Walmart Expands Drone Ambitions
Walmart Expands Drone Ambitions
Kiwibot & Nickelytics head to loanDepot, Sam's Club deploys Seamless Exit
This week we’ve got a healthy serving of drone-related news, including a fun and easy way you could score a quick $150 just for sharing your thoughts.
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Walmart Drones On
Speaking of Drones, retailing giant Walmart is expanding its partnership with Wing. While the Bentonville Big Boxer works with a number of competing drone firm, it initially partnered with Google-aligned Wing in 2021, launching at three stores in Northwest Arkansas. Now it’s adding four new stores across the Dallas-Fort Worth region, as the two companies expand across DFW.
In Other Drone News
Amazon Prime Air is bringing in a new partner — Embention — which will provide safety systems and autopilot technology. This come hot on the heels of the company’s expansion of operations to Phoenix. Meanwhile, Drone Express has had its Part 135 application accepted by the FAA, as the Ohio-based startup hopes to eventually get approved for BVLOS operations. Drone Express partners include Kroger and Papa Johns, and the company has raised approximately $7.8 million in funding.
Kiwibot & Nickelytics Score Adtech Home Run with Marlins
Well here’s a new use for a delivery robot… adtech provider Nickelytics is bringing Kiwibot to the Miami Marlins’ loanDepot stadium, where the bots will serve as a fan activation throughout the 2024 baseball season. Ticket holders will be able to engage with the robots, and the advertisements they carry, throughout the baseball stadium.
Sam’s Club Rolls Out Seamless Exit Checkout Tech
While Amazon may be walking back its Just Walk Out deployments, Walmart-owned Sam’s Club is pushing ahead with a checkout innovation of its own: Seamless Exit is now deployed at 20% of its 599 U.S. stores. First revealed at CES 2024, the system uses AI and video tech to verify shoppers’ purchases, saving them the hassle of waiting in line for manual receipt verification.
Is AI Hype Reminiscent of the First Dot-Com Bubble?
This telling chart is courtesy of The Financial Times and Memex. Remember, history may not repeat, but it often rhymes…
In Other News
Alphabet spin-out Intrinsic integrates with Nvidia to improve robotic grasping. Carnegie Mellon is developing a new low-flying drone, originally to map wildfires. Wayve raises $1.05 billion for self-learning, self-driving tech.