Amazon cuts roles in AGI unit after AI reorganization

Amazon has eliminated roles in its artificial general intelligence group, Reuters reported on Wednesday, adding to a series of smaller workforce reductions after a larger layoff round in January. The size of the reduction was not clear, Reuters said, citing employee posts on online forums and a company statement confirming cuts in parts of the AGI organization.

The move follows a December 2025 restructuring that placed Amazon’s AGI work inside a broader organization spanning AI models, silicon development and quantum computing. Amazon Chief Executive Andy Jassy said in a Dec. 17 message that the combined group would be led by Peter DeSantis.

An Amazon spokesperson told Reuters that the company has worked on large AI models for several years and still regards the effort as one of its most significant priorities. “We’re sharpening our focus on the initiatives that matter most for customers, so we can move faster on what counts,” the spokesperson said. “That focus means some difficult decisions, including eliminating some roles within parts of our AGI organization.”

Leadership changes preceded the cuts

The workforce reduction comes after leadership turnover in Amazon’s AGI effort. Jassy said in his December message that Rohit Prasad, who had led the creation of the AGI organization over the previous two years, had decided to leave Amazon. Reuters also reported that David Luan, who led the company’s AGI lab, departed in February.

Jassy framed the December consolidation as a way to bring related technologies under a single management structure. The organization includes AI model development, custom chip work and quantum computing, areas that can shape how advanced computing systems are built and deployed across Amazon’s businesses. In the message, Jassy said DeSantis’ leadership would bring “unified focus” to those technologies.

The restructuring matters because large AI models rely on substantial computing capacity, and chip design can affect the cost, speed and availability of that capacity. By placing model development and silicon work in the same organization, Amazon is aligning two parts of the AI production chain: the software models and the hardware used to train or run them. The inclusion of quantum computing places another long-term computing effort inside the same executive structure.

AGI remains a long-term AI target

AGI, or artificial general intelligence, refers to systems intended to learn, reason and perform a wide range of intellectual tasks in a human-like way, PYMNTS reported in April 2024. That goal differs from narrower AI systems designed for specific uses, such as generating text, recognizing images or automating defined workflows.

Amazon has not disclosed the number of employees affected in the latest cuts, according to Reuters. The company’s confirmation indicates a selective reduction within the AGI organization rather than a disclosed companywide layoff plan.

In his December message, Jassy said the combined team was positioned to build capabilities for customers after earlier work on the AGI organization. The latest cuts show Amazon is narrowing parts of that effort while continuing to present large AI models and related computing technologies as central to its long-term product and infrastructure strategy.

This story draws on original reporting from PYMNTS.