The daily business briefing: January 22, 2018

Amazon opens its automated grocery store, stock futures edge down as the government shutdown continues, and more

An Amazon Go sign
(Image credit: David Ryder/Getty Images)

1. Amazon launches first automated grocery store

Amazon plans to open its first automated grocery store, Amazon Go, on Monday, after nearly a year's delay. Amazon says the store will have "no lines, no checkouts, no registers." It instead relies on automated "Just Walk Out" checkout technology, scanning a code on the shopper's Amazon Go app, then tracking them using scanning and Artificial Intelligence technology, and charging them for whatever they take out of the store. Some of the technology has been used in the development of driverless cars. The first 1,800-square-foot mini-market is located in Seattle. It has gone through testing in beta mode, open only to employees, after its original early 2017 launch date was postponed.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.