Amazon cuts jobs on its artificial general intelligence (AGI) team. This is the company’s latest round of smaller layoffs, following major layoffs earlier this year. The company did not disclose how many employees lost their jobs.
The full scale of the layoffs is not yet known. Amazon confirmed the layoffs after Reuters asked it about the matter. A company spokesperson said Amazon is making changes to focus on its most important artificial intelligence projects.
The spokesperson said Amazon has been building large artificial intelligence model For several years. The company said artificial intelligence remains one of its biggest priorities. Amazon said it wants to move faster on projects that matter most to customers. An Amazon spokesperson told Reuters that because of this new focus, it decided to eliminate some positions in the AGI unit.
What is Amazon AGI?
AGI stands for Artificial General Intelligence. It is a futuristic type of artificial intelligence that is expected to become smarter than humans and be able to work, learn and improve on its own without much help from humans. Many of the world’s largest artificial intelligence companies are trying to build general artificial intelligence. They believe it could one day solve very difficult problems in different industries.
Amazon AI leadership changes
Amazon There has also been a change in leadership within the AGI unit. Rohit Prasad, one of the company executives responsible for AGI, left Amazon late last year, Reuters reported.
David Luan, head of Amazon’s AGI lab, also left the company in February. In December, Amazon restructured its AGI business. The company delegates all AGI work to Senior Vice President Peter DeSantis. Peter DeSantis now oversees a larger technology team. The group includes AGI, silicon chip development and quantum computing projects.
Also read: Disney layoffs: Hundreds of jobs cut at Pixar, ESPN and National Geographic Channel
Employees hit by layoffs
Employees from both AGI teams said they were affected by the layoffs. According to Reuters, the affected teams are led by Adeeb Shanaa, vice president of data services at AGI, and Vishal Sharma, vice president of information at AGI, according to employee posts on online forums.
Reports of the layoffs first emerged in online forums, where employees said they had been affected. However, Amazon has not confirmed how many employees were affected. These layoffs Amazon made larger layoffs earlier this year. In January, the company cut about 16,000 jobs across its business units.
The latest layoffs show Amazon is continuing to reinvent its workforce. Despite significant investments in artificial intelligence, the company is reducing jobs on some teams as it shifts resources to its top priorities.
