It hasn’t been long since Amazon reduced headcount in its music and gaming units. Now, there is to be job cuts in Amazon’s Alexa unit.
With Amazon deciding to shift priorities and deciding to concentrate more on generative artificial intelligence (AI), hundreds of employees from its voice-assistant unit may be rendered jobless. The exact number of people to be laid off is yet to be known, although reports say that employees in the US, Canada and India will be affected.
Very recently, employees were let go in the music and gaming divisions, as well as the human resources department.
The news does not come as a complete shock since there have been indication of Amazon’s devices and services business failing to be profitable. Alexa, the voice assistant could be relied on to set timers, handle search queries, play music, supply jokes and trivia, find a phone, and even serve as a home automation hub. Right now, the company feels it needs to put in maximum efforts on generative AI as that is what matters most to its customers. After all, the technology can not only generate fresh and creative content, but also generate images, code and text from available data. Therefore, Amazon would be able to enhance Alexa’s features and make it even more spontaneous, sharp and supportive by investing in generative AI.
