Amazon confirmed it has cut jobs within its artificial general intelligence division, the latest in a series of workforce reductions that have now exceeded 30,000 employees since last October. The company declined to specify the number of roles eliminated or which teams within the AGI unit were affected. The unit develops AI models, silicon hardware, and quantum computing projects.

An Amazon spokesperson said the company is refocusing on customer priorities, which means making tough decisions like removing some positions even as it continues to invest heavily in AI. The cuts come as Amazon pours massive capital into AI infrastructure, with capital expenditures forecasted at $200 billion for the year—a more than 50% increase from 2025—and tens of billions in new debt to fund the buildout.

The AGI group is central to Amazon’s strategy to compete with OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. In 2024, it released the Nova family of foundation models. Last December, longtime cloud executive Peter DeSantis replaced Rohit Prasad as head of the unit. In February, the company lost David Luan, the head of its AGI lab, who joined via the acquihire of his startup Adept. DeSantis recently acknowledged Amazon’s models haven’t reached the frontier for the largest workloads but said the company is working to produce one of the most capable intelligent models available. Amazon reports second-quarter results next week.

Source: CNBC