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☆ Nvidia's Blackwell cooling issues were resolved months ago, chip experts say
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-19 | by ( Emma Cosgrove | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

AdvertisementNvidia's Blackwell chip presents cooling challenges for customers. First, there were chip design issues, which CEO Jensen Huang has since said are fully resolved. "I think the overheating issues have been present for months and they have largely been addressed," Patel told Insider. AdvertisementIn addition to engineering and operational challenges, liquid cooling at scale brings with it a list of environmental concerns. Despite the hard work and environmental strain, of converting to liquid cooling, the incentives are strong.

Persons: Nvidia's Blackwell, Blackwell, Jensen Huang, Dylan Patel, Patel, Meta, Eugene Kim, Semianalysis, Huang Organizations: Nvidia, Blackwell, Semianalysis, BI, Amazon Locations: Semianalysis, Blackwell

☆ Inside Amazon's agonizing attempt to save Alexa with AI
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-19 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

AdvertisementCustomer-friction concerns, partnership hiccups, compatibility questions, latency problems, and accuracy issues have snarled progress, according to internal Amazon documents and multiple people involved in the project. AdvertisementA product of this scale is "unprecedented, and takes time," an Amazon spokesperson told Business Insider. Related storiesFor example, without more clearly defined responsibilities with third-party partners, Amazon expected further delays in the launch. AdvertisementLatency has been a particularly tough problem for the AI Alexa service. Related storiesNew risksIn late August, Amazon discovered several new risk factors for the AI Alexa service.

Persons: Alexa, that's, Amazon, Taylor Swift, they're, ChatGPT, Andy Jassy, Andy Jassy Mike Blake, Claude Haiku, Rohit Prasad, Claude, AGI NurPhoto, —, Fortune, Amazon's Organizations: Uber, Ticketmaster, Alexa, Echo, Amazon, Business, Bloomberg, TV, Reuters, General Intelligence, AGI, Companies

☆ AWS hires former SAP and Microsoft executive as new marketing chief
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-18 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

AdvertisementAWS hired Julia White as its new chief marketing officer, replacing Raejeanne Skillern. Amazon Web Services has a new marketing chief. On Monday, AWS's CEO, Matt Garman, told employees that the company had hired Julia White, a former SAP and Microsoft executive, as its new chief marketing officer. Before that, she spent almost 20 years at Microsoft in various roles, including corporate vice president for the Azure cloud computing unit. The company recently added Colleen Aubrey, a former Amazon advertising executive, as a senior vice president of AWS Solutions, and Baskar Sridharan, an ex-Google Cloud vice president, as a vice president of AI/ML services.

Persons: Julia White, Raejeanne Skillern, White, Matt Garman, Einat Weiss White, Raejeanne, Skillern, Colleen Aubrey, Baskar, Adam Selipsky, Matt Wood, Garman, Julia, she's, Matt Organizations: SAP, Microsoft, AWS, Amazon, AWS Solutions, Google Cloud, Corporate

☆ Leaked: Amazon held talks with Instacart, Uber, Ticketmaster, and others for help on its new AI-powered Alexa
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-18 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The new Alexa aims to be a personalized assistant, handling diverse tasks across different devices. Amazon's AI-powered Alexa upgrade could launch with several major partners handling specific tasks such as ride-hailing, grocery shopping, and restaurant reservations, Business Insider has learned. The partner companies would become the primary option for handling those specific tasks on the upgraded Alexa. Amazon is revamping Alexa with ChatGPT-like AI features, BI first reported in January. Internally codenamed Banyan or Remarkable Alexa, the upgrade has the potential to significantly improve the voice assistant with AI features.

Persons: Uber, Spokespeople, Thumbtack, Andy Jassy, Jassy Organizations: Partners, Ticketmaster, BI, Amazon, Alexa, ChatGPT, Uber

☆ Exclusive: Amazon's AI chatbot Q is entering enemy turf by integrating with Microsoft's Office 365
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-14 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon plans to integrate its AI chatbot Q with Microsoft's Office 365 service. Amazon Q, launched in April, faces competition from Microsoft's own Copilot AI assistant. At the moment, most Q users access the Amazon AI chatbot through its website, or messaging apps like Slack and Teams. It's part of a set of new Q features Amazon is working on, including a browser extension, the document said. This year alone, he said, Amazon Q has "resolved over 1 million internal Amazon developer questions," saving more than 450,000 hours of work.

Persons: —, Patrick Neighorn, Q, Matt Garman Organizations: Microsoft's, Service, Microsoft, Business, Excel, Amazon, AWS, Gartner, LinkedIn Locations: Microsoft's

☆ AWS is negotiating a huge deal to supply IBM with Nvidia GPUs via the cloud
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-12 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

AWS is negotiating a potential $475 million AI cloud deal with IBM. Under such a deal, IBM would use AWS's EC2 servers that come equipped with Nvidia's AI chips, the document stated. The negotiations also highlight continued demand for Nvidia GPUs. Efforts here have been mixed so far, and it's unclear if an IBM deal would include access to these homegrown Amazon components. AdvertisementStill, an AI cloud deal like this would be a further boost for AWS.

Persons: —, Andy Jassy, Jassy Organizations: IBM, Nvidia, Service, Web Services, Business, IBM Research, AWS, Watson, Amazon

☆ In leaked internal meeting, Amazon retail chief says sales of cheaper items are surging
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-07 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Amazon's sales of cheap items are surging, driven by faster delivery speeds, executive says. Over 50% of those everyday essentials are now delivered on the same or next day, he added. "And these are especially the low-priced everyday essentials, the things that most households purchase every week." The goal has been to not only speed up deliveries, but also make it less expensive for the company to offer faster delivery. 'Real positive'During last month's analyst call, Jassy added that the growth of cheaper items is a "real positive" because it is predicated on faster delivery speeds.

Persons: —, Doug Herrington, Herrington, Amazon's, Andy Jassy, Jassy, Brian Olsavsky, Mark Mahaney, Mahaney Organizations: Service, Business, Reuters, Amazon, HH

☆ In all-hands meeting, Amazon CEO says RTO mandate not a 'backdoor layoff'
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-05 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Business Insider obtained a recording of Amazon CEO Andy Jassy's latest all-hands meeting. Jassy said Amazon's RTO policy is not a 'backdoor layoff' strategy. The RTO policy aims to strengthen company culture, not cut costs, he said. This is very much about our culture and strengthening our culture," Jassy said, adding that the only city Amazon notified ahead of time about its RTO mandate was Seattle. Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman said in a staff meeting last month that 9 out of 10 Amazon employees he'd spoken with were "excited" by the change.

Persons: Andy Jassy's, Jassy, Amazon's, —, Andy Jassy, Matt Garman, there's, I'm, it's Organizations: Amazon, Service, Business, Web Locations: Seattle

☆ In an all-hands meeting, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy tells employees why he wants fewer managers: 'I hate bureaucracy'
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-05 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Amazon aims to adapt to tech changes and competitive pressures, especially with AI. Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. During an internal all-hands meeting on Tuesday, Jassy explained why the company recently announced a plan to reduce the number of managers. Only a few companies survive for 50 or 100 years in the tech industry because "the world changes, technology changes, competitors change, companies change," he said. "We have a chance to build the most remarkable company in the history of business," Jassy said.

Persons: —, Andy Jassy, Jassy, Peter DeSantis, DeSantis, I'm, it's, there's Organizations: Service, Business, Amazon Locations: AWS's

☆ CHART: Big Tech is going wild on AI spending next year and beyond
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-05 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft are expected to churn through $300 billion in capex next year. The spending spree is driven by generative AI and LLM opportunities, says Morgan Stanley. Earlier this year, Bernstein forecast Big Tech capex of more than $1 trillion over five years. Related storiesRelated Video How tech layoffs could affect the economyIn Morgan Stanley's new estimates, Amazon saw the largest increase in future spending. In 2026, Amazon capex will climb even higher, to $105 billion, according to Morgan Stanley estimates.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Amazon's, —, Bernstein, Morgan Stanley's, Andy Jassy, We've, Jassy Organizations: Google, Microsoft, Service, Big Tech, Tech, Amazon Locations: capex

☆ Amazon's CEO is even more bullish on the AI opportunity
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-31 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon's AI services are rapidly growing, with significant demand for AWS's AI chips. AdvertisementJust when you thought Big Tech executives couldn't get more bullish on AI, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy upped the ante on Thursday. Amazon has launched a number of new AI services in recent years, including Bedrock, an AI development tool, the Rufus shopping agent, and homegrown AI chips called Inferentia and Trainium. Amazon's AI business is "growing three times faster at its stage of evolution than AWS did itself," he added. AdvertisementCustomers are realizing that AI model training and inference "could get costly" and AWS's AI chips can be "very compelling" in terms of its price, the CEO explained.

Persons: Jassy, —, couldn't, Andy Jassy, We've, unravels ChatGPT, Rufus Organizations: Service, Big Tech, Amazon, Services Locations: capex

☆ Amazon employees speak out about Jeff Bezos's WaPo decision, with some supporting his call, leaked messages show
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-30 | by ( Eugene Kim | Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

In leaked messages, Amazon employees are divided, with some supporting his call. Related storiesSome Amazon employees agreed, according to the Slack messages obtained by BI. Other Amazon employees said it was "silly" and "sad" to see so many Washington Post readers cancel their subscriptions over the endorsement issue. 'Suspicious and worrisome'Still, some of Amazon employees who weighed in on the company's internal Slack were suspicious of Bezos's true motivation. Other Amazon employees were more blunt, saying they were going to cancel their own Washington Post subscriptions.

Persons: Jeff Bezos, —, Jeff Bezos's, Bezos, Slack, Donald Trump, I'd, Trump, Dave Limp, Matt Garman, he's, It's, it's Organizations: Washington Post, Amazon, Service, Business, BI, Democratic, Spokespeople, Washington, Blue, Trump Locations: Amazon, Washington

☆ Over 90% of AWS's biggest data center customers are now using its homegrown Graviton chips, executive says
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-29 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

AWS's Graviton CPU chips are used by over 90% of its 1,000 largest data center customers. AWS's custom silicon strategy includes AI chips like Inferentia and Trainium. AdvertisementIn 2018, Amazon Web Services launched Graviton, its own line of homegrown central processing unit chips for data center servers. Big enterprises, such as Epic Games, Databricks, and Pinterest, are all major Graviton customers, he said. "We will absolutely continue to drive innovation in custom silicon as we have been doing for the past 10-plus years."

Persons: —, Rahul Kulkarni, Kulkarni, Graviton, James Hamilton, Bernstein, AWS's Kulkarni, Jassy Organizations: Service, Amazon Web Services, Intel, AMD, Epic, Annapurna Labs, Bernstein Research, AWS Locations: Israel

☆ Big Tech goes nuclear: Amazon's pitch to use power plants shows the crucial role the energy source plays for AI
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-25 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

In today's big story, inside Amazon's internal pitch for turning to nuclear power to meet its growing energy needs . AdvertisementThat's led Big Tech to consider nuclear power to address its skyrocketing energy requirements. Nuclear power ticks that box better than other clean energy options like solar or wind. Nuclear power, meanwhile, is an industry in desperate need of some love , BI's Daniel Geiger and Ellen Thomas previously reported. From advertising platforms to AI tech companies, here's the startups to watch .

Persons: —, Jocko Willink, we've, Jenny Chang, Rodriguez, That's, Business Insider's Eugene Kim, Andy Jassy, it's, Sam Altman, Eugene, BI's Hasan Chowdhury, BI's Daniel Geiger, Ellen Thomas, Jim Burke, Vistra, Chelsea Jia Feng, Elon Musk, Jean Boivin, He's, Marc Benioff isn't, bashed, Miles Brundage, OpenAI, Emma Tucker's, Tucker, Mike Jeffries, SpaceX's, Dan DeFrancesco, Jordan Parker Erb, Hallam Bullock, Milan Sehmbi Organizations: Business, Service, Navy, Big Tech, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Keystone, Hulton, Constellation Energy, Getty, EV, BlackRock Investment Institute, San Francisco, BI, AGI, Abercrombie, Fitch Locations: Fukushima, Pennsylvania, Arizona, New York, London

☆ Inside Amazon's nuclear ambitions, its 'Piano Man' project, and CEO Andy Jassy's support
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-24 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The company's energy strategy team recently pitched CEO Andy Jassy on the benefits of nuclear power. AdvertisementIn June, Amazon's Global Energy Strategy team pitched CEO Andy Jassy the idea of doubling down on nuclear power to support its growing network of data centers. Jassy agreed, according to an internal Amazon document from the third quarter that was obtained by Business Insider. The company considered tapping into at least four additional existing nuclear power plants and sought even more small modular reactor deals. Nuclear power can be safer, more reliable, and more cost-efficient in the long term compared to other power sources, according to Jacopo Buongiorno, a nuclear engineering professor at MIT.

Persons: Andy Jassy, —, Thos Robinson, It's, Sam Altman, Jassy, Jacopo Buongiorno, Buongiorno Organizations: Service, Amazon's Global Energy, Business, Amazon, Amazon Web Services, Hulton, Google, Kairos, Microsoft, Amazon's Global Energy Strategy, BI, US Department of Energy, MIT, Global Energy Strategy Locations: Pennsylvania, Fukushima, Maryland, Texas

☆ Srini Venkatesan Is Using AI to Create PayPal Personalization Features
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-24 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Venkatesan, the executive vice president and chief technology officer of PayPal, is in charge of the payment company's new AI-driven personalization products. In this role, Venkatesan uses PayPal's 200 petabytes of transaction data to help small businesses and large enterprises sell more products and to help save money for consumers. Before joining PayPal in June, Venkatesan was EVP of the Walmart US Omni Platforms and Tech organization, where he helped use AI to blur the lines between offline and online shopping. See Business Insider's full AI Power List

Persons: Venkatesan Organizations: PayPal, Walmart, Omni, Tech

☆ Garman Leads AWS As AI Competition in the Cloud Intensifies
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-24 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Amazon promoted Garman to be the CEO of Amazon Web Services this year, right as competition in cloud computing and AI intensified. Garman has nearly 20 years of experience across engineering and sales roles at the company. His deep understanding of the business helped shape AWS's early approach to generative AI and the creation of AI products, like Amazon Q and Bedrock. He also led the establishment of the AWS Generative AI innovation Center, designed to collaborate with customers and help them identify opportunities in AI. See Business Insider's full AI Power List

Persons: Garman Organizations: Amazon, Amazon Web Services

☆ Trishul Chilimbi Builds Special AI Models for Shopping and E-Commerce
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-24 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Chilimbi is a vice president and distinguished scientist at Amazon, where he leads the Stores Foundational AI organization. His latest focus is on building specialized foundation models for shopping and e-commerce. As part of this effort, Chilimbi led a team of Amazon scientists behind Rufus, Amazon's new generative-AI-powered shopping assistant. Before joining Amazon in 2017, Chilimbi was a researcher at Microsoft. His prior research focused on scaling deep learning training systems and vision-language pertaining.

Persons: Chilimbi, Rufus Organizations: Amazon, Microsoft

☆ Amazon's AI data center dream runs into the reality of 'zombie' facilities, higher costs, and labor shortages
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-23 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Electricity and labor headwinds slow Amazon's data center buildout. AdvertisementAmazon is spending heavily on data centers to support booming AI workloads, putting it on pace to build 240 new facilities by 2040, one estimate found. David Cahn, a Sequoia Capital general partner, recently predicted data center delays across the sector. Bernstein Research recently estimated that electricity demand for AI data centers could exceed supply in just two years without action. An Amazon data center in Oregon.

Persons: —, It's, David Cahn, Marc Wulfraat, MWPVL, we've, Bernstein, Amazon's, Matt Garman, JOSH EDELSON, Garman, Manuel Pineda, Pineda, Owens Corning Organizations: Service, Sequoia Capital, Energy, Amazon, Boston Consulting Group, Bernstein Research, Business, Web, San Francisco 49ers, BI, AWS, Uptime Institute, Center, Survey Locations: AMER, Americas, Oregon , Ohio, Northern Virginia, Amazon's Portland, Arizona, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Silicon Valley, Santa Clara , California, Santa Clara, Levi's, City, Santa, Oregon

☆ AWS CEO says 9 out of 10 employees are 'excited' about RTO, leaked transcript shows
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-18 | by ( Eugene Kim | Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Nine out of 10 employees are 'excited' by the change, Garman said, but those who disagree are welcome to leave. AdvertisementThe majority of Amazon employees favor the company's new five-day return-to-office policy, Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman has told staff during an all-hands meeting. Garman addressed the RTO policy introduced by Amazon in September, which has faced strong pushback from some employees. It is Garman's first official response to Amazon's new RTO policy and comes after the company received backlash from some employees. Related storiesDuring the all-hands meeting, Garman said employees will not always need to be in the office.

Persons: Matt Garman, Garman, —, we're, Andy Jassy's Organizations: Business, Service, Amazon, Web, AWS

☆ Amazon is becoming Big Tech's king of cash, and Wall Street wants a piece of it
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-09 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Amazon's cash balance is expected to reach almost $400 billion by 2027, far outpacing tech rivals. AdvertisementAmazon's ballooning cash balance is drawing Wall Street's attention. By 2027, Amazon is forecast to have almost $400 billion in cash, far outpacing its Big Tech rivals. Despite the "remarkable" growth in Amazon's cash balance, the company hasn't been as aggressive as other tech companies in rewarding shareholders, he noted. During an April call with analysts, Amazon CFO Brian Olsavsky addressed the question about shareholder returns.

Persons: —, Wall, Mark Mahaney, Mahaney, Evercore's Mahaney, hasn't, Mark Shmulik, Bernstein, Morgan Stanley, Gene Munster, Munster, Andy Jassy's, Brian Olsavsky, Jassy, Olsavsky, Deepwater's Munster Organizations: Service, P Global Market Intelligence, Microsoft, Amazon, Big Tech, Apple, Deepwater Asset Management, Federal Trade Commission, Meta

☆ One of Amazon's top AI executives is out
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-09 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Matt Wood, the vice president of AI at Amazon Web Services, is leaving after 15 years. Wood's departure comes amid fierce AI competition from Microsoft, Google, and OpenAI. AdvertisementMatt Wood, the vice president of artificial intelligence at Amazon Web Services, is leaving. He worked on AWS's machine-learning and AI technology, laying some of the groundwork for the company's latest growth initiatives. Related storiesIt's also the latest exit amid AWS's notable executive turnover in recent years.

Persons: Matt Wood, —, Wood, he's, didn't, It's, Adam Selipsky, Matt Garman, Richard Puccio, Rachel Thornton, Chris Vonderhaar Organizations: Amazon Web, Microsoft, Google, AWS, Service Locations: Amazon

☆ Amazon could cut 14,000 managers soon and save $3 billion a year, according to Morgan Stanley
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-03 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Morgan Stanley estimates Amazon can cut 13,834 managers and save roughly $3 billion next year. Morgan Stanley assumed that the cost per manager was $200,000 to $350,000 a year. Based on those numbers, Amazon would stand to save $2.1 billion to $3.6 billion next year if it cut those 13,834 manager roles. Morgan Stanley estimated that the savings would account for roughly 3% to 5% of Amazon's projected operating profit for 2025. AdvertisementStill, Morgan Stanley sees a huge opportunity for Amazon to make itself more efficient with these big moves.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Andy Jassy, —, Jassy, Morgan Organizations: Service, Amazon, Business

☆ Amazon quietly rolled out a new AI chatbot that is 'safer than ChatGPT' for employees to use
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-01 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Amazon recently launched Cedric, an internal AI chatbot, to boost employee productivity. Cedric is a "general purpose AI chatbot" that is "safer than ChatGPT," according to an internal document obtained by BI. Cedric's goal is to help Amazon employees increase their productivity and job satisfaction as external AI tools are not available for security reasons, the document added. Earlier this year, Amazon formalized internal guidelines that ban external AI tools, including ChatGPT, for business purposes. Approved for 'highly confidential data'Cedric is one of the many AI tools Amazon recently launched or is building internally.

Persons: Cedric, —, It's, Amazonians, it's, JP Morgan Chase, Claude, Cedric doesn't Organizations: Amazon, Service, BI, ChatGPT Enterprise, Enterprise, Microsoft, ChatGPT, Apple, Samsung, chatbot, Cedric, Software, Amazon Web Services Locations: OpenAI

☆ Amazon recently rolled out a new AI chatbot that is 'safer than ChatGPT' for employees to use
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-01 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Amazon recently launched Cedric, an internal AI chatbot, to boost employee productivity. Amazon has repeatedly warned employees not to use third-party AI chatbots, including ChatGPT. Cedric is a "general purpose AI chatbot" that is "safer than ChatGPT," an internal document obtained by BI said. Earlier this year, Amazon formalized internal guidelines that ban external AI tools, including ChatGPT, for business purposes. Approved for 'highly confidential data'Cedric is one of the many AI tools Amazon recently launched or is building internally.

Persons: Cedric, —, It's, Amazonians, it's, JP Morgan Chase, That's, Claude, Cedric doesn't Organizations: Amazon, Service, BI, ChatGPT Enterprise, Enterprise, archrival Microsoft, ChatGPT, Apple, Samsung, Cedric, Software, Amazon Web Services Locations: OpenAI

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