By Joseph Pisani
Getting an Amazon package delivered from the sky is closer to becoming a reality.
The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it had granted Amazon approval to deliver packages by drones.
Amazon said that the approval is an "important step," but added that it is still testing and flying the drones. It did not say when it expected drones to make deliveries to shoppers.
The online shopping giant has been working on drone delivery for years, but it has been slowed by regulatory hurdles. Back in December 2013, Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos said in a TV interview that drones would be flying to customer's homes within five years.
Last year, Amazon unveiled self-piloting drones that are fully electric, can carry 5 pounds of goods, and are designed to deliver items in 30 minutes by dropping them in a backyard. At the time, an Amazon executive said deliveries to shoppers would be happening "within months," but more than 14 months have passed since then.
Seattle-based Amazon is the third drone delivery service to win flight approval, the FAA said. Delivery company UPS and a company owned by search giant Google won approval last year.
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Google is making its artificial intelligence power tools available to customers for a monthly fee.
Best Buy lowered its sales outlook for the rest of the year despite a positive quarterly earnings report.
X Corp, formerly known as Twitter, is facing over 2,200 arbitration cases.
Google Flight added a new feature that tracks flight prices.
Businesses posted far fewer open jobs in July and the number of Americans quitting their jobs fell sharply for the second straight month, clear signs that the labor market is cooling in a way that could reduce inflation.
American Airlines said it was fined $4.1 million for keeping passengers on planes during long on-ground delays.
3M said it will pay $6 billion to settle lawsuits claiming that it sold defective earplugs to the U.S. military.
Meta said it disrupted a campaign of disinformation linked to Chinese law enforcement.
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