Amazon lays off staff in artificial general intelligence unit

“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.”

Amazon did not provide an exact number of affected employees, according to the reports. But LinkedIn posts reported by CNBC showed that impacted employees involved those who were focused on model customisation and post-training.

AGI refers to a kind of AI with capabilities that “rival those of a human,” according to McKinsey & Company. The technology is expected to replicate human-like cognitive abilities, such as reasoning, problem-solving, perception, learning, and language comprehension.

Amazon’s career website indicates more than 100 open jobs at its AGI unit.

“At Amazon Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), you’ll be at the heart of AI innovation, whether you’re working on our latest state-of-the-art frontier models or building core capabilities that enable AI agents to take actions in the digital and physical worlds,” its website read.