Tech Report: Prime Day drives $24B in sales, Pentagon awards AI contracts

Amazon's annual Prime Day event generated a staggering $24 billion in U.S. e-commerce sales over four days, according to Adobe Analytics.

(LILAMAX)- Amazon’s annual Prime Day event generated a staggering $24 billion in U.S. e-commerce sales over four days, according to Adobe Analytics. While Amazon itself doesn’t release official sales figures, Adobe reported that sales momentum started slow but surged by Day 3.

Artificial intelligence played a surprising role in the shopping spree. Adobe noted a 3,300% spike in Gen AI-related traffic during the sales event. Among the best-performing categories, appliances saw a 112% increase in online sales.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Defense is turning to some of the country’s top AI developers to bolster military innovation. The Pentagon’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office announced it is awarding contracts to four major players: Alphabet’s Google, OpenAI, Elon Musk’s xAI, and Anthropic. While the total value of the deals remains undisclosed, each contract includes a ceiling of $200 million.

In corporate news, Intel has officially spun off its RealSense division into an independent company. RealSense, known for its AI-powered depth cameras and computer vision technology, helps autonomous machines navigate their surroundings. The tech is already embedded in 60% of the world’s autonomous mobile and humanoid robots—playing critical roles in warehouse automation, robotics, and security systems.

On the consumer side, streaming service users may soon face greater difficulty canceling subscriptions. A U.S. federal appeals court has struck down the Federal Trade Commission’s “click to cancel” rule. The regulation was intended to simplify subscription cancellations on platforms like Netflix and HBO Max. With the ruling reversed, consumers could see a return to more complicated opt-out processes.