Tech: Amazon's secret Prime Day 2.0
Alright, there's good news and there's bad news. The good news is that oat milk lovers can now partake in an oat milk-themed video game. The bad news is that Internet Explorer was effectively laid to rest today. You win some, you lose some.
I'm Jordan Parker Erb, and I'll be your guide on today's rollercoaster of emotions.
You can listen to me talk about the demise of Internet Explorer on The Refresh from Insider.
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1. Amazon is quietly inviting select sellers to a secretive fall shopping day. The new Prime Day-type event could provide the company a much-needed sales boost — but some sellers are frustrated by Amazon's lack of information regarding the event.
- According to messages from Amazon seen by Insider, the shopping day is called the Prime Fall Deal Event. Invitees expect it to feature frenzied sales of TVs, sneakers, and other items.
- But Amazon hasn't shared much else about the new event — sellers aren't even sure when it's happening — and has given only a few weeks to submit promotional deals.
- To participate, sellers have to make relatively large budgeting and inventory decisions with very little information, and some are feeling the pressure.
Everything we know about the Prime Fall Deal Event.
In other news:
2. ICYMI: Major layoffs are underway at Coinbase. The company yesterday announced plans to lay off 1,100 employees — or 18% of its workforce. Here, a departing Coinbase employee describes being let go.
3. Who is Entrata CEO Dave Bateman? For many, the proptech founder came into view this spring when he emailed antisemitic conspiracy theories to some of Utah's biggest politicos and tech leaders. But others, including people who have worked with him, know Bateman as a hard-partying CEO who knew he was too big to be stopped.
4. Ford is recalling tens of thousands of electric Mustang Mach-E SUVs. A potential defect could cause nearly 49,000 of the electric vehicles to lose power, the company said in a notice to its dealers. More on the recall here.
5. Finally, there's an oat milk video game. Chobani just launched a Roblox game, "Chobani Oatmilk Cosmic Race," to help it get ahead in the booming alternative milk industry. What to know about the "Mario Kart"-style racing game.
6. Tech moguls are seeing their net worths drop. Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg have each lost at least $64 billion of their net worths so far this year. Here's how much each billionaire has lost on paper in 2022.
7. Twitter insiders expect Elon Musk to force a renegotiation of the $44 billion acquisition deal. Sources said Twitter's board thinks a legal fight with Musk is possible after he reviews the "firehose" of user data that is being made available to him. Everything else insiders told us.
8. Amazon invited influencers to its "Amazon Resort" in Mexico. As the company struggles to lure creators to its Amazon Live feature, the tech giant gathered more than a dozen attendees at a luxury resort, showering them with personalized gifts, cocktails, spa treatments, and surf lessons. Get the deets on the Amazon Resort.
Odds and ends:
9. A viral AI tool turns any prompt into a series of pictures. You may have already seen the images on Twitter of ridiculously spelled logos and bizarre-looking humans (see above), which have been created by an AI tool that tries its darnedest to make pictures out of prompts you give it. How to use DALL·E mini.
10. Looking for a Father's Day gift on a budget? We've got you covered. From e-readers to video game consoles, we have recommendations for useful and fun tech gifts — all under $100. Plus, Amazon is running a sale on a bunch of its own devices. Check it out here.
What we're watching today:
- Viva Technology starts today in Paris.
- Roadmap to Billions, an event for Black women in tech, starts today in New York.
- Dublin's Tech Summit kicks off today.
Keep updated with the latest tech news throughout your day by checking out The Refresh from Insider, a dynamic audio news brief from the Insider newsroom. Listen here.
Curated by Jordan Parker Erb in New York. (Feedback or tips? Email jerb@insider.com or tweet @jordanparkererb.) Edited by Hallam Bullock (tweet @hallam_bullock) in London.