If you haven’t yet played Alan Wake 2, here’s your chance to immerse yourself in its terrors for free. Prime members can play it this month on Amazon’s Luna cloud gaming service at no additional charge.
The “fantastic” Alan Wake 2 oozes “psychedelic terror,” as Engadget’s Jessica Conditt put it in our review. The 2023 horror-survival game uses a dual-protagonist motif, alternating between the lost author Wake and the stoic FBI agent Saga Anderson. It “tells a twisted, serpentine story of paranormal murder, shifting realities and demonic possession, with two brooding investigators at its core.” Not a bad way to sublimate the all-too-real horrors of life in 2026.
The Order of Giants DLC for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle also arrives on Luna this month. Ditto for Disney Universe, a knockoff of the Lego game franchise starring the Mouse’s IP.
Setting Luna aside, Amazon also has downloadable PC games that Prime members can claim for free this month. Starting today, you can snag the Borderlands spinoff Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands from the Epic Store. Later this month, you can also claim the highly rated strategy title Total War: Attila (Epic Store, Feb. 26).
Amazon is moving to integrate artificial intelligence into its film and TV production to slash costs and speed up creative workflows.
The tech giant’s Amazon MGM Studio has formed a new “AI Studio” team dedicated to developing proprietary tools for filmmakers.
Operating like a lean startup within the company, the group is focused on solving the “last mile” problems that currently prevent generative AI from being used in high-end cinematic content.
Key to this initiative is the ability to give directors granular control over digital assets. Current consumer AI often struggles with character consistency, where a person’s face or clothing might change between shots. Amazon’s new tools aim to fix this, ensuring that AI-generated elements blend seamlessly with live-action footage across entire scenes.
The studio has already put these theories into practice with its hit biblical epic, House of David. For the show’s second season, director Jon Erwin used a “stack” of over 15 different AI tools to create massive battle sequences and sprawling environments that would have been too expensive to build with traditional visual effects.
By combining live-action actors with AI-generated armies, the production achieved blockbuster scale on a fraction of the typical budget. Executives argue that these efficiencies are necessary to offset spiraling production costs that often make taking creative risks impossible.
However, the move comes amid deep anxiety in Hollywood. Actors and writers have expressed fears that AI could eventually make human jobs obsolete. Amazon also recently cut 30,000 corporate jobs, including positions at Prime Video, citing AI-driven efficiencies as a primary factor in its restructuring.
A closed beta program for the new AI tools is set to launch in March, with industry partners invited to test the technology before a wider rollout. If successful, the initiative could permanently reshape how big-budget streaming content is manufactured.
Amazon has officially launched Alexa+ across the United States, ending its early access phase and making the next-generation AI assistant available to all users.
The revamped assistant, built on an entirely new architecture powered by Amazon’s Nova and Anthropic’s Claude models, represents a fundamental shift from simple voice commands to complex, “agentic” interactions.
According to Daniel Rausch, Vice President of Alexa and Echo, users are already interacting with the new system twice as much as the legacy version. However, for most users, the most significant news is the price – see below.
Pricing and Tiers
Amazon is offering three distinct ways to access the new AI:
Alexa+ for Prime: Included at no additional cost for Prime members. This provides unlimited access across Echo devices, the mobile app, and the web (Alexa.com) for the entire household.
Alexa+ Subscription: Priced at $19.99 per month for non-Prime members. This standalone plan offers identical unlimited features but notably costs more than a standard monthly Prime membership.
Alexa+ Chat (Free): A limited, text-based experience for non-Prime users. Available only via the Alexa app and Alexa.com, this tier allows users to test the AI’s research and planning capabilities with usage caps.
What’s New?
Alexa+ moves beyond setting timers to act as a proactive digital agent. It can now navigate the web to complete multi-step tasks, such as booking restaurant reservations through OpenTable, scheduling home repairs via Thumbtack, or arranging rides through Uber.
The new model features “enhanced memory,” allowing it to remember context over several days. For example, users can email a school schedule to Alexa, and it will automatically populate the family calendar. It also recognizes personal preferences, such as dietary restrictions or favourite music genres, to provide more tailored recommendations.
Smart home integration has also seen a significant upgrade. Users can now create complex automation “Routines” using natural language rather than digging through app menus. For those with Ring cameras, the AI can even summarize “unusual patterns” detected around the property.
Prime members can begin the transition immediately by saying, “Alexa, upgrade to Alexa+.”
Speaking at a tech conference in San Francisco on Tuesday, Garman threw some cold water on the notion of space-based data centers, which have been touted by Elon Musk and others as the future of AI.
While putting AI data centers in space has obvious benefits, including the ability to harness energy directly from the sun and the ability to cool the heat-generating equipment in the cold atmosphere of space, Garman said there are also some big obstacles to putting data centers in space or on other planets. Chief among them is the cost of transporting equipment.
“I don’t know if you’ve seen a rack of servers lately: They’re heavy,” Garman said in an interview at the Cisco AI Summit in answer to a question about the viability of space-based data centers. “And last I checked, humanity has yet to build a permanent structure in space. So … maybe.”
“The capabilities we unlock by making space-based data centers a reality will fund and enable self-growing bases on the Moon, an entire civilization on Mars, and ultimately expansion to the Universe,” Musk wrote in a blog post Monday announcing the deal.
The modern data centers that power AI services, including chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and xAI’s Grok, are massive behemoths that can span millions of square feet and are packed with so much hardware that they have to be built on top of reinforced concrete slabs.
Musk’s SpaceX has a successful track record of launching thousands of its internet-beaming Starlink satellites into orbit on its Falcon rockets, and Musk has floated ambitious plans to use its Starship rocket to launch as many as 1 million satellites into space—an amount that’s far greater than the total number of objects launched into space in history. The blizzard of Starlink launches would lead to improvements in SpaceX’s rockets that will make space based data centers a reality, Musk wrote on Monday, though he did not provide a timeline for when he expected it to happen.
Amazon has plans to create a constellation of internet beaming satellites, dubbed Leo, to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink. The company has earmarked $10 billion for the project, according to CNBC, but progress has been slow, with Amazon recently asking the U.S. FCC to extend the timeline to launch 1,600 Leo satellites.
Garman cited Musk’s 1-million-satellite plan during the Tuesday talk, and acknowledged that improvements in fuel and other aspects will make transportation into space less expensive. But for now, he stressed, the costs are a major bottleneck.
When Pinterest and Dow announced layoffs last month, they attributed the job cuts in part to a shift to artificial intelligence — a sign that some employers are stepping up their investment in AI as they pare their payrolls.
Although economists have generally downplayed the impact to date of generative AI on the broader U.S. workforce, that may offer little comfort to the employees who suddenly find themselves out of work as companies tout their adoption of such tools.
In 2025, companies directly pointed to their use of AI in announcing 55,000 job cuts — more than 12 times the number of layoffs attributed to AI just two years earlier, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas. Of those job losses, 51,000 were in tech, with most of the cuts concentrated in tech-heavy states such as California and Washington.
After years of pouring money into AI in a bid to boost efficiency and productivity, companies are under pressure to demonstrate the gains, Challenger, chief revenue officer of Challenger, Gray and Christmas, told CBS News.
“That means jobs being replaced with artificial intelligence,” he said.
Amazon is one of the tech giants turning to AI. In 2025, CEO Andy Jassy said in a memo that he expected the e-commerce giant to shrink its number of white-collar jobs as the company invests in AI “agents” over the next few years in search of efficiency gains.
“We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs,” Jassy said at the time.
Amazon said in January that it was cutting 16,000 jobs, but didn’t explicitly mention its use of AI in a memo to employees.
By contrast, Pinterest framed the cuts as a way to redirect resources toward expanding its AI systems and capabilities.
Other companies haven’t explicitly mentioned AI in their layoffs announcements, but have noted that they are ramping up their use of technology and automation.
A convenient excuse?
The flurry of layoff announcements comes as economists try to get a read on how AI will reshape America’s workforce — a fast-moving target given the explosion in AI usage across the economy.
Ben May, director of global macro research at investment advisory firm Oxford Economics, said in a recent report that while some jobs are potentially exposed to AI, most employers don’t appear to be replacing a significant number of workers with AI.
He also suggested something else — that companies could be using AI as a pretext for job cuts.
“We suspect some firms are trying to dress up layoffs as a good news story rather than a bad one — for example, by pointing to technological change instead of past overhiring,” he said.
Lisa Simon, chief economist at Revelio Labs, which collects and analyzes public labor market data, also suspects that some companies are pointing to their use of AI to rationalize layoffs.
“Companies want to get rid of departments that no longer serve them,” she said. “And I think, for now, AI is a little bit of a front and an excuse.”
She posits that the technology is having more of an impact on hiring than layoffs, with companies pulling back as they realize they can do more with less.
Challenger said he expects AI-related layoff notices to keep coming. “This technological innovation, I think, it’s going to affect pretty much every industry,” he said.
Companies that have announced AI-related cuts
Pinterest The San Francisco-based company announced in January that it plans to cut 15% of its workforce, with a spokesperson telling CBS News that the social media company is “making organizational changes to further deliver on our AI-forward strategy, which includes hiring AI-proficient talent.”
Dow Dow, an American chemical and plastics manufacturer, said last month that it is eliminating roughly 4,500 jobs as it steps up its use of AI and automation.
Indeed and Glassdoor The career services firms, both owned by Recruit Holdings, announced last year that they were slashing a total of roughly 1,300 jobs. In an email to employees, Recruit Holdings CEO Hisayuki “Deko” Idekoba said that “AI is changing the world” and that the company must adapt accordingly.
Chegg In October 2025, online education assistance platform Chegg said it was eliminating 45% of its workforce as it faces the “new realities of AI” and reduced traffic from Google.
CrowdStrike CrowdStrike CEO and co-founder George Kurtz said last year that the cybersecurity company was cutting about 500 positions as it leans into AI. “We’re operating in a market and technology inflection point, with AI reshaping every industry, accelerating threats, and evolving customer needs,” he wrote in a company memo.
HP In November 2025, HP said in an earnings announcement that the computer and software maker expected to reduce its global headcount by 4,000 to 6,000 employees — part of a wider company initiative to increase productivity by using AI. The company also said the restructuring would net $1 billion in savings by the end of fiscal year 2028.
Workday Workday, which runs a cloud-based platform that helps companies manage HR and finance, said in February 2025 that it would eliminate roughly 1,750 jobs. CEO Carl Eschenbach cited AI in the restructuring announcement.
“Companies everywhere are reimagining how work gets done, and the increasing demand for AI has the potential to drive a new era of growth for Workday,” he wrote. “This creates a massive opportunity for us, but we need to make some changes to better align our resources with our customers’ evolving needs.”
Amazon (AMZN) announced Tuesday that its Prime members in the US received 8 billion items on the same day or next day last year, up 30% from 2024, as the company continues to double down on speeding up delivery times across its network.
“We focus on savings, convenience, and entertainment as the cornerstones of the Prime program, and so convenience has to go up and up as expectations go up and up,” Jamil Ghani, VP of Amazon Prime, told Yahoo Finance.
Globally, 13 billion items were received in less than two days by Prime members.
Amazon said that for its US Prime deliveries, half of the items delivered in less than two days were groceries or household essentials. The company said members saved $550, on average, on shipping costs.
In 2025, Amazon invested $4 billion to expand its same-day and next-day delivery to 4,000 smaller cities, towns, and rural communities. Last week, the company announced plans to close its Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go stores to focus on delivery services and expanding Whole Foods, which Amazon acquired in 2017.
The company is continuing to step up its investments in faster delivery as Walmart (WMT) continues to pour money into its own delivery network, which the retailer says is able to reach 93% of US households for same-day delivery.
Amazon expanded its same-day delivery service for perishable goods to over 5,000 US cities, with plans to expand in 2026. In 2025, the company delivered 70% more items in less than a day.
“Think about those buildings that we’ve now built, and we’ve retrofitted them with all the lessons we’ve learned, most importantly, from Whole Foods, about how to have a seamless, high-quality, freshness-guaranteed supply chain experience for perishable items,” Ghani told Yahoo Finance.
The company also expanded its same-day delivery network for its pharmacy business; in 2018, Amazon acquired PillPack in a bold move into the pharmacy space.
Ghani said AI has also served as the “latest enabler” to increase delivery speeds, particularly in its pharmacy segment. Ghani said Amazon was able to cut processing time for patients by 90% compared to the pharmacy industry benchmark by removing the wait times, syncing data, and expediting document reviews.
On its third quarter earnings call, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said being able to deliver more perishable groceries was the physical delivery opportunity he was “most excited about.”
“We started with a few markets about a year ago, and we were really taken aback at the adoption,” Jassy added.
As linear TV fades, social platforms are racing to become the next big screen for entertainment. Nikos Pekiaridis/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Is social media the new TV? Cable and linear television have been in decline for years, especially as younger generations consume more entertainment on their phones. In response, traditional studios and streaming services have been experimenting with social platforms. Peacock tested the waters by uploading clips from its comedy Killing It to TikTok, while Paramount broke its 2006 film Mean Girls into several parts on the same platform.
At the same time, microdramas—short, bite-sized video series designed for mobile viewing—have surged in popularity. Networks like TelevisaUnivision and Telemundo have been launching original microdramas. Earlier this month at CES, Disney announced it would begin releasing “microcontent” on Disney+. But what happens when social media doesn’t just live on phones and starts moving into traditional TV screens and living rooms?
In December, Instagram announced it was testing an “Instagram for TV” app that allows users to watch Reels on their televisions. TikTok previously made a similar push with TV apps, before they were discontinued due to compliance with new laws.
On the advertiser side, Pinterest recently acquired connected TV (CTV) ad-buying platform tvScientific, signaling that the company believes advertising dollars may start shifting toward living room viewing for its platform.
That shift is already underway. Social video is now the second-most-watched video type on TVs, according to research from Parks Associates.
Jennifer Kent, SVP and principal analyst at Parks Associates, said this trend is blurring the lines between traditional video media and social video strategies, particularly as YouTube, Instagram and TikTok push for more TV-based viewing.
Kent added that this also correlates with the growth of the creator economy, as traditional media companies partner with creators or launch initiatives dedicated to creator content. Amazon MGM Studios, for example, has collaborated with popular creators like MrBeast on projects such as Beast Gamesto produce more premium programming. YouTube has also announced efforts to introduce more episodic formats for creator content.
“Lines are blurring all over,” Kent said. “Everybody on the big screen wants to mimic what’s happening on social media, and everyone on social media wants to be on the big screen.”
She added, “The important impact of all of these social video platforms coming to the big screen is the way that they are raising expectations for everybody else that’s on the big screen—to be more interactive, to be more creative with formats, to engage with new creators that can speak to audiences in different ways.”
The growing pains of social media platforms
The roughly $15 billion decline of the U.S. linear TV market has accelerated this experimentation, said Max Willens, a principal analyst at eMarketer. However, he noted that growing competition has also made social platforms more sensitive to slowing growth. For years, platforms could rely on two assumptions: that more users would join each year, and that those users would spend more time on their apps. That is no longer the case.
According to eMarketer, time spent on social media in the U.S. is flatlining and is expected to begin gently declining starting next year.
“Combine social media platforms realizing they don’t have the easy path toward incremental growth with the increasingly spread-out competition, and they face a lot of pressure to try to establish a beachhead on television screens as the budgets that used to go to linear advertisers come up for grabs,” Willens told Observer.
Still, moving into living rooms isn’t a new idea. Willens pointed to YouTube, which launched as a desktop platform, became mobile-first, and is now a major force in TV viewing.
YouTube has also said that more than 150 million Americans watch the platform on TV screens. Nielsen’s Media Distributor Gauge report found that YouTube captured 13.4 percent of TV viewing time, outpacing Disney’s 9.4 percent share. eMarketer research shows that Americans now spend roughly equal time watching YouTube on TV and on their phones.
“That balance is going to persist over the next couple of years,” Willens predicted. “When you add all those things together, it’s not hard to understand why the social platforms are trying to position themselves on the biggest screen in the house.”
Looking ahead, Willens said both media companies and social platforms will need to adjust their strategies as viewing habits continue to shift.
“They’re all just screens at the end of the day, but it’s not like television has gone away,” he said. “Televisions are not just these big dusty boxes that our grandparents are looking at. They are still central hubs of leisure time for consumers of every age. So, advertisers and media companies have to figure out what’s different about that consumption and adjust their strategies accordingly.”
Promoted by President Trump as “a must watch,” the Melania Trump documentary “Melania” debuted with a better-than-expected $7 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
The release of “Melania” was unlike any seen before. Amazon MGM Studios paid $40 million for the rights, plus some $35 million to market it, making it the most expensive documentary ever. Directed by Brett Ratner, who had been exiled from Hollywood since 2017, the film about the first lady debuted in 1,778 theaters in the midst of Mr. Trump’s turbulent second term.
While the result would be a flop for most films with such high costs, “Melania” was a success by documentary standards. It’s the best opening weekend for a documentary, outside of concert films, in 14 years. Going into the weekend, estimates ranged from $3 million to $5 million.
But there was little to compare “Melania” to, given that presidential families typically eschew in-office memoir or documentary releases to avoid the appearance of capitalizing on the White House. The film chronicles Melania Trump over 20 days last January, leading up to Trump’s second inauguration.
On Thursday, Mr. Trump hosted a premiere of the film at the Kennedy Center, with attendees including cabinet members and members of Congress. There, Ratner downplayed its box-office potential, noting: “You can’t expect a documentary to play in theaters.”
Mr. Trump addressed a number of political topics at the premiere event, answering reporters’ questions about the Federal Reserve, Iran, Cuba and more. The first lady told CBS News on the event’s red carpet why she believed people would connect with the documentary.
“I think you will see a lot of emotions, from humor to sadness to grief to celebration, family,” she said.
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive for the premiere of her movie “Melania” at The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, in Washington.
Jose Luis Magana / AP
The No. 1 movie of the weekend was Sam Raimi’s “Send Help,” a critically acclaimed survival thriller starring Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien. The Walt Disney Co. release debuted with $20 million. The film, with a $40 million budget, was an in-between kind of release for Raimi, whose hits have typically ranged from low-budget cult (“Army of Darkness”) to big-budget blockbuster (2002’s “Spider-Man”).
The microbudget sci-fi horror film “Iron Lung,” directed by YouTuber and filmmaker Markiplier, came in second with $17.9 million, far exceeding expectations. The Jason Statham action thriller “Shelter” debuted with $5.5 million.
But most of the curiosity was on how “Melania” would perform. A week earlier, the White House hosted a black-tie preview attended by Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy, Apple chief executive Tim Cook and former boxer Mike Tyson.
The film arrived in a week dominated by coverage of federal immigration tactics in Minnesota after a U.S. Border Patrol agent fatally shot 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
“Melania” didn’t screen in advance for critics, but reviews that rolled out Friday, once the film was in theaters, weren’t good. Xan Brooks of The Guardian compared the film to a “medieval tribute to placate the greedy king on his throne.” Owen Gleiberman of Variety called it a “cheese ball informercial of staggering inertia.” Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: “To say that ‘Melania’ is a hagiography would be an insult to hagiographies.”
But among those who bought tickets over the weekend, the response was far more positive. “Melania” landed an “A” CinemaScore. Audiences were overwhelmingly 55 and older (72% of ticket buyers), female (72%) and white (75%). As expected, the movie played best in the South, with top states including Florida and Texas.
David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm FranchiseRe, called it “an excellent opening for a political documentary.”
“For any other film, with $75 million in costs and limited foreign potential, it would be a problem,” said Gross. “But this is a political investment, not a for-profit movie venture, and if it helps Amazon with a regulatory, taxation, tariff or other government issue, then it will pay back. $75 million is insignificant to Amazon.”
“Melania” is Ratner’s first film since he was accused of sexual misconduct in 2017. Multiple women, including the actor Olivia Munn, accused Ratner of sexual harassment and misconduct. Ratner has denied the allegations. Last fall, after Trump’s reported intervention, Paramount Pictures said it would distribute his “Rush Hour 4.”
“Melania,” which will stream on Prime Video following its theatrical run, was released globally. Shortly before its debut, South African distributor Filmfinity said it would no longer release it. The company said it changed course “based on recent developments.”
International ticket sales for “Melania” were expected to be minuscule.
Weekend box office estimates for the U.S.
With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:
1. “Send Help,” $20 million.
2. “Iron Lung,” $17.9 million.
3. “Melania,” $7 million.
4. “Zootopia 2,” $5.8 million.
5. “Shelter,” $5.5 million.
6. “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” $5.5 million.
7. “Mercy,” $4.7 million.
8. “The Housemaid,” $3.5 million.
9. “Marty Supreme,” $2.9 million.
10. “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,” $1.5 million.
Amazon has agreed to pay $2.5 billion to settle allegations brought by the Federal Trade Commission over how it enrolled customers in Prime and how difficult it made cancellation.
The FTC alleged Amazon enrolled millions of consumers without clear consent and failed to provide a simple way to cancel.
“The evidence showed that Amazon used sophisticated subscription traps designed to manipulate consumers into enrolling in Prime, and then made it exceedingly hard for consumers to end their subscription,” Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson said.
Rather than proceed to trial, Amazon chose to settle the case. The company did not admit liability and says it has already made changes to Prime enrollment and cancellation flows. Still, the agreement stands as the second-largest monetary judgment ever secured by the Federal Trade Commission.
Eligible U.S. Amazon Prime members can now file claims for refunds tied to the FTC’s $2.5 billion settlement.(iStock)
Sign up for my FREE CyberGuy Report Get my best tech tips, urgent security alerts and exclusive deals delivered straight to your inbox. Plus, you’ll get instant access to my Ultimate Scam Survival Guide – free when you join my CYBERGUY.COM newsletter
How the $2.5 billion settlement breaks down
The court-ordered settlement is divided into two parts. First, Amazon must pay a $1 billion civil penalty to the federal government. As a result, this marks the largest civil penalty ever tied to a violation of an FTC rule. Second, $1.5 billion is set aside for consumer refunds. Eligible Prime subscribers may receive compensation for Prime membership fees paid during the covered period, capped at $51 per person. Because this is an FTC action, only U.S.-based Prime subscribers qualify. Therefore, customers outside the United States are not eligible.
Who qualifies for an Amazon Prime refund
You may qualify for compensation if either of the following applies.
First, you signed up for Amazon Prime in the United States between June 23, 2019, and June 23, 2025.
Alternatively, you attempted to cancel Prime through the online cancellation process during that same period but were unable to complete it. This includes entering the cancellation flow and not finishing or accepting a Save Offer.
To confirm when you joined Prime, log in to your Amazon account. Then go to Memberships and Subscriptions and select Payment history under Prime.
How Amazon is issuing refunds
Under the settlement, refunds are distributed in two groups based on eligibility.
Automatic Payment Group
Some consumers qualified for automatic payments.
You were eligible if you signed up for Prime between June 23, 2019, and June 23, 2025, enrolled through a challenged enrollment flow and used no more than three Prime benefits in any 12-month period.
Automatic payments were issued within 90 days of the court order, with most eligible customers receiving funds by late December 2025. These payments covered Prime membership fees paid up to $51. No claim was required.
However, if you believe you qualified for an automatic payment but did not receive one, you may still be eligible to file a claim.
Claims Process Payment Group
At this point, the claims process is the primary path for refunds. The claims window opened January 5, 2026. Eligible consumers are being notified by email or postcard through early February. You may qualify to file a claim if you unintentionally enrolled in Prime through a challenged enrollment method or tried but failed to cancel your membership online between June 23, 2019, and June 23, 2025, and used fewer than 10 Prime benefits during any 12-month period. In addition, you must not have already received an automatic payment. To file a claim, you will need to confirm one of two conditions by checking a box on the claim form. Claims are reviewed for eligibility. Approved claims receive compensation for Prime fees paid, capped at $51 per person.
The FTC says Amazon used confusing Prime signup and cancellation flows that led millions of users into unwanted subscriptions.(iStock)
Where to file a Prime settlement claim
If you are eligible to file a claim, official instructions will be provided by email or mail. You can also access the court-approved settlement site directly at: subscriptionmembershipsettlement.com.
Links to the settlement site are also available on Amazon’s website, the Prime membership page and within the Amazon app.
Even if you do not qualify for a refund, this settlement is a strong reminder to review your subscriptions and confirm you are paying only for services you actively use. Here’s how to cancel a subscription using your iPhone and Android.
“Payments are being handled by the settlement administrator. Customers can find information and submit claims at the administrator’s website subscriptionmembershipsettlement.com,” an Amazon spokesperson told CyberGuy.
How to add or manage your Amazon Prime account
If you already have an Amazon account, adding or managing Prime takes only a few minutes. First, log in to Amazon and open the Accounts and Lists menu. From there, select Prime to view your membership details. Next, follow the prompts to add Prime or manage an existing subscription. Amazon displays pricing, billing dates and available benefits before you confirm. For that reason, review each screen carefully so you know exactly what you are agreeing to. For more on “How to get a cheap Amazon Prime membership,” click here.
Think your devices and data are truly protected? Take this quick quiz to see where your digital habits stand. From passwords to Wi-Fi settings, you’ll get a personalized breakdown of what you’re doing right and what needs improvement. Take my Quiz here: Cyberguy.com.
Kurt’s key takeaways
Overall, this settlement sends a clear message about subscription transparency. While a $51 refund may feel modest, the broader impact matters. Regulators are forcing companies to simplify signups and make cancellations easier. If you ever felt trapped in a subscription you did not intend to start, this case shows enforcement is finally catching up to deceptive design tactics.
The claim form shows where to find your Claim ID and PIN, which are required to file for an Amazon Prime settlement refund.(iStock)
Have you ever tried to cancel a subscription and felt blocked or misled along the way? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.
Sign up for my FREE CyberGuy Report Get my best tech tips, urgent security alerts and exclusive deals delivered straight to your inbox. Plus, you’ll get instant access to my Ultimate Scam Survival Guide – free when you join my CYBERGUY.COM newsletter.
Copyright 2026 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved.
Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on “FOX & Friends.” Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.
Melania, Brett Ratner’s Melania Trump movie, is a purportedly serious film that plays like a mockumentary. If you were making a movie that parodied the current first lady of the United States, I’m not sure what you’d do differently.
This interminable, nearly two-hour long film features a running voiceover by Melania, leading us through crucial moments in the twenty days leading up to her husband’s second inauguration: choosing fabric for her coat, making sure her dress is the right length, approving a design plan for the dinner, and perusing furniture for Barron’s future bedroom. (Sadly, we never get to see which chest of drawers she picks.) “My creative vision is always clear,” she intones, returning to that notion throughout.
This is a work of propaganda, but director Brett Ratner is no Leni Riefenstahl. Missing are the German filmmaker’s awe-inspiring visuals and hypnotic edits; instead, Ratner substitutes endless shots of the gaudy, excessive Trump aesthetic as Melania floats through Trump Tower, private jets, motorcades, and gala dinners until she lands at the White House. The doc’s opening shot is a panorama of Mar-a-Lago in all its gilded glory, accompanied by the Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter.” “Rape, murder, it’s just a shot away,” Jagger’s voice promises.
Before he was exiled from Hollywood by sexual assault accusations (he has denied the claims), Ratner was best known for directing the Rush Hour movies—so I at least expected propulsive pacing and drama. No such luck: We might as well be watching gold paint dry.
It’s hard to tell whether Melania herself finds it all as dull as I did: she remains inscrutable through most of the film, her face frozen into an elegant mask. The only times she genuinely lights up are when Ratner coaxes her to sing along with her favorite song, Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean,” and later while dancing to the Village People’s “YMCA” at an inaugural event. At several points Melania refers to the death of her mother with sadness, and even has the cameras trail her to St Patrick’s Cathedral, where she lights candles. But throughout, there is no perceptible change in her demeanor.
That departure could’ve been a great segue into a segment about Melania’s past—her childhood in Slovenia, her modeling career, background information that might give context to her transformation into Trump’s consort. But instead, the doc sticks with the minutiae of the march toward Trump’s second term. Unmentioned is the January 6th, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol; instead, the camera just pans over images of the Capitol preparing for the inauguration—now a symbol of Trump’s triumphal power.
A startup cofounded by a renowned Harvard geneticist has taken a step toward cracking the human body’s biological breakdown by securing FDA approval to test its cutting-edge gene therapy on humans.
Life Biosciences, a biotech company cofounded by Harvard genetics professor David Sinclair, said Wednesday it had secured approval for a Phase 1 clinical trial aiming, in part, to restore vision in people with eye conditions such as glaucoma and non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) through “partial epigenetic reprogramming.” During the trial, researchers will attempt to turn back the biological clock on damaged cells in a person’s eye by directly injecting it. This allows the therapy to reach damaged retinal ganglion cells and deliver “rejuvenation instructions” directly to the target cells to help restore their function and potentially reverse vision loss.
The company will enroll its first patients over the next couple of months, with results potentially coming by the end of the year or early next year, CEO Jerry McLaughlin told Fortune.
McLaughlin, a pharmaceutical industry veteran who previously worked at Merck and at venture-backed biotechs such as Neos Therapeutics and AgeneBio said the approval was groundbreaking: “It’s a transformational day, I think, for science overall, for Life Biosciences, for the field of partial epigenetic reprogramming,” he said.
The FDA approval, which McLaughlin said researchers in his industry have been waiting on for years, puts the lean Life Biosciences team (fewer than 20 people) ahead of the pack, as the longevity boom is increasingly being underwritten by billionaire money.
Rather than focus on full-body de-aging, Life Biosciences’ is taking a “staged approach” to de-aging, first tackling optic neuropathies, conditions in which damage to the optic nerve erodes vision. The trial aims to restore some vision in both patients with glaucoma and NAION—both of which can cause blindness. Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness worldwide, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and it’s especially prevalent in adults between the ages of 64 and 84. NAION, meanwhile, is the “most common acute, optic neuropathy” in people over 50. McLaughlin said the company chose to focus on these diseases partly because of their outsized impact on patients.
“The bad news is there’s absolutely nothing to treat [NAION], and the even worse news is that there’s about a 20-to-30% chance in the next two to three years it’s going to happen in the second eye,” he said.
McLaughlin said Life Biosciences is already applying its epigenetic reprogramming to help treat other conditions. The company previously saw success in treating liver fibrosis, or MASH, which he said showed the company’s approach “transcends organs.”
While the company is first focused on helping patients with vision loss, McLaughlin isn’t ignorant about the potentially giant opportunity opening up thanks to a rapidly aging global population.
“Our population replacement is not there in the U.S. We’re well below population replacement,” said McLaughlin. “It’s worse in other parts of the world, and with a rapidly aging population, extending healthy human lifespan is critical, from an economic standpoint, and for society overall.”
The world’s cumulative fertility rate has been dropping for years, but the U.S. fertility rate, in particular, hit a record low in 2024, at 1.6 children per woman, below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman. The country’s fertility rate is on par with other advanced economies, such as Iceland and the United Kingdom, according to data from the World Bank. Others come in even lower, like Japan, which recorded a fertility rate of 1.15 births per woman in 2024, according to a local government agency.
The science behind Life Biosciences
Life Biosciences cofounder and Harvard geneticist Sinclair is the key behind the company’s FDA breakthrough. Previously Sinclair, who earned a Ph.D. in molecular genetics from the University of New South Wales, led pioneering research on partial epigenetic reprogramming, partially de-aging cells by modifying their epigenome, biochemical markers that tell genes when to turn on or off without altering the underlying DNA sequence.
Sinclair’s research showed that, by using three of four proteins that Nobel-prize winning Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka previously found could fully reset the age of a stem cell to pluripotency—or a blank state—researchers could rejuvenate cells without resetting them so fully that they “forget” their original function. Partially resetting the cells had more potential for therapeutic uses because these cells “maintain” their identity, as they partially de-age, unlike the fully reset cells that “forget” their function and can turn into tumors.
Sinclair laid the foundation for his work using mice in preclinical trials, Life Biosciences then licensed the technology from Harvard and Sinclair’s lab to test on non-human primates to better match the human eye’s anatomy.
In those studies, McLaughlin said, Life Biosciences induced a NAION-like injury and then used the treatment to reverse the vision loss and restore it to that of a healthy primate.
Despite the increasing competition in the space, McLaughlin isn’t scared of competitors, and he said the large amount of money and activity in the longevity space is warranted. Following the FDA approval, more companies may even follow Life Biosciences’ footsteps and focus more on epigenetic reprogramming, he said, which could overall be positive for the field.
“We believe this has some of the highest prospects, best prospects, in aging science—partial epigenetic reprogramming,” he said. “As we continue to generate evidence, evidence is only going to bring more people to the field.”
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said it received more than 1 million reports of AI-related child sexual abuse material (CSAM) in 2025. The “vast majority” of that content was reported by Amazon, which found the material in its training data, according to an investigation by Bloomberg. In addition, Amazon said only that it obtained the inappropriate content from external sources used to train its AI services and claimed it could not provide any further details about where the CSAM came from.
“This is really an outlier,” Fallon McNulty, executive director of NCMEC’s CyberTipline, told Bloomberg. The CyberTipline is where many types of US-based companies are legally required to report suspected CSAM. “Having such a high volume come in throughout the year begs a lot of questions about where the data is coming from, and what safeguards have been put in place.” She added that aside from Amazon, the AI-related reports the organization received from other companies last year included actionable data that it could pass along to law enforcement for next steps. Since Amazon isn’t disclosing sources, McNulty said its reports have proved “inactionable.”
“We take a deliberately cautious approach to scanning foundation model training data, including data from the public web, to identify and remove known [child sexual abuse material] and protect our customers,” an Amazon representative said in a statement to Bloomberg. The spokesperson also said that Amazon aimed to over-report its figures to NCMEC in order to avoid missing any cases. The company said that it removed the suspected CSAM content before feeding training data into its AI models.
Safety questions for minors have emerged as a critical concern for the artificial intelligence industry in recent months. CSAM has skyrocketed in NCMEC’s records; compared with the more than 1 million AI-related reports the organization received last year, the 2024 total was 67,000 reports while 2023 only saw 4,700 reports.
In addition to issues such as abusive content being used to train models, AI chatbots have also been implicated in several dangerous or tragic cases involving young users. OpenAI and Character.AI have both been sued after teenagers planned their suicides with those companies’ platforms. Meta is also being sued for alleged failures to protect teen users from sexually explicit conversations with chatbots.
As any local shop owner will tell you, running a brick-and-mortar business in the age of Amazon is an uphill battle. That’s a lesson that Amazon itself has just learned.
The e-commerce giant said on Tuesday that it was closing its “Fresh” grocery stores as well as its automated grab-and-go “Go” shops, adding to its list of failed brick-and-mortar experiments.
“While we’ve seen encouraging signals in our Amazon-branded physical grocery stores, we haven’t yet created a truly distinctive customer experience with the right economic model needed for large-scale expansion,” Amazon explained in a post on its website.
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. That was on top of 14,000 layoffs last year as part of Amazon CEO Andy Jassy’s campaign to rein in what he sees as creativity-stifling bureaucracy. The company is also shifting resources to building AI data centers.
Amazon’s 550-store Whole Foods chain, which it bought in 2017, will remain open with plans to expand. But the brand’s 58 Amazon Fresh stores, launched in 2020 as smaller grocery stores focused on the mass market, never found their niche. Amazon’s Go convenience stores, launched in 2018 and a major priority for founder Jeff Bezos, allow consumers to avoid checkout lines thanks to an array of cameras and sensors that tracked each item a shopper picked from a shelf and automatically charged the customer for it when it left the store. But the dazzling tech was not enough to camouflage how blah the merchandise was.
These failures had predecessors: In 2015, Amazon launched a small chain of bookstores that it closed a few years later. Other Amazon retail flops: Amazon 4-Star (a kitchen goods, toys and electronics store); electronics kiosks in shopping malls; and a short-lived Amazon clothing store chain called “Style” that it closed in 2023 after only two years.
As Amazon showed the many retailers it has disrupted over the years, standing out from the competition—whether on pricing, on service, or on merchandise—is essential, and on that front, Go and Fresh struggled.
These failures illustrate a weakness in Amazon’s retail concepts: In brick-and-mortar retail, logistical and operational excellence isn’t enough on its own. Crafting an appealing in-store experience requires merchandising and presentation prowess. “The blunt truth is that neither Fresh nor Go stores offered this,” Neil Saunders, managing director at GlobalData said.
But even if they didn’t survive, Amazon’s brick-and-mortar retail concepts arguably show a strength of Amazon’s company culture: A pragmatic approach of allowing failure but also of cutting losses and moving on with new lessons learned. Armed with the insights gleaned from Go and Fresh, Amazon is refining and expanding its new five-store, small format Whole Foods Market Daily Shop, which will serve as mini-convenience stores. It will also stock more produce and perishables in its same-day delivery warehouses and at more Whole Foods stores.
And these failures show why Amazon is ultimately successful at almost everything it does: The “Just Walk Out” cashier-less systems may not have been enough to save Amazon’s 14 Go stores, but its tech is now sold as a service to more than 360 third-party locations.
To describe the company’s indefatigable approach, Saunders referenced the catchphrase of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s killer robot in the 1984 sci-fi Terminator. “In our view,” he said, “in one way or another, Amazon’s physical grocery mantra is: We’ll be back.”
“Some of you might ask if this is the beginning of a new rhythm – where we announce broad reductions every few months. That’s not our plan,” Galetti said. “But just as we always have, every team will continue to evaluate the ownership, speed, and capacity to invent for customers, and make adjustments as appropriate. That’s never been more important than it is today in a world that’s changing faster than ever.”
Galetti said that, “While many teams finalized …organizational changes in October, other teams did not complete that work until now.”
In addition, she noted that, “While we’re making these changes, we’ll also continue hiring and investing in strategic areas and functions that are critical to our future. We’re still in the early stages of building every one of our businesses and there’s significant opportunity ahead.”
Galetti said U.S.-based staff would be given 90 days to look for a new role internally before being offered severance pay, outplacement services and health insurance benefits.
Amazon has inadvertently confirmed a massive new round of global layoffs after a senior executive’s draft email was accidentally sent to staff via a calendar invitation.
The leak, which occurred late Tuesday, reveals that the tech giant is moving forward with a restructuring initiative codenamed “Project Dawn,” targeting employees across the US, Canada, and Costa Rica.
The email was authored by Colleen Aubrey, a senior vice president at Amazon Web Services (AWS). It was reportedly shared in error by an executive assistant before being abruptly cancelled. In the message, Aubrey characterized the job cuts as part of a broader effort to “strengthen the company” by removing bureaucracy and reducing management layers so the organization can “move faster for customers.”
While Amazon had already slashed 14,000 positions in October, this latest leak confirms employee fears that a much larger reduction is underway. Insiders suggest the company is aiming for a total of 30,000 redundancies by May 2026. Those affected by the cuts are reportedly being offered limited opportunities to reapply for internal roles, with others receiving severance packages based on their tenure.
The “Project Dawn” revelations come as CEO Andy Jassy continues a aggressive campaign to “rethink everything” at Amazon. Under Jassy’s leadership, the firm has not only implemented multiple rounds of layoffs but has also enforced a strict five-day-a-week in-office mandate: a move that sets it apart from other tech peers like Google and Meta.
The company is also aggressively cutting costs elsewhere, recently announcing the closure of its 70 Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go grocery stores to focus on its Whole Foods subsidiary.
Amazon is not alone in its downsizing. The tech industry has seen approximately 700,000 layoffs over the last four years. However, the accidental nature of this announcement has sparked further anxiety among a workforce already grappling with a rapidly changing corporate culture. Amazon has declined to comment officially on the leaked correspondence.
Amazon said on Tuesday that it is closing its Fresh grocery and cashierless Go convenience stores as the online retailer backtracks on its foray into brick-and-mortar retail.
Amazon said some physical store locations will be converted into Whole Foods Market stores. Amazon Fresh will continue to exist as an online brand, the company said.
“While we’ve seen encouraging signals in our Amazon-branded physical grocery stores, we haven’t yet created a truly distinctive customer experience with the right economic model needed for large-scale expansion,” the company said.
Amazon said its grocery business, which it launched more than two decades ago, accounts for more than $150 billion in gross sales annually. The company bought Whole Foods in 2017 for $13.7 billion.
Amazon Go stores’ technology allows registered customers to take what they want from store shelves and walk out of stores, without needing to check out.
The company also said Monday that the technology has been deployed at hundreds of third-party locations across five countries, allowing shoppers to “simply take what they need and go.”
I’ve mostly enjoyed the second season of Amazon and Bethesda’s live-action Fallout TV show. One thing I hated about this new season, however, was that each new episode premiered at midnight. Thankfully, Amazon is changing this release schedule for the rest of the season.
On January 26, Amazon Prime Video announced its plans to release the next (and final) two episodes of Fallout season two at 6 p.m. PT instead of midnight. Season two episode seven will now arrive on Tuesday, January 27, and episode eight will be available on Tuesday, February 3.
“Good morning, Vault Dwellers!” posted Amazon on Twitter. “Due to strong participation and interest, we have amended the start times for the remaining Season Two presentations.”
Good morning, Vault Dwellers! Due to strong participation and interest, we have amended the start times for the remaining Season Two presentations. Episode Seven will now begin Tuesday, Jan. 27 at 6 p.m. PT, and Episode Eight will now begin Tuesday, Feb. 3 at 6 p.m. PT. Your… pic.twitter.com/x1LhnwEsRL
While I’ve been a fan of the weekly rollout of Fallout season two, as it allows my friend group time to watch and then later chat about each episode at the same time as the internet, I really, really hated the midnight release time. It made it harder for sites to cover, made it more annoying for people to avoid spoilers the following morning, and didn’t really seem to have any benefit other than that some night owls got to watch the latest episode a bit earlier than everyone else. So I’m very happy with this change!
In fact, it should work this way when Fallout season three arrives in the future. Amazon already confirmed a third season is on the way, and I’ll be madder than a Deathclaw with a dart in its leg if the streaming giant decides to go back to midnight releases for that next round of episodes.
Barclays Sees 2026 as a Pivotal Year for Comcast and the Broader Telecom Landscape
On January 13, Barclays analyst Kannan Venkateshwar lowered the firm’s price target on Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) to $28 from $30 and maintained an Equal Weight rating. The change came as part of a broader adjustment to price targets across the cable, satellite, and telecom services group tied to Barclays’ 2026 outlook.
In the note, the analyst said 2026 “could establish the longer-term operating road map for convergence, which may also require a different capital allocation template across the industry.” Even after the reset, Barclays said Comcast “could be an interesting value opportunity.”
On the business front, Comcast has been leaning into new distribution channels. Earlier in December, the company and Amazon announced the rollout of Amazon Luna across millions of Xfinity TV and streaming devices in the US. Xfinity customers with eligible X1 or Xfinity Xumo Stream Box devices can now access Amazon Luna’s game library directly through their existing entertainment setup.
Amazon Luna itself has also been refreshed. The service has been redesigned to appeal to players with a wide range of interests and experience levels. Prime members now get access to more than 50 games at no extra cost. The offering includes GameNight experiences designed for living-room play, with no controller required. Players can scan a QR code on their TV and join using their mobile phones.
Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) is a global media and technology company that provides broadband, wireless, and video services through its brands.
While we acknowledge the potential of CMCSA as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you’re looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.
Bezos’ Blue Origin plans a 5,408-satellite TeraWave network to serve enterprises and data centers as space-based computing gains momentum. Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images for America Business Forum
Jeff Bezos’ space company, Blue Origin, is the latest entrant into the booming satellite internet business. This week, it announced TeraWave, a megaconstellation project promising to deliver data speeds of up to 6 terabits per second (Tbps) anywhere on Earth—technology that could also lay the groundwork for future data centers in space. The move is a strategic addition to another Bezos-backed effort, Amazon’s low-Earth-orbit broadband network Leo (formerly known as Project Kuiper), in a market currently dominated by SpaceX’s Starlink.
Megaconstellations like these transmit data between Earth and orbiting satellites without cables or cell towers, extending internet access to remote and underserved regions. SpaceX’s Starlink currently operates roughly 9,000 satellites in low-Earth orbit and delivers high-speed internet in more than 150 countries. Blue Origin also faces growing international competition: China is developing two rival megaconstellations, Guowang and Qianfan, which together are expected to include more than 13,000 satellites.
Unlike Starlink and Leo, however, TeraWave is not aimed at households. Instead, the network will serve “tens of thousands” of enterprises, government agencies and, importantly, data centers, Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp said on X.
That strategy reflects the surging importance of data centers in the age of A.I. These facilities, which store and process massive volumes of text, images and other data, are straining the world’s power grids as A.I. usage explodes. Space has begun to look like an unconventional solution to that energy crunch. Several aerospace and tech companies are exploring the idea of placing data centers in orbit, where they could draw on near-limitless solar power and radiate heat directly into space.
Last November, Limp told Yahoo Finance that data centers in space will “for sure” happen in our lifetimes. Google, SpaceX and smaller firms such as Axiom Space and Starcloud have already announced early-stage plans to build or test orbital data storage and computing systems. Space is attractive not only for energy access but also for its lower environmental footprint and the relative ease of scaling compared with building new terrestrial facilities.
TeraWave joins a growing list of ambitious Blue Origin projects, which includes two lunar landers, a commercial space station and a Mars orbiter. The company has also made progress on New Glenn, its long-delayed reusable heavy-lift rocket designed to deploy satellites into low-Earth orbit—including Amazon’s Leo constellation and, potentially, TeraWave itself.
For now, Amazon Leo depends on other launch providers. Since last April, the project has sent 180 satellites into orbit using rockets from United Launch Alliance and SpaceX. Under existing agreements, Blue Origin is expected to handle between 12 and 27 future Leo launches as part of the effort to build out a roughly 3,200-satellite network. Those flights hinge on the reliability of New Glenn, which is still in the testing phase.
Bezos, who founded Blue Origin in 2000, has long said the company could eventually eclipse Amazon. “I think it’s going to be the best business that I’ve ever been involved in, but it’s going to take a while,” he said in 2024.
Blue Origin plans to begin deploying TeraWave satellites in the fourth quarter of 2027. The constellation will consist of 5,408 optically interconnected satellites, most of them operating in low-Earth orbit, forming a high-speed network designed to serve the next generation of cloud computing and space-based infrastructure.
Some of the things people buy the most are at their most expensive point of the year as the calendar changes over to 2026. Our get the facts data team dug into what actually caused the prices of some items to go up or go down. Let’s start with beef. Right now, the average price for ground beef is 823 per pound and 967 for steaks, the highest prices for both all year. Several factors like President Trump’s tariffs. Cattle inventories and an aging farming population contributed to the increase, but so did something called the New World screwworm, *** parasitic fly that produced *** deadly disease in some places like Mexico. Another grocery staple that is more expensive now, coffee. Our get the Facts data team found the price rose each month throughout the year, maxing out at 926 cents *** pound. Two of the world’s biggest coffee producers, Brazil and Vietnam, Were impacted by drought and excessive rains earlier this year, which reduced coffee production, and Brazil saw an additional 40% tariff over the summer as well. One of the biggest talking points, especially from President Trump about the state of the economy was egg prices. They are one of the few items tracked that actually are cheapest now. Egg prices saw their biggest price hike in nearly 10 years in January, then rose to an all-time high of 623. Per dozen in March. This was in large part to ongoing bird flu outbreaks. Egg prices would start falling in the summer and are now 286 *** dozen. Some other groceries that saw increases this year, cookies, potato chips, bacon, cheddar cheese, and orange juice. But it wasn’t all increases at the supermarket. Some items are cheaper now compared to January, like pasta, white bread, tomatoes, and strawberries. In Washington, I’m Amy Lou.
If your next Amazon order seems more expensive, President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs may be partially to blame, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said Tuesday.Like many retailers, Amazon and its vast network of third-party sellers loaded up on inventory ahead of Trump’s tariff rollout last spring. But that supply ran out by the fall, Jassy said in a CNBC interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.“So you start to see some of the tariffs creep into some of the prices, some of the items,” he said. “Some sellers are deciding that they’re passing on those higher costs to consumers in the form of higher prices, some are deciding that they’ll absorb it to drive demand and some are doing something in between.”The comments are a stark shift from last June, when Jassy said in a CNBC interview that the company had not seen “prices appreciably go up.” That was after Amazon drew the direct ire of Trump and members of his administration following reports that the e-commerce giant planned to display how tariffs were impacting prices.After Trump spoke with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos at the time, a company spokesperson told CNN the move “was never a consideration for the main Amazon.” It was only being considered for certain products on its spinoff site, Haul, which sells items below $30, the company said.On Tuesday, though, Jassy said: “We’re going to do everything we can to work with our selling partners to make prices as low as possible for consumers, but you don’t have endless options.”In a statement, though, the company told CNN that overall price levels have not changed more than expected. “While we are seeing prices for some sellers and some brands go up, overall the prices of products on Amazon have not changed outside of normal fluctuations,“ an Amazon spokesperson said.And the White House said it maintains that foreign exports are footing that tariff bill.“The average tariff imposed by America has increased by almost tenfold under President Trump, and inflation has continued to cool from Biden-era highs,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement.“The Administration has consistently maintained that foreign exporters who depend on access to the American economy, the world’s biggest and best consumer market, will ultimately pay the cost of tariffs, and that’s what’s playing out,” he added.Amazon isn’t the only retailer warning of higher prices because of tariffs. Walmart, Target and Home Depot and many other companies have publicly said tariffs are making products more expensive. And while overall consumer inflation was modest last year, many businesses surveyed by the Federal Reserve in its latest Beige Book, a collection of anecdotes, warned they’re planning bigger price hikes this year.
If your next Amazon order seems more expensive, President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs may be partially to blame, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said Tuesday.
Like many retailers, Amazon and its vast network of third-party sellers loaded up on inventory ahead of Trump’s tariff rollout last spring. But that supply ran out by the fall, Jassy said in a CNBC interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“So you start to see some of the tariffs creep into some of the prices, some of the items,” he said. “Some sellers are deciding that they’re passing on those higher costs to consumers in the form of higher prices, some are deciding that they’ll absorb it to drive demand and some are doing something in between.”
The comments are a stark shift from last June, when Jassy said in a CNBC interview that the company had not seen “prices appreciably go up.” That was after Amazon drew the direct ire of Trump and members of his administration following reports that the e-commerce giant planned to display how tariffs were impacting prices.
After Trump spoke with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos at the time, a company spokesperson told CNN the move “was never a consideration for the main Amazon.” It was only being considered for certain products on its spinoff site, Haul, which sells items below $30, the company said.
On Tuesday, though, Jassy said: “We’re going to do everything we can to work with our selling partners to make prices as low as possible for consumers, but you don’t have endless options.”
In a statement, though, the company told CNN that overall price levels have not changed more than expected. “While we are seeing prices for some sellers and some brands go up, overall the prices of products on Amazon have not changed outside of normal fluctuations,“ an Amazon spokesperson said.
And the White House said it maintains that foreign exports are footing that tariff bill.
“The average tariff imposed by America has increased by almost tenfold under President Trump, and inflation has continued to cool from Biden-era highs,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement.
“The Administration has consistently maintained that foreign exporters who depend on access to the American economy, the world’s biggest and best consumer market, will ultimately pay the cost of tariffs, and that’s what’s playing out,” he added.
Amazon isn’t the only retailer warning of higher prices because of tariffs. Walmart, Target and Home Depot and many other companies have publicly said tariffs are making products more expensive. And while overall consumer inflation was modest last year, many businesses surveyed by the Federal Reserve in its latest Beige Book, a collection of anecdotes, warned they’re planning bigger price hikes this year.
