Amazon is replacing its TikTok-like Inspire with Rufus the AI bot
According to a report from The Information, Amazon users received a message from the online retail company saying that the Inspire feed was no longer available. The lightbulb icon that was used to access Inspire from the bottom of the Amazon app's home screen also disappeared. Kevin King, the founder of the Billion Dollar Sellers newsletter, posted a screenshot of the message on LinkedIn, which reads, 'Thank you for using Amazon Inspire to discover and shop new products on Amazon. Please note that Inspire is no longer available in the Amazon shopping app.'
The Inspire feed, which Amazon launched in 2023, provided an endless scroll of shoppable videos and images of products sold on the site posted by content creators and customers to demonstrate the use of said products and give testimonials on them. It was especially useful for content creators and influencers, as they would earn commissions from people buying the products immediately after viewing their content as part of the Amazon Influencer Program.
'We regularly evaluate various features to better align with what customers tell us matters most, and as part of that, Inspire is no longer available,' an Amazon spokesperson said.
While they didn't further explain the reason why Inspire was shut down, it can be implied that it didn't work as well as TikTok's Discover page in converting sales and compelling influencers to post content on there more frequently, as they can earn income elsewhere. However, they did redirect customers to other means of receiving product recommendations, including Rufus.
Rufus is an AI shopping assistant that answers questions to customers in an effort to help them find the products that best suit their needs quicker. For example, you can ask 'Best gifts for gamers,' and it'll recommend gaming headsets, mice, chairs, and consoles. Rufus will then ask, 'Can you share a bit about their favorite games or genres? For example, 'They enjoy RPGs like Skyrim.'' You respond, 'They play JRPGs like Kingdom Hearts and Fire Emblem,' and it'll recommend merchandise based on the games mentioned or similar, such as a Funko Pop figure of a character from Ni no Kuni.
Amazon shutting down Inspire coincides with the legal drama surrounding TikTok, which recently returned to the App Store and Google Play in the U.S. following a letter Attorney General Pam Bondi sent to Apple and Google assuring them they won't face any penalties related to the TikTok ban. The app was removed from both storefronts on January 18 as a result of a law that banned TikTok unless ByteDance sold it to an American company. Two days later, President Trump signed an executive order granting a 75-day stay on the ban while his administration figured out the best way forward.
How long the TikTok app will stay on the app stores is unknown. With Inspire gone from Amazon, it may be a little difficult for influencers to earn money from the content they post on the site. Although, it's worth pointing out that Amazon Live, the live-streaming and live-shopping feature, is still active, so maybe not that hard.
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Experts Reveal How To Avoid This Rude Email Habit
To get ahead in your career, you need a strong network. And part of that means learning how to email people for their time and connections. One of the simple yet critical requests you'll encounter in your life is being asked to introduce someone else over email, or needing an introduction yourself. Introducing two people over email is a social and professional skill everyone needs to learn, but so many of us get it wrong. It takes emotional intelligence and delicate phrasing to make it as easy as possible for everyone to get the outcome they want. If you do not want to confuse and irritate your connections, you need to be thoughtful about how you broker an introduction between two people over email ― and how you reply. We asked email and etiquette experts exactly where we go wrong and tips for how to be as courteous and as clear as possible in these requests. Here's their advice: The rudest thing you can do? Assume everyone is OK with being contacted for help. If you are the connection 'broker' who is writing the email, you are the one who needs to be mindful of everyone's time and capacity. 'The first thing is, you have to ask yourself, 'Who wants what from whom?'' said William Schwalbe, co-author of Send: Why People Email So Badly And How To Do It Better. If you know both people equally well, and this is a casual request to make new friends or a professional connection, you don't have to be as formal, because the stakes are lower. 'Delighted to make this introduction, I thought you would enjoy getting to know each other. I'll leave it to the two of you to take it from here' is how Schwalbe said you can phrase these requests. But often an introduction email is about asking one party to do something on behalf of another. If the email is to help someone else's career with an informational interview, for example, you need to confirm if the person who will be fulfilling this request is OK with being contacted for help. 'The biggest mistake I see when making an email introduction is not getting the consent of the person being introduced and giving them an opportunity to decline,' said Pattie Ehsaei, a senior vice president of mergers and acquisitions lending at a major bank who also runs the TikTok account Duchess of Decorum, where she teaches workplace etiquette. 'Ask both parties in a private email if they welcome an introduction to the other party, and if both consent, then and only then do you proceed with the introduction,' Ehsaei suggested. People are busy or unavailable for many reasons you may not know. In this preliminary email, you should explain the favor and give the person who is going to be asked to do something in return an easy way to decline. 'The last sentence should be 'I totally understand if you can't do it at this time,' or, 'I'll take no reply as indication that this isn't a good time for the introduction,' ''I'll assume that you can't unless I hear otherwise,'' Schwalbe said. No one likes being surprised with a task they did not agree to do. In this way, you preserve your relationship with your connection by letting them know that their time is important to you. And it can be polite to ask upfront about their preferred method of communication ― especially if this person's contact information is usually private. You can end this email with a line like: 'P.S. If you are willing to talk to them, do you prefer your home email, your work, email, or a text?' Schwalbe suggested. Even if you explained the request in a previous email or text, you should still summarize who everyone is in your official email to the two people being connected. 'Don't presume that the person you asked is going to remember, even if only a couple of days have gone by,' Schwalbe said. Here is a basic fictional template of how this could go: Subject line: Mark <> Julia Hey Mark and Julia, As I mentioned earlier, I'm delighted to make this introduction. Mark is a recent college grad who is hoping to learn more about breaking into marine biology research. He's a sharp writer who just did an internship at X. Julia is my dear friend who is a leader in X. I will let Mark take it from here to set up a time to chat. A good broker makes it easy for everyone to understand what the next steps are. To avoid being included in reply-all emails, Schwalbe said you should make it clear that you want to be dropped from the email thread. Schwalbe said you can phrase this request as 'You can drop me from correspondence going forward, but I look forward to hearing how it all goes.' If you're the person seeking the introduction, don't dilly-dally on a reply. If you ask your connection with help brokering an introduction, you need to follow through on your request right away. It shows your enthusiasm, interest and that you don't take this opportunity for granted, Schwalbe said. In our fictional example, this reply could look like: Hey Julia, I would love to talk to you about how to get into marine biology research. I really admire your career and would be happy to learn more about your journey over coffee or a phone call. That said, I completely understand if time doesn't allow for this kind of conversation. If you are available, please let me know what times would be best in your schedule. Schwalbe said as the person requesting help, it is courteous to give the person helping you an additional opportunity to decline if they are busy. If the request is job-related, you could include a sentence like: 'I would love to send you my resume, if you'd be willing to receive a copy,' Schwalbe said. Don't send attachments or PDFs of your portfolio until you hear back because it can come off as presumptuous in a first email, Schwalbe said. If you don't hear back, do not immediately follow up. Wait two weeks before bumping the email thread again and circling back with your connection broker after another two weeks of silence, as a general rule, Schwalbe said. This way, you give people enough time to respond if they are on vacation or busy. It's polite to keep your broker posted, regardless of the outcome. 'If something comes of it, the asker really should loop back,' Schwalbe said. 'If somebody wants me to speak to somebody, and I speak to them, and I never hear back, it is slightly irritating.' And even if you hear radio silence from your email recipient, you should tell your connector that you're still thankful for the time they took to help you. You can say something like, 'As it happened I didn't hear back but I know how busy they are, and wanted you to know that even though nothing came of it, I really appreciate your desire to help me,' Schwalbe said. When you're seeking help, be sensitive to how often you ask your broker for help. 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That's why, in Schwalbe's view, the biggest mistake we make with these kinds of emails is not understanding the value of someone giving you their undivided time and attention. 'It is a big favor to ask someone to take the time, and it's a favor a lot of people are genuinely delighted to do, but it's still a big favor,' Schwalbe said. HuffPost.
Buzz Feed
2 hours ago
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54 Useful Things That Are Under $25
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No roommates, no partners, and no third arm required. 🙏
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Stablecoins Are on the Rise. 3 Reasons Investors Should Pay Attention to This Popular Cryptocurrency.
Key Points New crypto legislation in Congress has paved the way for rapid expansion of the stablecoin industry. In addition to financial services firms, companies in industries ranging from retail to tech could launch new stablecoins. Stablecoins have the potential to disrupt existing industries and change the way investors value companies. 10 stocks we like better than Circle Internet Group › Passage of landmark new crypto legislation (the Genius Act) has led to a surge of positive sentiment about stablecoins. Some investors now think they have the potential to disrupt entire industries. Although some of this hype and buzz may be overblown, investors still need to pay attention. Here are three key ways that stablecoins could influence your investment strategy. 1. Impact on the business models of top companies Stablecoins, which are cryptocurrencies pegged 1:1 to a fiat currency such as the U.S. dollar, have the potential to affect the business models of companies that have nothing to do with crypto or blockchain. Take retail, for example. A handful of top retailers -- including Amazon and Walmart -- are now exploring stablecoins as a way of cutting down on credit card processing fees. At some point in the not-so-distant future, you might be paying for your online purchases with stablecoins, rather than credit cards. Or what about the financial services industry? Visa is a prime candidate for disruption, so it is already taking steps to prepare for the stablecoin era. And Western Union is also preparing for the day when customers use stablecoins rather than dollars to send cross-border remittances. So get ready to hear a lot about stablecoins on analyst calls and at investor conferences. After asking questions about the impact of artificial intelligence (AI), investors and analysts might start to ask about the impact of stablecoins. At the very least, investors need to understand how stablecoins might change or disrupt existing business models. 2. New stablecoin launches Also, get ready for a deluge of new stablecoin launches from some unlikely names. And it won't just be banks or financial institutions issuing them. Under the Genius Act, even nonbanks will be able to issue them. And that could really open the floodgates. Right now, Tether (CRYPTO: USDT) and USDC (CRYPTO: USDC), the stablecoin issued by Circle Internet Group (NYSE: CRCL), account for a whopping 90% of the $250 billion stablecoin industry. According to the latest Motley Fool stablecoin research, Tether and Circle are smaller than the biggest national banks, but larger than typical midsized brokerages. So, they're definitely, a force to be reckoned with. Right now, I'm partial to USDC, because it's the unofficial stablecoin of Coinbase Global (NASDAQ: COIN), which has a partnership agreement with Circle. I also am confident that it will never lose its peg to the U.S. dollar. I wouldn't have as much confidence in smaller stablecoins without such a proven track record or as many key partners. It's easy to see how this industry will become a lot more fragmented very soon, making it potentially even more confusing for the average investor. In June, Fortune reported that Apple, Airbnb, X, and Alphabet were exploring stablecoin launches. So, if you're an Apple fan, you might want to own an Apple stablecoin. The same is true if you're an Elon Musk fan -- wouldn't you want to own a cool new X stablecoin? 3. Ethereum Finally, there's the matter of which blockchain will emerge as the dominant platform for stablecoins. Presumably, investors will flock to blockchains that are seeing the most success with stablecoins. That's because stablecoins are key building blocks for everything that happens in blockchain finance. So the most popular blockchains for stablecoins should also get the highest valuations. Currently, Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) is getting a lot of buzz because it accounts for 49% of the stablecoin market. According to investment strategist Tom Lee of Fundstrat, stablecoins are going to create a "ChatGPT moment" for Ethereum, with the potential to really light a fire under its price. With that in mind, it's easy to see why high-profile investors such as Peter Thiel are now starting to increase their exposure to Ethereum as a way of investing in stablecoins. But Ethereum hardly has a monopoly on stablecoins. All Layer-1 blockchains, if they can support smart contracts, should also be able to support stablecoins. And that creates the opportunity for relatively unknown names to really pop. According to CoinGecko, Tron (CRYPTO: TRX) has a 34.1% share of the stablecoin market. By way of comparison, Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) only has a measly 2.2% share. If you think that stablecoins are the future, then Solana (with a $100 billion valuation), might be way overvalued compared to Tron, which has a $30 billion valuation. What's the best way to play the stablecoin trend? It's obvious that there are a number of different ways to play the stablecoin trend. The easiest way is to invest in the issuers of stablecoins, such as Circle. That gives you maximum exposure to any potential upside. You could also invest in blockchains such as Ethereum that are dominant in stablecoins, with the expectation that their values are going to soar. By the end of 2025, investing in stablecoins could get very interesting. What if a popular company like Amazon, Apple, or Alphabet decides to launch a stablecoin? It might fundamentally alter the way investors view these companies. That's why, even if you've never paid attention to stablecoins before, you should now. Very soon, they're going to become impossible to ignore. Should you invest $1,000 in Circle Internet Group right now? Before you buy stock in Circle Internet Group, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Circle Internet Group wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $636,774!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,064,942!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,040% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 182% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 21, 2025 Dominic Basulto has positions in Amazon, Circle Internet Group, Ethereum, Solana, and USDC. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Airbnb, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Ethereum, Solana, Visa, and Walmart. The Motley Fool recommends Coinbase Global. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Stablecoins Are on the Rise. 3 Reasons Investors Should Pay Attention to This Popular Cryptocurrency. was originally published by The Motley Fool
