industry Context - Analysts are scrutinizing the rise of circular AI-industry deals, raising concerns about a potential bubble [1] - The investment reflects a broader trend of companies seeking to enhance their technological capabilities through strategic partnerships [1][3]

Amazon’s AI chatbot, Rufus, saw a surge of adoption on Black Friday, according to new data published over the weekend by market intelligence firm Sensor Tower. In the U.S., Amazon sessions that resulted in a purchase surged 100% on Black Friday compared with the trailing 30 days, while sessions that resulted in a purchase and didn’t include Rufus increased by only 20%.In addition, Amazon saw a 75% day-over-day increase for sessions that included Rufus and resulted in a purchase, compared with just a 35% day ...

Core Points - Airbus has ordered fixes to 6,000 of its A320 series planes due to concerns over data corruption from intense solar radiation affecting flight controls [1] - An incident involving a JetBlue flight on October 30, which lost altitude and made an emergency landing, prompted this action [1] - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued an emergency airworthiness directive requiring affected planes to revert to earlier software versions before they can resume flying [2] - Some planes will also require hardware changes as part of the corrective measures [2]

Core Insights - American consumers spent a record $11.8 billion online on Black Friday, an increase from $10.8 billion the previous year, indicating a significant growth in e-commerce during this shopping event [1][2] - Adobe projects that Cyber Monday will surpass Black Friday with an expected $14.2 billion in online spending [2] - Salesforce reported $79 billion in global spending on Black Friday, with $18 billion attributed to the U.S., reflecting year-over-year increases of 6% and 3% respectively [4] E-commerce Trends - The data from Adobe and Salesforce serves as an early indicator of broader holiday shopping trends, with Adobe forecasting total holiday spending of $253.4 billion this year, up from $241.1 billion in 2024 [3] - The influence of AI on holiday shopping is growing, with Salesforce noting that AI and AI agents influenced $22 billion in global sales between Thanksgiving and Black Friday [5] In-store vs Online Shopping - There is mixed data regarding online trends compared to in-person shopping, with RetailNext reporting a 3.4% decrease in nationwide in-store traffic, while Pass_by indicated an overall increase of 1.17% in foot traffic, and a notable 7.9% increase in department stores [6]

Meesho, an Indian e-commerce rival to Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart, is set to launch a roughly $606 million IPO marked by token sell-downs from early backers and no sales from big names such as SoftBank and Prosus, signalling investor conviction in India’s booming online retail market at a time when tech shareholders globally have been cashing out at listings.The ten-year-old startup plans to price its shares at ₹105–111 each, raising ₹42.50 billion (about $475 million) in fresh capital and a small rem ...