• From the Associated Press:
"After months of testing, TikTok is fully launching its e-commerce product in the U.S. in an effort to translate the app’s cultural relevance among young consumers to sales.
"The company said Tuesday its shopping wing, called TikTok Shop, will include several features such as a 'Shop Tab,' a marketplace its been testing on the app since August; affiliate videos in user’s feed that allows creators to earn commissions from products; as well as a logistics arm called Fulfilled by TikTok that stores and ships products for merchants.
"Currently, TikTok spokesperson Laura Perez said more than 200,000 sellers have registered for TikTok Shop. Meanwhile, over 100,000 content creators are participating in the affiliate program, which allows users who have 5,000 followers to create videos that go directly to TikTok’s algorithmically-engineered 'For You" feed.
"The Shop Tab, where products from TikTok’s marketplace are listed, is now available for 40% of users on the app’s home screen. The feature will be rolled out gradually until its available for the app’s 150 million U.S. users by early October, Perez said.
"Shopping on social sites, known as social commerce, is estimated to be a $69 billion market in the U.S.."
• Axios reports that Amazon is "the latest corporate giant to back direct air capture (DAC) technology," which the International Energy Agency (IEA) defines as extracting "CO2 directly from the atmosphere at any location, unlike carbon capture which is generally carried out at the point of emissions, such as a steel plant. The CO2 can be permanently stored in deep geological formations or used for a variety of applications."
According to the story, Amazon "announced plans to buy 250,000 tons of removal and permanent storage services over 10 years from 1PointFive, a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum.
"The removal will occur at a Texas plant under construction that's slated to start operating in 2025.
"Amazon also revealed it's investing in CarbonCapture, a developer of modular DAC systems, via its $2 billion Climate Pledge Fund."
Axios points out that "DAC is now among the tools Amazon's banking on - to some degree - to help reach its vow to be 'net zero' emissions by 2040. The company is involved with a suite of renewable power projects and efforts to electrify its gigantic delivery fleet, among other steps."
• Bloomberg reports that "US Labor Board prosecutors accused Amazon.com Inc. of imposing illegal secrecy rules on its staff, which could ultimately force the company to change its confidentiality regulations.
"In a complaint Monday, the National Labor Relations Board’s Seattle regional director wrote that Amazon violated federal law when it required a worker on its drone program to sign a confidentiality agreement as a condition of employment. The agreement prohibited the sharing of 'business and financial information' as well as information about the company’s 'techniques, technology, practices, operations and methods' — even if it’s not marked as confidential, according to the filing.
"The complaint, filed on behalf of the labor board’s general counsel, accused Amazon of violating rights guaranteed under federal workplace law, and said that this affects employees at all of the company’s locations in the US."
Bloomberg reports that Amazon has denied all wrongdoing, arguing that "confidentiality agreements are common across most companies,” and that "the NLRB is taking one line of our agreement out of context."
