Amazon cuts jobs in its artificial general intelligence group

Amazon cuts jobs in its artificial general intelligence group

SAN FRANCISCO, July 22 (Reuters) - Amazon on Wednesday cut jobs in ‌its artificial general intelligence group, marking ‌the latest in a series of smaller reductions ​across the company since a much larger one in January.

Artificial general intelligence is a hypothetical AI system that surpasses human intelligence and ‌can learn, grow ⁠and operate autonomously. Many of the top AI companies are working ⁠to develop similar systems, with the hope of deploying them to solve difficult problems.

"We've ​been building ​large AI models ​for several years, ‌and it remains one of the most important things we're working on," said an Amazon spokesman following a Reuters inquiry. "We're sharpening our focus on the initiatives that matter ‌most for customers, so ​we can move faster ​on what counts. ​That focus means some difficult ‌decisions, including eliminating some ​roles within ​parts of our AGI organization."

It could not immediately be learned how many were ​impacted Wednesday. ‌Amazon cut 16,000 jobs across the ​company in January.

(Reporting by Greg Bensinger; ​Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )