Business News Roundup, April 6
The state Department of Transportation is partnering with the popular smartphone app Waze to help California drivers get where they’re going without getting stuck in traffic.
Under an agreement announced Tuesday, Waze will provide Caltrans with the real-time data it gathers from its millions of users.
In exchange, Caltrans will provide Waze with information on road closures, construction projects and other conditions that can tie up traffic.
Waze says it is the world’s largest community-based traffic and navigation app, with more than 1.7 million monthly users in Los Angeles alone.
Amazon.com Inc. acquired artificial-intelligence startup Orbeus Inc., according to a person familiar with the matter, part of a broader push by the world’s largest Internet retailer into smart software for its cloud-computing and connected-device businesses.
An online search shows that the startup’s domain name, Orbe.us, is owned by an Amazon subsidiary.
Orbeus developed photo-recognition technology based on a powerful type of artificial intelligence called neural networks and made this available as a consumer application, as well as a service for other companies and developers called ReKognition.
Amazon is investing heavily in artificial intelligence to automate warehouse operations, improve delivery systems, and add new products to its Amazon Web Services cloud offering.
Big technology companies are interested in this field and other areas of artificial intelligence.
Starbucks Corp. is opening a sprawling new Roastery-branded store in New York’s Meatpacking District, part of a push to bolster growth with larger locations that offer experiences to customers.
Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz has said he wants to bring the Roastery model to cities globally, a bet that a new format can bring fresh vigor to the company.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retail chain, will sell 100 percent cage-free eggs in the U.S. by 2025, joining an industrywide shift toward a practice that’s seen as more humane.
Wal-Mart sells more groceries than anyone else in the U.S., and its decisions typically sway the rest of the industry.
The challenge for Wal-Mart is transitioning to cage-free eggs while keeping a lid on prices, something the chain said it can do with the 2025 deadline.