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Amazon Driver Florida Ave
(Tom Williams/Getty Images)

Amazon expands same-day shipping to over 4,000 rural towns in massive delivery push

The e-comm giant plans to triple its delivery network by 2026 and is zeroing in on everyday essentials.

Nia Warfield

Amazon is making a big move into small cities. In a press release Tuesday, the company said it plans to roll out same-day and next-day delivery to over 4,000 smaller cities, towns, and rural communities by the end of this year.

The expansion is part of a broader $4 billion effort to triple the size of its delivery network by 2026 and pull ahead in its race with legacy rivals like UPS and FedEx. The company added that the number of items delivered using same- or next-day in the US are already up over 30% compared to last year.

Amazon is especially focused on delivering everyday essentials (think: toilet paper, pet food, household goods), using AI to forecast demand and pre-stock top-selling items closer to customers.

The strategy is paying off: in Q1, Amazon said its everyday essentials category grew more than twice as fast as the rest of its business and accounted for a third of every unit sold in the US.

Amazon shares were up more than 2% Tuesday afternoon.

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GM has reportedly rehired more than 100 former Cruise employees, 18 months after shuttering the robotaxi unit

GM has rehired more than 100 employees it let go early last year when it shuttered Cruise, its former robotaxi business, according to reporting by The Information.

The hiring spree, which also includes employees from Nvidia and Uber, is geared toward ramping up GM’s plans for personal-use self-driving vehicles and not robotaxis. The former had been the focus of Cruise, prior to GM shuttering it in 2024.

Reporting last fall revealed that GM was attempting to rehire some former Cruise employees, but the scope of that effort wasn’t clear. More than 1,000 employees were laid off when the automaker scrapped Cruise, which it invested $10 billion into.

Google’s Waymo, Cruise’s former chief rival, is now worth $126 billion after a $16 billion funding round earlier this year. The company says it’s serving 500,000 paid robotaxi rides per week in the US.

Exclusive: With Some 100 Rehired Cruise Employees, GM Pursues Eyes-Off Autonomous Cars

Exclusive: With Some 100 Rehired Cruise Employees, GM Pursues Eyes-Off Autonomous Cars

Reporting last fall revealed that GM was attempting to rehire some former Cruise employees, but the scope of that effort wasn’t clear. More than 1,000 employees were laid off when the automaker scrapped Cruise, which it invested $10 billion into.

Google’s Waymo, Cruise’s former chief rival, is now worth $126 billion after a $16 billion funding round earlier this year. The company says it’s serving 500,000 paid robotaxi rides per week in the US.

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With gas prices soaring, the humble sedan is making a comeback

Recent US sales data reveals a “sedanaissance” among major automakers like Honda, Hyundai, and Toyota.

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McDonald’s has a new strategy: Make its stores “easier to run”

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