Amazon cuts jobs at Alexa unit as focus turns to generative AI

Company has pulled back in a variety of divisions this month, including music, gaming, and some human resources roles

The cuts by Amazon affect several hundred employees working on Alexa.

Amazon has said it is trimming jobs at its Alexa voice assistant unit, citing shifting business priorities and a greater focus on generative artificial intelligence.

The cuts affect several hundred employees working on Alexa. A spokeswoman declined to elaborate on exactly how many were affected. 

"We’re shifting some of our efforts to better align with our business priorities, and what we know matters most to customers, which includes maximising our resources and efforts focused on generative AI," said Daniel Rausch, vice president of Alexa and Fire TV.

"These shifts are leading us to discontinue some initiatives."

Amazon pulling back

Amazon has been pulling back in a variety of divisions this month, including in its music and gaming divisions and some human resources roles. Alexa is a voice assistant that can be used to set timers, ask search queries, play music, or as a home automation hub.

While most of the jobs affected were in the devices division, a few were working on Alexa-related products in a different unit, a spokeswoman said. Many companies are shifting resources to generative AI, which can create software code and lengthy text responses from short prompts. 

Only last month the device unit got a new chief, Panos Panay, who joined the company from Microsoft MSFT.O, replacing David Limp, a 13-year veteran who is leaving later this year to head Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket company. 

Amazon has struggled to generate any profits from Alexa, which many people use through Echo speakers or video screens. Most efforts to make money from it have centred on easing purchasing from Amazon. 

The online retailer's voice assistant products compete with offerings from Alphabet's Google and Apple.