Daily Tech Snippet: Tuesday, December 6

• Amazon’s new grocery store will let you pick items off shelves and walk out without paying: Called Amazon Go, the store will allow Amazon customers to shop for grocery staples, prepared meals and sandwiches, and then walk right out without stopping to pay at a cashier or kiosk. Customers need only to scan their phone using the new Amazon Go app on the way into the store, and their Amazon account will be charged for items taken.Sources previously told Recode that such a secret project was being run by Steve Kessel, a longtime Amazonian who once led the Amazon Kindle launch and who was close with CEO Jeff Bezos. The team working on Go has been experimenting with these ideas for as long as four years. Amazon says it is using a combination of AI, computer vision and data pulled from multiple sensors to allow customers to only be charged for the stuff they grab. It'll be interesting to see how good Amazon is at stopping theft and fraud in these new stores. The computer vision part seems to indicate that there are cameras being used to track you in the store, which some shoppers could find off-putting.  The first Amazon Go location is at 2131 Seventh Avenue in Seattle, Amazon’s home town. It will open early next year.
• Google Looks for 'Conservative Outreach' Manager After Trump Election Win: The Alphabet Inc. unit posted a job listing for a manager of "conservative outreach" on its policy team 10 days after the election. The company is searching for a Washington veteran to "tell Google’s story in an elevator or from a podium," according to the description on Google's career website.  "As a member of Google's Public Policy outreach team, you will act as Google’s liaison to conservative, libertarian and free market groups," the listing reads. "You are part organizer, part advocate and part policy wonk as you understand the world of third-party non-governmental advocacy organizations." Although Google eschewed lobbying in its early years, it has turned into one of the largest corporate forces in Washington. Alphabet has spent $11.9 million so far this year, ranking it in the top five among U.S. companies, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.  Its top lobbyist is Susan Molinari, a former Republican Congresswoman from New York. Her father, Guy Molinari, a luminary in the state's party, spoke out against Trump in 2015. In September, he told a New York City newspaper he was reversing his position and endorsing the party's nominee.