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Amazon cuts jobs in AGI unit amid AI restructuring drive
Layoffs hit artificial general intelligence team as tech giant sharpens focus on priority projects
SAN FRANCISCO: Even the teams building tomorrow’s AI are not immune to today’s restructuring. Amazon has cut jobs in its artificial general intelligence (AGI) division, the latest in a series of targeted workforce reductions as the company reshapes its AI priorities.
The layoffs affect parts of Amazon’s AGI organisation, which is focused on developing advanced AI systems capable of performing tasks across a broad range of domains. The company did not disclose the number of roles eliminated, according to Reuters.
An Amazon spokesperson said the company remains committed to developing large AI models but is streamlining its efforts.
“We’ve been building large AI models for several years, and it remains one of the most important things we’re working on,” the 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 organisation.”
The latest job cuts come after significant leadership changes within Amazon’s AGI division over the past year. Amazon, senior vice president, Rohit Prasad left the company at the end of last year, while Amazon, head of AGI Lab, David Luan departed in February.
In December, Amazon consolidated its AGI operations under Amazon, senior vice president, Peter DeSantis, bringing the division together with the company’s silicon development and quantum computing teams as part of a broader organisational overhaul.
According to posts on online employee forums cited by Reuters, teams reporting to Amazon, vice president of artificial general intelligence data services, Adeeb Shanaa, and Amazon, vice president of AGI information, Vishal Sharma, were among those affected by the latest layoffs.
Amazon has not confirmed the total number of employees impacted.
The reductions follow a larger round of job cuts announced in January, when the company eliminated around 16,000 roles across multiple business units as part of a wider cost-cutting effort.
Despite the restructuring, Amazon continues to invest heavily in artificial intelligence, an area where major technology companies are racing to develop increasingly capable foundation models and, eventually, artificial general intelligence, a theoretical form of AI that could learn, reason and perform tasks at or beyond human capability across a wide range of applications.
The latest cuts suggest Amazon is narrowing its focus rather than slowing its AI ambitions, reallocating resources towards projects it believes offer the greatest long-term impact.
