AI-powered sourcing tools like Alibaba's Accio are transforming small e-commerce businesses by compressing weeks of product research into a single chat session, with Accio surpassing 10 million monthly users since its 2024 launch — though experts warn human judgment remains essential for negotiations and key business decisions.
Uber teams up with China's Pony AI and Croatia's Verne to launch Europe's first commercial robotaxi service in Zagreb, with testing already underway and plans to scale to thousands of autonomous vehicles across multiple European markets.
Amazon's Zoox is expanding its robotaxi service to Austin and Miami, scaling its fleet to 100 vehicles, pursuing NHTSA approval for 2,500 self-driving cars, and partnering with Uber to offer commercial rides in Las Vegas this summer.
Niantic Spatial is turning a decade of Pokémon Go player photos into a 30-billion-image map that now powers real-world robot navigation, with Coco Robotics already deploying the technology across 1,000 delivery robots in major cities worldwide.
Cyberattacks on food supply chains are exposing a dangerous vulnerability: as automated digital systems replace human oversight, a single ransomware attack can render physically available food completely inaccessible, and experts warn that without trained human backup procedures and transparent algorithms, the risk of widespread food distribution failure is rapidly growing.
DoorDash is overhauling its Dasher onboarding system in 2025 with a unified, composable workflow platform that replaces fragmented, country-specific legacy architecture, rolling out across the US, Australia, Canada, Puerto Rico, and New Zealand with plans for dynamic configuration and regional flexibility without code deployments.
Amazon suffers a hours-long outage caused by a faulty software code deployment, leaving thousands of users unable to shop, check out, or access accounts, while Amazon Fresh grocery delivery is also impacted before the company resolves the issue by 8 p.m. ET.
Gather AI secures $40 million Series B funding to expand its 'curious' AI-powered drones and forklift cameras that autonomously scan warehouse inventory, detect misplaced stock, and identify safety issues using Bayesian techniques and neural networks in the growing embodied AI robotics market.
Railway secures $100 million Series B funding led by TQ Ventures to tackle software deployment bottlenecks as AI dramatically accelerates development speed but infrastructure tools struggle to keep pace.
Warehouse robotics startup Mytra secures $120 million Series C funding and recruits former Tesla CFO Zach Kirkhorn to its board while expanding from 30 to 150 employees, as cofounder warns the robotics industry faces reality checks due to immature hardware despite AI hype.