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Last night was a full moon, somehow it’s already mid-August, and did you know it’s there? a Beach Plum LaCroix flavour? The world is turned upside down, but at least it’s time for the weekend.
What did you do this week that made you feel alive? Can you do more of that next week? And that concludes our microtherapy session. Now let’s move on to the news. — Christine and hi
The ukbusinessupdates.com Top 3
- Sorry: A presidential pardon restores Samsung vice chairman Jay Lee’s ability to take the helm of the company. Lee was convicted of bribery in 2017, and the pardon will erase it, Kate writes.
- 5G brings forth 4G: Yes, you read that right. Amazon has launched AWS Private 5G so companies can build their own 4G networks… Paul writes. This is something that has been in the works since late 2021, and the company said there will eventually be opportunities for 5G networks.
- Location destruction: Natasha L explains how Google was fined $40 million by the Australian government, which found that the tech giant had misled consumers about its Android location-tracking settings.
Startups and VC
Do not miss it BrianActuator newsletter, usually about the state of hardware and robotics, but nowadays mainly about Amazon and iRobot.
And for your daily dose of lightness, don’t miss it Amanda‘s excellent satire: FWD: fwd: From the CEO: Be careful while you’re BeReal!
A few more highlights:
What does the future hold for ecommerce aggregators?
Image Credits: iLexx (Opens in a new window) / Getty Images
In the video game Katamari Damacy, players control an avatar that rolls a sticky ball that catches everything it touches. The goal: to create a sphere large enough to become a star or moon.
Ecommerce aggregators work in much the same way by buying smaller brands and then optimizing their production and sales channels to increase market share.
This model was effective in a pre-vaccine era when consumers stopped visiting stores, but is the brand rollup model still viable?
“Low consumer confidence, high brand equity and a freeze on investment capital are creating a perfect storm,” said David Wright, co-founder and CEO of e-commerce accelerator Pattern. “Unless aggregators change the way they work, their future is bleak at best and nonexistent at worst.”
(ukbusinessupdates.com+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams move forward. You can register here.)
Big Tech Inc.
Have you seen these ransomware group members? The US government is offering $10 million in exchange for information leading to the identification and location of members of the Russia-based Conti ransomware operation, carly writes.
Speaking of alleged fraudulent behavior, manish writes about India’s anti-money laundering agency freezing $46.4 million in assets of Singapore-based crypto exchange Vauld as it investigates the company’s business practices.
In the meantime, Brian looks at what’s happening at Boston Dynamics after it was acquired by Hyundai in 2020, including a new institute of artificial intelligence and robotics backed by $400 million.
- Pew study reveals what we’ve known for a while: That teens don’t use Facebook anymore. The survey found that since 2015, Facebook has lost about half of its users between the ages of 13 and 17. Amanda reports.
- You have to spend money to make money: That’s what the leadership of Rivian says anyway. The electric vehicle manufacturer is sticking to its plans to deliver 25,000 vehicles by the end of the year, but will have to burn $700 million to do so. Harris reports.
- Your neighbor just got interesting or creepy, don’t know which one yet: If you’ve ever wanted to see what happens on other people’s Ring doorbells, Amazon-owned MGM is willing to make you happy, Amanda writes.
- Friday features: Let’s take a walk through some new app features, shall we? Aisha reports on Instacart’s new feature for really hungry but also indecisive customers, and she explores LinkedIn’s new creator tools designed to better share visual content. Meanwhile, Google is updating the search quality of its ‘featured snippets’, Taylor writes.
