Amazon Employees Raise Alarm Over the Company’s ‘Cost-At-All-Expenses’ Strategy for AI Development

Over 1,000 Amazon employees have expressed their concerns via an anonymous open letter, cautioning that the company’s purportedly “all-costs-justified, warp-speed approach to AI development” could lead to “staggering damage to democracy, our jobs, and the earth,” according to an announcement from an internal advocacy group on Wednesday.

Four members of Amazon Employees for Climate Justice informed WIRED that they began gathering signatures for the letter last month. After achieving their initial milestone, the group disclosed on Wednesday the job titles of the Amazon employees who participated and noted that over 2,400 supporters from other organizations, such as Google and Apple, have also joined the cause.

Supporters from within Amazon include high-level engineers, senior product leaders, marketing managers, and warehouse personnel from various departments of the company. A senior engineering manager with over two decades at Amazon stated they signed the letter because they believe the manufactured “race” to develop superior AI has allowed executives to disregard the rights of workers and harm the environment.

“The current generation of AI has become almost like a drug for companies like Amazon, who obsess over it, using it as a pretext for layoffs and reallocating those savings towards data centers for AI products that are not in demand,” explains the employee, who, like others featured in this article, chose to remain anonymous due to fears of retaliation from management.

Amazon, along with other major tech firms, is channeling billions into building new data centers to train and operate generative AI systems. This includes tools that assist employees in coding and customer-oriented services like Amazon’s shopping chatbot, Rufus. It’s clear why Amazon is moving forward with AI initiatives; last month, CEO Andy Jassy revealed that Rufus is projected to boost Amazon’s annual sales by $10 billion. “It is continuing to improve,” he remarked.

The power demands of AI systems have prompted utility companies to rely on coal plants and other carbon-emitting energy sources to accommodate the surge in data centers. The open letter calls for Amazon to cease using carbon-based energy at its data centers, prohibit its AI technologies from enabling surveillance and mass deportation, and stop compelling employees to utilize AI in their tasks. “We, the undersigned Amazon employees, have serious concerns about this aggressive rollout amid a global rise in authoritarianism and during our crucial years to combat the climate crisis,” the letter asserts.