In his annual letter to shareholders, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy touted the transformative potential of generative AI while also committing to ongoing cost-cutting measures.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Andy Jassy, CEO of tech and e-commerce giant Amazon, proclaimed in his 2024 letter to shareholders that generative AI could usher in the largest technological transformation since the rise of cloud computing and the internet itself. Jassy sees AI as a critical building block for Amazon’s next major growth pillar, following the successes of its online Marketplace, Prime subscription service, and Amazon Web Services cloud division.
“Generative AI may be the largest technology transformation since the cloud (which itself, is still in the early stages), and perhaps since the Internet,” Jassy wrote. “This GenAI revolution will be built from the start on top of the cloud. The amount of societal and business benefit from the solutions that will be possible will astound us all.”
Despite the visionary AI rhetoric, Jassy also emphasized Amazon’s continued focus on cost reduction. The company has been reevaluating its fulfillment network and delivery systems to find additional areas to lower expenses, while it also cut hundreds of jobs in recent months across divisions like AWS, grocery technology, entertainment and Alexa.
On the AI front, Amazon has invested $4 billion in startup Anthropic and added AI expert Andrew Ng to its board. It launched an AI shopping assistant called Rufus for its mobile app and a workplace chatbot. However, Jassy caveated that we are still in the “early days” of the technology and it will take time to fully realize its revenue potential, which he estimates could reach tens of billions over the next several years.
Beyond AI, Jassy highlighted promise in Amazon’s grocery, video streaming, and satellite internet initiatives. He noted the addition of advertising to Prime Video as the company aims to further monetize its entertainment content. On the space side, Jassy celebrated the first prototype satellite launches for Project Kuiper, Amazon’s effort to provide broadband in remote areas to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink.
Read more at the Wall Street Journal here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
