axes

Amazon is shutting down an in-house charity that gave customers the opportunity to direct a small amount of their purchases to a wide range of nonprofits, from large hospitals to modest horse farms, saying the impact "was often spread too thin."The move was announced on the company's blog on Wednesday. It comes as Amazon undertakes 18,000 layoffs - the largest retrenchment in its history - but a company spokesperson said the decision was not a cost-cutting measure.Amazon introduced AmazonSmile a decade ago, as it sought…

Amazon claims that AmazonSmile has donated $400 million to U.S. charities.Image: David Ryder (Getty Images)Amazon is set to shutter its charity program AmazonSmile next month. The move comes as the company lets go of thousands of employees as the e-commerce giant looks to cut cuts. Amazon’s AmazonSmile is a charity program where the company would donate donate 0.5% of the price of eligible products at smile.amazon.com. The program has been advertised as an easy way to donate to a user’s favorite charity simply by buying…

Amazon is ending a charity donation program it ran for a decade in its latest cost-cutting move. Amazon is ending a charity donation program it ran for a decade in its latest cost-cutting move. In a blog post on Wednesday, the company said the program, called AmazonSmile, will shut down by February 20 because it had “not grown to create the impact” the retailer had hoped. The program allowed Amazon to donate a small percentage of eligible purchases to a charity selected by shoppers.…

Microsoft's dual-screen Android phones have been less than successful, to put it mildly, and there are now hints the company is shaking up its mobile strategy. Windows Central sources claim Microsoft has cancelled a twin-screen Surface Duo 3, which was reportedly slated for release late this year, and will instead focus on a "true" foldable phone. The new device's specs and name aren't known, but it would have a 180-degree hinge with an outside cover display akin to the Vivo X Fold. The cancelled Surface Duo 3 was…

People in China celebrated the withdrawal of a state-mandated app used to track whether they had travelled to COVID-stricken areas, in the latest loosening of some of the world's toughest anti-virus rules. China last week started axing key parts of its stringent 'zero-COVID' regime in the wake of widespread protests against the curbs last month which had marked the biggest show of public discontent in mainland China since President Xi Jinping came to power in 2012. This has included dropping mandatory testing prior to…

A US government attempt to compensate publishers for web links has fallen apart, as Congress has cut the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA) from the annual national defense spending bill. The measure would have made temporary exceptions to antitrust law letting media outlets negotiate revenue sharing deals, such as receiving a cut of ad money from links to news articles in search results and social media posts. The removal comes after extensive resistance from tech firms. Just this week, Facebook owner…

HONG KONG—Indonesian ride-hailing, e-commerce and financial-services company GoTo Group is laying off 12% of its employees, or 1,300 people, as it seeks to cut costs and chart a course through a difficult period for global technology companies, its chief executive told staffers. The Jakarta-based company is seeking to give priority to core products and businesses and make its organizational structure more efficient, Chief Executive Andre Soelistyo said,…

Amazon will no longer sell its video-calling device aimed at kids, the company confirmed to CNBC.At its annual hardware event last September, the online retail giant unveiled a curious-looking product, called Amazon Glow, that combined video calling with games. Kids could video chat with their loved ones, and the device projected graphics that responded to touch.The $300 device was originally only available by invitation, but Amazon made it available to the wider public in late March. Now, just over six months after its…

By Thomas Buckley | Bloomberg Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. halted work on its new “Batgirl” superhero movie despite having already filmed the picture, according to multiple reports from industry publications. The movie, based on DC Comics characters, was in the final stages of editing. It won’t be released in theaters or on the company’s HBO Max streaming service, Variety and Deadline reported Tuesday. Variety said the film cost $90 million to make. Warner Bros. didn’t respond to requests for comment. “Batgirl” was filmed…

BMW Group's Leipzig, eastern Germany plant built the last i3 on 30 June, the automaker revealed. The car was in production for eight and a half years and the brand's first volume selling EV. Leipzig initially opened as a final assembly plant making, as many automakers prefer to do, a well established and production proved model, the 3 series sedan, to bed in the new plant. Powertrains, major mechanical subassemblies and body panels came from other group factories while established Tier 1 suppliers set up in an…