Posts tagged with "Amazon"

Report: Amazon, Tesla, and Meta are among world’s top companies undermining democracy

September 23, 2024

Some of the world’s largest companies have been accused of undermining democracy by financially backing far-right political movements, funding and exacerbating the climate crisis, and violating trade union rights and human rights in a report published on Monday, September 23, by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).

Indeed, as reported by The Guardian, Amazon, Tesla, Meta, ExxonMobil, Blackstone, Vanguard, and Glencore are the corporations included in the report.

The companies’ lobbying arms are attempting to shape global policy at the United Nations Summit of the Future in New York City on September 22 and 23.

At Amazon, the report notes that the company’s size and role as the fifth largest employer in the world—and the largest online retailer and cloud computing service—has had a profound impact on the industries and communities it operates within.

“The company has become notorious for its union busting and low wages on multiple continents, monopoly in e-commerce, egregious carbon emissions through its AWS data centers, corporate tax evasion, and lobbying at national and international level,” states the report.

The report cites Amazon’s high injury rates in the United States, the company challenging the constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), its efforts in Canada to overturn labor law, the banning of Amazon lobbyists from the European parliament for refusing to attend hearings on worker violations, and its refusal to negotiate with unions in Germany, among other cases.

Amazon also has funded far-right political groups’ efforts to undermine women’s rights and antitrust legislation, and its retail website has been used by hate groups to raise money and sell products.

At Tesla, the report cites anti-union opposition by the company in the United States, Germany, and Sweden; human rights violations within its supply chains; and Elon Musk’s personal opposition to unions and democracy, challenges to the NLRB in America, and his support for the political leaders Donald Trump, Javier Milei in Argentina and Narendra Modi in India.\

The report cites Meta, the largest social media company in the world, for its vast role in permitting and enabling far-right propaganda and movements to use its platforms to grow members and garner support in the United States and abroad. It also cited retaliation from the company for regulatory measures in Canada, and expensive lobbying efforts against laws to regulate data privacy.

Glencore, the largest mining company in the world by revenue, was included in the report for its role in financing campaigns globally against indigenous communities and activists.

Blackstone, the private equity firm led by Stephen Schwarzman, a billionaire backer of Donald Trump, was cited in the report for its roles in funding far-right political movements, investments in fossil fuel projects, and deforestation in the Amazon.

“Blackstone’s network has spent tens of millions of dollars supporting politicians and political forces who promise to prevent or eliminate regulations that might hold it to account,” the report noted.

The Vanguard Group was included in the report due to its role in financing some of the world’s most anti-democratic corporations. ExxonMobil was cited for funding anti-climate science research and aggressive lobbying against environmental regulations.

Even in “robust democracies” workers’ demands “are overwhelmed by corporate lobbying operations, either in policymaking or the election in itself”, says Todd Brogan, director of campaigns and organizing at the ITUC.

“This is about power, who has it, and who sets the agenda. We know as trade unionists that, unless we’re organized, the boss sets the agenda in the workplace; and we know as citizens in our countries that unless we’re organized and demanding responsive governments that actually meet the needs of people, it’s corporate power that’s going to set the agenda.

“They’re playing the long game, and it’s a game about shifting power away from democracy at every level into one where they’re not concerned about the effects on workers; they’re concerned about maximizing their influence and their extractive power and their profit,” adds Brogan. “Now is the time for international and multi-sectoral strategies, because these are, in many cases, multinational corporations that are more powerful than states, and they have no democratic accountability whatsoever, except for workers organized.”

Research contact: @guardian

Amazon caught selling bathroom spy cam disguised as clothes hook

December 13, 2023

Here’s a nightmare: You’re about to take a shower when you discover that the plastic clothes hook on the wall contains a tiny camera recording your every move, reports Futurism.

That’s exactly what happened to a foreign exchange student—a minor at the time —when she was about to bathe inside a West Virginia home, according to the BBC. And though Amazon is now facing a lawsuit over the chilling incident; these hidden cameras are still being sold on its website, such as this one for $42.99.

The student from Brazil alleges in her lawsuit against Amazon that she had discovered the spy camera in a bathroom designated for her use in 2022. She was staying at the home of a man who apparently bought the camera to record her undressing.

The student points out in her lawsuit that there have been numerous articles in the past warning about the danger of these disguised cameras—one takes the form of a USB charger and another as a smoke detector—over the years, but Amazon has persisted in allowing their sale.

Amazon tried to have the case dismissed, but the legal complaint is going forward.

British privacy activist Gina Martin told the BBC that these type of cameras in disguise are often used to prey on unsuspecting women and girls.

“Retailers do need to be doing more,” she said. “They need to be stamping out hidden cameras, because there are very few instances in which hiding the fact that you’re filming someone is applicable or acceptable.”

Besides these disguised cameras—often marketed as nanny cams—other miniaturized devices, such as tracking tags and other Internet of Things tech, have been used to harass people.

It’s a brave new world. While technology has made it easier to find misplaced keys or luggage, it also has facilitated stalking, control, and abuse.

Research contact: @futurism

Biden signs sweeping executive order regulating AI

November 1, 2023

President Joe Biden is directing the U.S. government to take a sweeping approach to artificial intelligence (AI) regulation—his most significant action yet to rein in an emerging technology that has sparked both concern and acclaim, reports Crain’s New York Business.

The lengthy executive order—released on Monday, October 30—sets new standards on security and privacy protections for AI, with far-reaching impacts on companies. Developers such as Microsoft, Amazon, and Google will be directed to put powerful AI models through safety tests and submit results to the government before their public release.

The rule, which leverages the U.S. government’s position as a top customer for big tech companies, is designed to vet technology with potential national or economic security risks, along with health and safety. It will likely only apply to future systems—not those already on the market—a senior administration official said.

The initiative also creates infrastructure for watermarking standards for AI-generated content, such as audio or images, often referred to as “deepfakes.” The Commerce Department is being asked to help with the development of measures to counter public confusion about authentic content.

The administration’s action builds on voluntary commitments to securely deploy AI adopted by more than a dozen companies over the summer at the White House’s request; and its blueprint for an “AI Bill of Rights,” is a guide for safe development and use.

All 15 companies that signed on to those commitments, including Adobe and Salesforce, will join the president at a signing ceremony at the White House on Monday, along with members of Congress.

Biden’s directive precedes a trip by Vice President Kamala Harris and industry leaders to attend a U.K.-hosted summit about AI risks—giving her a U.S. plan to present on the world stage.

The United States set aside $1.6 billion in fiscal 2023 for AI—a number that’s expected to increase as the military releases more detail about its spending, according to Bloomberg Government data.

“This executive order sends a critical message: … AI used by the United States government will be responsible AI,” International Business Machines Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Arvind Krishna said in a statement.

Biden also called for guidance to be issued that safeguards Americans from algorithmic bias in housing, in government benefits programs, and by federal contractors.

The Justice Department warned in a January filing that companies that sell algorithms to screen potential tenants are liable under the Fair Housing Act if they discriminate against Black applicants. Biden directed the department to establish best practices for investigating and prosecuting such civil-rights violations related to AI, including in the criminal justice system.

The order also asks immigration officials to lessen visa requirements for overseas talent seeking to work at American AI companies.

While the administration is touting its latest actions as the government’s most robust advancement of AI regulation, Congress may go further.

Biden has called on lawmakers to pass privacy legislation, though he doesn’t yet have a position on how Congress should approach comprehensive regulation of AI, the administration official said.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called for America to spend at least $32 billion in the coming years to boost AI research and development.

Lawmakers have been holding briefings and meeting with tech representatives, including Meta Platforms’ Mark Zuckerberg and OpenAI’s Sam Altman, to better understand the technology before drafting legislation.

Research contact: @crainsny

Goop to launch mass market beauty, wellness brand at Target, Amazon

October 23, 2023

On Sunday, October 22, Goop will launch a mass-market beauty brand called Good.Clean.Goop, reports Retail Dive.

The line—which has a price range between $19.99 to $39.99will launch in stores and online at Target as well as Amazon.

The new line from Goop—actress and entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow’s lifestyle company —features products across several categories, including cleansers, facial serums, body lotions, wellness chews, and more.

The Good.Clean.Goop line by Goop places the luxury company into more accessible retail channels.

“Years ago, when my team and I started our own Goop Beauty line, we committed ourselves to creating products that were three things simultaneously: clean, high-performance, and luxurious,” Paltrow, Goop’s CEO and founder, said in a statement. “We’ve learned a lot along the way as we’ve built Goop Beauty, and now we’re thrilled to be able to launch a new brand—Good.Clean.Goop — that meets our strict clean standards at an accessible price point.”

Paltrow launched Goop in 2008 with “clean beauty as a foundational tenet,” per the press release announcing the new products. The company produces lifestyle content, operates an online retail shop and its own namesake brands. As such, the company focuses on products with minimal ingredient lists that are ethically sourced and cruelty-free by its own standards.

Goop’s move into more affordable products comes in contrast to the brand’s luxury reputation. Each year, the company puts out its famous holiday gift guides known for their outrageous price ranges. Its “ridiculous but awesome” gift guide from 2022 included a $29,495 Rolex watch, $75 free-range compost from Flamingo Estate, a $359 upcycled wooden dog bed frame from Avocado, and more.

Among other products, the company’s jewelry brand, G. Label, sells pieces such as a $3,200 gold bangle and an $8,000 link necklace. Its prestige beauty brand, Goop Beauty, features products including a $150 peptide serum,  $125 eye masks, and $98 face oil. Some of the company’s beauty and wellness products are sold through Sephora, in addition to its owned e-commerce website.

Research contact: @RetailDive

The hidden career cost of being overweight

July 26, 2023

Looking back, Michelle Matthews says she often internalized co-workers’ comments about her weight. At one work lunch, a teammate remarked on how much she was eating. A higher-up told her she needed to “show up physically as a leader” after she failed to win a promotion, reports The Wall Street Journal.

It wasn’t until the tech-product design director switched to remote work in 2020 that she grasped how much such slights had colored her office career.

“I didn’t realize how much I was thinking about my physicality,” said Matthews, 38, who describes herself as a big person. “It took up a lot of my mind.”

Weight stigma is rarely talked about at work, but it pervades workplaces everywhere, employees and hiring managers say. Indeed, study after study has found that heavier people are paid and promoted less than thinner colleagues and are often stereotyped as lazy or undisciplined.

In a spring survey of more than 1,000 human-resources executives, 11% said an applicant’s weight had factored into hiring decisions. Half of managers surveyed in a separate poll said they preferred interacting with “healthy-weight” employees, according to SHRM, the human resources professional network that conducted the surveys.

Now, as New York City and some states move to outlaw weight discrimination at work, companies are beginning to focus on the experience of overweight workers. Many managers are unprepared for the wave of complaints the legislation could bring, advocates for the laws say.

Weight “is still not looked at from a [diversity and inclusion] perspective,” says Jessica Richman, founder of the Visible Collective, a group that advises companies on supporting workers and consumers who are considered obese.

Signed into law in May, the New York City ban adds weight and height to the list of characteristics protected from discrimination, alongside race, gender, age, religion and sexual orientation. Several states, including New Jersey and Massachusetts, have introduced similar bills. (Michigan is currently the only state to prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of weight.)

Nearly two-thirds of employers haven’t addressed weight-related stereotyping or bias with their employees, according to SHRM. Although a small number of employers, such as Amazon, have formed employee groups to support overweight workers and raise awareness of “fat-shaming,” they remain the exception.

Even business leaders who have been vocal advocates of inclusive workplaces say they have given little thought to weight biases until recently.

“It wasn’t on my radar,” said Jonathan Mildenhall, co-founder and chair of global brand consulting firm TwentyFirstCenturyBrand, who says his company and its corporate clients will have to give the issue more attention. Employers may also need to reconsider workplace weight-loss challenges; or other programs and benefits, including reimbursement for drugs such as Ozempic, he said.

The body-positivity movement that championed fat acceptance, plus-size fashion models, and extended clothing sizes over the past decade helped fuel the recent weight-discrimination legislation. Now, the rise of Ozempic, Wegovy, and similar treatments may lead some people to conclude obesity is a choice if losing weight is a matter of taking a drug.

But, the problem is not going away: Pressure to be fit is already intense for anyone aspiring to rise through the management ranks, some executives say. The Internet is awash in images and reports of how tech leaders such as Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg have achieved their now-buff physiques.

And some leadership coaches say staying trim is virtually a requirement for getting on the CEO track.

Research contact: @WSJ

For the first time ever, the Federal Trade Commission fines an organization for ‘review hijacking’

April 13. 2023

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has slapped the maker of Nature’s Bounty vitamins with a $600,000 fine for “review hijacking” its products on Amazon, reports Fortune Magazine.

The Bountiful Company, says the FTC in a press release, deceived consumers “into thinking that its newly introduced supplements had more product ratings and reviews, higher average ratings, and ‘#1 Best Seller’ and ‘Amazon’s Choice’ badges.”

Beyond the fine, Bountiful also is prohibited from making similar types of misrepresentations and deceptive review tactics.

This represents the first time that the FTC has gone after a company for alleged review jacking. The practice takes advantage of a feature on Amazon that lets vendors create “variation” relationships between products that are similar; but differ in specific ways, such as color, size, or flavor. Those appear as alternative choices on the product detail page.

The FTC says Bountiful created variations with new products to boost their sales, citing internal emails that detailed a strategy of variating new products with top-selling ones “to essentially ‘borrow’ the bestselling flags, ratings, and reviews, and first page placement” of the top sellers. One company official said Bountiful was “using this strategy with all of our launches.”

“Boosting your products by hijacking another product’s ratings or reviews is a relatively new tactic, but is still plain old false advertising,” Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in February when the charges were announced.

A spokesperson for Bountiful, a division of Nestlé Health Science, downplayed the penalty in a statement to Fortune.

“The Bountiful Company has settled with the FTC on this matter to avoid a lengthy and costly legal challenge,” the spokesperson said. “We stand behind our products and business practices and are convinced that consumers were neither deceived nor harmed by the variation practices implemented to assist consumers in finding similar products. Bountiful is already complying with the terms of the order and will continue to do so.”

Research contact: @FortuneMagazine

Snapchat’s trippy new brand campaign aims to answer the question, what is Snapchat for?

January 27, 2023

When former Wieden+Kennedy executive Colleen DeCourcy joined Snap last year as the company’s chief creative officer, she said it was “the best known, least understood” social platform, reports Fast Company.

A new brand campaign, called “Wait’ll You See This,” is aimed at remedying that problem.

Whether it’s Apple pulling heartstrings or Amazon getting a bit celebrity silly with Alexa for the Super Bowl, we’re now accustomed to seeing tech brand advertising that includes very elaborate product demonstrations. Snap’s new ad is no exception—except that it feels more like a product demo inside a fever dream.

People with horse heads, dogs with three butts, the dead-eyed goofy gaze of fellow commuters on the subway: It’s all in there. For some, it will be the stuff of social media dystopian nightmares—for others, a peek into the funhouse of creative possibility. The brand is aiming for the latter.

DeCourcy says one of the primary goals is to start a conversation between people who use Snapchat and those who don’t. “As a non-broadcast platform, which is the beauty of it, if you’re not there, you don’t know. So, we’re trying to get people there,” DeCourcy says. “We’re trying to punch a little hole in the Snapchat box and let it leak out into the world so that people can see what it does.”

This is not just a one-off campaign, but the start of what DeCourcy says will be an ongoing brand platform. It was created in-house, under Snap Executive Creative Director Eric Baldwin, who joined the company last August, and previously worked with DeCourcy as ECD at Wieden+Kennedy.

New brand work already has started to trickle out, with a New Year’s Eve billboard in Times Square and a float in the Rose Bowl parade. This work will get its national TV debut during the NFL’s AFC Championship game on Sunday, January 29. “It’ll hopefully be this moment, with people watching a game together, where those who know will get excited and show the others in the room what it’s all about,” Baldwin says.

Snap reports that more than 250 million people engage with augmented reality (AR) on Snapchat every day, with more than 6 billion daily AR plays. The platform has 300,000 AR creators and developers who’ve built more than 3 million AR Lenses for the platform.

“There is this Super Bowl-sized audience on the platform every day,” says DeCourcy. “In a very cynical world, though, people have to experience it to get it. I don’t want to make things about the platform; I want to make things with the platform.”

That’s where this new work gets most interesting. Baldwin and DeCourcy’s creative team worked with Snapchat’s Arcadia Creative Studio to make the spot fully integrated with the app’s AR lenses. Every single frame of the spot, whether you view it online, as a screen shot, or during an NFL game, is scannable and will take you to a new suite of lenses, with a few surprises like a limited edition merch drop mixed in.

Arcadia Creative Studio’s Global Director Resh Sidhu, says Snap’s AR technology is world-class, and the spot itself is the perfect platform to show off how it all works. “We wanted AR to be at the heart of this campaign, and this was the perfect way to do that,” Sidhu says. “What excites our AR team is how this creates a platform for us to continue to share our work with the world. It’s all about getting it in the hands of people and allowing them to experience it.”

Research contact: @FastCompany

Microsoft slammed for hosting private Sting concert for its execs in Davos on the eve of firm’s mass layoffs

January 23, 2023

Microsoft has come under fire after details of a bash the company held in Davos, Switzerland, left the company’s workers more than a little stung, reports Fortune Magazine.

The tech firm hosted an exclusive event for around 50 people at the Swiss ski resort on Tuesday evening, January  17, with sources telling the publication that attendees had been treated to a live performance from iconic musician Sting. The party’s theme was sustainability, according to a scoop by The Wall Street Journal

It is unclear whether Microsoft paid Sting to perform at its event on Tuesday evening, at the World Economic Forum, but according to booking agency AAE Music it can cost upward of $500,000 to hire the artist for a private gig.

Invitees to the event—which the Journal described on Wednesday as “intimate”—reportedly included some of the company’s most senior executives.

The next day, Microsoft announced it was slashing 10,000 jobs—almost 5% of its workforce—citing “macroeconomic conditions and changing customer priorities.”

It marked the largest round of layoffs at the company since 2014. Toward the end of last year, the company announced it would be letting 1,000 workers go.

In an email to employees on Wednesday, CEO Satya Nadella said some workers would be told that day that their jobs would be cut, adding that the downsizing would be completed by the third quarter of 2023.

“We will treat our people with dignity and respect, and act transparently,” he said. “These decisions are difficult, but necessary.”

“We’re living through times of significant change,” Nadella also told his workforce. “We’re seeing organizations in every industry and geography exercise caution as some parts of the world are in a recession and other parts are anticipating one.”

Microsoft is just the latest behemoth of the tech sector to announce sweeping job cuts. AmazonTwitter, and Salesforce are among a plethora of tech firms who also announced layoffs in recent months.

Some Microsoft employees told the Journal that the turn of events between Tuesday and Wednesday was not a good look for the tech giant. The firm also faced criticism on social media, with some dubbing the firm’s moves “hypocrisy” and a “bad look.”

Representatives for Microsoft declined to comment.

Research contact: @FortuneMagazine

Amazon reportedly is planning a stand-alone app for sports content

December 30, 2022

Amazon’s desire to stream more live sports has the company looking at launching a stand-alone app for such content, according to a report on Wednesday, December 28, in The Information.

The website cited a source with direct knowledge of the plan and said such a move would “declutter Amazon’s main Prime Video app” and better highlight the tech giant’s sports offerings. Right now, content within Prime includes exclusive streaming rights to the NFL’s “Thursday Night Football,” some Premier League soccer matches, and New York Yankees baseball.

According to a report by GeekWire, the company uses sports in a bid to grow its content library, bolster its advertising arm; and add more Prime subscribers, who buy products on its marketplace.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy had previously expressed a desire to spend more on sports. “Sports is such a unique asset. If you look every year at the most watched programs, sports often occupies 75% of those spots,” Jassy said at a DealBook conference in November. “And you know, they drive live engagement and they drive Prime subscriptions.”

Amazon increased the annual price of a Prime membership—which includes Prime Video—to $139 earlier this year as it sought to offset shipping and labor costs, among other things. The Information did not report on whether Amazon would charge Prime members for sports content in a new app.

Amazon competes against other tech giants for streaming rights for a variety of sports content. The company just lost out to Google in the bidding for “NFL Sunday Ticket.”

Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter called live sports a “differentiator from on-demand,” and said each company brings their own model for streaming. He noted at the time that, if Amazon won the “Sunday Ticket” rights, it would need to figure out whether to offer NFL games for free, as it does for “Thursday Night Football;” or to change the Prime membership model with new tiers, such as is being suggested by The Information report.

Research contact: @geekwire