CVS Health partners with Google Cloud
CVS Health has tapped Google Cloud to bring AI tools to its new health engagement platform, the pharmacy giant announced Thursday. The partnership will “reimagine health care experiences, increase consumer engagement, and ultimately support better health outcomes,” according to a CVS statement.
The new health engagement platform is part of CVS’s new health subsidiary Health100 and will integrate Google Cloud’s AI tools including Gemini, Cloud Healthcare API and BigQuery. The platform will launch in 2026, but an official launch date has not been announced.
OpenAI considers NATO deal following Pentagon partnership
Last Friday, OpenAI struck a deal with the Department of War to deploy its AI tools into the Pentagon’s classified areas — the same day President Donald Trump ordered government officials to stop using technology created by Anthropic via a Truth Social post.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has since altered the company’s Pentagon deal, stating that “the AI system shall not be intentionally used for domestic surveillance of U.S. persons and nationals” on Monday.
Nearly a week later, OpenAI is also considering a deal with NATO to deploy AI into its unclassified network, according to a company statement from Altman on Tuesday. Nato has previously tapped Palantir for an AI system supporting warfighters, and Google Cloud to integrate Gemini AI tech into its Joint Analysis, Training and Education Centre.
Amazon’s week: Iran center struck; robotics jobs cut
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeted an Amazon data center in Bahrain for Amazon’s support of the U.S. military on Wednesday, along with two data centers in the United Arab Emirates. Drone strikes caused structural damage along with power disruptions, and the impacted centers are now offline.
In other Amazon news, the company cut jobs in its robotics division Tuesday, adding to the 57,000 corporate roles that have been dissolved since 2002. In July, the e-commerce giant surpassed 1 million warehouse robots — marking a moment when robots working for Amazon outnumbered humans. The number of job cuts in the robotics unit this week has not been reported.
App Updates
With the rise of AI music, Apple’s Apple Music added Transparency Tags, a required tag for AI-generated audio content, on Wednesday. Music labels and distributors are responsible for correctly tagging AI audio for listeners to spot.
Amid rising competition from Spotify — which added audiobooks in 2022 — Audible announced a cheaper Standard subscription plan on Tuesday. The plan, which costs $8.99 a month, includes a monthly free book and unlimited listening from an Audible Originals collection, according to Audible’s announcement.
This story first appeared on PRWeek U.S.