Just over half of Amazon Fresh stores are equipped with Just Walk Out. The technology allows customers to skip checkout altogether by scanning a QR code when they enter the store. Though it seemed completely automated, Just Walk Out relied on more than 1,000 people in India watching and labeling videos to ensure accurate checkouts. The cashiers were simply moved off-site, and they watched you as you shopped.
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LOL I guess in hindsight that should have been obvious but somehow I hadn’t considered that being the actual solution. Gjge media, fawning over Amazon’s technological innovation without ever scratching the surface to reveal it was just a fucking mechanical turk
Part of the issue might be that this sort of checkout seems technically doable. Surely all items can be tagged or chipped and mass scanned. They have any spare chips used in the vaccines?
Yeah I am a bit dumbfounded. Amazon had no problem accepting praise for their amazing technology, when in reality it was 1980s bodega tech.
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All big tech : What about slavery but we make the slaves wear robot outfits?
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basically all actual cases where “AI” worked have actually been southeast asians. E.g. we use expensify for expense reports, you just take a pic of the reciept and their “AI” fills in the fields for you, which is great. I’ve been using it since like 2015 or so, this whole time “AI” stood for “Asians and Indians”
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Wow, I shopped at one of these stores probably 5 times and always was confused about the timing of receiving the receipt and charge. Makes more sense now.
This story feels very April 1. Are we sure it’s not a joke?
There doesn’t seem to be any reporting on this before April 2.
I haven’t had prime for years but I just saw a commercial for prime day.
I wish we could get everyone to boycott Amazon that day
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Dear god dealing with KDP, Amazon’s publishing arm, is a Kafkaeque nightmare. Just openly hostile to authors
this seems pretty fucked up. why is the government doing the bidding on corporations?
https://x.com/amy_k_nelson/status/1822318185556648348?s=46&t=hUTQWHj9NQWf8Y8RgMv1TA
Yeah I read that too. It’s pretty messed up that Amazon can just wield the DoJ as a cudgel.
On the other hand, here’s the detailed story of what happened:
Their argument is that none of this was technically against Amazon’s employment contract. But it sure walks, talks and quacks like a kickback.
Chuck Kuhn, a Virginia moving mogul turned land speculator, had paid $20 million in 2018 to buy the 89-acre swath outside Arcola, a town of 230 located 33 miles east of Washington, D.C. By the following summer, a company controlled by Ramstetter and Camenson was set to acquire it for $98.7 million. They had a buyer in mind.
On July 30, 2019, Ramstetter and Camenson, working without Watson’s knowledge, bought the land and then sold it to Amazon for $116.4 million, turning a $17.7 million profit on land they owned for less than a day. Attorneys for Amazon contend Casey Kirschner supported the price internally at Amazon in exchange for a $5 million kickback, which he then allegedly split with Nelson.
Apparently the payments went to a trust controlled by Kirschner’s brother.
The investigation underway, Amazon continued to sign deals involving Nelson and Casey Kirschner. That Christmas Eve, Amazon bought a 100-acre property in Virginia from the Blueridge Group, a transaction Nelson helped facilitate. According to court records, the sale price, $83 million, included a $10 million fee paid in part to one of Nelson’s companies and Casey Kirschner.
Kirschner was still employed by Amazon at this point, but Nelson had been fired from Amazon and had his own company that was acting as a middleman or something.
Every single person involved in this comes off about as well as the mortgage broker douches in The Big Short.
But yes, still totally insane and terrifying that Amazon can use the DoJ as an attack dog for what basically amounts to a gigantic hole in their employment contract.
The article makes a good point. Is it a kickback when Andy Jassy buys a stake in the Kraaken and then Amazon buys the naming rights to their arena? Do kickbacks magically become legal at the C-level? (yes, obviously)
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haha, i almost said that i guess i’m gonna take this woman’s word for it after reading her twitter thread, guess i shouldn’t have. reading her version something about it had me questioning it, that’ll about do it.
I made a ~$500 purchase on Amazon a couple months ago and just now got an email saying they’ve received my return and they’re processing my refund. I didn’t return anything. My credit card is showing a pending credit. I’m good just ignoring this, right? The seller of the product was “amazon.com” so I don’t think there’s any small business getting screwed here.
You won’t get anywhere arguing you didn’t order a refund. The only concern is they ban chronic returners but if this is rare just take the win.
Otherwise you will waste a lot of time arguing against their computer and you will likely lose.
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At 6:30 a billionaire who is trying to pressure Kamala (if she wins) to fire the Chair of the FTC delivers about the biggest load of BS you’ve ever seen.
Big case coming up probably in 2026 if the FTC doesn’t drop it.
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I remember my mother receiving a package that wasn’t for her. When she called Amazon to try to return it, they just told her to keep it.
Basically, it’s too much of a hassle to right the occasional wrongs that happen. Easier to consider it the cost of doing business.