Amazon’s local operation – which centres on its Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud operation – given its lack of a direct retail operation in NZ lost around 10 roles in the latest cull, according to an insider, with account managers and solution architects (the go-betweens who match a technology solution with a business problem) affected.
That’s on top of 10 to 20 engineering roles that were lost locally late last year. All were working on “an energy project”, according to the insider.
An Amazon spokeswoman had no comment on the number or type of roles affected. She said the firm could not break out staff numbers per country.
Responding to a Treasury economic resilience paper in mid-2023, Amazon said: “We have offices in Auckland and Wellington and employ more than 150 New Zealand staff in roles such as solutions architects, account managers, sales representatives and professional services consultants. We plan to hire a further 200 staff in the next few years to support local digital transformation.”
Tech Insider understands NZ staff numbers are around 250 going into the current cuts.
The Wall Street Journal put Amazon’s cull down to over-hiring during Covid. AI is taking some entry-level jobs, but also creating a smaller number of super high-paying positions.
Here, Amazon says that over 15 years, its Auckland data centre region will directly and indirectly create 1000 jobs.
The situation is opaque, however, after the company abandoned construction of a hyperscale data centre at a northwest Auckland site in early 2025, at the earthworks stage, in favour of leasing space with other data centre operators. Amazon has refused to give details of its revised local set-up.
While some media have cited the rise of AI in Amazon’s white-collar cull, the firm did not explicitly reference the new technology in a January 28 email from global HR head Beth Galetti to all staff.
“We’ve been working to strengthen our organisation by reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy,” Galetti said.
She added: “Some of you might ask if this is the beginning of a new rhythm – where we announce broad reductions every few months. That’s not our plan.”
Spark’s satellite-to-mobile service launching in April
Spark tells Tech Insider that its satellite-to-mobile service, billed as launching “in the first half of 2026″ will go live within three months.
Persistent industry scuttlebutt holds that the telco is partnering with SpaceX’s Starlink – the same partner as One NZ (which has exclusivity with Elon Musk’s firm for an unnamed amount of time). Spark won’t comment.
“We are launching satellite data and text in April, which will include calling over satellite-enabled apps like WhatsApp,” the Spark spokeswoman said.
“While we are excited to bring this functionality to our customers very soon, we do want to remind customers that emergency 111 calling cannot be made over satellite, including data communication apps such as WhatsApp.”
Satellite-to-mobile services provide coverage in mobile blackspots and work with an un-modified smartphone.
One NZ expands direct-to-cell service to data
One NZ launched texting via satellite in December 2024. Late last year, sneaking in just before its self-imposed deadline for adding voice and data services, the telco added data for some customers.
“One NZ worked closely with Samsung to provide early access to data for customers with Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7, Flip7 or Flip7 FE phones on an eligible plan,” a spokesman said.
The Samsung handset owners got access to various Meta apps, including WhatsApp, which includes voice calling.
One NZ has now also opened its satellite data service to customers with an Apple iPhone 13 and above and is planning to add more phones to the line-up in the coming months, the firm says.
“One NZ customers with an eligible phone and plan and line of sight to the sky, now have access to WhatsApp (including Meta AI), Google Maps, AllTrails, Plan My Walk Accuweather, and X,” experience and commercial director Joe Goddard says.
“Accessing the data service works in the same way as our satellite text service, with phones picking up the satellite when out of range of our mobile signal.”
The apps are “lite” versions designed to save bandwidth and One NZ says “some functionality may be different or unavailable over satellite”.
For some plans (listed here) satellite data is free, for others it’s $20 per month.
Starlink now has close to 10,000 low-Earth orbit satellites, but has been behind schedule launching its next-generation birds that support data to mobiles. It now has around 650.
2degrees plans to launch a satellite-to-mobile text, voice and data service later this year with AST SpaceMobile.
The telco promises “full-blooded” voice and data from the get-go.
Meanwhile, Amazon Leo (formerly Project Kuiper) is now going to take slightly longer to take on Starlink head-to-head. Earlier this week, Amazon asked the US Federal Communications Commission for an extension on its current regulatory timetable, which calls for half of its 3236 satellite network to be launched by July 2026. The tech giant now wants until mid-2028, citing rocket shortages. Amazon has commmitted US$10 billion to the project.
Late last year, Amazon Leo won a contract with Australia’s National Broadband Network (NBN) to supply internet-from-above to 300,000 remote homes, with service beginning later this year.
Undeterred by the pending competition, Musk got into a war of words last week with Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary over his airline’s refusal to adopt Starlink. O’Leary – with considerably more humour than his antagonist – gave as good as he gotcompetition (warning: language).
Teacher’s Buddy raises $2.3m
An AI startup that helps teachers build lesson plans, write reports and blitz through student assessments has raised $2.3m in a “pre-seed” round backed by Auckland’s Soul Capital and Melbourne’s Giant Leap – which bill themselves as social-impact investors.
The start-up was founded by Matt Abraham, an Auckland-based ad industry veteran and Melbournite Goldman Sachs Private Wealth alum Ben Sze who in 2011 co-founded Edrolo, a seller of textbooks and online courses for high school students that grew to 150 staff. He left day-to-day running in 2023 following a A$40m Series B raise.
The pair say they want to address “teacher burnout”.
Abraham wouldn’t give financials, other than to say Teacher’s Buddy is still in a very early commercial phase, but did tell Tech Insider the raise was at a $12.7m valuation.
“We are incredibly excited about what we’ve built and had live for the past couple of years, which has gained a good amount of traction globally and brought us to this point,” Abraham said.
“But the more exciting stuff is yet to come. We’re currently putting the finishing touches on our new upgraded platform, which will be an amplifier on what we’ve already built and going to be so helpful for teachers, schools and students.”
The start-up now employs 10 staff in Melbourne.
Abraham says Teacher’s Buddy, which has a free basic version, has been adopted by 12,000 teachers in 130 countries in its first 18 months.
A pro version costs $155 per year, with custom pricing available for school-wide deals.
In an age of so-called “ChatGPT wrappers” (apps that basically provide a dressed-up front door to the popular AI), Teacher’s Buddy includes in its FAQ: “What makes Teacher’s Buddy different from ChatGPT?”
The start-up’s answer: “Prompt writing can be difficult and intimidating – How do you get Chat GPT to give you exactly what you need, in the way you need it? How do you know it’s telling the truth?
“Teacher’s Buddy is full of customised, curated content generation tools that take the legwork out of having to come up with your own prompts.
“We’ve taken crafted and tested our prompts thoroughly to make sure they’re completely fit for purpose and offer solid, templated results that are easy to customise to your needs.”
Hungry Hippo completes its journey from Warkworth to Virginia
In early December, locals were wowed as the giant fairing, or nose cone, for Rocket Lab’s Neutron was barged down a river from Warkworth, then to Whangārei for shipping to the US.
On January 28, Rocket Lab – which has been a little secret squirrel about the whole operation – posted a pic of the nose cone arriving at its Launch Complex 3 in Virginia.
A spokeswoman confirmed it was the same bit of fairing that was constructed in Warkworth, at the carbon composite plant Sir Peter Beck’s company bought from SailGP.
The nose cone – which will open like a hungry hippo to release a satellite – will sit atop the crew-capable Neutron, due on the launchpad for its maiden test flight this quarter, following a series of delays.
The latest setback occurred on January 21, when the first Neutron’s main stage tank ruptured during a test in Virginia.
“Testing failures are not uncommon during qualification testing. We intentionally test structures to their limits to validate structural integrity and safety margins to ensure the robust requirements for a successful launch can be comfortably met,” Rocket Lab said in a statement.
“There was no significant damage to the test structure or facilities.”
Some investors took fright regardless, and the firm’s Nasdaq-listed stock dipped 8%.
Rocket Lab says it will update on Neutron’s schedule with its fourth-quarter result on February 26.
Big cat tracked
My family recently adopted an adult cat, a tail-less Manx called Wilson who had spent most of the first three years of his life outdoors.
He duly jumped off our balcony and spent several weeks on the lam until a member of our local community Facebook group caught him on a security cam.
You can see that rebel attitude in his eyes. He’s probably going to make another break for it. But this time he’s got an Apple AirTag attached to his collar.
Apple has just released its second-generation AirTag, which has 1.5x the Precision Finding range – that is, using Bluetooth to guide you to the exact location of a cat (or car key or suitcase or wallet) and a speaker that’s twice as loud, so you should be able to hear it from the other end of your home.
Apple doesn’t give a Bluetooth range for the splash and dust-resistant AirTag, because it depends on factors like walls and what they’re made of. But I’ve found it’s in the region of 10m to 15m.
Beyond that, any passing iPhone or iPad can detect the location of an AirTag, then share its location to the cloud – allowing you to see a lost object kilometres or even countries away. The whole crowdsourced process is anonymised. Only friends or family you’ve chosen to share the location of an AirTag with will see it.
The new AirTag has a new Ultra Wideband chip but the same dimensions and the same battery life (about a year).
I stopped by my local Animates to grab an AirTag holder for a cat collar. They didn’t stock them but a shop assistant directed me to their rival, Petstock, which did. You can also use one of the AirTag holders sold via Apple’s website.
Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.
