Amazon’s Alexa Team Shifts Focus to Develop Rival to GPT-4, PaLM

Amazon has efforts underway to develop a competitive large-language model and reinvigorate its Alexa voice assistant through its artificial general intelligence (AGI) division, led by ex-Alexa chief scientist Rohit Prasad.

Key details about Amazon’s AGI division: The majority of the division’s staff comes from the former Alexa team, with several dozen recent hires from the startup Adept:

• Approximately 8,000 out of the 10,000 people who were under Prasad at Alexa were transferred to the new AGI division when it was formed last summer.
• Prasad, who previously served as the chief scientist and senior vice president for Alexa, now reports directly to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, highlighting the importance of the AGI division within the company.

Implications for Amazon’s AI ambitions: The formation of the AGI division and the reallocation of resources from Alexa suggest a strategic shift in Amazon’s approach to artificial intelligence:

• The company appears to be doubling down on its efforts to develop a large-language model that can compete with offerings from rivals like OpenAI and Google, which have recently made significant strides in this area.
• The move also indicates a desire to breathe new life into the Alexa voice assistant, which has faced challenges in terms of user engagement and monetization, despite being a pioneering product in the smart speaker market.

Analyzing deeper: While the creation of the AGI division and the influx of talent from Alexa and Adept demonstrate Amazon’s commitment to advancing its AI capabilities, the company still faces significant challenges in catching up to the likes of OpenAI and Google, who have already released powerful large-language models like GPT-4 and PaLM. Additionally, it remains to be seen how effectively Amazon can integrate its AI efforts across its various business units and translate these advancements into tangible benefits for customers and shareholders.