The company didn't disclose how many employees were affected, but said it is refocusing on AI initiatives it considers most important for customers
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The company did not disclose how many employees were affected. "We've been building large AI models for several years, and it remains one of the most important things we're working on," an Amazon spokesperson said. "We're sharpening our focus on the initiatives that matter most for customers, so we can move faster on what counts. That focus means some difficult decisions, including eliminating some roles within parts of our AGI organization."
According to The Wall Street Journal, the company told affected U.S. workers they would be covered for 90 days of pay and benefits, given access to outplacement services and transitional healthcare, and remain eligible for severance.
Artificial general intelligence describes a still-theoretical class of AI that would match or exceed human cognitive abilities and function without human direction. Reaching that threshold has become a stated ambition for several leading AI developers, who see it as a path toward tackling problems beyond the reach of today's tools.
Wednesday's cuts follow a broader round of layoffs that Amazon announced earlier this year affecting approximately 16,000 employees across the company. At the time, Amazon's Senior Vice President of People Experience and Technology Beth Galetti said the company would continue hiring and investing in areas it considers critical to its future, while also offering affected U.S.-based employees 90 days to search for new roles internally.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has been public about the company's direction. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos around the time of the January layoffs, Jassy said AI would affect jobs over time and that he could see the company operating with fewer employees in the coming years.
The reductions arrive even as Amazon pushes forward on building out its AI portfolio, with the Nova foundation model lineup and cloud-based generative AI products through Amazon Web Services among its prominent bets, according to The Wall Street Journal. Amazon's action fits into a wider industry dynamic in which major tech firms are reconfiguring their employee bases even as capital expenditures on AI infrastructure climb. Amazon has said it remains committed to investing in artificial intelligence despite the reductions.
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