Today's top stories: Uber reportedly wants a partnership with Waymo – here's what that means for both sides, Facebook ad prices are rising after the News Feed change, Square Cash is adding ACH deposits, and much more

WEEKEND ROUNDUP Amazon is investing in smart-home device maker Ecobee Amazon's Alexa fund recently participated in a $62 million Series C funding round into 11-year-old smart home device manufacturer Ecobee, according to CNBC. The funding round was led by Energy Impact Partners. The Toronto-based company primarily makes smart thermostats, but also sells sensor packages that can pair with the thermostats to help users manage hot and cold spots in their homes, and recently announced it will soon sell smart light switches. The Alexa fund, which Amazon launched back in late 2015, invests in third-party hardware companies and help them make their devices compatible with Alexa, or, in some cases, embed Alexa into their devices. Business Insider Intelligence analyst Nicholas Shields has the full story. BI Intelligence Daily is just a preview of BI Intelligence. Become an ALL-ACCESS member to unlock everything BI Intelligence has to offer. RESEARCH IN FOCUS Healthcare Payments In this report, Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, explains how a typical healthcare transaction is structured, identifies the major players in the industry, and pinpoints the most pressing pain points for stakeholders. We then look at the opportunities available to payments companies, and explore specific solutions that could help them attract partners in the space. Learn More → AI in Marketing In a new report, Business Insider Intelligence examines the current and potential applications of AI within marketing. We dive into how AI enhances personalization, and identify the best practices for marketers looking to integrate the nascent tech into their strategies. We also look at how marketers cam implement AI to better target audiences, gain a competitive edge, and analyze data from social platforms. Finally, we evaluate how these applications will transform — and enhance — the way marketers analyze data, conduct burdensome tasks, and create content. Learn More → Insurtech 2.0 This report from Business Insider Intelligence will briefly review major changes in the insurtech segment over the past year. It will then examine how startups and legacy players across the insurance value chain are using technology to develop new business models that cut costs or boost revenue, and, in some cases, both. Additionally, we will provide our take on the future of insurance as insurtech continues to proliferate. Learn More → BI Intelligence Daily is just a preview of BI Intelligence. Become an ALL-ACCESS member to unlock everything BI Intelligence has to offer. BRIEFING HIGHLIGHTS Uber reportedly wants a partnership with Waymo – here's what that means for both sides Ride-hailing giant Uber reportedly wants to partner with Waymo, Alphabet's self-driving technology spinoff, to allow its customers to hail rides from Waymo's autonomous cars, according to Engadget. Read More → Facebook ad prices are rising after the News Feed change The cost of Facebook ads has increased further since the platform tweaked its News Feed algorithm to de-prioritize publisher content, according to data from ad tech company AdStage per Recode. Read More → Square Cash is adding ACH deposits Square Cash (Cash App), Square's proprietary digital peer-to-peer (P2P) payments offering, has started supporting ACH-based direct deposits, according to a series of company tweets. Read More → iPhone owners more likely to buy a smart speaker Smart speakers are more popular among iPhone users than Android users in the US, according to a survey from Voicebot.ai. Read More → Here's why Costco's e-commerce is growing Costco reported its fiscal Q2 2018 earnings (ended February 2018), posting net sales of $32.28 billion, up 10.8% year-over-year (YoY). Read More → This insurtech company is partnering with Nasdaq for an $80 billion opportunity US-based insurtech Extraordinary Re has partnered software provider and exchange Nasdaq to launch a new platform to let investors trade exposure to insurance risk they have in their portfolios. Read More → A new study says many Uber and Lyft drivers earn less than minimum wage A new research study released last week by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) initially found that Uber and Lyft drivers earn a median pretax profit of $3.37 per hour, and nearly a third of them are actually losing money, NPR reports. Read More → JD.com's efforts to fend off Alibaba led to losses in Q4 JD.com reported its Q4 2017 results, with net revenue growing 38.7% year-over-year (YoY) to 110 billion yuan ($16.9 billion) for the quarter, while GMV grew to 403.4 billion yuan ($63.6 billion), a 33% YoY increase. Read More → Smartwatches are displacing fitness trackers Consumer appetite for high-end functional wrist wearables like smartwatches is depressing sales volumes of basic fitness trackers, according to the latest global wearables report from the IDC. Read More → Walmart and Amazon's grocery competition is heating up As Walmart and Amazon battle it out in the grocery space, they are undercutting the prices of regional and local grocers to gain an edge, according to data cited by Recode that calculated the average prices of popular grocery items in six US cities in late February 2018. Read More → BI Intelligence Daily is just a preview of BI Intelligence. Become an ALL-ACCESS member to unlock everything BI Intelligence has to offer. CHARTS OF THE WEEK Retailers are recognizing social media's value Automakers' obstacles to developing connected, autonomous cars Incumbents' fintech offerings are a serious threat to startups BI Intelligence Daily is just a preview of BI Intelligence. Become an ALL-ACCESS member to unlock everything BI Intelligence has to offer. BECOME A MEMBER You can gain access to everything BI Intelligence produces - ALL of our extensive research reports, newsletters, and data - when you claim your BI Intelligence ALL-ACCESS pass. With this level of membership, you will gain immediate access to… ALL Existing Reports Our research reports have taken thousands of hours to research, analyze and compile. With over 100 reports in our archive there is something for everyone with immediate profit-driving idea potential. 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