Amazon bans 1m fake coronavirus products February 28, 2020 Amazon has had to remove more than 1m products from its marketplace that claimed to protect from or cure the coronavirus. The retailer said it had also removed “tens of thousands” of overpriced health products, according to Reuters. It comes after the World Health Organisation expressed concern about companies trying to profit off the outbreak [...]
Union slams Amazon over ‘hellish’ warehouse conditions February 18, 2020 More than 600 serious injuries or near misses have been logged at Amazon warehouses in the past three years, according to the latest figures from GMB Union. Between 2016/17 and 2018/19 a total of 622 reports have been made from Amazon warehouses to the Health and Safety Executive, the union said as it called for [...]
Former Amazon executive admits turning off Alexa for ‘private moments’ February 17, 2020 A former senior Amazon executive has admitted to turning off his Alexa whenever he wants some privacy due to concerns the company was listening in on his conversations. Robert Frederick, who served as senior manager of Amazon Web Services, told BBC Panorama: “I don’t want certain conversations to be heard by humans. Conversations that I [...]
Judge pauses Microsoft’s $10bn Pentagon contract in Amazon lawsuit February 13, 2020 A US judge has temporarily blocked Microsoft’s $10bn (£7.66bn) Pentagon cloud computing contract, in response to a lawsuit filed by Amazon. Judge Patricia E. Campbell-Smith issued the injunction but did not release her written opinion. Amazon Web Services has been told to earmark $42m to pay for costs and damages in the event that today’s [...]
Amazon seeks to depose Trump in $10bn Pentagon contract battle February 10, 2020 Amazon is seeking to depose Donald Trump and US defence secretary Mark Esper in a legal battle over whether the president was trying to ‘“screw Amazon” in handing a Pentagon cloud computing contract to Microsoft. Amazon Web Services said Trump influenced the decision to give the $10bn (£7.74bn) Joint Enterprise Defence Infrastructure Cloud contract, which [...]
Goldman Sachs ‘in talks’ to partner with Amazon on small business loans February 3, 2020 Goldman Sachs is reportedly in advanced talks with Amazon to offer small business loans in the US, as the Wall Street giant looks to the tech titan in a bid to break into the mainstream areas of financial services. Goldman Sachs has begun building technology that would allow it to offer loans to small and [...]
Amazon ‘launches search’ for new London office space February 3, 2020 Amazon is said to be on the hunt for new office space in London as the e-commerce giant doubles down on its commitment to the capital after Brexit. The tech firm has called in advisers at Cushman & Wakefield to find a building with roughly 200,000 square feet (sq ft) of office space, the Times [...]
Tech giants urged to pick up VAT bills in fraud crackdown January 29, 2020 Online marketplaces such as Amazon and Ebay have been urged to take responsibility for VAT collection and remittance in the UK. Trade body the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) today called on the government to make tech firms liable for the goods tax, citing concerns about growing fraud. HMRC has estimated that VAT fraud by [...]
Amazon breaks $200bn mark as world’s most valuable brand January 22, 2020 Online retail titan Amazon has defended its position as the world’s most valuable brand for a third year in a row, with the firm becoming the first to break the $200bn (£153bn) mark. Jeff Bezos’ company is worth $220.8bn in total, over $60bn more than second-placed Google, which is worth $159.7bn, according to the annual [...]
Amazon says UK tech tax could hit small businesses January 16, 2020 Amazon’s UK boss has played down concerns about a new tech tax, but warned the move could raise costs for small businesses using its platform. The government’s 11 March Budget is expected to include a digital services tax, which will charge a two per cent levy on the UK revenue of technology companies. Douglas Gurr, [...]