Washington Post: Tech giants ramp up cloud security under pressure from Washington. “After a recent theft of emails from top U.S. officials raised alarms about the country’s increasing dependence on the biggest cloud computing companies, Amazon, Google and Microsoft have begun to explain more of the work they do to secure the data of tens of millions of online customers.”
The Verge: Amazon is placing free Alexa Guard security features behind a paywall. “The free version of Alexa Guard that listens for household disturbances was included as a standard feature on Amazon Echo devices. In a recent email to customers, Amazon said that some of Guard’s features like smoke and CO alarm detection will instead be moved to its new Emergency Assist service, which is available for $5.99 per month or $59 per year.”
The Verge: FTC files a massive antitrust lawsuit against Amazon. “The Federal Trade Commission and more than a dozen state attorneys general have filed a sweeping antitrust lawsuit against Amazon, alleging that the e-commerce giant has unlawfully leveraged its market dominance to stamp out would-be competitors.”
Washington Post: Amazon unveils a ‘smarter’ Alexa. Its AI has a lot of work to do.. “Rebooting Alexa is Amazon’s effort to compete in Big Tech’s arms race to put the latest AI tech into consumer products. But in conversations with Amazon executives after the launch event, two concerns lingered: Alexa 2.0 appears to be very much a work in progress. I watched it repeatedly get questions wrong. And can we trust it in the places we use smart speakers at home, like children’s bedrooms?”
Engadget: The FTC may file an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon as soon as next week. “The Federal Trade Commission looks set to drag Amazon into another legal battle between the two sides. The agency is preparing to file an antitrust suit against Amazon as soon as next week, according to Bloomberg. Reuters reports that the FTC has sent a draft complaint to attorneys general in an attempt to get as many states as possible on board with its case.”
Ars Technica: AI-generated books force Amazon to cap e-book publications to 3 per day. “On Monday, Amazon introduced a new policy that limits Kindle authors from self-publishing more than three books per day on its platform, reports The Guardian. The rule comes as Amazon works to curb abuses of its publication system from an influx of AI-generated books.”
TechCrunch: Amazon updates visual search, AR search and more in challenge to Google. “Amazon is introducing new features that make it easier to search for products on mobile and is challenging other product search engines, like Google and Pinterest in the process. The retailer announced a handful of new search and discovery features, including multimodal search (searching with text plus images), an expansion of its AR efforts and a new ‘Find-on-Amazon’ feature that finds similar products to those in a photo you share directly with the Amazon app, among other things.”
Associated Press: Amazon to require some authors to disclose the use of AI material. “After months of complaints from the Authors Guild and other groups, Amazon.com has started requiring writers who want to sell books through its e-book program to tell the company in advance that their work includes artificial intelligence material.”
404 Media: ‘Life or Death:’ AI-Generated Mushroom Foraging Books Are All Over Amazon. “Amazon has an AI-generated books problem that’s been documented by journalists for months. Many of these books are obviously gibberish designed to make money. But experts say that AI-generated foraging books, specifically, could actually kill people if they eat the wrong mushroom because a guidebook written by an AI prompt said it was safe. The New York Mycological Society (NYMS) warned on social media that the proliferation of AI-generated foraging books could ‘mean life or death.'”
Engadget: Amazon is reportedly testing a confusing star rating system. “Amazon has started testing a new way to display its star rating system in specific regions that makes it harder to gauge how buyers are liking a specific product. Android Police has spotted the the experimental system on the company’s mobile app in India, its German website and its global website when accessed from Germany.”
CBC: B.C. woman buried in Amazon packages she did not ask for and does not want. “Almost every day, Anca Nitu comes home from work to find an Amazon package she did not order at her doorstep. For the past two months, Nitu says she’s received more than 50 parcels containing women’s shoes at her home in Langley, B.C. They were sent by people across North America who intended to return them to the Amazon seller, with each box containing a return authorization slip to her address.”
University of Florida: Incentivized online reviews inflate product ratings, sales, even when disclosed. “New research based on thousands of reviews posted on Amazon shows that when people received free products in exchange for reviews, their ratings were significantly inflated — and product sales were stronger — even though reviewers disclosed that they received the product for free.”
The Verge: ‘Every single’ Amazon team is working on generative AI, says CEO. “‘Every single one’ of Amazon’s businesses has ‘multiple generative AI initiatives going right now,’ Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said on the company’s Q2 2023 earnings call on Thursday. The company offers infrastructure and services via AWS that can help power many generative artificial intelligence applications, which Jassy did discuss on the call, but he also stressed just how important AI is across the company as a whole.”
New York Times: A New Frontier for Travel Scammers: A.I.-Generated Guidebooks. “The books are the result of a swirling mix of modern tools: A.I. apps that can produce text and fake portraits; websites with a seemingly endless array of stock photos and graphics; self-publishing platforms — like Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing — with few guardrails against the use of A.I.; and the ability to solicit, purchase and post phony online reviews, which runs counter to Amazon’s policies and may soon face increased regulation from the Federal Trade Commission.”
Ars Technica: “Absurd”: Google, Amazon rebuked over unsupported Chromebooks still for sale. “Google resisted pleas to extend the lifetime of Chromebooks set to expire as of this June and throughout the summer. Thirteen Chromebook models have met their death date since June 1 and won’t receive security updates or new features from Google anymore. But that hasn’t stopped the Chromebooks from being listed for sale on sites like Amazon for the same prices as before.”
