Amazon (AMZN.US) Implements Layoffs in AGI Division to Focus on AI Development Priorities

According to The Smart Finance Journal APP, reports on Wednesday indicate that Amazon (AMZN.US) is conducting layoffs within its Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) research division. This division is responsible for developing the core models that power general autonomous AI agents. This move is the latest in a series of smaller-scale staff reductions following a major wave of layoffs earlier this January.

Artificial General Intelligence refers to a hypothetical AI system with intelligence surpassing that of humans, capable of autonomous learning, evolving, and operating independently. Currently, most of the world’s top AI companies are devoted to developing such systems, aiming to harness them for solving complex problems.

The team previously launched the Amazon Nova Act tool, enabling enterprises to build AI agents that can autonomously browse the web and perform daily online tasks without human intervention.

An Amazon spokesperson responded: “For years, we have been building large AI models, which has always been one of our most important business directions. We are now further focusing on projects that are most critical to our customers so we can accelerate progress on truly significant initiatives. This increased focus means making some tough decisions, including eliminating certain positions within the AGI organization.”

The key executive overseeing AGI operations, Rohit Prasad, departed at the end of last year, and AGI Labs head David Luan left in February this year. In December last year, AGI-related work was consolidated into a larger division led by Senior Vice President Peter DeSantis, a division that also encompasses chip development and quantum computing initiatives.

According to posts from employees on Wednesday’s online forum, teams overseen by Adib Shana, Vice President of General Artificial Intelligence Data Services, and Vishal Sharma, Vice President of AGI Information, have both been affected by the layoffs. However, as of press time, the specific scale of these layoffs remains unconfirmed.

Despite Amazon’s commitment to invest as much as $200 billion in AI and cloud infrastructure, the company continues to implement layoffs across its business segments to flatten management layers and optimize resource allocation. As part of an overall plan to eliminate approximately 30,000 positions—a significant number of which stemmed from post-pandemic hiring expansion—Amazon has laid off around 16,000 employees this year.