NOTE: WDADTW is moving to Beehiiv soon. Subscribe now before the price increases.

Abridged version this week due to travel.

Amazon had a mixed week. Firstly introducing a new AI-powered shopping assistant that generates voice summaries of product listings, further automating and personalising the buying experience. While simultaneously issuing public apologies and refunds for long-running customer service failures involving returned items, and now faces a lawsuit over contaminated rice.

Zoox stumbled again, issuing another software recall after a crash in San Francisco. Internally, Amazon laid off around 100 employees in its devices and services division, continuing a quiet restructuring effort as it streamlines its hardware strategy. Shareholders this week voted to keep CEO Andy Jassy in a dual role as chair and chief executive, reinforcing a centralised leadership structure even as the company’s risks and public exposure grow. The investors, again, voted to reject every shareholder suggestion.

Amid these tensions, Amazon expanded its pharmacy business to include pet prescriptions and continued to stake its position in cutting-edge technologies, from backing Anthropic’s Claude 4 models to advancing in quantum computing, where it is targeting future competition with Microsoft and Google. Amazon is also reportedly exploring the development of a foldable phone, hinting at new directions for its consumer hardware portfolio.

Finally, in a surprising move, Amazon’s Prime Video team cancelled its darling, ‘The Wheel of Time’, a high-budget title that was once central to its franchise ambitions, and which now joins a growing list of shelved or scaled-back streaming bets. Look out for more on this coming soon…

WD_DTW also covers OpenAI and now Google. Each offers exclusive intel, weekly deep dives, and critical analysis, saving you tons of time. Available in monthly and annual subscriptions, cancel anytime. Subscribe today; here for OpenAI and here for Google.

Was this forwarded to you? Want to get it every week? Subscribe ↓