Plus: Two senators ask FTC to probe Amazon and Walmart on how chatbots handle “Made in the USA” data. And Costco expands same-day delivery with Uber and DoorDash partnerships. Julie Chang hosts.
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[00:00:01] Here's your afternoon TNB Tech Minute for Thursday, September 17. I'm Julie Chang for The Wall Street Journal. We exclusively report that federal aviation officials are preparing to launch an AI-powered air traffic tool in Washington, D.C. as soon as Monday. The software, known as SMART, will help the Federal Aviation Administration and airlines reduce delays and cancellations,
[00:00:25] and find routes for flights when there are air traffic disruptions. Developed by Airspace Intelligence under a 12-year and $875 million contract, the software has the ability to analyze airline schedules, weather, runway capacity, and operational constraints to predict traffic flows and identify potential conflicts before they occur. Government and industry officials expect a broader nationwide rollout later on.
[00:00:52] In another journal exclusive, two senators are asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate how Amazon and Walmart's AI-powered shopping chatbots handle made-in-the-USA claims with shoppers. In a letter to the FTC chairman and the commissioner, Senators Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Rick Scott of Florida cited a Columbia University report that says Amazon's Alexa and Walmart's Sparky may obscure country-of-origin information for U.S. products,
[00:01:22] but provide information about products made in other countries. Walmart declined to comment, and Amazon said any suggestion that it intentionally withholds country-of-origin information is incorrect. And Costco is ramping up its same-day delivery offerings as it works to grow sales in new ways. Earlier this week, Uber said it would expand its partnership with Costco to deliver products in 47 U.S. states, up from 17 states.
[00:01:50] And today, DoorDash said it would also start delivering Costco products in the U.S. from all U.S. locations. The moves mark an expansion of Costco's fast delivery network. The membership warehouse retailer has long partnered with Instacart to make fast home deliveries from its stores. For a deeper dive into what's happening in tech, check out Friday's Tech News Briefing Podcast.