Spotify turns new page with audiobook deal to rival Amazon October 4, 2023 Spotify has inked deals with major publishers to bring audiobooks into its ever-expanding audio empire. Starting today, paying subscribers in the UK and Australia can listen to 15 hours of audiobooks on the Swedish streaming platform at no extra cost. Plans for a US launch are close by in the pipeline. Spotify users can pay [...]
Amazon sued by US in landmark monopoly case after four-year probe September 26, 2023 The US Federal Trade Commission filed an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon as the government pressed on with its fight to rein in Big Tech.
Amazon to invest up to $4bn in Anthropic to boost its AI offering September 25, 2023 Amazon will invest up to $4bn (£3.3bn) in rising artificial intelligence (AI) startup Anthropic, the tech giant said today.
Dazn hits back at MP plans to close free-to-air sport loophole September 25, 2023 Calls from politicians to stop streaming platforms from bidding to show major sporting events have been slammed as “very narrow-minded and anti-competitive”. Sports streaming giant Dazn, best known for showing high-profile boxing matches, has hit out at recent recommendations by a group of MPs to stop streaming platforms from bidding for “crown jewel” sporting events. Crown jewel [...]
Smurfit Kappa reaches deal on mega-merger with US rival WestRock in move away from London September 12, 2023 London-listed Smurfit Kappa will form one of the world’s largest packaging companies as it announced a multi-billion tie-up with US rival WestRock. The Ireland-headquartered business said that the merger would create a giant with around 34 billion US dollars (£27 billion) in combined revenue last year. The deal will help Smurfit break into the US [...]
Darren Jones: Keir Starmer moves rising star to Labour’s shadow treasury team September 4, 2023 Labour MP Darren Jones has been appointed shadow chief secretary to the treasury, in Sir Keir Starmer’s reshuffle of his top team. Jones made headlines and viral TikToks as he clashed with Royal Mail, Amazon and P&O bosses in his role as business and trade select committee (BTC) chairman. He will now serve alongside shadow [...]
It took Big Tech firms just six days to pay off $2bn in fines, new data shows August 30, 2023 Big Tech firms paid over $2bn (£1.6bn) in fines this year. But new data shows it took them just over six days to pay them off.
It’s not me, it’s you: Jassy warns Amazon staff it might not work out if they’re working from home too much August 29, 2023 Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy told workers “it’s probably not going to work out for [them]” if they don’t accept the company’s three-days-in-the-office mandate. “It’s past the time to disagree and commit,” Jassy reportedly said in a meeting last week, referred to internally as a ‘fishbowl’. “And if you can’t disagree and commit, I also [...]
Amazon rolling out generative AI feature targetting product reviews August 14, 2023 Amazon is rolling out a new generative AI feature that summarises product reviews for customers. The feature, which the company began testing earlier this year, is designed to help shoppers determine at a glance what other customers have said about a product before they spend time reading through individual reviews. It will pick out common themes [...]
Amazon eyes anchor investor role ahead of Arm IPO August 9, 2023 Amazon is reportedly in discussions to become an anchor investor in Arm as the chip designer gears up to go public. The technology giant is joining the likes of Alphabet, which owns google, and semiconductor companies Nvidia and Intel in the queue to become a major investor in Cambridge-based Arm, according to Reuters. Arm plays [...]