Amazon has acquired warehouse machinery and robotics manufacturer Cloostermans. The eCommerce giant began working with the Belgium-based company in 2019, using its technology to move and stack heavy products and palettes in its warehouses. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. More: - Cloostermans will join Amazon’s Robotics unit, which has been working on automating various aspects of Amazon’s warehouse operations.
- Amazon Robotics was established in 2012 following Amazon’s acquisition of Kiva Systems for $775M.
- Kiva made warehouse robots.
- Amazon has launched multiple warehouse machines over the years; in June, the company unveiled its first fully autonomous warehouse robot Proteus.
- In a blog post, Amazon’s vice president of Global Robotics, Ian Simpson, stated the company is investing in robotics and other technology to make its warehouses safer for employees.
- Amazon shares were trading at $131.93 around noon on Friday, up ~1.6%.
- The company is down ~22.5% YTD.
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Digital World Acquisition Corp. (DWAC), the SPAC looking to take Donald Trump’s media company public, postponed its shareholder meeting again to Oct. 10. The firm initially had until Sept. 8 to vote on a one-year extension for its planned merger with the Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG). More: - On Thursday, DWAC confirmed that ARC Global Investments II, a company controlled by DWAC’s CEO Patrick Orlando, initiated a built-in, three-month extension by depositing $2.8M into DWAC’s trust account.
- The cash infusion, equivalent to $0.10 per share, pushed the deadline for the merger to Dec. 8.
- DWAC hopes the extended deadline would give shareholders enough time to vote for a one-year extension to complete the merger.
- If DWAC cannot get the needed votes, the SPAC would be liquidated, and funds would be returned to investors.
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 A message from HIRED Hired’s 2022 State of Tech Salaries: Navigating an Uncertain Hiring Market. The State of Tech Salaries report provides an in-depth analysis of the 2022 hiring environment – detailing insights on global compensation trends, benefits, and remote work shifts. Based on data from 900,000+ interview requests our key findings include: - A global increase in salaries across nearly all tech roles, driven primarily by the growth in salaries among experienced professionals.
- Remote salaries have outpaced local salaries for the first time, paying $3,000 more on average globally.
- Time to acquire tech candidates has slowed across the US, UK, and Canada as companies and jobseekers are taking more time to evaluate offers.
Read the report
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General Motors unveiled its new electric 2024 Chevrolet Equinox SUV aimed at cost-conscious customers. The vehicle, which will go on sale in fall 2023, is priced at $30,000. It is a more compact version of the gas-powered Equinox and has a maximum driving range of 300 miles on a single charge. More: - GM expects the vehicle to become a top seller for the brand.
- GM plans to exclusively offer electric cars and trucks by 2035.
- The Detroit automaker aims to catch up with EV industry leader Tesla in U.S. sales by 2025.
- According to Cox Automotive, the new electric Equinox is less than half the $66,000 average transaction price of EVs currently on sale in the U.S.
- GM shares closed at $41.29 on Friday, up over 5% for the week.
- The stock is down over 30% YTD.
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FTX Ventures, the investment firm led by Sam Bankman-Fried, has taken a 30% stake in SkyBridge Capital, a fund by ex-Trump aide Anthony Scaramucci. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. SkyBridge Capital said it would use $40M from the proceeds to buy cryptocurrencies. More: - SkyBridge historically invested in hedge funds but has pivoted to cryptocurrencies.
- The fund said it would hold its new crypto investments as long-term investments.
- In a June interview with Bloomberg, Scaramucci compared Bankman-Fried’s financial support of various crypto firms to the support financier JP Morgan offered the U.S. banking system in the early 20th century.
- Earlier this year, Anthony Scaramucci and Sam Bankman-Fried co-founded and co-hosted a digital assets conference in the Bahamas called Crypto Bahamas.
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United Airlines has agreed to buy 200 four-passenger electric aircraft from flying taxis maker Eve Air Mobility. The conditional agreement, valued at $15M, comes with the option to buy 200 additional taxis. United said it expects the first deliveries of the aircraft in 2026. More: - Last month, United put down a $10M deposit for 100 electric flying taxis developed by Archer Aviation.
- The airline expects the market for flying taxis to grow rapidly in the coming years.
- United expects one-way trips in these taxis to cost $100 to $150.
- The flying taxis would operate similarly to helicopters, but none of the flying taxis in development is FAA approved yet.
- The federal regulator has been examining the aircraft, working on pilot requirements, and figuring out how to integrate the taxis into the airspace.
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According to sources, Twitter agreed, in June, to pay a $7M settlement to its former security head and current whistleblower Peiter “Mudge” Zatko. The agreement was completed days before Zatko filed his whistleblower complaint in July. More: - Zatko was fired from Twitter in January.
- As part of the settlement, Zatko signed a nondisclosure agreement that barred him from speaking publicly about his time at Twitter or disparaging the company.
- Congressional hearings and governmental whistleblower complaints are two of the few scenarios where NDAs are invalid.
- Zatko is scheduled to testify before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday to discuss his allegations of security failures at Twitter.
- On Tuesday, Zatko’s testimony will coincide with Twitter shareholders' vote on Elon Musk’s proposed $44B takeover of the social media company.
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Quick Hits - Origin Investments' IncomePlus Fund has seen its 27th consecutive month of positive returns, generating 18.7% over the past 12 months.*
- New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency on Friday over the state's low polio vaccination rates. The Poliovirus has been detected in sewage samples from four counties – Rockland, Orange, Sullivan, and Nassau – in the New York metro area and New York City.
- Meta Platforms has disbanded its Responsible Innovation team as part of resource re-allocation efforts. The group, which included engineers, ethicists, product teams, and users, identified and addressed potential concerns about new products and alterations to Facebook and Instagram.
- Ernst & Young leaders approved the proposal to separate the company's auditing and advisory businesses. Global partners will make the final vote on the split of the firm. Under the proposal, EY's auditing arm would remain in its existing partnership structure, and the separate standalone company would house the advisory business.
- EV startup Lucid Motors has lost six manufacturing-focused senior leaders in recent weeks. The exits come as the company overhauls its manufacturing processes to get its production site in Casa Grande, Arizona, up to speed.
*This is sponsored content.
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Upcoming Events - September 14 - What Do Developers Think of Threat Modeling? (feat. security experts from Security Compass, Dell, and Tricentis) (Register Here) *
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- September 28 - AMA with Leigh-Ann Buchanan (Founder of aīre ventures) (Register Here)
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- October 19 - AMA with Zecca Lehn (Responsibly VC) (Register Here)
- October 25 - Meet Our Fund 4, an Inside.com Summit (Register Here)
*This is a sponsored listing.
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 |  | Vanessa Omeokachie is a Freelance Writer for Inside.com. She writes the Inside Business and Inside Cloud newsletters. Her interests include finance, technology, and entrepreneurship. In her free time, she enjoys reading, hiking, attending concerts and music festivals, exploring cities, and traveling. Connect with her on Twitter @VanessaOmeo or on LinkedIn. |   | | Editor | Vibha Chapparike is a Freelance Writer & Editor at Inside.com. With her post-graduation in Management and Finance completed, Vibha is expanding her knowledge in Venture Capital, Business, and Startups. Previously, she had a career in Public Relations and Communications with Women in Cloud - an organization on a mission to create $1B in economic access for female technology entrepreneurs. An ardent reader and writer currently residing in Singapore, you can follow Vibha on Twitter @VChapparike. | |
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