Many Websites, Apps Go Dark as Amazon's Cloud Unit Reports Global Outage

A rainbow is visible in the clouds behind the Capitol Building, weeks into the continuing US government shutdown on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., US, October 18, 2025. REUTERS/Aaron Schwartz
A rainbow is visible in the clouds behind the Capitol Building, weeks into the continuing US government shutdown on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., US, October 18, 2025. REUTERS/Aaron Schwartz
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Many Websites, Apps Go Dark as Amazon's Cloud Unit Reports Global Outage

A rainbow is visible in the clouds behind the Capitol Building, weeks into the continuing US government shutdown on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., US, October 18, 2025. REUTERS/Aaron Schwartz
A rainbow is visible in the clouds behind the Capitol Building, weeks into the continuing US government shutdown on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., US, October 18, 2025. REUTERS/Aaron Schwartz

Amazon's cloud services unit AWS was hit by an outage on Monday, causing connectivity issues for many companies around the world and disrupting services for several popular websites and apps including Fortnite and Snapchat.

"We can confirm increased error rates and latencies for multiple AWS Services in the US-EAST-1 Region," AWS said in an update on its status page.

AI startup Perplexity, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and trading app Robinhood attributed the outages to AWS.

"Perplexity is down right now. The root cause is an AWS issue. We're working on resolving it," Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas said in a post on X.

AWS provides on-demand computing power, data storage and other digital services to companies, governments and individuals. Disruptions to its servers can cause outages across websites and platforms that rely on its cloud infrastructure. AWS competes with Google's and Microsoft's cloud services.

AWS and Amazon did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Amazon's shopping website, PrimeVideo and Alexa were all facing issues, according to Downdetector.

Fortnite, owned by Epic Games, Roblox, Clash Royale and Clash of Clans were among the gaming sites that were down, while Paypal's Venmo and Chime were some of the financial platforms that faced issues, the outage tracking website said.

Uber rival Lyft's app was also down for thousands of users in the US.

Messaging app Signal's President Meredith Whittaker also confirmed on X that their platform was hit by the AWS outage as well.



Trump Media to Merge with Nuclear Fusion Company that Wants to Power AI

FILE - The download screen for Truth Social app is seen on a laptop computer, March 20, 2024, in New York.  (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
FILE - The download screen for Truth Social app is seen on a laptop computer, March 20, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
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Trump Media to Merge with Nuclear Fusion Company that Wants to Power AI

FILE - The download screen for Truth Social app is seen on a laptop computer, March 20, 2024, in New York.  (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
FILE - The download screen for Truth Social app is seen on a laptop computer, March 20, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

Trump Media & Technology will merge with a fusion power company in an all-stock deal that the companies said Thursday is valued at more than $6 billion.

Devin Nunes, the Republican congressman who resigned in 2021 to become the CEO of Trump Media, will be co-CEO of the new company with TAE Technologies CEO Michl Binderbauer.

The combined company says it plans to find a site and begin construction next year on the “world’s first utility-scale fusion power plant,” with aims to provide the electricity needed for artificial intelligence.

Shares of Trump Media & Technology, the parent company of President Donald Trump's Truth Social media platform, have tumbled 70% this year but jumped 20% before the opening bell Thursday.

Backed by Google and other investors, TAE is a private company and the merger with Trump Media would create one of the first publicly traded nuclear fusion companies.

“We’re taking a big step forward toward a revolutionary technology that will cement America’s global energy dominance for generations," The Associated Press quoted Nunes as saying in a prepared statement.

TAE focuses on nuclear fusion, a technology that combines two light atomic nuclei to form a single heavier one. It releases enormous amount of energy, a process that occurs on the sun and other stars, according to the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency. It's been seen as a promising solution to climate change caused by burning fossil fuels, but one that is a long way off compared to today's clean technologies like wind and solar.

TAE and Trump Media shareholders will each own approximately 50% of the combined company.

Trump is by far the largest stakeholder in Trump Media, owning 41% of all outstanding shares.

In October, the US Department of Energy released what it called a “roadmap” for fusion technology, with the aim of fostering “a burgeoning fusion private sector industry in the US toward maturity on the most rapid timeline.”

A number of tech companies, including Google, Microsoft and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, have shown interest in fusion technology as a way of powering the energy-hungry data centers needed to build and run their AI products.

TAE and Trump Media say the transaction values each TAE common stock at $53.89 per share.

At closing, Trump Media & Technology Group will be the holding company for Truth Social and TAE, along with its subsidiaries TAE Power Solutions and TAE Life Sciences.


Brazil to Get Satellite Internet from Chinese Rival to Starlink in 2026

Brazil's new Chief of Staff of the Presidency Rui Costa attends a ministerial meeting at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil January 6, 2023. REUTERS/Adriano Machado
Brazil's new Chief of Staff of the Presidency Rui Costa attends a ministerial meeting at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil January 6, 2023. REUTERS/Adriano Machado
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Brazil to Get Satellite Internet from Chinese Rival to Starlink in 2026

Brazil's new Chief of Staff of the Presidency Rui Costa attends a ministerial meeting at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil January 6, 2023. REUTERS/Adriano Machado
Brazil's new Chief of Staff of the Presidency Rui Costa attends a ministerial meeting at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil January 6, 2023. REUTERS/Adriano Machado

Chinese low Earth orbit satellite company SpaceSail will start providing internet access to remote areas in Brazil in the first half of 2026, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's chief of staff, Rui Costa, said on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

SpaceSail and Brazil's state-owned telecom Telebras had signed a memorandum of understanding in late 2024 to offer satellite internet services for schools, hospitals and other essential services in the South American country.

SpaceSail competes directly with Elon Musk's Starlink in the satellite internet market.


Google Launches First Ever Co-branded Credit Card in India

FILE PHOTO: A Google logo is seen at a company research facility in Mountain View, California, US, May 13, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Google logo is seen at a company research facility in Mountain View, California, US, May 13, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
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Google Launches First Ever Co-branded Credit Card in India

FILE PHOTO: A Google logo is seen at a company research facility in Mountain View, California, US, May 13, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Google logo is seen at a company research facility in Mountain View, California, US, May 13, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo

Alphabet Inc's Google Pay launched its first co-branded digital credit card in India on Wednesday in partnership with Axis Bank, intensifying efforts to monetize its massive user base in the country's crowded fintech sector.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

While Google Pay is a dominant player in India's popular domestic payments network, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), its core service generates zero revenue from user-to-user payments due to government mandates. It, however, earns commissions for in-app services like bill payments and mobile recharges, Reuters reported.

The credit card launch opens a new avenue for Google to monetize its user base, mirroring strategies by domestic rivals Paytm and PhonePe to cross-sell lending products to payment users.

BY THE NUMBERS

India has just 50 million credit card holders, according to Google Pay, whereas its population exceeds 1.4 billion.

Google Pay meanwhile is the second top app in India by number of UPI transactions, having processed nearly 7.2 billion transactions in October alone.

HOW IT WORKS

Axis Bank manages the credit risk and issuance, while the digital-only card will be linked to the Google Pay app to make online and offline payments on the go.