About Us
Pricing
Briefing
E-commerce Amazon

Amazon’s Not-So-Prime Day

By Priya Anand
· · Source: The Information

Amazon’s website was down for much of Prime Day, one of the ecommerce giant’s biggest annual sales events. Links on Amazon.com for Prime Day deals didn’t work, among other glitches. It was a rare black eye for Amazon, which is known for the smoothness of its operations. What’s surprising is that Amazon would encounter this problem for a shopping holiday it created and massively hypes. It’s a...

Get access to exclusive coverage
Read deeply reported stories from the largest newsroom in tech.
Latest Articles
 
What It’s Like Getting a Haircut at an Amazon Salon
By Mark Di Stefano · June 18, 2021 9:00 AM PDT
Amazon's hair salon in London. Photo by Mark Di Stefano
For a long time, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has been saying the company has a simple criterion for opening new categories of physical retail stores: Can it significantly improve on the traditional store experience? With its Amazon Go chain, for example, it used sensors, cameras and software to get rid of cashier checkout lines. I had this in my head when I arrived at Amazon’s first-ever hair...
Latest Briefs
 
Apple iPhone Glass Supplier May Raise $2 Billion in Hong Kong IPO
By Wayne Ma · June 18, 2021
Meituan’s Founder Told By Chinese Authorities To Keep Low Profile After Controversial Poem
By Shai Oster · June 18, 2021
Google to Use AMD Chips in Speedy New Cloud Service
By Kevin McLaughlin · June 17, 2021
Stay in the know
Receive a summary of the day's top tech news—distilled into one email.
Access on the go
View stories on our mobile app and tune into our weekly podcast.
Join live video Q&A’s
Deep-dive into topics like startups and autonomous vehicles with our top reporters and other executives.
Enjoy a clutter-free experience
Read without any banner ads.
Clockwise from top left: Gladly CEO Joseph Ansanelli, The Archivist co-founders Ashley Granada and Joseph Einhorn, Fabric co-founder Ryan Bartley, Smartrr CEO Gabriella Yitzhaek, Shogun CEO Finbarr Taylor, Nacelle CEO Brian Anderson, Fabric CEO Faisal Masud and ReCharge co-founders Oisin O’Connor and Michael Flynn. Photos: the companies.
Startups to Watch Venture Capital Startups
Seven E-Commerce Startups to Watch
By Malique Morris
As online shopping booms, venture investment in the e-commerce sector has taken off. That has put a spotlight on the small software companies that power online shopping, from enabling product subscriptions to making merchants’ websites run faster.
Gene Farrell, Smartsheet’s chief strategy and product officer. Photo by Bloomberg
The Big Interview Enterprise Amazon
A Former AWS Executive Helps Smartsheet Grow Up
By Kevin McLaughlin
When Gene Farrell left Amazon Web Services four years ago to join a company called Smartsheet, his former employer sued Farrell for violating his noncompete agreement.
EzCater CEO Stefania Mallett (l), Kinside CEO Shadiah Sigala (center) and SeatGeek CEO Jack Groetzinger (right). Photos: ezCater, Kinside and SeatGeek
Startups
Three Startups Show How the Pandemic’s Hardest Hit Are Rebounding
By Laura Mandaro
Kinside CEO Shadiah Sigala remembers the moment in November when she knew her startup, which helps parents find day care openings, wasn’t just recovering after a tough half year—it was about to take off.
Art: Mike Sullivan
Exclusive Google AI
Google’s Next AI Move: Teaching Foreign Languages
By Sarah Krouse
Google CEO Sundar Pichai last month previewed an artificial intelligence model that he said would enable people to have open-ended conversations with technology.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, left, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Photos by Bloomberg; AP
Exclusive Semiconductors
Nvidia’s $40 Billion Takeover of Arm Faces New Foe: European Vacations
By Josh Sisco
Nine months after Nvidia, the second-most valuable microchip developer in the world, announced its $40 billion takeover of SoftBank-owned chip designer Arm Holdings, the companies are facing delays in submitting the deal for approval by the European Union’s antitrust regulator, according to three people involved in the process.
The Takeaway Venture Capital Startups
Founder Burnout and Why You Should Care
By Jessica E. Lessin
Before we dive into The Takeaway, I want to draw your attention to two quick things. First, thank you to everyone who has filled out our major tech comp survey .