Amazon says it will fix its racially-biased rush delivery service

Amazon has pledged to expand its same-day service to underserved people in the 27 cities it currently operates, and not to launch the service anywhere else without being able to cover every zip code, Bloomberg reports. The move follows a Bloomberg investigation in April that found the company's same-day delivery service was substantially biased in favor of whites in some regions; for example, the report found that black residents in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, and Washington were "about half as likely" to be eligible for same-day delivery as white residents.

Now, Bloomberg reports, Amazon plans to rectify the disparity. "Very shortly, we will be expanding Prime Same Day service to every zip code of the 27 cities where Prime Same Day delivery is currently launched," the company said in a statement given to Bloomberg by the Congressional Black Caucus. "We will further not launch the service in any new regions, until we are able to secure a carrier for every zip code." Amazon says it is "still figuring out the details," but that complete coverage should be achieved "shortly."

In April, Amazon denied demographics had anything to do with where it decides to deploy the delivery service, claiming that it starts by focusing on ZIP codes that have a lot of Prime members. Amazon VP Craig Berman told Bloomberg that "demographics play no role in it. Zero." Nonetheless, the strategy had clear demographic consequences.

• SourceBloomberg Bloomberg