Amazon buys self-driving startup Zoox for $1bn June 26, 2020 Amazon has acquired US self-driving startup Zoox, marking its first major step into the driverless cars market. The deal is valued at more than $1bn, the Information first reported. Amazon declined to confirm the size of the acquisition. Zoox chief executive Aicha Evans and chief technology officer Jesse Levinson will continue to lead Zoox as [...]
Microsoft to permanently close all retail stores June 26, 2020 Microsoft has said it intends to keep all of its retail locations closed permanently, as it reorganises its sales offering towards online shopping. It said its retail team members will “continue to serve customers from Microsoft corporate facilities”, remotely providing sales, training, and support. No job losses were mentioned. It added that it will reimagine some of its [...]
US second wave: America sets one-day record for coronavirus cases, Texas pauses reopening June 26, 2020 The US set a new record for a one-day increase in cases yesterday as fears of a second wave caused states to step back from reopening. The governor of Texas temporarily halted the state’s reopening yesterday as coronavirus infections and hospitalisations surged in the latest sign yet of a US second wave. Texas, which has [...]
The City View: Why boards must go digital, with Ben Noland, CEO of Shaparency June 26, 2020 In this episode Christian is joined by Ben Noland, founder of shareholder engagement platform Shaparency. Subscribe to The City View Podcast: Apple / Google / Spotify / RSS Ben makes the case for a digital revolution in governance, boardroom decision-making and shareholder engagement, arguing that there’s no excuse for low turnout in shareholder votes and everything to gain from empowering your shareholder [...]
Google to automatically delete search and location data June 25, 2020 Google will now automatically delete your search and location history after 18 months, as it attempts to assuage concerns from regulators that it controls too much information about individuals. Users will be able to toggle in their settings to wipe their data every three or 18 months, with the latter now automatically turned on. The [...]
The City View: The ‘cardiac arrest’ of the UK jobs market – with Andrew Hunter of Adzuna June 25, 2020 In this episode, City A.M. Deputy Editor Andy Silvester is joined by Andrew Hunter, co-founder and chief executive of Adzuna, now Europe’s fastest growing job search engine. Subscribe to The City View Podcast: Apple / Google / Spotify / RSS Andrew discusses the “cardiac arrest” in the UK job market caused by Covid-19, the competition for job offers and steps the government could [...]
UK coronavirus death toll rises by 154 as Johnson lambasted for track and trace app June 24, 2020 A further 154 people in the UK have died after contracting coronavirus, the Department for Health and Social Care announced, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson was accused of misleading the public over the UK’s trace and trace app in the Commons this lunchtime. The 154 coronavirus-related deaths announced today takes the total number of Covid-19 [...]
The City View: ‘The second digital revolution’ – with Irana Wasti of GoDaddy June 24, 2020 In this episode, Christian is joined by Irana Wasti, President in Europe and the Middle East of website giant GoDaddy. Subscribe to The City View Podcast: Apple / Google / Spotify / RSS Irana says the pandemic has already triggered a ‘second digital revolution’ with small businesses turning to online retail and digital business models to keep themselves afloat. What started as [...]
The government should have been working on multiple tracing apps all along June 24, 2020 The NHS contract tracing app has been scrapped in favour of a system developed by Google and Apple. Although health secretary Matt Hancock has been heavily criticised for this failure, the UK is by no means alone. For example, Denmark, Germany and Italy each tried to build their own app, based on the same type [...]
FTSE 100 and Wall Street gain on signs of economic recovery June 23, 2020 The FTSE 100 closed up and Wall Street posted strong gains on Tuesday afternoon after new economic data signalled that business activity across the US, UK and the Eurozone was recovering faster than expected. Having risen steadily throughout the morning, the FTSE 100 pushed ahead in afternoon trading today as traders welcomed the most significant [...]