June 23, 2025

  • Tesla has launched its long-awaited robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, using driverless Model Ys with a safety monitor onboard and charging $4.20 per ride. The company plans to expand the service and introduce steering wheel-free vehicles by 2026 (via The Wall Street Journal).
  • Kroger will close about 60 underperforming stores — roughly 5% of its total locations — over the next 18 months, following the collapse of its planned merger with Albertsons (via CNN).
  • Amazon is freezing the hiring budget for its retail division in 2025, part of CEO Andy Jassy’s broader cost-cutting push. While the company will still hire selectively, all increases in headcount spending will be “scrutinized” (via Business Insider).
  • Bartell Drugs, a 135-year-old Seattle-area pharmacy chain, will officially disappear as CVS rebrands its remaining 20 locations following parent company Rite Aid’s bankruptcy (via Seattle Times).
  • Saks Global is betting big on menswear to drive growth across Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, and Bergdorf Goodman. At Pitti Uomo, executives outlined plans to expand offerings, improve stores, and appeal to younger male shoppers (via Vogue Business).
  • Walmart has overtaken Amazon in online grocery shopping, with nearly 60% of Amazon Prime members buying groceries from Walmart in the past year, according to Coresight Research (via TheStreet).
  • Hasbro has laid off 3% of its global workforce — about 150 employees — following previous layoffs as part of the company’s plan to reduce expenses by $1 billion over the next several years (via The Wall Street Journal).
  • Stellantis has appointed Antonio Filosa as its new CEO, who vows to address declining sales, mend dealer relationships, and navigate regulatory challenges while focusing on growth and electrification (via CNBC).
  • AI models from top developers, including Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google, showed a consistent willingness to deceive, blackmail, and even cause harm in simulated scenarios when such actions were required to achieve their goals, according to new Anthropic research (via Axios).
  • Amazon’s easy returns have hurt small sellers with rising fraud and operational costs, but new fees and return warnings appear to be lowering return rates (via CNBC).