Amazon has hired a top General Motors executive, a source familiar with the move said Thursday, in a further sign of the technology giant's likely expansion into autonomous vehicles.
The tech group's new executive is Alicia Boler Davis, who has been head of GM's global manufacturing operations.
Amazon had no immediate comment on the hiring of Davis, reported earlier by CNBC.
GM said in a statement earlier Thursday that Davis was leaving "to pursue other opportunities" after 25 years with the Detroit auto giant.
Amazon, which has moved beyond its online retail roots to cloud computing, streaming media and artificial intelligence, said in mid-February it was leading a $700 million investment round in Rivian, a young self-driving auto technology firm.
The potential Tesla rival late last year unveiled an electric pickup truck and an electric sport utility vehicle at an auto show in Los Angeles.
Amazon has also invested in the autonomous driving tech firm Aurora Innovation, founded by former Google, Tesla and Uber executives, and it has deployed its own autonomous delivery robots.
While Amazon has not outlined any specific plans in the auto sector, it has invested heavily in logistics, with its own fleet of aircraft and vehicles to help speed its parcel deliveries.
It has also tested drone deliveries, and could use other kinds of autonomous vehicles as part of its logistics operations, as part of efforts to reduce the cost of "last mile" transport.
Amazon unveils new tools to weed out counterfeit goods
Washington (AFP) Feb 28, 2019 –
Amazon on Thursday announced a new initiative to crack down on the sale of counterfeit goods on its platform which could allow brands themselves to take down listings of fake merchandise.
The program dubbed Project Zero uses a combination of technological tools and cooperation with brand manufacturers to remove listings of sellers of counterfeit goods.
Amazon said it is testing the new feature on an "invite only" basis with brands ahead of what it expects to be a broader rollout.
"Our aim is that customers always receive authentic goods when shopping on Amazon," the US online giant said in a statement.
"Project Zero builds on our long-standing work and investments in this area. It allows brands to work with us to leverage our combined strengths to move quickly and at scale to drive counterfeits to zero."
Amazon said the new effort includes stepping up use of its own machine learning technology to scan for suspected imitation goods.
Additionally, brands that participate in the program will use "product serialization" codes to authenticate products in the manufacturing process, and those firms will be able to take action themselves to remove counterfeit goods listings.
"Previously, brands would need to report a counterfeit to Amazon, and we would then investigate these reports and take action," the Amazon statement said.
"With Project Zero, brands no longer need to contact us to remove a counterfeit listing. Instead, they can do so, quickly and easily, using our new self-service tool."
Amazon said its tests have stopped 100 times more suspected counterfeit products than under its previous system of removal based on reports from brands.
Companies participating in the program include the luggage and handbag maker Vera Bradley, automotive accessory manufacturer Kenu and pet accessory brands Thunderworks and ChomChom Roller.
"Project Zero, with its automated protections and the self-service removal of counterfeit products, is a significant development that will help ensure our customers receive authentic Vera Bradley products from Amazon," said Mark Dely, chief legal and administrator officer of the company, in the Amazon release.
