Amazon’s Alexa division is set to suffer another round of job cuts as the company plans to discontinue some initiatives in favor of new generative AI projects. Credit: Shutterstock Amazon confirmed Monday that it is planning to lay off several hundred workers at its Alexa division as part of a shift in focus to generative AI. The company’s emphasis on developing generative AI systems has resulted in the release of new offerings, like the tool rolled out in September to generate copy listings for users selling items on the company’s e-commerce platform. The application is fueled by a large language model (LLM) that Amazon has been developing internally, originally to support the Alexa smart assistant. But in a statement Monday, the company said its latest round of job cuts will impact staff working on Alexa-related efforts. “Several hundred roles are impacted, a relatively small percentage of the total number of people in the Devices business who are building great experiences for our customers.” Amazon noted that there are more than half a billion Alexa devices in customers’ homes. “Our investments in generative AI are bringing our vision for an even more intuitive, intelligent, and useful Alexa closer than ever before,” the company said. “As we continue to invent, we’re shifting some of our efforts to better align with our business priorities, and what we know matters most to customers—which includes maximizing our resources and efforts focused on generative AI. These shifts are leading us to discontinue some initiatives, which is resulting in role eliminations.” Amazon has already undertaken multiple rounds of layoffs in the last 12 months and this is not the first time Amazon’s devices and services team, which includes those working on the company’s Echo devices and Alexa, has been cut back. Employees in this department were part of 18,000 jobs Amazon axed at the start of 2023. In March, the company announced it would be laying off an additional 9,000 workers, with the cuts affecting employees at AWS, PXT (People Experience and Technology, Amazon’s HR arm), Advertising, and Twitch, the livestreaming service purchased by Amazon in 2014 for nearly $1 billion. Related content feature Office 365: A guide to the updates Get the latest info on new features, bug fixes, and security updates for Office 365/Microsoft 365 for Windows as they roll out from Microsoft. Now updated for Version 2404 (Build 17531.20152), released on May 14, 2024. By Preston Gralla May 14, 2024 110 mins Microsoft 365 Microsoft Office Office Suites feature Windows 11: A guide to the updates Here’s what you need to know about the latest updates to Windows 11 as they’re released from Microsoft. Now updated for KB5037771, released on May 14, 2024. By Preston Gralla May 14, 2024 60 mins Small and Medium Business Microsoft Windows 11 feature Windows 10: A guide to the updates Here's what you need to know about each update to the current version of Windows 10 as it's released from Microsoft. Now updated for KB5037768, released on May 14, 2024. By Preston Gralla May 14, 2024 172 mins Small and Medium Business Windows 10 Microsoft news analysis Apple reports on its forever war against App Store fraud Apple prevented over $1.8 billion worth of potential fraud in 2023 alone — that’s up 20% in four years. By Jonny Evans May 14, 2024 6 mins Apple Mobile Apps Application Security Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe