Amazon Is Bringing in Elite Lobbyists Amid Seething Rage Over HQ2

Amazon might be too big to tax, but it’s not too big to freak out. As the company tries to erect a massive headquarters in America’s largest city, it has come up against staunch opposition from residents, politicians and unions—all concerned the powerful monopoly will serve to inflate rent and strain local infrastructure, especially the housing supply and subway system. And while it might seem like a trillion-dollar company could easily quash protesting naysayers, turns out CEO Jeff Bezos might actually have good reason to try and win the haters over.

Amazon's fleet of 767s is bad news for FedEx and UPS, Morgan Stanley says (AMZN, FDX, UPS)

Amazon's cargo planes are poised to take market share from the logistics giants UPS and FedEx, Morgan Stanley says. "The market is missing the risk Amazon Air poses to UPS/FDX growth," a group of Morgan Stanley analysts led by Ravi Shanker said Tuesday.  In August 2016, the online retailer revealed its first cargo plane, Amazon One, — a converted Boeing 767 operated by Amazon partner Atlas Air — highlighting its desire to take over package-delivery logistics.

Amazon briefly becomes the world's most valuable publicly traded company (AAPL, AMZN)

Amazon on Monday briefly surpassed Apple as the world's most valuable publicly traded company, days after Microsoft dethroned longtime leader Apple. Amazon rose as much as 4.7%, giving it a market capitalization of $865 billion ahead of Apple's $864.8 billion valuation. Apple reclaimed its crown with a market value $846.4 billion — after Amazon's market cap dropped to $827.1 billion as of 3 p.m. ET. Microsoft, whose market capitalization last Monday surpassed Apple's for the first time in eight years, had a market value of $844.9 billion.

AWS wants to rule the world

AWS, once a nice little side hustle for Amazon’s eCommerce business, has grown over the years into a behemoth that’s on a $27 billion run rate, one that’s still growing at around 45 percent a year. That’s a highly successful business by any measure, but as I listened to AWS executives last week at their AWS re:Invent conference in Las Vegas, I didn’t hear a group that was content to sit still and let the growth speak for itself. Instead, I heard one that wants to dominate every area of enterprise computing.

Congress still wants answers from Amazon about its facial recognition tech

Eight Democratic members of Congress asked Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos for more information about the company's facial recognition software, which has already been used by some police forces. In a letter dated Thursday, the lawmakers expressed concern that the Recognition software wasn't yet accurate enough to be used by law enforcement. 

Amazon says Cyber Monday, Black Friday broke sales records

Amazon said Cyber Monday and Black Friday were the biggest shopping days in its history.  The online retail giant didn't disclose sales figures, but it said customers ordered more than 180 million items during the five days from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday, adding that the latter was its biggest single shopping day ever.

Amazon warehouse workers in Europe stage ‘we are not robots’ protests

Amazon  warehouse workers in several countries in Europe are protesting over what they claim are inhuman working conditions which treat people like robots. It’s the latest in a series of worker actions this year. They’ve timed the latest protest for Black Friday, one of the busiest annual shopping days online as retailers slash prices and heavily promote deals to try to spark a seasonal buying rush.

Amazon bids for Disney's 22 regional sports networks, including YES Network, sources say

Amazon is bidding for all of the 22 regional sports TV networks that Disney acquired from Twenty-First Century Fox. The e-commerce giant's bid includes the New York-based YES Network, sources familiar with the matter told CNBC. It is bidding for the New York network along with an unknown sovereign wealth fund and the Yankees, the sources said. YES may be sold separately from the other networks.

Amazon exposed customer names and emails in a 'technical error'

Amazon exposed some customers' names and emails due to a "technical error," according to emails the company sent to affected customers. Several people shared screenshots of the emails online Wednesday morning. BetaNews first reported the incident.

Alexa will tell you where you can vote and give real-time election updates

In the days leading up to the US midterm elections on November 6th, Amazon’s Alexa will be able to tell users information about voter registration deadlines, polling information, and give real-time election results. Following the election, Alexa will also be able to give more details on the outcome, including how many seats each party gained, and information on specific candidates.