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Amazon’s AI push is undermining its sustainability goals
Amazon's decarbonization goals are being undermined by its push to be a leader in generative AI. Its most recent sustainability report concedes its overall carbon emissions grew for the first time since 2022. It reported a six percent increase in its carbon footprint across 2024, laying much of the blame at the feet of its data center rollout.The reported increase is significant given Amazon's method of reporting its own environmental impact. Critics have suggested the mega-retailer dramatically undercounts" its impact by excluding common metrics. In 2022, Amazon revised its climate reporting methodology which also led to the company's figures falling dramatically.In addition, the company reported an increase in emissions tied to the purchase of power from outside sources. The increased energy demand is from AI chips," says the report, which require more electricity and cooling than traditional chips." As well as the power to run and cool those chips, Amazon is building big to increase its server capacity. Data center construction, as well as fuel use by logistics contractors, led indirect emissions to increase by six percent. That said, the company's own fossil fuel emissions increased by seven percent in 2024, which is hardly a ringing endorsement.Amazon is a co-founder of The Climate Pledge, an initiative to reach net zero emissions by 2040. The initiative now has 549 signatories, including MasterCard, Sony and Snap.inc.In February, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy pledged to invest $100 billion across 2025, with CNBC reporting the bulk of that cash would be spent on Amazon Web Services (the company's data center and web hosting arm). Given the increase in construction, it's likely Amazon's report for 2025 will follow this same upward trend.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/amazons-ai-push-is-undermining-its-sustainability-goals-160156136.html?src=rss
Amazon splits up the Wondery podcast network and lays off about 110 employees
Four years after Amazon's acquisition of podcast network Wondery, the tech giant is dismantling its $300 million purchase and reorganizing various audio properties into separate teams at the company. As first reported by Bloomberg, this reorg will see the studio lose about 110 employees, and CEO Jen Sargent is departing the company.Amazon told Bloomberg it will continue to produce podcasts, though their place within the company will be restructured. The more narrative-focused podcasts under the Wondery brand, such as American Scandal and Business Wars, will merge with Amazon's Audible team. Some of these podcasts will retain Wondery branding, and the Wondery Plus app will remain active. Subscribers to Wondery Plus get early access to some podcast episodes through the app, though it's unclear at this point what functionalities will remain in the app, and which will be absorbed by Audible.Meanwhile, the celebrity-hosted shows such as New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce and Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard will be rolled into a new team that Amazon is calling Creator Services. According to Bloomberg, a main focus of this new team will be selling large sponsorships. These titles are part of a growing trend toward video podcasts that have helped make YouTube the go-to platform for podcast consumption.Steve Boom, VP for Audio, Twitch and Games at Amazon, addressed the changes in a memo (published by Deadline) sent to Amazon employees. "The podcast landscape has evolved significantly over the past few years. As video podcasting has grown in popularity, we have learned that creator-led, video-integrated shows have different audience needs and require distinct discovery, growth and monetization strategies compared with audio-first, narrative series," he wrote.Employees who were let go as part of these changes were notified Monday, though Amazon spokesperson Alice Zhou told The Verge that "many of the impacted employees" would be moved to "other parts of Amazon."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/amazon-splits-up-the-wondery-podcast-network-and-lays-off-about-110-employees-185358357.html?src=rss
Amazon adds perishable food to same-day delivery
Amazon is expanding its same-day grocery delivery service with the addition of perishable food items in over 1,000 US cities. Shoppers can now add fresh grocery items like produce, dairy, meat, seafood and frozen foods to their orders. Grocery and non-grocery items can be combined into one order, checked out from one cart and received together on the same day. The company had trialed this service in the Phoenix area last year.Prime members continue to get free same-day delivery where available on orders over $25, and non-Prime members can still pay an additional $12.99 shipping fee to receive a same-day delivery.Amazon acquired Whole Foods Market in 2017 and has been making strategic moves to capture grocery market share in the years since. The tech giant has experimented with self-checkout technology, and even opened its own Amazon-branded brick-and-mortar grocery stores.Amazon CEO Andy Jassey is determined to grow the grocery side of the business to compete with the likes of Walmart and Instacart. Amazon says it plans to "expand to over 2,300 cities" by the end of 2025, with plans to continue adding more locations next year.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/amazon-adds-perishable-food-to-same-day-delivery-162144510.html?src=rss
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