If you're planning to shop on Black Friday, you may want to check out a cashierless store. Sam's Club, a digital-led warehouse membership group, partnered with Allyson Felix and Usain Bolt, to promote its updated proprietary technology "Scan and Go."
Scan and Go lets shoppers keep track of items they want to purchase and skip the checkout line at Sam's Club, a division of Walmart ($WMT). Cashierless stores were popularized by Amazon Go stores, but the tech company isn't the only player.
"One thing we know in retail is that people want to do two things: they want to save time and they want to save money," Tony Rogers, senior vice president for Sam's Club, told Cheddar.
"In general, what we're trying to do is eliminate friction," he said, touting the speed of the experience. "We wanted to talk about it, and we thought … who exemplifies speed better than Usain Bolt and Allyson Felix?"
The store began using scanning technology a few years ago, but has been updating the software, including adding the ability to scan the entire item instead of just the barcode, which could potentially save more than five seconds on each item.
Sam's Club opened its first cashierless store in Dallas last year.
Rogers said the company is focused on implementing and continuing to update its scanning technology, and that the company may be interested in licensing its technology in the future.
"Inside the company, there's a real tech vibe," he said.
A rare magnum of Dom Pérignon Vintage 1961 champagne that was specially produced for the 1981 wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana has failed to sell during an auction. Danish auction house Bruun Rasmussen handled the bidding Thursday. The auction's house website lists the bottle as not sold. It was expected to fetch up to around $93,000. It is one of 12 bottles made to celebrate the royal wedding. Little was revealed about the seller. The auction house says the bids did not receive the desired minimum price.
The New York Times and President Donald Trump are fighting again. The news outlet said Wednesday it won't be deterred by Trump's “false and inflammatory language” from writing about the 79-year-old president's health. The Times has done a handful of stories on that topic recently, including an opinion column that said Trump is “starting to give President Joe Biden vibes.” In a Truth Social post, Trump said it might be treasonous for outlets like the Times to do “FAKE” reports about his health and "we should do something about it.” The Republican president already has a pending lawsuit against the newspaper for its past reports on his finances.
OpenAI has appointed Slack CEO Denise Dresser as its first chief of revenue. Dresser will oversee global revenue strategy and help businesses integrate AI into daily operations. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently emphasized improving ChatGPT, which now has over 800 million weekly users. Despite its success, OpenAI faces competition from companies like Google and concerns about profitability. The company earns money from premium ChatGPT subscriptions but hasn't ventured into advertising. Altman had recently announced delays in developing new products like AI agents and a personal assistant.
President Donald Trump says he will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China. Trump said Monday on his social media site that he had informed China’s leader Xi Jinping and “President Xi responded positively!” There had been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips into China as it could help them to compete against the U.S. in building out AI capabilities. But there has also been a desire to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker Nvidia.
U.S. sports betting is booming as NFL and college football fuel massive activity. BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt breaks down trends, growth, and what’s next.
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Disney's changes to a program for disabled visitors are facing challenges in federal court and through a shareholder proposal. The Disability Access Service program, which allows disabled visitors to skip long lines, was overhauled last year. Disney now mostly limits the program to those with developmental disabilities like autism who have difficulty waiting in lines. The changes have sparked criticism from some disability advocates. A shareholder proposal submitted by disability advocates calls for an independent review of Disney's disability policies. Disney plans to block this proposal, claiming it's misleading. It's the latest struggle by Disney to accommodate disabled visitors while stopping past abuses by some theme park guests.
