Amazon is slashing corporate jobs to push AI deeper into its business, CEO Andy Jassy announced. The move targets roles AI can handle more efficiently, hinting at widespread layoffs in coming years.
The company is doubling down on AI with a $100 billion investment to scale up services and data centers. That’s up from $83 billion last year. Jassy said AI agents—autonomous programs that don’t mostly exist yet—will soon change work and speed up innovation for Amazon’s customers. More than a thousand AI projects are already active or in development inside the company.
“As AI starts getting more into the company processes, human presence won’t be necessary in some jobs. However, as AI gets included, it is said other jobs will appear to cover technological needs.”
Andy Jassy, Amazon CEO
Amazon’s gargantuan workforce tops 1.5 million employees, so this shift will ripple far beyond the company itself. Corporate staff are jittery, with AI threatening to replace many human roles. Bloomberg Intelligence estimates AI could wipe out 200,000 jobs in banking alone.
Other companies are following Amazon’s lead. CrowdStrike cut 5% of its staff in May, citing AI efficiency. Shopify requires managers to prove jobs can’t be automated before firing more. Duolingo is axing repetitive roles to AI, with more cuts possible. BT Group in the UK plans to cut 400,000 jobs in the next decade and warns AI impact could be bigger.
Amazon’s AI push sparks fresh anxiety in the workforce as automation gears up to replace long-standing jobs. The question remains: can humans and AI share the workplace, or will one edge out the other?
