Amazon reported fourth-quarter earnings slightly below Wall Street estimates even as sales surged and it reported the fastest growth in its prominent cloud computing business in 13 quarters.

The Seattle-based online behemoth on Thursday reported net income of $21.2 billion, or $1.95 per share, for the three-month period ended Dec. 31. That compares with $20 billion, or $1.86 per share, in the year-ago quarter.

Revenue rose 14% to $213.4 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with $187.8 billion in the year-ago period.

Analysts were expecting $1.97 per share on sales of $211.4 billion, according to analysts polled by FactSet.

Revenue from its cloud service arm called Amazon Web Services increased 24% to $35.6 billion. Analysts were expecting $34.9 billion.

Amazon said it plans to increase capital spending to $200 billion this year from $125 billion as it sees opportunities in artificial intelligence, robots, semiconductors and satellites, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in a press release. Wall Street analysts were expecting spending to rise to around $147 billion, according to FactSet.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/42380698

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.today/post/46477169

Amazon on Tuesday appeared to have prematurely alerted Amazon Web Services cloud-computing employees to layoffs planned for Wednesday morning by sending a commiseration email and team-wide meeting invitation hours early.

Reuters reported on Friday that Amazon intended to lay off thousands of corporate employees starting this week. But the company has not yet informed impacted employees, nor has it confirmed the layoff plan.

The email sent on Tuesday signed by Colleen Aubrey, senior vice president of applied AI solutions at AWS, wrongly said that impacted employees in the U.S., Canada and Costa Rica had already been informed they lost their jobs.

In Slack messages viewed by Reuters, AWS employees who received the email said the Wednesday meeting was almost immediately canceled. Amazon referred in the email to the layoffs as "Project Dawn."

"Changes like this are hard on everyone," Aubrey wrote in the email, reviewed by Reuters. "These decisions are difficult and are made thoughtfully as we position our organization and AWS for future success."

Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

More in the article.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.today/post/46477169

Amazon on Tuesday appeared to have prematurely alerted Amazon Web Services cloud-computing employees to layoffs planned for Wednesday morning by sending a commiseration email and team-wide meeting invitation hours early.

Reuters reported on Friday that Amazon intended to lay off thousands of corporate employees starting this week. But the company has not yet informed impacted employees, nor has it confirmed the layoff plan.

The email sent on Tuesday signed by Colleen Aubrey, senior vice president of applied AI solutions at AWS, wrongly said that impacted employees in the U.S., Canada and Costa Rica had already been informed they lost their jobs.

In Slack messages viewed by Reuters, AWS employees who received the email said the Wednesday meeting was almost immediately canceled. Amazon referred in the email to the layoffs as "Project Dawn."

"Changes like this are hard on everyone," Aubrey wrote in the email, reviewed by Reuters. "These decisions are difficult and are made thoughtfully as we position our organization and AWS for future success."

Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

More in the article.

Amazon on Tuesday appeared to have prematurely alerted Amazon Web Services cloud-computing employees to layoffs planned for Wednesday morning by sending a commiseration email and team-wide meeting invitation hours early.

Reuters reported on Friday that Amazon intended to lay off thousands of corporate employees starting this week. But the company has not yet informed impacted employees, nor has it confirmed the layoff plan.

The email sent on Tuesday signed by Colleen Aubrey, senior vice president of applied AI solutions at AWS, wrongly said that impacted employees in the U.S., Canada and Costa Rica had already been informed they lost their jobs.

In Slack messages viewed by Reuters, AWS employees who received the email said the Wednesday meeting was almost immediately canceled. Amazon referred in the email to the layoffs as "Project Dawn."

"Changes like this are hard on everyone," Aubrey wrote in the email, reviewed by Reuters. "These decisions are difficult and are made thoughtfully as we position our organization and AWS for future success."

Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

More in the article.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.today/post/45949436

Reviews are in for Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson’s debut budget blueprint. They are mostly two thumbs down.

In the course of six hours of public hearings over three days last week, dozens of people criticized the governor’s approach to closing a projected $2.3 billion shortfall.

They booed his push to cap access to a coveted child care program, cut funding for public schools and colleges, and redirect climate dollars away from pollution reduction and toward tax credits for low-income working families.

There was applause for Ferguson’s embrace of an income tax on millionaire-earners. But because it could be years before it might generate revenue, testifiers urged members of the House and Senate budget-writing committees to find ways to raise money sooner.

A recurring theme was the lasting negative effects of further paring public resources after the widespread reductions made last year to plug a budget hole that Ferguson pegged at $16 billion over four years.

Tyler Muench of the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction said “significant cuts” proposed to popular programs like Running Start and cancellation of a planned funding boost for rural school districts carry longer-term consequences.

“OSPI cannot continue to absorb cuts and still deliver services that Washingtonians expect and deserve,” he said.

Ferguson’s budget director foresaw the negative response and empathized with lawmakers who are crafting their own spending plans in the House and Senate.

“It’s a very difficult set of budget decisions that we dealt with and that you all will have in front of you as well,” said K.D. Chapman-See, Ferguson’s chief budget writer, in presenting the governor’s proposal at hearings in the House Appropriations and Senate Ways and Means committees.

More in the article.

Reviews are in for Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson’s debut budget blueprint. They are mostly two thumbs down.

In the course of six hours of public hearings over three days last week, dozens of people criticized the governor’s approach to closing a projected $2.3 billion shortfall.

They booed his push to cap access to a coveted child care program, cut funding for public schools and colleges, and redirect climate dollars away from pollution reduction and toward tax credits for low-income working families.

There was applause for Ferguson’s embrace of an income tax on millionaire-earners. But because it could be years before it might generate revenue, testifiers urged members of the House and Senate budget-writing committees to find ways to raise money sooner.

A recurring theme was the lasting negative effects of further paring public resources after the widespread reductions made last year to plug a budget hole that Ferguson pegged at $16 billion over four years.

Tyler Muench of the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction said “significant cuts” proposed to popular programs like Running Start and cancellation of a planned funding boost for rural school districts carry longer-term consequences.

“OSPI cannot continue to absorb cuts and still deliver services that Washingtonians expect and deserve,” he said.

Ferguson’s budget director foresaw the negative response and empathized with lawmakers who are crafting their own spending plans in the House and Senate.

“It’s a very difficult set of budget decisions that we dealt with and that you all will have in front of you as well,” said K.D. Chapman-See, Ferguson’s chief budget writer, in presenting the governor’s proposal at hearings in the House Appropriations and Senate Ways and Means committees.

More in the article. I've also crossposted this to lemmy.world/c/Washington.

Washington state’s plan to transition the biggest ferry system in the United States to hybrid-electric by 2040 by purchasing new boats and undertaking complex conversions with several of our existing ferries is ambitious and laudable. No one disputes that we are in dire need of new ferries. Six of 21 ferries were pulled from service in recent weeks, and the converted hybrid electric ferry Wenatchee has been pulled for repairs several times since being put into service in July.

Washington State Ferries has been struggling with reliability for years, and some important steps have been taken towards righting the ship. Gov. Bob Ferguson prioritized restoration of reliable ferry service and has made changes and investments that make good on campaign promises. In addition to committing to building new ferries, the governor elevated the director of the ferry system to a cabinet-level position, and postponed taking the M/V Tacoma and Puyallup ferries out of service for conversion so as not to disrupt ferry service during the busy summer season and with the World Cup coming to Seattle.

But what’s driving unreliable ferry service today isn’t just too few boats on the water. Cancelled and delayed sailings are more often the result of a lack of licensed engine room crew required by Coast Guard regulations, and also a backlog of maintenance and repairs needed for a fleet of boats that, on average, are more than 50 years old. It is marine engineers who are responsible for operating, repairing and maintaining all the systems that keep ferries running smoothly. Few passengers are aware of this highly skilled workforce because they are out of sight below the car deck in the engine room, but they are essential to safe, reliable ferry service.

More in the article.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.today/post/45949080

Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed details of a security flaw that leverages indirect prompt injection targeting Google Gemini as a way to bypass authorization guardrails and use Google Calendar as a data extraction mechanism.

The vulnerability, Miggo Security's Head of Research, Liad Eliyahu, said, made it possible to circumvent Google Calendar's privacy controls by hiding a dormant malicious payload within a standard calendar invite.

"This bypass enabled unauthorized access to private meeting data and the creation of deceptive calendar events without any direct user interaction," Eliyahu said in a report shared with The Hacker News.

The starting point of the attack chain is a new calendar event that's crafted by the threat actor and sent to a target. The invite's description embeds a natural language prompt that's designed to do their bidding, resulting in a prompt injection.

The attack gets activated when a user asks Gemini a completely innocuous question about their schedule (e.g., Do I have any meetings for Tuesday?), prompting the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot to parse the specially crafted prompt in the aforementioned event's description to summarize all of users' meetings for a specific day, add this data to a newly created Google Calendar event, and then return a harmless response to the user.

"Behind the scenes, however, Gemini created a new calendar event and wrote a full summary of our target user's private meetings in the event's description," Miggo said. "In many enterprise calendar configurations, the new event was visible to the attacker, allowing them to read the exfiltrated private data without the target user ever taking any action."

Although the issue has since been addressed following responsible disclosure, the findings once again illustrate that AI-native features can broaden the attack surface and inadvertently introduce new security risks as more organizations use AI tools or build their own agents internally to automate workflows.

More in the article.

Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed details of a security flaw that leverages indirect prompt injection targeting Google Gemini as a way to bypass authorization guardrails and use Google Calendar as a data extraction mechanism.

The vulnerability, Miggo Security's Head of Research, Liad Eliyahu, said, made it possible to circumvent Google Calendar's privacy controls by hiding a dormant malicious payload within a standard calendar invite.

"This bypass enabled unauthorized access to private meeting data and the creation of deceptive calendar events without any direct user interaction," Eliyahu said in a report shared with The Hacker News.

The starting point of the attack chain is a new calendar event that's crafted by the threat actor and sent to a target. The invite's description embeds a natural language prompt that's designed to do their bidding, resulting in a prompt injection.

The attack gets activated when a user asks Gemini a completely innocuous question about their schedule (e.g., Do I have any meetings for Tuesday?), prompting the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot to parse the specially crafted prompt in the aforementioned event's description to summarize all of users' meetings for a specific day, add this data to a newly created Google Calendar event, and then return a harmless response to the user.

"Behind the scenes, however, Gemini created a new calendar event and wrote a full summary of our target user's private meetings in the event's description," Miggo said. "In many enterprise calendar configurations, the new event was visible to the attacker, allowing them to read the exfiltrated private data without the target user ever taking any action."

Although the issue has since been addressed following responsible disclosure, the findings once again illustrate that AI-native features can broaden the attack surface and inadvertently introduce new security risks as more organizations use AI tools or build their own agents internally to automate workflows.

More in the article. I've also crossposted to sh.itjust.works/c/Cybersecurity.

The EV4, Kia’s first electric sedan, will arrive in showrooms this month with the first customer deliveries set to begin by the end of January.

It will be based on the same 400-volt front-wheel-drive (FWD) version of Hyundai’s E-GMP platform, with the same battery pack options as the popular EV3.

The 2026 EV4 is available in Australia in three trims: Air, Earth, and GT-Line, with prices starting at AUD $49,990 (about $33,500 US Dollars), before on-road costs.

The base “Air” model is powered by a 58.3 kWh lithium-ion nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) battery, providing a WLTP driving range of 456 km (283 miles). Upgrading to the Earth and GT-Line grades gains a larger 81.4 kWh battery, rated with 612 km (380 miles) WLTP driving range.

With prices starting at AUD $49,990, the Kia EV4 is cheaper than the Tesla Model 3 in Australia. The Tesla Model 3 RWD starts at AUD $54,900, or AUD $4,910 more than the EV4.

To be fair, the Model 3 RWD beats Kia’s electric sedan on range, offering up to 520 km (323 miles). The Model 3 Long Range provides up to 750 km (466 miles) WLTP range.

While the EV4 undercuts the Model 3, BYD still has Kia beat on prices. BYD’s electric sedan, the Seal, starts at just AUD ($46,990), or AUD $3,000 less than the EV4, but it also has less driving range, rated at 570 km (354 miles).

More in the article.

After launching the Urban Cruiser EV in Europe last month, Toyota is bringing the low-cost electric SUV to a new global market.

The Urban Cruiser will be the first Toyota EV available in India, a country emerging as a high-potential global hub for electric vehicles.

Domestic brands like Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra dominated the market, supported by locally built EVs and favorable government policies. Meanwhile, global leaders like BYD and Tesla face high import tariffs, making it harder to compete.

Some foreign brands, such as Hyundai, are gaining a foothold in the local EV market with domestically built models like the Creta Electric.

Toyota will take a similar approach with the Urban Cruiser EV. The electric SUV is a twin to the Maruti Suzuki e-Vitarra and will be built at Suzuki Motors’ massive Gujarat plant.

More in the article.

EV charging provider EVgo has committed to a massive deployment of EV charging sites at Kroger Family of Stores locations across the US. The company plans to build at least 150 fast charging stalls per year through 2035 at the company’s sites, which operate under various brands, including Kroger Foods, Fred Meyer, Fry’s Food Stores, Harris Teeter, King Soopers and Smith’s Food and Drug.

Each of the sites will include up to 16 DC fast charging stalls, featuring high-power EVgo chargers that can deliver a full charge in as little as 15 minutes—an ideal fit for grocery locations where shoppers tend to spend less than an hour.

The first charging site of the expanded program is now operational in Salt Lake City. Additional deployments are slated for Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Texas, Washington and other states.

(Slightly) more in the article.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.today/post/45948731

As we prepare for missions beyond Earth orbit, one crucial challenge remains: keeping astronauts healthy in microgravity. Without daily exercise, their muscles, bones and cardiovascular systems weaken, which could impact mission success and astronaut safety, especially in destinations such as the moon or Mars, where crew will have to operate autonomously immediately after landing.

This is why ESA has developed the European Enhanced Exploration Exercise Device (E4D)—a compact, versatile in-flight exercise system designed to ensure astronauts stay strong and ready for the physical demands of returning to Earth or working on other planetary surfaces.

E4D combines four exercise modes: resistive training, cycling, rowing and rope pulling, offering a wide range of workouts and the flexibility to add new ones later.

"E4D is a gamechanger for astronaut health. By enabling a broader and more adaptable range of resistance exercises, it supports the preservation of muscle mass and bone integrity in microgravity, which are two of the biggest physiological challenges during long‑duration missions," says ESA's E4D principal investigator Tobias Weber.

"Just as important is E4D's self‑monitoring capability. Using an integrated camera-based motion capture system, it allows astronauts to track their performance, evaluate their movement execution and self‑correct posture in real time. This reduces reliance on ground supervision and helps ensure that every training session remains safe, precise and effective, even in the demanding environment of orbit," adds Jennifer Struble, ESA's Operations Team Lead for E4D and Co-Investigator.

"E4D is a system I'm really looking forward to using during the εpsilon mission. I really enjoy exercising for both physical and mental well-being and since it's especially important to protect our bones and muscles in microgravity, I'm excited to try the new workouts made possible in space thanks to this European technology," says ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot, who is now practicing with E4D on the ground as part of her mission preparations.

More in the article.

As we prepare for missions beyond Earth orbit, one crucial challenge remains: keeping astronauts healthy in microgravity. Without daily exercise, their muscles, bones and cardiovascular systems weaken, which could impact mission success and astronaut safety, especially in destinations such as the moon or Mars, where crew will have to operate autonomously immediately after landing.

This is why ESA has developed the European Enhanced Exploration Exercise Device (E4D)—a compact, versatile in-flight exercise system designed to ensure astronauts stay strong and ready for the physical demands of returning to Earth or working on other planetary surfaces.

E4D combines four exercise modes: resistive training, cycling, rowing and rope pulling, offering a wide range of workouts and the flexibility to add new ones later.

"E4D is a gamechanger for astronaut health. By enabling a broader and more adaptable range of resistance exercises, it supports the preservation of muscle mass and bone integrity in microgravity, which are two of the biggest physiological challenges during long‑duration missions," says ESA's E4D principal investigator Tobias Weber.

"Just as important is E4D's self‑monitoring capability. Using an integrated camera-based motion capture system, it allows astronauts to track their performance, evaluate their movement execution and self‑correct posture in real time. This reduces reliance on ground supervision and helps ensure that every training session remains safe, precise and effective, even in the demanding environment of orbit," adds Jennifer Struble, ESA's Operations Team Lead for E4D and Co-Investigator.

"E4D is a system I'm really looking forward to using during the εpsilon mission. I really enjoy exercising for both physical and mental well-being and since it's especially important to protect our bones and muscles in microgravity, I'm excited to try the new workouts made possible in space thanks to this European technology," says ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot, who is now practicing with E4D on the ground as part of her mission preparations.

More in the article. I've also crossposted this to mander.xyz/c/space.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.today/post/45948628

Researchers from the University of Waterloo's Faculty of Science and the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) are prioritizing collaboration over competition to advance quantum computer development and the field of quantum information. They are doing this through Open Quantum Design (OQD), a non-profit organization that boasts the world's first open-source, full stack quantum computer.

OQD was co-founded in 2024 by faculty members in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and IQC, Drs. Crystal Senko, Rajibul Islam and Roger Melko, alongside CEO Greg Dick (BSc '93).

The group is helping reshape how quantum research is shared, opening doors for the next generation of quantum scientists, and even seeding new quantum startups.

"We are offering a shared hub where groups can contribute what they're comfortable sharing and, as a non-profit, we can be transparent about real progress without commercial pressures," Senko says.

OQD's stack spans hardware, the electronic and computing layers that run it, and open software. Their quantum computer uses ion-trapping, which involves isolating charged atoms (ions) in a vacuum and manipulating them with lasers and electromagnetic fields. This isolation allows the atoms to act as quantum bits (qubits), storing and processing information with carefully controlled interactions.

More in the article.

Researchers from the University of Waterloo's Faculty of Science and the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) are prioritizing collaboration over competition to advance quantum computer development and the field of quantum information. They are doing this through Open Quantum Design (OQD), a non-profit organization that boasts the world's first open-source, full stack quantum computer.

OQD was co-founded in 2024 by faculty members in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and IQC, Drs. Crystal Senko, Rajibul Islam and Roger Melko, alongside CEO Greg Dick (BSc '93).

The group is helping reshape how quantum research is shared, opening doors for the next generation of quantum scientists, and even seeding new quantum startups.

"We are offering a shared hub where groups can contribute what they're comfortable sharing and, as a non-profit, we can be transparent about real progress without commercial pressures," Senko says.

OQD's stack spans hardware, the electronic and computing layers that run it, and open software. Their quantum computer uses ion-trapping, which involves isolating charged atoms (ions) in a vacuum and manipulating them with lasers and electromagnetic fields. This isolation allows the atoms to act as quantum bits (qubits), storing and processing information with carefully controlled interactions.

More in the article. I've also crossposted this to piefed.social/c/technology.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.today/post/45609781

Senate Republicans voted to dismiss a war powers resolution Wednesday that would have limited President Donald Trump’s ability to conduct further attacks on Venezuela after two GOP senators reversed course on supporting the legislation.

Trump put intense pressure on five Republican senators who joined with Democrats to advance the resolution last week and ultimately prevailed in heading off passage of the legislation. Two of the Republicans — Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Todd Young of Indiana — flipped under the pressure.

Vice President JD Vance had to break the 50-50 deadlock in the Senate on a Republican motion to dismiss the bill.

The outcome of the high-profile vote demonstrated how Trump still has command over much of the Republican conference, yet the razor-thin vote tally also showed the growing concern on Capitol Hill over the president’s aggressive foreign policy ambitions.

Democrats forced the debate after U.S. troops captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid earlier this month

More in the article.

Senate Republicans voted to dismiss a war powers resolution Wednesday that would have limited President Donald Trump’s ability to conduct further attacks on Venezuela after two GOP senators reversed course on supporting the legislation.

Trump put intense pressure on five Republican senators who joined with Democrats to advance the resolution last week and ultimately prevailed in heading off passage of the legislation. Two of the Republicans — Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Todd Young of Indiana — flipped under the pressure.

Vice President JD Vance had to break the 50-50 deadlock in the Senate on a Republican motion to dismiss the bill.

The outcome of the high-profile vote demonstrated how Trump still has command over much of the Republican conference, yet the razor-thin vote tally also showed the growing concern on Capitol Hill over the president’s aggressive foreign policy ambitions.

Democrats forced the debate after U.S. troops captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid earlier this month

More in the article.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/53271240

https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=2112&Initiative=false&Year=2025

To hell with this.

The first public hearing is this Friday, January 16, in-person and online. If you live in Washington, you can file a comment in advance rather than attend the hearing. Follow the link above and hit the "Send a comment to your legislators" button.