With brief, occasional, italicized and sometimes gratuitous commentary…
• From The Information:
"Amazon is rolling out an artificial intelligence tool for sellers on its marketplace that will write copy for product listings, a company spokesperson confirmed, marking one of the first examples of Amazon integrating large-language models into its e-commerce business.
"While Amazon’s highest-profile AI tools are ones its cloud unit, Amazon Web Services, is selling to other companies, the previously unreported product listing tool is a notable way Amazon is using the technology to improve its own operations. Last week, CEO Andy Jassy told analysts all of its businesses, including e-commerce, have multiple generative AI projects in the works."
According to the story, "Amazon’s new feature prompts merchants who are adding new products to the site to enter keywords describing their wares. The tool will then generate a potential title, description and bullet points for the listing."
The goal here is to serve customers better, faster, more efficiently and more effectively. The question is, how will other retailers respond and compete?
• From The Information:
"Managers at Amazon have begun informing some employees that they must relocate to a central 'hub' or leave the company, according to someone with direct knowledge.
"The cities that qualify as central hubs vary by department.
"Several outlets reported in late July that Amazon was planning to ask some employees to relocate to offices in larger cities. But it wasn’t clear the move would affect employees who did not agree when they were hired to work out of the hubs they are being asked to move to. Employees must notify their managers of their decisions by Sept. 15."
