Tag: amazon (Page 1 of 2)

Airbus and BMW Group launch Quantum Computing Competition

December 6, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

Santa Clara, California, December 6, 2023 – Airbus Group SE (Paris: AIR) and BMW Group (Xetra: BMWG) launch a global Quantum Computing Challenge entitled “The Quantum Mobility Quest” to tackle the most pressing challenges in aviation and automotive that have remained insurmountable for classical computers. This challenge is the first-of-its-kind, bringing together two global industry leaders to harness quantum technologies for real-world industrial applications, unlocking the potential to forge more efficient, sustainable and safer solutions for the future of transportation.

Quantum computing has the potential to significantly enhance computational power and to enable the most complex operations that challenge even today’s best computers. In particular, for data-driven industries like the transportation sector, this emerging technology could play a crucial role in simulating various industrial and operational processes, opening up opportunities to shape future mobility products and services.

Challenge candidates are invited to select one or more problem statements: improved aerodynamics design with quantum solvers, future automated mobility with quantum machine learning, more sustainable supply chain with quantum optimisation, and enhanced corrosion inhibition with quantum simulation. Additionally, candidates can put forward their own quantum technologies with the potential to develop native apps yet to be explored in the transportation sector.

The challenge is hosted by The Quantum Insider (TQI) and divided into two parts, a four-month phase where participants will develop a theoretical framework for one of the given statements, and a second phase during which selected finalists will implement and benchmark their solutions. Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides candidates with an opportunity to run their algorithms on their Amazon Braket quantum computing service.

A jury composed of world-leading quantum experts will team up with experts from Airbus, BMW Group, and AWS to evaluate submitted proposals and award one winning-team with a €30,000 prize in each of the five challenges, by the end of 2024.

Registration opens today, and submissions will be accepted from mid-January through April 30, 2024 here: www.thequantuminsider.com/quantum-challenge.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including expected delivery dates. Such statements are based on current expectations and projections about our future results, prospects and opportunities and are not guarantees of future performance. Such statements will not be updated unless required by law. Actual results and performance may differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Maersk finalizes ECO delivery deal with Amazon

September 6, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

Florham Park, New Jersey, September 6, 2023 – A.P. Moller – Maersk (OTC: AMKBY) and Amazon have finalized a 2023-2024 agreement for the transport of 20,000 FFE containers using green biofuel through Maersk’s “ECO Delivery” ocean product offering. Maersk estimates this purchase will contribute to a reduction in 44,600 metric tons of CO2e vs standard bunker fuel, roughly equivalent to 50 million pounds of coal burned. This is the fourth consecutive year that Amazon and Maersk have arranged container shipping using low GHG fuel options.

The ECO Delivery biofuel option offers emission reductions that enable immediate and externally verified GHG savings for customers, without compensatory measures like offsetting. This year, Amazon will benefit from a new feature of the ECO Delivery product which will be enabled by also using green methanol in addition to the bio diesel as a second green fuel* in the vessel fleet. ECO Delivery is using primary data for fuel consumption in the methodology to report emissions savings with greater precision, inclusive of other greenhouse gases in addition to the CO2. The new model also provides price certainty and stability and is de-linked from the fossil fuel market.

^* Maersk defines ’green fuels’ as fuels with low to very low GHG emissions over their life cycle compared to fossil fuels. Maersk green fuels and its supply chain are verified by the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) . The methodology for accounting emissions is based on GLEC (Global Logistics Emissions Council) and is certified by Smart Freight Center. We ensure auto-generated performance tracking of Maersk ECO Delivery shipments. Maersk ECO Delivery CO2e saving certificates will be issued. The method is audited by PwC in accordance with the International Standard of Assurance Engagements 3410 (ISAE 3410 – Assurance Engagements on Greenhouse Gas Statements), showing CO₂e savings for the scope of the Maersk ECO Delivery agreement.

Embraer and Brazilian Army complete first test of M200 Vigilante radar

August 28, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

Parintins, Brazil, August 25th, 2023 – Embraer (NYSE: ERJ) and the Brazilian Army have successfully completed the first test of the M200 Vigilante radar, including the deployment of the equipment on the KC-390 aircraft from the Brazilian Air Force (FAB). The radar operation was carried out at Júlio Belém Airport, located in Parintins, during June and July. The Parintins City Hall, Júlio Belém Airport, and Viracopos International Airport also supported the initiative.

The location was chosen due to the Parintins Folkloric Festival, an event that causes a significant increase in air traffic in the region. Thousands of visitors accessed the city this year through Júlio Belém Airport, resulting in more than 800 landings and takeoffs in one week. The M200 Vigilante radar was transported for the first time on a KC-390, on a three-hour journey between Campinas, in São Paulo state, and the city located in the Amazon rainforest. The sensor continuously monitored air traffic within a 200 km range of the airport, working together with CINDACTA IV flight controllers. CINDACTA IV is the Brazilian Air Force agency responsible for flight monitoring in the northern region of the country.

The M200 Vigilante radar is a medium-range sensor aimed at Air Surveillance and Early Warning applications. Using advanced processing techniques, it can identify and track positions and trajectories, as well as classify targets. It has an integrated power generation system, which guarantees operation autonomy for up to 48 hours and ease of transport by land and air platforms.

Lordstown Motors Pursuing $200 Million U.S. Retooling Loan, will Show EV Truck at Detroit Auto Show

January 28, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

FILE PHOTO: A sign welcomes visitors to the General Motors Lordstown Complex assembly plant in Warren, Ohio

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Electric pickup truck start-up Lordstown Motors is pursuing a $200 million loan from a U.S. Energy Department program to retool a former General Motors <GM> factory in northeast Ohio, Chief Executive Steve Burns told Reuters.

Burns met with Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette on Monday for about an hour and the company was holding additional talks with officials on Tuesday from the Energy Department’s Loan Program Office.

“We think we are worthy of government help. We don’t want a handout – we want a loan,” Burns told Reuters in an interview. “It’s just going to be more jobs faster if we get it. We are viable without it.”

Burns disclosed the company plans to unveil a drivable version of its electric truck at the Detroit auto show in June. It hopes to begin production by year-end.

The Energy Department declined comment.

Burns said the company hopes to receive funding from the Energy Department’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program that in 2009 awarded loans to Ford Motor Co <F>, Tesla Inc <TSLA> and Nissan Motor Co <NSANY> to retool factories, but has not issued loans since 2011. Nissan and Tesla previously repaid their loans.

The fate of the sprawling plant became a political lightning rod after GM announced its planned closure in November 2018, drawing condemnation from U.S. President Donald Trump and many U.S. lawmakers.

A bipartisan group of Ohio lawmakers wrote Brouillette last week offering “strong support” for the loan, saying northeast Ohio was dealt a “severe blow” by the plant closing.

Lordstown Motors Corp, which is 10% owned by Workhorse Group Inc <WKHS>, bought the plant and equipment for $20 million as part of its ambitious plan to begin building electric pickup trucks by the end of 2020.

“It’s cool to bring something back to life,” Burns said.

The company is working to raise additional funding and is in advanced talks with a large strategic investor, Burns said.

GM last year agreed to loan Lordstown Motors $40 million to acquire and retool the plant. Burns hopes to repay GM’s loan “in a few weeks.”

Burns plans to start crash-testing vehicles in July, hiring about 400 hourly workers in September and to begin production in November or December.

Electric vehicle startup Rivian, backed by Amazon.com Inc <AMZN> and Ford, plans to build an electric pickup truck and companion starting in late 2020. GM plans to build its first electric pickup truck starting in late 2021. Tesla plans to start building its electric Cybertruck in late 2021.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

GM to Revive Hummer Name with Electric Pickups, SUV’s

January 10, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

Workers leave the General Motors CAMI car assembly plant where the GMC Terrain and Chevrolet Equinox are built in Ingersoll

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – General Motors Co <GM> will revive the Hummer name to sell a new family of electric pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles and will tout the return with a Super Bowl ad featuring NBA star LeBron James, two people briefed on the matter said on Friday.

The vehicles will be sold under the GMC nameplate. Reuters reported in October that GM planned to build a new family of premium electric pickup trucks at its Detroit-Hamtramck plant beginning in late 2021 and was considering reviving the Hummer name, citing several people familiar with the plans.

The Wall Street Journal reported GM’s decision to move forward earlier on Friday. GM declined to comment.

The electric truck and SUV program is the centerpiece of a planned $3 billion investment in the Detroit-Hamtramck plant to make electric trucks and vans, and part of a broader $7.7 billion (5.9 billion pounds) investment in GM’s U.S. plants over the next four years that was part of a new contract signed with the United Auto Workers union last year.

The investment moves the automaker into a part of the EV market that is largely untested and where GM has a higher likelihood of turning a profit, analysts said.

Reuters reported GM plans to first build EV pickups in late 2021 and then an electric SUV in 2023.

Tesla <TSLA> CEO Elon Musk in November unveiled an electric pickup called “Cybertruck” it plans to build starting in late 2021.

Rivian, a start-up electric company backed by Amazon.com <AMZN>, will begin building 100,000 electric delivery vans for Amazon starting in 2021.

Hummers were rugged civilian utility vehicles with low gas mileage that were inspired by military vehicles and were popular with such celebrities as actor Arnold Schwarzenegger but derided by environmentalists as gas-guzzlers. GM shut down its Hummer brand after a deal to sell the SUV-line to an obscure Chinese machinery maker was blocked by Chinese regulators in 2010.

Michael Harley, executive editor for Kelley Blue Book, noted “the original Hummer was ostracized out of showrooms for being heavy and ponderous with an insatiable appetite for gasoline. An all-electric powertrain essentially exonerates the truck on all charges.”

Electric pickups and SUVs – the heart of the U.S. market – could help Ford Motor Co <F> and GM generate significant sales of EVs needed to meet tougher California emission standards and electric vehicle mandates.

The Trump administration is moving to roll back those standards – and eliminate extra credits that automakers receive from EV sales but electric trucks are a hedge if California prevails.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Sandra Maler and Alistair Bell)

Amazon Hires Sun Country to Fly Shipments

December 18, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

Sun Country will start cargo service with a big first customer: Amazon
Minnesota airline will add 10 planes, 70 pilots under 6-year cargo service deal.

Amazon is hiring Sun Country Airlines to fly packages around the country, a windfall deal that thrusts the Minnesota carrier into the cargo business.

The six-year deal, announced Tuesday, will immediately create a massive expansion for Sun Country. From the first flights next spring, the new cargo service for Amazon Air will quickly grow to represent 20% of all of Sun Country’s flying.

It is the first time Amazon has hired a commercial passenger airline for air service.

Sun Country will add 10 airplanes to its fleet and hire an additional 70 pilots to its existing force of 350. The Twin Cities-based airline will also hire more maintenance workers and 20 to 30 headquarters staffers to support Amazon Air operations.

“These are pretty highly compensated positions. … We are very excited about this,” Jude Bricker, Sun Country’s chief executive, said Tuesday. “This is going to be a great growth opportunity for our company, and the important thing for the Twin Cities is it will make us a better airline for Minnesota leisure travelers.”

Click the link for the full story! http://www.startribune.com/sun-country-will-start-cargo-service-with-a-big-first-customer-amazon/566286912/

Amazon is hiring Sun Country to fly shipments under its Amazon Air business. The six-year deal puts Sun Country into the scheduled cargo business for the first time. It will hire 70 pilots to fly the routes.

Lincoln Electric SUV to use Ford-backed Rivian ‘Skateboard’ Chassis

November 28, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

DETROIT — A battery-powered Lincoln SUV, due in mid-2022, will be the first Ford Motor Co. vehicle built on a custom electrified chassis that resembles a skateboard, which was developed by Ford-backed startup Rivian, according to several people familiar with the program.

The all-wheel-drive Lincoln SUV could compete against Rivian’s R1S, an electric sport utility vehicle slated to go into production in early 2021 that will be priced from $72,500. Both models will use Rivian’s so-called skateboard, a flexible platform that combines electric motors, batteries, controls and suspension.

On Tuesday, Ford declined to comment. Rivian did not respond to a request for comment.

The new Lincoln, which carries the internal program code U787, also could compete with premium offerings from others, including General Motors Co, which plans to introduce at least two new electric SUVs by 2023, one for Cadillac and one that could revive the Hummer name, sources have said.

Ford invested $500 million in Rivian this year and plans to help it begin production next year at a former Mitsubishi plant in Normal, Illinois.

When Ford made the investment, it said it would use Rivian’s skateboard to develop its own electric vehicle, but did not disclose details.

It is not clear where Ford intends to build the Lincoln SUV, which will be among the first of several battery-powered utility vehicles planned for Ford’s premium brand in North America and China, according to supplier sources familiar with those programs who asked not to be identified.

Ford expects to introduce a compact Lincoln electric crossover in late 2021 or early 2022 and a mid-size companion in 2023, the sources said.

The U.S. auto industry plans to invest billions of dollars over the next few years to build all-electric pickups and SUVs, sectors of the market that have been among the most profitable, especially for Detroit-based automakers.

But analysts have questioned whether demand from consumers and commercial customers will come close to matching production.

Founded in 2009, Rivian has raised $1.9 billion from investors, including e-commerce giant Amazon, which has ordered 100,000 electric delivery vehicles from Rivian. The first Amazon vans will be built in Normal and are to be delivered in 2021.

Ford aims to sell an electric F-series pickup in late 2021, sources have said. It also will offer the electric Mustang Mach E SUV next year as part of plans to invest $11.5 billion by 2022 electrifying its vehicles.

Amazon’s Rising Air Shipments Fly in the Face of Climate Plan

November 6, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc <AMZN> Chief Executive Jeff Bezos has plans to slash greenhouse gas emissions from the online retailer’s delivery operations.

Yet the company’s use of airplanes – the most climate-damaging mode of transportation – is on the rise, according to data provided to Reuters.

Amazon Air’s U.S. volume has risen steadily since its 2016 launch, according to an analysis of Department of Transportation data by Cargo Facts Consulting https://www.cargofactsconsulting.com, a Luxembourg-based advisory firm with a global staff and more than four decades of history.

It crunched data from Air Transport Services Group Inc <ATSG> and Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings <AAWW>. Both supply planes and pilots for Amazon Air.

In July, Amazon Air flew 136 million lbs of goods in the United States, according to the data. That was up 29% from the year earlier and just 9 million lbs short of December 2018, when the peak holiday shipping season was in full swing.

For a graphic on more Amazon Air flights, click the link below:

https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/editorcharts/AMAZON-AIRPLANES/0H001QXH999X/eikon.png

Bezos has said Amazon will cut its use of airplanes as it builds more local warehouses and fills them with goods that it can deliver to customer doorsteps in one day, or even one hour.

But for the time being, Amazon’s air shipments are climbing as it speeds up deliveries to lure customers and pressure rivals like Walmart Inc <WMT> and Target Corp <TGT>.

In April, Amazon started offering no-minimum purchase, one-day free shipping to members of its Prime subscription service.

In the latest quarter, it saw delivery costs soar, and warned the holiday quarter would see costs for one-day shipping alone spike to $1.5 billion.

The Seattle e-retailer, which sends 10 billion packages a year, declined to say what percentage of its shipments travel by plane or give specific examples of how the latest drive to shave time off its standard two-day shipping affected air transport.

Last month, Amazon said its CO2 emissions in 2018 were 44.4 million metric tons and set a goal to be net carbon neutral by 2040.

“We expect the percent of total shipments to customers utilizing air transportation to reduce from year to year as we significantly increase one and same day shipments,” Amazon spokesman Sam Kennedy said, when asked about Cargo Facts’ data.

DELIVERY WARS

A standard package flown on a plane in the United States creates an estimated 6-10 times more CO2 emissions than one traveling by truck, said Jacques Leonardi, a senior research fellow in freight, logistics and sustainable distribution at the University of Westminster in London.

Amazon Air leases 47 planes and is expected have 50 by the end of the year. It operates roughly 110 daily flights in the United States and around 20 per day in Europe, according to Cargo Facts.

In June, shortly after FedEx Corp <FDX> said its planes would stop shuttling packages for the online retailer, Amazon Air announced plans to have 70 planes on lease by 2021.

But Amazon says it is getting closer to customers with an expanding network of well-stocked warehouses. Those local fulfillment centers underpin the company’s one-day and same-day delivery services.

In a news release issued Monday, Amazon said those options were “better for the planet” because there aren’t many miles in the trip to customer doorsteps.

Because those time windows are so tight, “you are eliminating the possibility of air transportation,” Amazon’s Bezos said in September. “Even though it’s counterintuitive, the fact of the matter is that shorter delivery times end up being less carbon-intensive than longer delivery times.”

Products from most of Amazon’s 158 U.S. distribution centers can be shipped to 65% of the population in one day, said Marc Wulfraat, president of supply chain consultancy MWPVL International.

Items like footwear, jewelry, auto parts and niche electronics come from 23 distribution centers that span the country – and will likely need to be moved by air for next-day delivery, Wulfraat said.

Amazon also depends on United Parcel Service Inc <UPS> for air shipments. The Atlanta-based delivery company has seen a bump in that business since Amazon began expanding free one-day delivery this spring, UPS executives and analysts said.

Domestic next day air volume at UPS surged more than 30% in the second quarter and was up nearly 24% in the third quarter – fueled by faster e-commerce shipping speeds and rival FedEx’s breakup with Amazon this summer.

“It’s not all from FedEx,” said Satish Jindel, the founder of logistics advisory firm ShipMatrix, noting that express and deferred air services revenue at UPS surged $852 million in the second and third quarters.

Amazon’s business was worth about $900 million to FedEx prior to their split, Jindel said. Express, which includes air shipments, accounted for roughly $540 million of that, he said.

(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Mark Potter)

Microsoft Beats Amazon for Pentagon $10 Billion Cloud Computing Contract

October 26, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

WASHINGTON, Oct 25 (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp. has won the Pentagon’s $10 billion cloud computing contract, the Defense Department said on Friday, beating out favorite Amazon.com Inc.

The contracting process had long been mired in conflict of interest allegations, even drawing the attention of President Donald Trump, who has publicly taken swipes at Amazon and its founder Jeff Bezos. Trump in August said his administration was reviewing Amazon’s bid after complaints from other companies.

The Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure Cloud (JEDI) contract is part of a broader digital modernization of the Pentagon meant to make it more technologically agile. Specifically, a goal of JEDI is to give the military better access to data and the cloud from battlefields and other remote locations.

Oracle Corp had expressed concerns about the award process for the contract, including the role of a former Amazon employee who worked on the project at the Defense Department but recused himself, then later left the Defense Department and returned to Amazon Web Services.

In a statement, an Amazon Web Services (AWS) spokesman said the company was “surprised about this conclusion.”

The company said that a “detailed assessment purely on the comparative offerings” would “clearly lead to a different conclusion,” according to the statement.

AWS is considering options for protesting the award, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Although the Pentagon boasts the world’s most potent fighting force, its information technology remains woefully inadequate, according to many officials.

Officials have complained of having outdated computer systems and being unable to access files or share information as quickly as they might be able to in the private sector.

“If I am a warfighter, I want as much data as you could possibly give me,” Lieutenant General Jack Shanahan, the director of the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, told reporters in August describing the importance of the contract.

Some companies were concerned that a single award would give the winner an unfair advantage in follow-on work. The Pentagon has said it planned to award future cloud deals to multiple contractors.

This week, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper removed himself from reviewing the deal due to his adult son’s employment with one of the original contract applicants, IBM Corp. IBM had previously bid for the contract but had already been eliminated from the competition.

Microsoft said it was working on a comment. IBM and Oracle did not immediately return requests for comment.

In a book slated for publication Oct. 29, retired Navy commander Guy Snodgrass, who served as a speech writer to former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, said Trump called Mattis and directed him to “screw Amazon” by preventing it from bidding on the JEDI contract, according to an excerpt of the book seen by Reuters ahead of its release.

“We’re not going to do that,” Mattis later told other Pentagon officials, according to the excerpt. “This will be done by the book, both legally and ethically.”

Snodgrass declined to comment pending the release of his book.

In a statement announcing Microsoft as the winner, the Pentagon underscored its view that the competition was conducted fairly and legally.

“All (offers) were treated fairly and evaluated consistently with the solicitation’s stated evaluation criteria. Prior to the award, the department conferred with the DOD Inspector General, which informed the decision to proceed,” it said.

Microsoft shares were up 3% to $144.98 in after-hours trading after the news. Amazon shares were down 0.92% to $1,745.12.

The Pentagon said it had awarded more than $11 billion across 10 separate cloud contracts over the past two years.

“As we continue to execute the DOD Cloud Strategy, additional contracts are planned for both cloud services and complementary migration and integration solutions necessary to achieve effective cloud adoption,” the Pentagon said.

(Additional reporting by Stephen Nellis and Jeffrey Dastin in San Francisco Reporting by Phil Stewart in Washington; Editing by Cynthia Osterman, Sonya Hepinstall and Lincoln Feast)

Airbus Pulls Anniversary Book Over Fraud Probe Concerns

July 12, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

PARIS (Reuters) – Airbus has halted sales of a new book that the planemaker had commissioned for its 50th anniversary to avoid hampering the manufacturer’s attempts to win a settlement in a bribery probe, two people familiar with the matter said.

The move is the latest sign of tension in Airbus as it nears the climax of a roughly $400 million, four-year internal probe carried out in support of an Anglo-French investigation into the use of intermediaries to win jetliner and other deals.

Airbus has already fired more than 100 people over ethics and compliance issues as its probe has progressed.

The book, “Airbus: The First 50 Years”, written by former New York Times journalist Nicola Clark, charts the rise of Airbus against challenging odds to become a European rival to Boeing and has a chapter focusing on the probe.

Sources said Airbus hoped to present its findings to the UK Serious Fraud Office and France’s PNF police by the end of the year. By doing so, they said it would seek more leniency under a system of prosecution agreements that allows for heavy fines rather than charges that might bar it from public contracts.

The two people said Airbus halted the book’s sales because it was concerned its official links to the publication could hamper talks with the authorities or discussions over other litigation as it seeks a fresh start under new management.

Airbus confirmed it had decided not to go ahead with the commissioned book, but denied any link to the bribery probe. It declined comment on the progress of the investigation itself.

“We continue to co-operate in full with the ongoing investigation,” an Airbus spokesman said. “The investigation and the book are two separate topics”.

Clark told Reuters she was “deeply disappointed with the very belated decision by Airbus to withdraw (the book)”.

UK-based publisher Urbane Publications declined to comment.

The book stems from an unusual initiative launched in 2016 under which Airbus granted Clark unprecedented access and full independence to give an unvarnished account of 50 years of industrial co-operation just as Europe’s political unity wavers.

It was published on Amazon’s Kindle service on May 29, half a century after Airbus was launched at a meeting of Franco-German founders including Roger Beteille, who died last month.

The book was quickly withdrawn from online sale and plans to distribute already-printed copies at the Paris Airshow in June were scrapped at the last minute, casting confusion over the company’s 50th anniversary celebrations.

But copies have been circulating and a review was published by Leeham News, a website covering the aviation industry.

Airbus said the version seen by the public was a draft. “The draft wasn’t consistent with our ambition for celebrating 50 years of pioneering progress,” the Airbus spokesman said.

Clark said Airbus had not described the book as a draft before notifying her of the decision to withdraw it.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Edmund Blair)

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