Amazon closed its Fresh grocery stores and automated grab-and-go Go shops, adding to its list of failed brick-and-mortar experiments, the e-commerce giant announced Tuesday. The move came a day ahead of Amazon's announcement on Wednesday of 16,000 corporate layoffs, including some related to the Go and Fresh closures, on top of 14,000 layoffs, according to Fortune.
Amazon stated on its website that while they had seen encouraging signals in their Amazon-branded physical grocery stores, they had not yet created a truly distinctive customer experience with the right economic model needed for large-scale expansion.
In other business news, Tesla CEO Elon Musk initiated the new year with several announcements, including a $2 billion Tesla investment in his artificial intelligence firm, xAI, and the discontinuation of the Model S and Model X car models, according to Fortune. Musk stated that Tesla will use the freed up factory space to build Optimus robots, a still largely experimental line of humanoid robots that Musk says will eventually perform everything from household chores to surgery.
ServiceNow CEO Bill McDermott has been attempting to persuade investors to view his enterprise software company differently from a standard SaaS business. On Wednesday, the company reported fourth-quarter earnings that handily beat Wall Street’s top-line and bottom-line growth forecasts for a ninth consecutive quarter, according to Fortune. Subscription revenue for the quarter also exceeded expectations.
In Washington, D.C., President Donald Trump rallied business leaders to supplement the $1,000 that his Administration is giving every American child born between the years 2025 and 2028 in new Trump Accounts later this year, Time reported. At an event, the President joined with a group of celebrities, CEOs, and members of the Administration to stoke support for the accounts, a modernized form of baby bond that can be invested more widely.
"Even people that truly hate me are making this investment," said the President, according to Time. Under the new initiative, which was part of the Big Beautiful Bill, each newborn American will be given what the President called a "beautiful nest egg" of $1,000 as seed funding for an account that will be invested in the SP 500. No money can be withdrawn from the account until the child reaches adulthood.
Finally, Time reported on the climate benefit of decluttering one's digital life. Every sent message, recorded video, and voice note has an energy impact. Technology use relies on the transfer of data from our devices to servers stored in data centers, which require electricity and environmental resources including water. Storing blurry photos and junk email indefinitely requires resources.
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