FTC accuses Amazon of running a ‘secret ad surcharge scheme’ in new lawsuit

techcrunch.com Aug 31, 2026

FTC accuses Amazon of running a ‘secret ad surcharge scheme’ in new lawsuit

Curated by Shubham · TechCapsules · Aug 31, 2026

AI-summarised brief · reviewed before publication

The Federal Trade Commission and 22 states filed a lawsuit Monday accusing Amazon of covertly inflating advertising fees on its marketplace. The complaint alleges that beginning in 2019 Amazon introduced a hidden “soft reserve price” and an “invented auction participant” – a fictitious bidder – to raise auction prices for more than one million brands and sellers. Over a seven‑year period the practice is said to have added tens of billions of dollars to Amazon’s ad revenue, which topped $68 billion last year. Prosecutors claim the surcharge was kept secret to prevent advertisers from lowering bids. Amazon responded in a blog post calling the suit misguided and insisting its auction system is transparent and price variations are normal. The case could reshape digital ad practices.

💡 Why It Matters

· By embedding a phantom bidder, Amazon may have altered the pricing baseline that advertisers rely on, giving the platform an unchecked advantage in a market that fuels much of its profit.

Amazon Capsules

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Spider-Noir Canceled at Prime Video After One Season

Amazon Prime Video canceled Nicolas Cage’s Spider‑Noir after one season, ending the live‑action take on the wall‑crawling hero. The eight‑episode series premiered in May 2026, with all episodes released at once. It was Prime Video’s second Marvel series, following a multi‑title deal with Sony Pictures Television that could bring additional superhero projects to the platform. Despite a 92% Rotten Tomatoes rating and strong initial viewership of 2.6 billion minutes, the show fell from Prime Video’s top‑10 charts and was axed four months later.

💡 The cancellation signals a shift in Prime Video’s strategy for Marvel content, potentially reshaping the streaming landscape for superhero storytelling. It underscores the challenge of sustaining niche genre blends in a crowded market.

gamesradar.com · Sep 4

Spider-Noir canceled after one season at Prime Video despite receiving 11 Emmy…

Prime Video announced that the critically praised series Spider‑Noir will not receive a second season, ending its run after one year. The noir‑styled Spider‑Man spin‑off, starring Nicolas Cage as a down‑on‑his‑luck Ben Reilly, earned 11 Emmy nominations and holds a 91 % Rotten Tomatoes rating, yet Amazon MGM Studios and Sony Pictures Television cited insufficient streaming performance relative to its roughly $400 million production budget. The decision follows the earlier cancellation of Silk: Spider‑Society, marking the second Sony‑Marvel property to be dropped despite a multi‑title partnership between the studios. While the series remains available in both black‑and‑white and color on Prime Video, insiders say additional Spider‑verse projects are still in development, with one nearing a series order and could reshape future Marvel streaming strategies overall.

💡 The show's $400 million price tag proves that even award‑winning prestige content must deliver blockbuster‑level viewership to survive on a streaming platform.

dailydhakatimes.com · Aug 30

Amazon Boosts Investment in Anthropic AI to $20 Billion

Amazon announced an additional $5 billion investment in Anthropic, potentially reaching $20 billion contingent on commercial milestones. This supplements the $8 billion previously committed to the Claude chatbot developer. Under the expanded partnership, Anthropic pledged to spend over $100 billion on Amazon Web Services technologies over the next decade. The agreement secures up to 5 gigawatts of capacity using Amazon’s custom Trainium chips, including Trainium2, Trainium3, and future iterations. Anthropic will also utilize millions of Graviton CPU cores. The integration allows direct access to the Claude Platform via AWS, simplifying billing and credentials for developers. Over 100,000 organizations currently use Claude models on Amazon Bedrock. Project Rainier, a massive AI compute cluster with nearly half a million Trainium2 chips, supports model training. This deal follows Anthropic’s report of tripling quarterly annualized revenue to over $30 billion. CEO Dario Amodei recently met with White House officials to discuss AI scalability, marking a shift after Pentagon concerns regarding military use restrictions.

💡 The deal cements Amazon’s hardware dominance by locking in a major AI client for its custom chips, bypassing competitors like NVIDIA. It also signals a strategic pivot from regulatory friction to government collaboration as Anthropic scales its infrastructure.

appleinsider.com · Aug 29

Save up to $200 on Sonos speakers, subs, soundbars this weekend

Amazon is offering limited-time discounts on a wide range of Sonos wireless audio products this weekend. Customers can save up to $200 on qualifying speakers, subwoofers, and soundbars. Specific deals include $100 off the Sonos Sub Mini, Move 2, Beam Gen 2, Era 300, and Ace headphones. The Sonos Sub 4 is reduced by $140, while the premium Arc Ultra Soundbar sees a $200 price cut. These promotions coincide with the start of the NFL season and the return of new TV episodes, positioning them as ideal upgrades for home theater enthusiasts seeking richer sound. According to Sonos, the discounts are valid until August 30, 2026. However, Amazon warns that some items are selling quickly. Shoppers are advised to purchase early to secure the savings before inventory runs out or the promotional period concludes. The sale covers both portable and stationary audio devices, including Dolby Atmos-enabled options.

💡 The timing aligns with peak viewing seasons, driving immediate consumer demand for premium home audio upgrades. Rapid inventory depletion suggests high market interest in Sonos' ecosystem despite the premium pricing.

standardspeaker.com · Aug 29

Amazon to close Mechanical Turk amid rise of AI

Amazon announced it will permanently close Mechanical Turk, its 21-year-old crowdsourced labor platform, on September 30. The decision also impacts SageMaker Ground Truth and Amazon Augmented AI, services that utilized human workers to train or verify artificial intelligence systems. Launched in 2005, Mechanical Turk allowed gig workers to perform simple digital tasks, such as transcription and image labeling, for minimal pay. Founder Jeff Bezos originally created the service to manage product data, dubbing it “artificial artificial intelligence.” The platform’s closure coincides with the rapid advancement of AI capabilities, which now handle many of these mundane tasks efficiently. A 2023 study revealed that a significant portion of workers already used large language models to complete assignments. Amazon stated the shutdown results from regular program evaluations. The move marks the end of an era for “turking,” a sector known for low wages and repetitive digital labor that once bridged the gap between human cognition and machine limitations.

💡 The shutdown validates that generative AI has fully replaced the need for human-in-the-loop microtasking in commercial applications. It signals a definitive end to the economic model of paying humans cents per task to train algorithms.

ign.com · Aug 27

MTG Fantastic Four Commander Deck Slashed to $51 on Amazon

Amazon has reduced the price of Magic: The Gathering’s Fantastic Four Commander precon from $75 to just over $51, a 31% discount. The deck features four Marvel heroes—The Thing, Human Torch, Invisible Woman, and Mr. Fantastic—each offering distinct playstyles and synergizing when non‑creature spells are cast. The Human Torch provides double strike and haste, Invisible Woman creates defensive walls, The Thing gains trample and counters, and Mr. Fantastic offers card draw and copy abilities. The deck’s modular design encourages experimentation and includes reprints like Seize the Day and Quantum Misalignment.

💡 The price cut makes a high‑quality, color‑full Commander deck accessible to a broader player base, potentially boosting engagement in the growing Marvel‑themed MTG niche.