Amazon.com Inc.

02/18/2026 | News release | Distributed by Public on 02/18/2026 03:39

What you need to know about Amazon today: February 18, 2026

Amazon has begun construction on a £40 million delivery station in Stockton-on-Tees, UK, that aims to be the first building in Amazon's global network and in Europe to achieve Living Future's new Zero Carbon Certification using AI-powered carbon tracking, locally sourced lower-carbon materials including mass timber and cement-free paving that stores captured carbon. The 10,800-square-meter facility, set to open in autumn 2026 and create around 100 jobs, is part of Amazon's £40 billion UK investment and will be constructed to the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard, with certification eligibility in 2027 following operational data collection. The project uses innovative technologies including photo-based material tracking, carbon-storing concrete embedded with captured CO2, and steel with high recycled content-all aimed at cutting emissions by at least 20% from day one.
Prime Video's God of Warseries, starring Ryan Hurst as the legendary Spartan warrior Kratos, has received a two-season order and follows Kratos and his 10-year-old son Atreus (Callum Vinson) on a journey to spread the ashes of Kratos' wife while navigating the dangerous world of Norse gods including Odin (Mandy Patinkin), Thor (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson), Heimdall (Max Parker), and Sif (Teresa Palmer). The series, with pre-production underway in Vancouver, focuses on the father-son dynamic as Kratos tries to teach Atreus to be a better god while Atreus shows his father how to be a better human. Ronald D. Moore (Battlestar Galactica, Outlander) serves as showrunner, executive producer, and writer, with Emmy Award-winning director Frederick E.O. Toye directing the first two episodes of the co-production between Sony Pictures Television, Amazon MGM Studios, PlayStation Productions, and Tall Ship Productions.
David Zapolsky, Amazon's chief global affairs & legal officer, emphasized at this week's AI Impact Summit in New Delhi how Amazon is fostering "patient capital meeting progressive governance," creating durable outcomes where jobs multiply and small businesses gain global market access. Amazon announced on December 9, 2025, plans to invest more than $35 billion in India through 2030, focusing on AI-driven digitization, export growth, and job creation. Building on nearly $40 billion already invested, Amazon has digitized over 12 million small businesses, enabled $20 billion in exports, and supported 2.8 million jobs in 2024. By 2030, the company plans to bring AI benefits to 15 million small businesses, provide AI education to 4 million students, support 3.8 million jobs, and quadruple exports to $80 billion.

Amazon is supporting Türkiye's environmental recovery three years after devastating earthquakes with a €1.5 million grant to the United Nations Development Programme. The funding will restore 450 hectares of damaged natural ecosystems across earthquake-affected regions while creating economic opportunities for recovering communities. Restoration activities include artificial wetlands, rainwater harvesting systems, sustainable compost production, seedling planting, and community seedbanks. The project, Amazon's first nature restoration initiative in Türkiye through its Right Now Climate Fund, begins in Yukarı Nasırlı Village in Adıyaman Province as a pilot model. Approximately 2,000 people will receive training and equipment, with plans to scale restoration efforts to 20 additional villages across the region affected by the 2023 earthquakes.
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