Alexa lost to ChatGPT: Amazon laid off hundreds of people

class=”sc-29f61514-0 fwWrRV”>

Using voice control, Alexa sets the alarm for the next morning, plays the desired music, or reads the weather forecast for the coming day. US internet giant Amazon’s virtual voice assistant is used in millions of speakers around the world. But compared to more advanced technologies in the artificial intelligence field, such as chatbot ChatGPT, Alexa can make an impact.

Amazon is now drawing conclusions from this and laying off hundreds of people in its Alexa department, financial news agency “Bloomberg” reported, citing internal employee information. Currently, employees in the US, Canada and India are affected. However, there may be layoffs in other places, albeit with a slight delay.

Billions of dollars of investment in Switzerland

Amazon also operates in Switzerland: the US group moved into prestigious offices on the shores of Lake Zurich two years ago and is investing billions of dollars in data centers for cloud services there. However, it seems unlikely that this section will be affected by the latest discounts.

Compared to the net cuts Amazon has made since the pandemic, the latest wave of layoffs seems downright trivial: 27,000 people were laid off last year. Amazon was not alone in this: after the end of the pandemic, the entire technology industry fell into a real crisis. Covid brought a one-time profit to companies, they hired a lot of staff, and after normalcy returned, they suddenly had a lot of employees.

The new wave of layoffs was welcomed by investors: Amazon shares gained about 1 percent after the layoffs were announced.

Home office under scrutiny

Meanwhile, there is bad news for Amazon employees who can keep their jobs: working from home is becoming increasingly uncomfortable for them. According to a report by CNN, the online retailer warned its staff that anyone who is not working in the office at least three days a week has little chance of being promoted.

Amazon has been trying for months to bring staff back to the office in the wake of the pandemic, with moderate success. But the latest wave of layoffs could give remaining staff the support they need to return to the office.

Source :Blick