Amazon to lay off 14,000 employees, AI shake-up could push c...

Amazon is trimming around 14,000 corporate roles in what’s shaping up to be the biggest white-collar purge in its history. The move is a part of a broader mission to become leaner, faster, and more AI-driven. The company says the cuts are necessary to eliminate bureaucracy and double down on what it calls its “biggest bets,” including the rapidly expanding world of generative artificial intelligence. Here is the full story in 5 points.

What did Amazon say?

“This generation of AI is the most transformative technology we’ve seen since the Internet,” said Beth Galetti, Amazon’s senior vice president of people experience and technology, in a blog post announcing the move. “It’s enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before (in existing market segments and altogether new ones)... We’re convinced that we need to be organised more leanly, with fewer layers and more ownership, to move as quickly as possible for our customers and businesses.”

The layoffs, as reported by CNBC, could ultimately affect twice that number, as many as 30,000 employees. Teams across Amazon’s empire have already felt the sting: cloud computing, grocery, video games, human resources, advertising, sustainability, communications, and devices divisions were among the first to receive pink slips on Tuesday morning.