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‘Frontline’ documentary tackles Jeff Bezos and the ‘Amazon Empire’
Amazon is the subject of the latest Frontline documentary, which airs on PBS today at 9PM ET and is probably worth checking out if you have any interest in the tech giant. From the same team that was behind a 2018 Frontline examination of Facebook, Amazon Empire: The Rise and Reign of Jeff Bezos charts the rise of Bezos and his company from shipping books from a Washington garage in the mid-'90s through to its current status as a trillion-dollar colossus.
Amazon orders 100,000 EVs to help meet climate goal ten years early
Jeff Bezos has announced Amazon will sign up to a climate pledge with the aim of meeting the United Nations Paris Agreement climate goals 10 years early. He said Amazon will hit emission reduction targets by 2040, report its emissions regularly and implement decarbonization strategies. The company will balance out any remaining emissions with carbon offsets. Bezos wants 80 percent of Amazon's energy use to come from renewable sources by 2024, and for it to rely fully on renewable energy by 2030.
Senate demands answers from Amazon over Ring surveillance
Ring's controversial "Neighbors" surveillance network and cozy relationship with police departments has drawn the eye US lawmakers. In a letter to CEO Jeff Bezos, Senator Edward Markey expressed concern that the system "could easily create a surveillance network that places dangerous burdens on people of color and [feed] racial anxieties in local communities."
Jeff Bezos accuses the National Enquirer of 'extortion and blackmail'
Nearly a month after the National Enquirer published a story about Amazon CEO and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos' relationship with TV host Lauren Sanchez, Bezos has accused the outlet, its owner AMI and leader David Pecker of blackmail. "Rather than capitulate to extortion and blackmail," he wrote in a blog post on Medium, the executive published emails they sent proposing a "completely confidential" agreement. In exchange for a promise to not publish embarrassing photos obtained from his text messages, AMI's general counsel Jon Fine asked for Bezos and his lawyer for a statement "affirming that they have no knowledge or basis for suggesting that AM's coverage was politically motivated or influenced by political forces." As far as why the outlet would go to such lengths, with threats to release "below the belt selfie," among other images, Bezos cited his lawyer's investigation into how National Enquirer obtained the texts, as well as Pecker's reported actions on behalf of President Donald Trump and on behalf of the Saudi Government.
Telesat inks satellite internet deals with Loon and Blue Origin
Canadian telecom Telesat has inked a couple of deals that could boost its aim to become a key player in the satellite internet field. It's planning to establish a low-earth orbit network of 292 satellites, with Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin helping to deploy them. Telesat will also use Alphabet-owned Loon's networking system to make sure the satellites work in harmony.
Blue Origin starts building the factory for New Glenn's engines
Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket just became more tangible. The company has officially started construction on a factory in Huntsville, Alabama that will produce the BE-4 engines powering both New Glenn and United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Centaur. It'll also make the BE-3U engines used for New Glenn's second stage. While it's not clear when the factory will start making rockets, Blue Origin expects to complete development later in 2019.
Blue Origin's latest New Shepard test flight hauled NASA experiments
Private aerospace company Blue Origin successfully carried out an uncrewed test flight today, marking the tenth time the Jeff Bezos-backed company has managed to send its reusable New Shepard rocket to space and recover it. This test was particularly noteworthy as the capsule carried eight research and development experiments from NASA.
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin beats key rival to rocket engine deal
Blue Origin is best known for its own rocket programs, but it just scored a deal that could make it an important name in the spaceflight industry. United Launch Alliance has chosen Blue Origin's BE-4 engine (two of them, to be exact) to power the booster stage its next-generation Vulcan Centaur rocket, which is due to launch in mid-2020. Jeff Bezos' outfit won't be the only rocket vendor involved, but it crucially beat out Aerojet Rocketdyne -- a behemoth in the industry that had tried to pressure ULA into avoiding Blue Origin tech altogether.
Bezos family launches $2 billion philanthropy fund
Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder who happens to be the richest person on the planet, has launched a philanthropic effort with an initial commitment of $2 billion. He and his wife MacKenzie will use the Day One Fund to build a "network of new, non-profit, tier-one preschools in low-income communities" and fund "existing non-profits that help homeless families."
Bernie Sanders bill would tax Amazon and others over low wages
Critics have frequently accused Amazon of underpaying warehouse employees to the point where staff must live on food stamps and other government subsidies, and there's now a Senate bill that puts some added weight behind that criticism. Senator Bernie Sanders has introduced the Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies Act (aka the not-so-subtle Stop BEZOS Act), a measure that would place a 100 percent tax on the government assistance workers receive at companies with over 500 employees. If an Amazon staffer had to live in public housing, for instance, the internet giant would have to either foot the bill or pay the person well enough that they didn't need help.
Amazon is the latest $1 trillion tech company
Apple's status as the only public trillion-dollar company didn't last long. Amazon has been flirting with a $1 trillion market cap throughout trading on September 4th, passing the symbolic milestone in the morning. It reached the figure through a relatively recent surge, CNBC pointed out. While Apple reached $900 billion eight months earlier, Amazon's stock price has been climbing steadily throughout most of 2018 and has thrived since a record-setting Prime Day in July.
Blue Origin will perform a high-altitude abort test at 11AM ET (updated)
Today, Blue Origin, the space company founded by Amazon's Jeff Bezos, will perform another test on the sub-orbital New Shepard spacecraft and launch vehicle. This time, the company is looking at pushing the engines to their maximum limits with a high-altitude escape motor test. This will be the ninth test for the system. You can watch the live stream over at Blue Origin's website. The test is scheduled for 11AM ET / 10AM CT, and the webcast will begin around 20 minutes beforehand.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is now the richest person in recent history
Jeff Bezos has been one of the world's wealthiest people for a while, but he's now set a new record: he's the wealthiest person in recent history. The Amazon founder's net worth has topped $151 billion according to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index, making him not only the world's richest person as of this writing (former frontrunner Bill Gates is worth $95.3 billion), but the richest in modern times. If you adjust for inflation, Gates would have been worth $149 billion for a brief period in 1999.
A beginner's guide to space tourism
The era of space tourism is nearly upon us with Blue Origin, SpaceX and Virgin Galactic each vying to be the first company to ferry clients on once-in-a-lifetime treks up to the edge of space and back. While SpaceX is the clear frontrunner when it comes to cargo and satellite launches, Blue Origin is leading the pack in terms of putting actual people into actual orbit.
Employees ask Amazon not to sell face recognition to law enforcement
A group of Amazon employees has penned a letter to company chief Jeff Bezos, asking him to stop selling facial recognition to law enforcement. They said that "in the midst of historic militarization of police, renewed targeting of Black activists, and the growth of a federal deportation force currently engaged in human rights abuses," Amazon's facial recognition software will surely serve as a powerful surveillance tool for the government. They also pointed out that a tool like it will "ultimately serve to harm the most marginalized." The employees wrote the letter after an American Civil Liberties Union investigation revealed that the tech giant sells its Rekognition facial detection system to law enforcement customers.
Amazon faces pressure to stop selling facial recognition to police
Amazon may not have much choice but to address mounting criticism over its sales of facial recognition tech to governments. The American Civil Liberties Union has delivered both a petition and a letter from 17 investors demanding that Amazon drop its Rekognition system and exit the surveillance business. While the two sides have somewhat different motivations, they share one thing in common: a concern for privacy.
Seattle quickly repeals 'head tax' that Amazon opposed
Just a few weeks after enacting a so-called "head tax" Seattle's City Council voted 7-2 to repeal it. It would have charged big businesses around $500 for each of their full-time employees in order to fund affordable housing and services for the homeless, but facing opposition from corporations like Amazon, local politicians blinked. According to GeekWire, Councilwoman Lisa Herbold said the repeal vote happened because "This is not a winnable battle." Amazon had paused work on a new HQ in the city after the original proposal came up, but resumed construction after a compromise dropped the fee to $275 per employee. Forces against the levy (including Amazon and Starbucks) were funding a "No Tax on Jobs" campaign to put its fate on the ballot in November, and the Council believed it did not have the resources to win. In a statement, Amazon exec Drew Hardener said: "Today's vote by the Seattle City Council to repeal the tax on job creation is the right decision for the region's economic prosperity...We are deeply committed to being part of the solution to end homelessness in Seattle and will continue to invest in local nonprofits like Mary's Place and FareStart that are making a difference on this important issue."
Jeff Bezos outlines Blue Origin's space colony ambitions
It's no secret that Jeff Bezos wants humanity to return to the Moon and otherwise spread its wings beyond Earth. Now, though, he's offering a clearer sense of what that entails -- and it's evident that his ideas stretch well into the long term. In an interview with GeekWire, he explained that he wants Blue Origin to work with NASA and the ESA to create a permanent settlement on the Moon, but will do whatever it takes to make it happen. Don't expect the company to wait if it thinks officials are wasting time, in other words. The company alreadt anticipates launching its Blue Moon lander (above) by the mid-2020s, but that's contingent on getting enough support.
Jeff Bezos announces Amazon is picking up 'The Expanse'
It's been a few days since reports indicated Amazon was close to a deal that would extend the life of sci-fi series The Expanse, and tonight at a National Space Society event Jeff Bezos made it official. Alcon Entertainment makes the show, which is currently airing season three on Syfy, and said in a statement: "We couldn't be more excited that The Expanse is going to continue on Amazon Prime!" The press release confirmed season four, while Bezos said the show will be a Prime Original "for the coming seasons."
Jeff Bezos adds 'puppy savior' to his resumé
Talking to a human when you need to contact Amazon seems close to impossible. Apparently, all you need to do to get a hold of Jeff Bezos though is have your puppy stolen by a delivery driver and guess the CEO's email address, according to CNBC. After UK resident Richard Guttfield's black miniature schnauzer was nicked following a dog food delivery, Amazon tracked the driver, an independent contractor, and found the dog at the thief's home.
