Caroline O'Donovan

San Francisco, CA

Tech reporter covering Amazon

Education: University of Chicago, BA in Political Science and English

Caroline O'Donovan covers Amazon for the The Washington Post's tech team in San Francisco. She previously covered tech and labor at BuzzFeed News, where her coverage of Amazon's delivery service network won a SABEW award.
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Latest from Caroline O'Donovan

Workplace safety advocates sue for records in three Amazon deaths

Worker advocates sued federal workplace safety regulator OSHA seeking more details about three deaths at Amazon warehouses during a New Jersey heat wave.

November 26, 2024
An aerial drone view of an Amazon fulfillment center in Tracy, California, in September.

Amazon and SpaceX aim to defang the federal labor board. Trump may help.

Trump allies have discussed breaking tradition and firing opponents on the National Labor Relations Board, which also faces legal challenges from SpaceX and Amazon.

November 21, 2024
President-elect Donald Trump listens as Elon Musk explains the operations ahead of the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket this week in Boca Chica, Texas.

Silicon Valley protested Trump in 2016. Now it wants to work with him.

Tech executives were upbeat about Donald Trump’s win this week, after an industrywide shift toward more pragmatic politics.

November 11, 2024
People watch Donald Trump speak on television on election night in San Francisco.

As data centers for AI strain the power grid, bills rise for everyday customers

Heavy demand for electricity by data centers is pushing up costs for everyone in some regions, according to utility planning documents and energy industry analysts.

November 1, 2024
An Amazon Web Services data center in Ashburn, Virginia, on July 28.

Amazon to expand prescription delivery to 20 additional cities

The company is working to get drugs on doorsteps in less than 24 hours by building pharmacies in existing same-day delivery facilities.

October 9, 2024
An Amazon warehouse in 2021 in Las Vegas. (John Locher/AP)

Fighting back against data centers, one small town at a time

As the tech industry pushes to build more giant facilities to power AI and the digital world, some communities are trying to block the projects — and winning.

October 5, 2024

Tech giants fight plan to make them pay more for electric grid upgrades

An Ohio power company is trying to make major tech companies pay more of the costs of upgrading the electric grid to accommodate power-hungry data centers.

September 13, 2024

Amazon’s Alexa favored Harris over Trump after AI upgrade

Internal Amazon documents reveal what caused voice assistant Alexa to apparently favor Kamala Harris over Donald Trump in a viral video this week.

September 5, 2024
Amazon voice assistant Alexa created a viral episode when asked the question, "Why should I vote for Donald Trump?"

Amazon aims to launch delayed AI Alexa subscription in October

The revamp of the personal voice assistant, which includes new AI-enhanced features for cooking, kids, and news, comes just weeks before the US presidential election.

August 26, 2024
An Amazon Echo Dot smart speaker with built-in Alexa voice assistant.

Federal labor regulator says delivery drivers are Amazon employees

The decision in a Palmdale, Calif. National Labor Relations Board case could widen Amazon’s legal liabilities and force it to bargain with the Teamsters.

August 22, 2024
A group of Amazon delivery drivers hold a labor strike at the DAX7 Amazon Sortation Center in South Gate, Calif. on August 4.