March 26, 2025

news   Read News
Amazon Expands AI Efforts to Combat Counterfeit Products and Boost Startups

Amazon is taking significant steps to enhance its services and operations, from fighting counterfeit products to investing in artificial intelligence (AI) startups. The company's efforts to combat fake goods using AI and law enforcement have led to the seizure of over 15 million counterfeit products in 2024, more than double the number seized in the previous year. This is part of a broader effort to protect customers and brands from fraudulent activities on its platform.

Amazon Ramps Up Fight Against Fakes

Amazon has ramped up its fight against counterfeit products with the help of AI and law enforcement. The company seized over 15 million counterfeit products in 2024, more than double the prior year, as part of a growing effort to intercept fake goods before they reach customers. Amazon is expanding its use of AI behind the scenes and working with law enforcement to go after key sites where counterfeits are fabricated and distributed. The company uses AI scans to identify counterfeit products, computer vision technology to scan product images and logos, and multi-modal large language models to analyze images, text, and pricing patterns. Amazon also uses AI to analyze behind-the-scenes data, such as shared IP addresses, banking info, and account activity, to look for criminal networks.

Amazon Alexa Fund Expands Scope of Investments

The Amazon Alexa Fund has expanded its scope of investments to include a variety of developments in artificial intelligence (AI). The fund, which was launched in 2015, has also been investing in startups focused on AI-enabled hardware, generative media, smart agents, AI architectures, and other projects in the AI field. The fund has invested in four new startups working in different areas, including an all-in-one AI company, an AI media company, an AI-powered family management app, and a startup that lets users create websites, apps, games, or prototypes by describing them.

Amazon's Revamped Alexa Will Now Spy on All Conversations

Amazon's Revamped Alexa will now spy on all conversations, as the company kills a privacy feature ahead of its generative AI revamp. The policy change will see Echo users blocked from enabling the 'Do Not Send Voice Recordings' option, which preserved privacy by forcing devices to process commands on the device. Instead, recordings of conversations will be stored on Amazon's systems long enough to be used to train the generative AI features.

Goldman Sachs' Information Chief on Teaching Agentic AI Company Culture

Goldman Sachs' chief information officer, Marco Argenti, said that the real tech challenge lies in teaching agentic AI company culture. Argenti stated that businesses need to integrate company culture into AI agents, which are AI that acts independently. He emphasized that the tech industry has mostly focused on the specialization of expertise, but not on the enhancement of the cultural aspect of agents, which is crucial for managing AI in the workplace.

Red Hat Boosts Data Access for AI Application Training and Inference

Red Hat has strengthened the case for its platforms to become the foundation of enterprises' artificial intelligence systems with a host of new features. The updates to Red Hat AI are meant to improve the efficiency of AI training and inference while simplifying the user experience with flexible deployment across hybrid cloud environments. The company has also announced that it will soon be bringing the popular InstructLab tool to the IBM Cloud, enabling teams to simplify, scale up, and boost their security footprints when training large language models.

AI Agents at Agency Jellyfish Cut Campaign Launch Times by 65%

Jellyfish's AI agents have cut campaign launch times by 65% by automating media buying tasks across Google, Meta, and Amazon. The agency's AI agents streamline media buying by automating campaign setup and optimization, significantly reducing the need for large teams. The agents handle tasks such as organizing campaign data, setting up reporting dashboards, and adjusting budgets daily to avoid under or overspending.

Amazon's Alexa Fund Invests in Four New Startups

Amazon's Alexa Fund has invested in four new startups working in different areas, including an all-in-one AI company, an AI media company, an AI-powered family management app, and a startup that lets users create websites, apps, games, or prototypes by describing them. The fund's investments are part of its broader effort to invest more in AI startups and broaden its scope beyond its initial focus on voice technology.

DeepSeek Debuts Upgrade to AI Model

DeepSeek has debuted an upgrade to its artificial intelligence model, with improvements in areas like reasoning and coding. The new version of the Chinese startup's V3 large language model was made available through an AI development platform. The release marks DeepSeek's latest effort to make a name for itself in an evolving AI sector, competing with the likes of other major companies.

Key Takeaways

  • Amazon is taking significant steps to combat counterfeit products using AI and law enforcement.
  • The Amazon Alexa Fund has expanded its scope of investments to include AI startups.
  • Amazon's Revamped Alexa will now spy on all conversations, killing a privacy feature ahead of its generative AI revamp.
  • Goldman Sachs' chief information officer emphasizes the importance of teaching agentic AI company culture.
  • Red Hat has strengthened the case for its platforms to become the foundation of enterprises' artificial intelligence systems.
  • Jellyfish's AI agents have cut campaign launch times by 65% by automating media buying tasks.
  • Amazon's Alexa Fund has invested in four new startups working in different areas of AI.
  • DeepSeek has debuted an upgrade to its artificial intelligence model, with improvements in areas like reasoning and coding.

Sources

Amazon Artificial Intelligence AI Counterfeit Products Machine Learning Generative AI