Amazon cuts some jobs in its artificial general intelligence unit
Amazon has laid off some employees in its group focused on artificial general intelligence (AGI). The company declined to specify the number of affected staff but confirmed the reductions on Wednesday.
Amazon has initiated job cuts within its artificial general intelligence (AGI) unit as the company continues to invest heavily in AI development. The e-commerce giant declined to disclose the exact number of employees affected or the specific sub-teams within the AGI organization impacted by these layoffs.
The AGI unit is responsible for developing AI models and also encompasses teams working on silicon development and quantum computing initiatives. "This is a fast-moving space, and we’re sharpening our focus on the initiatives that matter most for customers, so we can move faster on what counts," an Amazon spokesperson told CNBC.
These cuts follow a period of targeted layoffs after broader workforce reductions in October 2025 and January 2026. The AGI unit is crucial to Amazon's strategy to compete with leading AI companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. Amazon released its Nova set of foundation AI models in 2025.
The company stated that building large AI models has been a priority for years, and "it remains one of the most important things we’re working on." Despite significant planned capital expenditures for AI infrastructure, Amazon continues to refine and enhance its AI models.