WSJ Tech News Briefing: Ukraine Proved Its Drones in Battle. The U.S. Wants Them Release Date: March 13, 2025

Welcome to the Wall Street Journal’s Tech News Briefing with host Shara Tipkin. In this episode, released on March 13, 2025, Tipkin delves into two major stories shaping the tech landscape: Walmart’s strategic push to compete with Amazon through same-day deliveries, and the burgeoning collaboration between the United States and Ukraine in drone technology development.

1. Walmart vs. Amazon: The Race for Same-Day Delivery Dominance

Walmart’s Strategic Shift: Walmart has been intensifying its focus on same-day delivery services as a cornerstone of its e-commerce strategy. Historically perceived as lagging behind online giants like Amazon due to its extensive physical store network, Walmart is now leveraging this very advantage to enhance its delivery capabilities.

Key Insights from Sarah Nassauer: WSJ reporter Sarah Nassauer provides an in-depth analysis of Walmart’s delivery surge. She notes, “They delivered about 5 billion products same day last year, 2024. And they say that's growing fast” (02:37). Nassauer explains that Walmart is utilizing a network of freelance gig drivers, referred to as “Spark,” alongside partnerships with third-party companies like Uber Eats, to facilitate these rapid deliveries (02:16).

Evolution of Walmart’s Delivery Model: Initially, Walmart introduced online grocery pickup, allowing customers to order groceries online and collect them from parking lots. This model has been progressively enhanced to include non-grocery items and speedy delivery, covering over 90% of the U.S. Nassauer emphasizes, “Walmart's the country's largest grocer and they long ago sort of realized, well, that might be a thing that we can use to compete with Amazon” (03:03).

Competition with Amazon: While Amazon maintains a significant lead in overall online presence, Walmart is carving out a niche in same-day delivery for frequently purchased items like groceries and household essentials. Nassauer points out, “Amazon is fully aware and doing lots of things to quickly try to cut Walmart off in terms of this sort of advanced ability” (04:17). Despite Amazon’s ongoing efforts to ramp up its grocery delivery services, including expansions of Amazon Fresh and other fulfillment centers, the competition remains fierce.

Future Outlook: Walmart aims to solidify its position as the largest company by revenue in the U.S., anticipating surpassing Amazon within the year if current growth trajectories continue (04:45). The battle for retail dominance is, therefore, far from over, with both giants striving to innovate and capture greater market share through enhanced delivery services.

2. Ukraine’s Drone Technology: A Strategic Asset Desired by the U.S.

Pentagon’s Drone Ambitions: The U.S. Department of Defense has long sought to acquire a substantial number of small, cost-effective drones for widespread military use. However, American drone manufacturers have struggled to meet these requirements efficiently. WSJ reporter Heather Somerville sheds light on this issue, stating, “The Pentagon has talked for a long time about the importance of acquiring a very large number of small drones that are relatively cheap...” (05:49).

Challenges for U.S. Drone Manufacturers: Somerville identifies several obstacles hindering U.S. drone production: limited domestic demand, insufficient robust manufacturing capabilities, and the high cost of production. Additionally, U.S. drones have yet to be battle-tested, revealing shortcomings when deployed in conflict zones such as Ukraine (06:27).

Emergence of U.S.-Ukrainian Partnerships: In response to these challenges, American defense startups are increasingly collaborating with Ukrainian drone manufacturers, who have demonstrated remarkable ingenuity and resilience amidst ongoing conflict. “There’s a real appreciation and respect for the ingenuity of these Ukrainian startups that have created what are now quite enormous drone operations with very limited resources” (07:25). These partnerships aim to combine Ukrainian expertise with American software capabilities to develop advanced drones suitable for Pentagon needs.

Manufacturing Disparities: Ukraine’s ability to produce drones at scale significantly outpaces the U.S., with Ukrainian companies manufacturing over 2 million drones last year compared to the Pentagon’s optimistic estimate of 100,000 drones annually from U.S. manufacturers (08:35). Cost and supply chain constraints, particularly the reliance on parts from China, further exacerbate the U.S.’s production challenges.

Political and Regulatory Hurdles: Despite strong technological incentives, political tensions—such as disputes between former President Trump and Ukraine’s president—could impede partnership efforts. Additionally, Ukraine’s export controls restrict drone sales outside the country, compelling companies to seek manufacturing bases in Europe and lobbying for policy changes to facilitate U.S. sales (10:28).

Future Prospects: The collaboration between U.S. and Ukrainian drone companies is poised to enhance the Pentagon’s drone capabilities, provided that political and regulatory obstacles can be navigated effectively. As Somerville concludes, the success of these partnerships hinges on maintaining trust and overcoming export restrictions to fully leverage Ukraine’s proven drone technology (10:33).

Conclusion In this episode, Tech News Briefing highlights Walmart’s innovative use of its physical store network to challenge Amazon’s dominance in same-day delivery and examines the strategic collaboration between the U.S. and Ukraine to advance drone technology for military applications. These stories underscore the dynamic interplay between traditional business models and cutting-edge technological partnerships shaping the future of commerce and defense.

Produced by Julie Chang, supervising producer Katherine Milsop, and Deputy Editor Chris Zinsley.