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☆ Amazon employees plan to walk out and accused the company of 'actively accelerating' the climate crisis, leaked email shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

In the email, the organizing group encourages employee participation in the walkout by pointing out five areas of concern over Amazon's climate initiatives. Here's what the email says:Emissions that are rising: Amazon's emissions have increased 40%(!!) Partnering with Big Oil: AWS Al and machine learning are being used by Big Oil to greatly accelerate oil and gas discovery and extraction. Amazon launched the Climate Pledge in 2019, committing to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040. Partnering with Big Oil: AWS Al and machine learning are being used by Big Oil to greatly accelerate oil and gas discovery and extraction.

☆ A leaked Amazon generative AI sales playbook shows how the company is going after ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, Microsoft and Google
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The strategy is revealed in a detailed internal sales guideline, titled "Generative AI Sales Playbook," obtained by Insider. The guidelines may help Amazon make a stronger push in the generative AI space, where companies including Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google have taken an early lead. 'ChatGPT is a brand new, experimental offering'The guidelines focus on SageMaker's appeal to companies looking to build their own generative AI services. For example, for c-suite executives, Amazon salespeople are told to focus on how generative AI can "improve efficiency by automating operations," the document said. For those with a bit more experience in AI, Amazon salespeople are advised to recommend new generative AI capabilities and AWS offerings to accelerate their development process.

Persons: Bard, SageMaker, JumpStart, Sam Altman Drew Angerer, Sparrow, It's, I'm, haven't, you've, Canva's, Eugene Kim Organizations: Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Stability, AI21 Labs, Amazon Alexa, AWS, Burnham

☆ Adidas and Yeezy staff were told to carry on as usual and ignore Kanye West's antisemitic rants, new report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Mary Hanbury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Adidas and Yeezy staff were told to carry on as usual after Kanye West made antisemitic comments. A new Bloomberg report sheds light on the unraveling of the Adidas-Yeezy partnership. One unnamed source told Bloomberg that after Kanye West – now known as Ye – made antisemitic comments that led him to be suspended from Twitter and Instagram, Adidas was slow to react. Yeezy and Adidas workers were reportedly told "to keep working as if nothing unusual was happening," Bloomberg's Eugene Kim and Tim Loh wrote. "I can say antisemitic things and Adidas can't drop me.

☆ AI startup cloud deals by Microsoft, Google and Amazon ring 'accounting alarm bells' across Silicon Valley over revenue 'round-tripping'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Eugene Kim | Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Some investors question whether these arrangements are artificially juicing cloud revenue growth. When Microsoft announced a multibillion-dollar investment in OpenAI earlier this year, the deal made Azure the ChatGPT-maker's "exclusive cloud provider." There's another deal in the works with similar attributes involving Runway AI and a major cloud company. But they are drawing more scrutiny lately because they could artificially inflate cloud revenue, a key driver of growth for Microsoft, Google, and Amazon, according to Ted Mortonson, managing director of financial-services firm Baird. Is OpenAI a regular cloud customer that is getting no investment money from Microsoft?

☆ Amazon VP in charge of the Astro home robot leaves after less than 2 years, leaked email shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ken Washington, VP of consumer robotics, is leaving Amazon. Amazon's VP of consumer robotics Ken Washington is leaving the company, according to an internal email seen by Insider. At Amazon, he was in charge of the consumer robotics unit, which oversees Astro, the home monitoring robot that remains invite-only 18 months after its launch. Amazon executive Dave Limp AP/Jeff ChiuIn an email to Insider, Amazon's spokesperson confirmed Washington's departure. Amazon's spokesperson told Insider the invite requests for Astro "remain strong" and it plans to add "even more new features."

☆ Amazon is working on a secret AI home robot that can understand things and monitor whether kids had friends over after school
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Amazon is working on a new home robot that comes with ChatGPT-like AI features. Potential uses include identifying an unattended burning stove, or which of your kids' friends came over after school. The upgrade would be another example of Amazon incorporating generative AI into its productsAmazon's Astro home robot is up for a major upgrade, with ChatGPT-like features that can help it observe and understand things like a human does, Insider has learned. It's also the latest example of Amazon adding generative AI and LLM technology into its existing products and services, following the explosive popularity of chatbot sensation ChatGPT. Burnham may not be limited to just the one robot product either.

☆ Alexa may soon be able to make up bedtime stories using AI and based on your children's toys
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Amazon plans to upgrade its Alexa voice-assistant with ChatGPT-like AI capabilities. One use-case cited in an internal document is to generate bedtime stories based on a child's toys. That's where a large language model (LLM) AI can create entirely new things like fictional stories, from studying other similar examples. But when the feature is released, Amazon hopes the age-old request by drowsy children could become slightly modified to, "Alexa, tell me a bedtime story." Read the full story: Amazon plans to reboot its struggling Alexa business by working on its own ChatGPT-like technology, leaked document shows

☆ 10 Things in Tech: Amazon is offering money to pick up your order, ChatGPT writes a “Succession” scene, and tips from an OnlyFans creator
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Amazon Astro Amazon1. Internal documents revealed that Amazon plans to make Astro "more intelligent, more useful, and conversational." The project is internally called "Burnham" and is the latest example of Amazon's push to bring AI to its services and products. Internal documents signal that Amazon is pretty confident that this is a major upgrade to the home robot. Amazon is offering $10 for you to pick up your own order.

☆ Codename Burnham: Amazon has a secret new home robot with ChatGPT-like features that understands a lot more of its surroundings.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Amazon is working on an upgraded version of its home robot Astro, powered by 'Burnham' technology. The robot has ChatGPT-like features, using large language models and other advanced AI. This is a new phase for Astro and the latest example of Amazon adding AI models to existing products. In one of these documents related to Burnham, Amazon describes an Astro product that costs $995. As LLMs were growing in scale, they started demonstrating "emergent skills in both inference and problem-solving," one of the Amazon documents stated.

☆ 10 Things in Tech: AI-generated Drake songs, discounted startups, and Amazon’s upgraded Alexa
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

I'm Diamond Naga Siu, and in this turbulent economy, I definitely want stability over most other things. And my colleague Grace Mayer highlights how retail, finance, and other (seemingly more stable) industries are piquing our interest instead. A leaked document viewed by Insider revealed that Amazon wants to focus on entertainment features for Alexa. The upgrade will feature Amazon's own generative AI technology instead of using OpenAI's technology (like how Microsoft paired ChatGPT with Bing). Bell dished to my colleague Ashley Stewart on why he made the move, how he met Satya Nadella, and more.

☆ Amazon plans to reboot its struggling Alexa business by working on its own ChatGPT-like technology, leaked document shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

One of its ideas is to add entertainment features for Prime Video search and recommendations. "It feels like Alexa is thinking vs. fetching from a database," the document, titled "Alexa LLM Entertainment Use Cases," said. The document focused on new entertainment features for Alexa, including more conversational video search, personal recommendations, and storytelling and news-reading capabilities. When the user asks about one of the recommended shows — Paramount+'s "Younger" is the example used in the document — Alexa shares a one-line summary. 'World's best personal assistant'Other video search features listed in the document include semantic search and personal recommendations.

☆ Samsung bans employees from using AI tools like ChatGPT and Google Bard after an accidental data leak, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Samsung has banned employees from using ChatGPT in the workplace, per Bloomberg. Samsung has introduced a new policy banning employees from using generative AI tools like Open AI's ChatGPT and Google Bard in the workplace, Bloomberg reported Tuesday. Staff are now banned from using generative AI tools on company-owned devices including computers, tablets, phones, and internal networks, per Bloomberg. Tech giant Amazon similarly warned staff against using ChatGPT because of instances of the chatbot's responses resembling internal Amazon data, Insider's Eugene Kim reported in January. OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, introduced new measures in April to address concerns about managing data on the chatbot.

☆ 'Oh Amazon, why are you making this issue so difficult?' Employees who can't commute to their assigned offices fear the consequences.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Change in remote statusSome Amazon employees hired during the pandemic said they were promised permanent remote work, through what they saw as a "handshake agreement." One employee shared their vice president's email in the Slack channel, saying this manager was willing to be more flexible. People walk into the lobby of Amazon offices in New York. Over 30,000 Amazon employees joined an internal Slack channel shortly after the RTO announcement and signed a petition to demand a reversal of the mandate. "Amazon, oh Amazon, why are you making this issue so difficult?"

☆ Amazon is tracking employee badge swipes ahead of its return-to-office mandate. Some workers are worried.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Eugene Kim | Julie Bort | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Amazon tracks team-level office badge data, internal emails show. Companies commonly use badge data for facilities management and safety reasons. Workers fear this data will be used to monitor for compliance with its return-to-office mandate. One of the contentious issues among employees is how Amazon plans to use employee badging data to track them. Amazon currently shares a weekly building occupancy report with managers, according to emails seen by Insider.

☆ Amazon's rush to bring employees back to office stirs anxiety over badge tracking, relocation, and impact on performance reviews
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

this person asked in the Slack channel called "remote-advocacy," according to a screenshot seen by Insider. Change in remote statusSome Amazon employees hired during the pandemic said they were promised permanent remote work, through what they saw as a "handshake agreement." One employee shared their vice president's email in the Slack channel, saying this manager was willing to be more flexible. People walk into the lobby of Amazon offices in New York. Over 30,000 Amazon employees joined an internal Slack channel shortly after the RTO announcement and signed a petition to demand a reversal of the mandate.

☆ Read the Q&A guideline Amazon shares with managers on how to answer pay-related questions from employees
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +23 min

To prepare managers to discuss pay with employees, Amazon shares a lengthy Q&A guideline that addresses some of the most pressing questions, according to internal documents obtained by Insider. This includes base pay, variable pay, other cash, and equity in the form of Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) or stock. A: We plan employee's total compensation in outlook years. Q: Why am I positioned at XX in my pay range and how can I increase my pay? Clearly and directly explain the reason there was no base pay increase:"Employee A, you are at the base pay max."

☆ Internal guidelines show how Amazon wants managers to address employee concerns about pay as the value of its stock awards crumbles
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Amazon employees have lost more than 30% on stock awards they got last year. Even CEO Andy Jassy saw his 2022 realized compensation drop 25% because of the stock price decline. Amazon wants its managers to stress the "long-term" value of stock and "ownership" of work during annual employee compensation reviews that started earlier this month. That price is based on a 30-day trailing average stock price. If an employee disagrees with their pay, managers are to have an "open discussion" and determine whether an adjustment is necessary.

☆ Amazon CEO Andy Jassy says inventing and 'riffing' on ideas is easier if staff are back in the office
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said inventing is "easier" when staff are working in the office. "The energy and riffing on one another's ideas happen more freely" than from home, he said. Staff must work three days a week in the office from May, but some buildings won't be ready then. An internal memo obtained by Insider's Eugene Kim this week indicated that some of Amazon's office space won't be ready until September. Amazon didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider, made outside normal working hours.

☆ Amazon salaries revealed: Here's how much engineers, data scientists, and thousands of other employees were paid prior to recent layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Thomas Maxwell | Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Amazon added hundreds of thousands of employees during the pandemic. Amazon is required to disclose salary offers in work-visa applications submitted to the US Office of Foreign Labor Certification. Insider combed through data from the office, which authorizes hiring non-US employees, then publicly releases the data. The following data excludes stock-based compensation, but it is still a valuable guide to Amazon's base salaries for a variety of positions. Insider looked at thousands of disclosed salaries that represent engineers, managers, and more.

☆ Amazon's return-to-office mandate, supposed to happen in May, was so rushed, many offices won't be ready until September, including New York and Austin, leaked memo shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Some Amazon offices won't be ready to fully accommodate employees until September, an internal note said. The delayed office readiness dates for some locations show Amazon may have rushed its return-to-office announcement. Most offices around the Seattle headquarters area and those near the second headquarters in Arlington, VA, have readiness dates in May. The delayed office readiness of some locations shows how unprepared Amazon may have been for the RTO mandate announced in February. In an email to Insider, Amazon's spokesperson said the different readiness dates are needed to "make the necessary accommodations for everyone."

☆ Amazon, Meta, and other tech giants are cutting middle management to be more efficient. It's a risky move that could backfire.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( Paayal Zaveri | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Big Tech's latest cost cutting move is "flattening," or removing middle management from the org chart. This is likely to work in the short term, but removing middle management has long-term consequences. The move comes as the Big Tech companies reel from the consequences of overhiring, as the pandemic turned into an unexpected boon to their businesses. While that all sounds good, experts warn removing middle management roles have other consequences that Big Tech will have to deal with. Middle managers set the tone and cultureAdditionally, middle managers have more influence on shaping a company's culture and can affect whether or not employees feel engaged in their jobs, as Insider's Aki Ito reported.

☆ Leaked Amazon memo shows plans to reduce employee stock awards in 2025
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Asia Martin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Leaked Amazon memo shows plans to reduce employee stock awards in 2025. The company is considering increasing the cash portion of compensation to help cushion employees against its stock price going down in the future. In other news:The late Cash App founder Bob Lee. Cash App creator Bob Lee died after a reported stabbing in San Francisco Tuesday. Silicon Valley is grieving the loss of the founder of Cash App and the former chief technology officer at Square.

☆ Leaked memo says Amazon plans to reduce employee stock awards in 2025, signaling a potentially major shift in its approach to compensation
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Amazon told managers that it has decided to reduce the number of stock awards for employees in 2025. Amazon employees have been asking for a higher cash base pay, as its stock price dropped recently. A possibility, not a definite planIn an email to Insider, Amazon spokesperson August Aldebot-Green confirmed the accuracy of the memo. Amazon has historically offered less base cash pay compared to some of its peers. In the employee compensation statement, Amazon continues to bake in a 15% assumed stock price increase for 2024 and 2025.

☆ Leaked email shows even Twitch's CEO was caught off guard by Amazon's layoffs: 'I'm disappointed to share the news this way'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The CEO of Amazon-owned Twitch wrote that he's "disappointed" to share news of layoffs before each affected employee was told. His email reflects Amazon's lack of transparency over its layoff process, which affected roughly 25,000 employees since late last year. Amazon employees have complained about the ambiguity, which contradicts the company's commitment to creating "Earth's Best Employer." The email was separate from the public message Clancy shared on Twitch's blog on the same day. Just over 400 people were let go at Twitch as part of the new 9,000 being cut, this email explained.

☆ Read the memo Amazon's HR chief sent rejecting employees' petition against the new return-to-office policy
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Eugene Kim | Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon's HR chief formally rejected an internal petition asking Amazon to reverse its return-to-office policy. Read the full text of Galetti's message to employees below. The petition, which was shared with CEO Andy Jassy's leadership team last week according to Galetti's note, was signed by roughly 30,000 employees. Employees shared messages of disappointment on the company's Slack channel following Galetti's announcement. Read the full text of Galetti's message below:Hello all –Andy's team shared your note last week, and I wanted to take a moment to follow up directly.

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