TechFlash: Costco's not Amazon-proof; Salesforce targets Microsoft-LinkedIn deal

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Costco says it is not 'Amazon-proof' "Our value proposition is best served for us when it's in-store — getting members to come in, buying when they can see everything there that we have," Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti. Salesforce raises antitrust concerns about Microsoft's LinkedIn deal Salesforce argues Microsoft's $26.2 billion acquisition could block access to LinkedIn data for other companies. The effort could delay the deal Microsoft and LinkedIn expected to complete later this year. Amazon offers $2.5 million for socialbots to develop Alexa's voice control The team with the best socialbot will win $500,000 in prize money. An additional $1 million will be awarded to the winning team's university if their socialbot can converse coherently with humans for 20 minutes. Amazon will sponsor up to ten teams and provide them with $100,000, Alexa-enabled devices, free AWS service and support from Alexa. EXCLUSIVE: Bill Gates-backed fund leader on why traditional charity doesn't work Maurizio Vecchione – who manages Intellectual Venture's Bill Gates-backed Global Good Fund - shares his thoughts on what works and what doesn't when it comes to philanthropy and charity. EXCLUSIVE: Intellectual Ventures exec: Here's how to fix philanthropy on a global scale Entrepreneurs will be able to do more good, says Maurizio Vecchione – who manages the firm's Bill Gates-backed Global Good Fund – if they approach philanthropy as a business opportunity rather than an action of charity. Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk take their escalating space rocket rivalry to Twitter About five hours after Musk bragged about the first successful test-fire of SpaceX's interplanetary Raptor rocket, Bezos tweeted images of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket smoking a round of wind tunnel tests. Mortenson anticipates big savings with virtual reality technology Mortenson Construction has invested about $100,000 in virtual reality technology within the past six months and has already made it back. Four Microsoft research teams are working to 'solve' cancer with computers Microsoft is working on four multidisciplinary computer science projects after Vice President Joe Biden launched his cancer moonshot initiative. National Tech News Google takes on Uber, Lyft in the San Francisco Bay Area Most in U.S. don't share Silicon Valley's driverless car enthusiasm Here are the big winners as Nutanix value passes $4B with IPO

Connect with us   Companies in the News Costco Amazon Cowen and Co. LinkedIn Microsoft Salesforce and Amazon Web Services Intellectual Ventures United States Patent and Trademark Office Good Fund Motorola NASA SpaceX Blue Origin Mortenson Construction

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