SAN FRANCISCO: Amazon is demanding that artificial intelligence startup Perplexity put a stop to its bot shopping for people at the e-commerce giant&#39;s retail platform, the companies said on Tuesday. Amazon sent Perplexity a cease-and-desist letter that sets the stage for a lawsuit if AI agent Comet continues to serve as a personal shopper for customers. &quot;We&#39;ve repeatedly requested that Perplexity remove Amazon from the Comet experience,&quot; an Amazon spokesperson said in response to an AFP inquiry. &quot;Particularly in light of the significantly degraded shopping and customer service experience it provides.&quot; &lsquo;Bully tactic&rsquo;Amazon also contends that Comet&#39;s automated shopping is violating the terms of service by not disclosing that it is independently doing the shopping for users. In a blog post, San Francisco-based Perplexity accused Amazon of using a &quot;bully tactic&quot; to scare &quot;disruptive companies&quot; from making shopping easier for people. Like other generative AI tools, Comet has evolved beyond finding information or crafting text to independently performing computer tasks such as booking reservations or tending to online shopping. Amazon says Perplexity has failed to take personalized recommendations into account, and its AI agent is making mistakes regarding delivery times. &lsquo;Unauthorized access&rsquo;The retail colossus also argued that Perplexity uses tactics to gain &quot;unauthorized access&quot; for shopping at the platform, failing to operate &quot;transparently.&quot; Amazon is testing its own AI agents capable of handling all stages of shopping for customers and uses data it collects to target products and ads. Perplexity, valued recently at some $20 billion, is among tech firms developing AI agents that work in web browsers, tending to internet tasks for users. Generative AI star OpenAI last month launched a ChatGPT Atlas web browser on Apple computers that is capable of shopping at some websites. Similar AI agent shopping capabilities are expected to be added to Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge browsers in the coming months.

Artificial Intelligence

Amazon sent Perplexity a cease-and-desist letter that sets the stage for a lawsuit if AI agent Comet continues to serve as a personal shopper for customers; it also contends Comet's automated shopping is violating terms of service.

Perplexity shopping bot not welcome at Amazon shop

SAN FRANCISCO: Amazon will lay off tens of thousands of office workers as the e-commerce and tech giant trims costs amid ramped-up investments in artificial intelligence, according to US media reports. Some 30,000 positions will be cut in a belt-tightening move expected to begin on Tuesday, multiple news outlets reported. The reduction will represent nearly 10 percent of the approximately 350,000 office jobs at Amazon, but is reported not to affect the distribution and warehouse workforce that makes up the majority of the company&#39;s more than 1.5 million employees. Seattle-based Amazon did not reply to AFP queries regarding the planned cuts reported by the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and other outlets citing anonymous sources. Amazon shares ended the formal trading day up slightly as word of the potential cost-cutting move spread. Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy has lauded the potential of AI to streamline workplace operations, from engaging with customers online to making offices more efficient. &quot;Our conviction that AI will change every customer experience is starting to play out,&quot; Jassy said during Amazon&#39;s last quarterly earnings call. Amazon will next report earnings on Thursday, and is among the tech titans under pressure to show the merit of huge investments in AI. &quot;AWS will be under pressure to both show revenue acceleration and operating margin improvement in light of its massive AI investments,&quot; Emarketer principal analyst Sky Canaves said, referring to Amazon Web Services cloud computing unit. Amazon will also likely be pressed for details about a recent AWS outage. Popular internet services ranging from streaming platforms to messaging services to banking were offline for hours last week due to an outage in Amazon&#39;s crucial cloud network, illustrating the extent to which internet life depends on the tech titan. The disruption affected streaming platforms, including Amazon&#39;s Prime Video service and Disney+, as well as Perplexity AI, the Fortnite game, Airbnb, Snapchat and Duolingo. Mobile telephone services and messaging apps Signal and WhatsApp were affected in Europe, according to Downdetector. People also reported problems reaching websites, including Amazon&#39;s own e-commerce shop.Some banks, such as Lloyd&#39;s were also impacted and pointed to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud computing platform as the source. Amazon said it identified the &quot;trigger of the event&quot; as an issue involving the Domain Name System (DNS), which acts as an internet address book directing data traffic. AWS leads the cloud computing market, followed closely by Microsoft Azure, with Google Cloud in third place. Businesses, governments and consumers worldwide rely on their infrastructure for online activities.

Amazon to cut 30,000 office jobs: media reports

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: Amazon&rsquo;s cloud computing arm, Amazon Web Services, experienced a widespread outage on Monday that disrupted internet services for several global companies and popular applications, including Canva, Perplexity AI, Snapchat and Lyft. <div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; line-height: 2;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-1" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 625px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-1&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1980206897988059613&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F&sessionId=73994ae120a21cc83093d4370a93eca1eed0b13d&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px">&nbsp;</iframe></div></div> According to Amazon&rsquo;s service health dashboard, the issue began around midnight Pacific Daylight Time, when multiple AWS services in the US East region faced &ldquo;increased error rates and latencies.&rdquo; Engineers identified the cause as a Domain Name System (DNS) problem affecting the DynamoDB application programming interface and other interdependent systems. The company said early mitigation measures were applied around 2 a.m. PDT, with &ldquo;significant signs of recovery&rdquo; by 2:30 a.m., though some users continued to experience delays as AWS worked through a backlog of requests. Messaging platform Signal also reported being affected by the disruption. &ldquo;Yes, we&rsquo;re aware of the AWS outage impacting Signal,&rdquo; company President Meredith Whittaker posted on X.<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; line-height: 2;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-2" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 274px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-2&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1980182701610348654&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F&sessionId=73994ae120a21cc83093d4370a93eca1eed0b13d&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px">&nbsp;</iframe></div></div>The outage briefly disrupted business operations and access to several cloud-based tools that rely heavily on AWS infrastructure. Reuters reported, Rideshare platform Lyft also reported its app was inaccessible to thousands of users in the United States.&nbsp; AWS, which underpins a significant share of the global internet infrastructure, said its teams &ldquo;were actively engaged&rdquo; and would continue providing updates as recovery efforts progressed. The incident underscores the dependence of digital platforms and global businesses on Amazon&rsquo;s cloud infrastructure, which hosts millions of websites and applications worldwide. As of early Monday morning Pacific time, AWS said most services had recovered and were &ldquo;succeeding normally,&rdquo; though residual effects could persist for some customers.

Europe

Central Asia

Americas

United Kingdom

Asia

A major outage at Amazon Web Services on Monday disrupted access to several global platforms, including Canva, Signal, Snapchat and Lyft. The hours-long disruption, traced to technical issues in AWS’s US East region, underscored the world’s heavy reliance on Amazon’s cloud infrastructure.

Amazon cloud services outage disrupts major websites worldwide

NEW YORK:&nbsp;Amazon on Tuesday unveiled the latest generation of connected products, featuring enhanced artificial intelligence capabilities designed to make interactions with AI more frequent and natural. Nearly 20 years after the launch of the Kindle e-reader, the Seattle-based online retail giant now offers a family of connected devices, from the Echo smart speaker to the Ring doorbell and Fire TV. Amazon now aims to multiply their capabilities through AI, but wants to use it &quot;without getting in the way,&quot; said Panos Panay, head of devices and services, during a New York presentation. Alexa+ launch&nbsp;The company had already made a major move into AI enhancements with the February launch of Alexa+, an upgraded version of the Alexa voice assistant. Amazon&#39;s ambition, like that of competitors Google, LG and Samsung, is to become the connected home nerve center. But the sector has struggled to deliver on the promise of a fully connected home, with consumers forced to choose from competing ecosystems or left struggling with technology that fails to deliver on expectations. &quot;Alexa, what happened around the house today?&quot; a user asks in a demonstration video. The smart assistant explains that the children walked the dog, a package was delivered and raccoons rummaged through the trash -- using images captured by Ring or Blink cameras. Ring app&nbsp;Has your dog run away? After the escape is reported on the Ring app, other Amazon doorbells in the neighborhood can detect if the animal passes by and alert you. With the Kindle Scribe, readers can ask generative AI for a book summary to refresh their memory or ask questions about a character. As for connected television, viewers can verbally request to see a scene from their favorite movie or receive a summary of a football game they missed. &lsquo;Ambient&rsquo; AI &nbsp;Amazon believes in &quot;ambient&quot; AI, in Panay&#39;s words, which &quot;lives naturally in the products themselves.&quot; The generative AI revolution is playing out on both software and physical interfaces, with major tech players seeking to determine which product will prevail &mdash; smartphone, smart glasses, earbuds or speakers. OpenAI is working on a new kind of device, while Meta is betting on glasses and Apple on earbuds.

Amazon unveiled AI-enhanced connected home devices, emphasizing "ambient" AI integration for natural interactions. Upgrades include Alexa+, smarter Ring features, and Kindle Scribe summaries, aiming to lead the smart home market.

Articles tagged with "Amazon"

Perplexity shopping bot not welcome at Amazon shop

Amazon to cut 30,000 office jobs: media reports

Amazon cloud services outage disrupts major websites worldwide

Amazon adds AI muscle to connected home lineup