Amazon Invests $100 Million Towards a Generative AI Center

Amazon Web Services CEO Adam Selipsky says that the $100 million investment is Amazon’s “three steps in, and it’s a 10K race”

Amazon Web Services, a subsidiary of e-commerce giant Amazon has just announced that it is investing a $100 million into generative artificial intelligence, describing its plans to open up a generative AI center that will help corporations use generative AI to their advantage.

It’s been months since the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT and the generative AI boom; and while other leading technology companies have jumped onto the AI bandwagon, Amazon, similar to Apple, has a more relaxed approach.

Kicking off its luck in the generative AI market with a comparatively smaller investment was definitely a questionable move that was best answered by AWS CEO Adam Selipsky.

Selipsky in his statement about the $100 million generative AI investment said; “You ask yourself the question, where are the different runners three steps into a 10K race?”

“Does it really matter? The point is, you’re three steps in, and it’s a 10K race,” he added.

Following a marathon approach, the AWS or more precisely the whole Amazon leadership believes that AI technology might take its time to establish a properly monetizable market and feels no need to be in a rush of capturing market shares with products that are possibly not ready or safe to be used by people.

“I can’t tell you how many Fortune 500 companies I’ve talked to who banned ChatGPT in the enterprise because at least the initial versions of it just didn’t have that concept of enterprise security,” said Selipsky while talking about the problems with fast jumps into the markets.

Reading these statements alongside a limited investment might push you towards second guessing Amazon’s intentions towards the AI industry, however the company seems to have a genuine interest in the technology with Selipsky even calling it the ‘next wave of innovation in the cloud’.

“AI is going to be the next wave of innovation in the cloud. It’s going to be the next big thing that pushes even more customers to want to be in the cloud. Really, you need the cloud for generative AI,” he said.

What Exactly is the Amazon ‘Generative AI Center’?

While the name ‘Generative AI Center’ might have forced your imagination to think of a massive physical center with powerful computers and AI researchers, but it isn’t exactly a physical center; In the words of Amazon, “it’s a program rather than a physical center”.

Following an announcement for this ‘program’, Amazon which laid off around 27000 jobs during 2022 and 2023 will now be hiring a bunch of new scientists, engineers and solutions architects to boost its AI research and operations.

Apart from getting a new AI workforce on its payroll, Amazon is also collaborating on AI technology with companies such as Highspot, Twilio, RyanAir and Lonely Planet.

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