Tech Giants Shake Things Up! 📲

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Ready to dive into today’s headlines?

📲✨ Amazon's got a new "Haul" for budget shoppers, AMD trims down 🛠️, Spotify takes on YouTube 📹, and Meta faces a big EU fine 💸. From major tech moves to retail and AI shake-ups, we've got all the details you need to stay in the know! Let’s dig in! 🌟

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🛍️ Amazon’s Haul Store: A New Challenger for Temu & Shein

Amazon just launched Amazon Haul, a budget-friendly digital store aimed at U.S. mobile shoppers with everything under $20. Orders over $25 get free shipping, with items expected to arrive in about two weeks. The Haul store, which also offers free returns on items over $3 within 15 days, feels familiar for those used to the gamified, low-cost shopping experiences of Temu and Shein.

While Amazon still dominates U.S. e-commerce with about 40% market share, Temu and Shein have quickly gained traction, each holding around 1%. Amazon Haul’s longer shipping times hint that many products may be coming from China, similar to its competitors. However, Amazon emphasized a stricter screening process for product safety and compliance, a nod to ongoing concerns over the quality of items on Shein and Temu.

💻 AMD Cuts Workforce by 4% Amid AI Chip Struggles

In a competitive move against NVIDIA, AMD announced a 4% global workforce reduction — about 1,000 employees — as it battles to solidify its position in the AI chip race. The decision comes after AMD's mixed Q3 earnings, where gaming division revenues plunged by 69% year-over-year. Even though AMD projects $5B in AI chip revenue for 2024, that’s only 20% of its anticipated total revenue.

NVIDIA controls 80% of the AI chip market, making it the world’s most valuable company in this space, while AMD is still scaling production to meet demand from big tech players like Meta and Microsoft. Despite a 5% drop in AMD’s shares this year, CEO Lisa Su remains optimistic, pointing to a new chip slated for release in 2025, promising AMD’s highest output yet.

🚨 FBI Raids Polymarket CEO’s Home

FBI agents raided Polymarket founder Shayne Coplan’s New York City apartment, confiscating electronic devices, though the reasons remain unclear. Polymarket, known for its prediction markets, hinted that the raid might be politically motivated, possibly linked to its bold prediction of a Trump presidential win. Some speculate the investigation may relate to offshore gambling laws, adding another layer to the debate over the real motivation behind the search.

📺 Spotify Takes on YouTube with Big Video Plans

Spotify is taking a bold step into the video space, enhancing its platform to attract more viewers to video podcasts and potentially compete with YouTube. Spotify plans to roll out new creator tools under “Spotify for Creators” in January, helping video podcasters with data insights and content promotion through short clips.

Premium subscribers will get ad-free video, and creators will be compensated based on viewer engagement, which aims to pull both creators and audiences from YouTube. This marks Spotify’s biggest expansion beyond music, showing that it’s all-in on long-form content and creator partnerships.

💸 Meta Fined Nearly $800M by EU Over Marketplace Monopoly

Meta has been hit with a hefty €797.72 million fine by the EU, accusing the tech giant of anti-competitive practices for linking its Marketplace service directly to Facebook. Regulators say this integration gave Meta’s classified ad service an unfair edge, pushing out other classifieds platforms.

Meta plans to appeal the decision, arguing that the EU’s stance doesn’t reflect the current marketplace landscape and lacks evidence of real harm to competitors or consumers. This marks one of the largest fines in recent years, as European authorities continue to scrutinize big tech over monopolistic behavior.

📰 In Other News

• 🍔 Just Eat Takeaway’s Grubhub Sale: Just Eat Takeaway is offloading Grubhub to startup Wonder for $650M. While it’s a substantial deal, it’s a significant loss after the $7.3B acquisition of Grubhub back in 2020.

• 💳 Klarna’s IPO Plans: The Swedish payments giant has filed for an IPO in the U.S., though the offering size and price range remain undisclosed. Analysts are valuing the company at around $15B, as Klarna looks to tap into the U.S. market further.

• 🇮🇳 Swiggy’s Stellar IPO: India’s food and grocery delivery titan Swiggy made a successful stock market debut, with shares opening at ₹420, a 7.7% premium over the issue price, marking one of the largest IPOs in India this year.

• 🎮 Tencent’s Profit Surge: Tencent saw a 47% rise in quarterly profits, thanks to its booming gaming segment and a lineup of new releases. The Chinese giant also hinted at increased AI integration across its platforms, potentially reshaping its business offerings.

• ✈️ Spirit Airlines Nearing Bankruptcy: Struggling Spirit Airlines announced preparations for bankruptcy after failing to reach a merger deal with Frontier Airlines. Mounting debt and plummeting stocks have pushed the airline to the edge.

• 🛒 7-Eleven’s Parent Company Buyout: Japan’s Seven & i Holdings, operator of the 7-Eleven chain, is considering a $58B management buyout to go private, potentially making it one of the largest retail buyouts in history.

• 🖥️ SoftBank’s Nvidia Chip Order: SoftBank has become the first customer to order Nvidia’s advanced Blackwell chips, designed to revolutionize telecom and AI applications. The order underscores Nvidia's dominance in the AI hardware market.

• ☕️ Starbucks Red Cup Day: Starbucks is giving away free, reusable holiday cups with any holiday drink purchase, made from 95% recycled materials. It’s an eco-friendly upgrade from last year’s 75% recycled content.

• 📺 DirecTV Cancels Dish TV Merger: DirecTV has called off its merger with Dish TV after bondholders rejected a $1.5B debt exchange proposal, ending hopes for consolidation in the shrinking pay-TV market.

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