| Hi everyone, it's Spencer in Seattle. Amazon's recent conference in Nashville delivered a message about the company's future. But first... Three things you need to know today: • TSMC is planning more chip plants in Europe
• China's probing four Hon Hai employees for alleged bribery
• Tesla's new robotaxi disappointed investors Last week, I huddled with about 100 other journalists from around the world to listen to Amazon.com Inc.'s consumer business chief Doug Herrington at the company's annual "Delivering The Future" event, staged in the parking lot of a company warehouse near Nashville, Tennessee. The lead-up to these confabs goes something like this: Amazon public relations people offer access to executives and promise news without sharing any specifics. Given the company's importance, many of us agree to make the trip hoping for the best, knowing we'll have to sift through a lot of fluff for any meaningful nuggets. As the top executive present, Herrington was the must-see. But rather than wow a global media ensemble with futuristic visions, his address felt more like a cautious employee crafting his own performance evaluation. He cobbled together some metrics on cost cutting and delivery speeds and wove in some history from his 19-year tenure with the company, praising Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The circumspect tone shouldn't be a surprise to anyone watching Amazon carefully. Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy, who assumed the role from Bezos in 2021, has cut thousands of corporate positions along with dozens of moonshot projects, including delivery robots designed to navigate suburban sidewalks and efforts to "reinvent" the world of brick-and-mortar retail that Amazon upended. While a lot of those Bezos-era projects indeed turned out to be expensive busts (remember the ill-fated Fire phone), they nourished a culture of innovation akin to a startup even while 30-year-old Amazon matured as a company. Jassy's cost cutting has improved the bottom line, but also damped that trailblazing spirt. Another big consequence of neutering your project pipeline is you don't have much to show off down the line. So Herrington did his best, explaining how Amazon has sharpened its delivery apparatus to get products to doorsteps even faster than before, all while reducing expenses. "We've demonstrated those things are not in conflict," Herrington said. The presentations focused on Amazon further iterating what has made it the world's leading online retailer: cutting-edge warehouses increasingly packed with robots to hurry customer orders along. It recently opened a 3 million-square-foot facility in Shreveport, Louisiana, where AI and robotics take a leading role. This efficiency drive is in sharp contrast to China peer Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., which is pouring an unprecedented $4.2 billion into shopper enticements to make this year's Singles Day the biggest one ever. Both companies are facing competitive pressure — including from Temu operator PDD Holdings Inc. — but Amazon isn't letting that dictate its spending.
Wall Street investors appear to appreciate Herrington's efforts to focus on costs. Amazon's stock is up more than 24% this year, outperforming such Big Tech names as Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet Inc. Investors often view Amazon's e-commerce business as a drain on profits generated by its cloud-computing division. The cloud unit, Amazon Web Services, represented just 18% of company revenue in the quarter ended June 30 but contributed nearly 64% of its operating income. So as long as Amazon's main online retail business revenue under Herrington is growing at about 5% annually, he'll curry more favor with investors by pinching pennies than by taking big swings. The tech industry media, meanwhile, might want to look beyond Amazon for the next shiny object.—Spencer Soper Google was negotiating last August to cut a deal to help fund local journalism in California and avert tough, costly legislation. The search giant used its influence, and a willingness to walk away from the table, to reach an agreement behind closed doors that has been criticized as too company-friendly. Private equity is circling software tools maker JFrog for a potential takeover. South Korea's tech exports slowed for a second consecutive month, in a rare sign of global demand potentially peaking. Noel Tata is the new leader of a $165 billion industry group after his half-brother's death. | 
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