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Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has instructed employees to embrace artificial intelligence, while also warning that the technology will likely lead to workforce reductions in the coming years. In a memo to staff on Tuesday, Jassy encouraged employees to "be curious about AI" as Amazon joins other tech firms in outlining its plans for AI integration amid concerns about widespread job displacement.
Mr Jassy said he expected AI to lead to "efficiency gains" that would allow the firm to reduce its corporate workforce.
"We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs," he wrote.
"It's hard to know exactly where this nets out over time, but in the next few years, we expect that this will reduce our total corporate workforce as we get efficiency gains from using AI extensively across the company."
Companies, especially in the tech sector, have been investing heavily in AI in recent years, spurred on by technological advances that have made it easier than ever for chatbots to create code, images and text with limited instruction.
But as the new tools gain traction, they have sparked warnings from some tech leaders of job losses, especially in entry-level office roles.
Dario Amodei, chief executive of AI-firm Anthropic, told news website Axios last month that the technology could wipe out half of entry-level white collar jobs.
Amazon directly employed more than 1.5 million people around the world at the end of last year. The majority of those staff are in the US, where it ranks as the country's second-largest employer after Walmart.
While many staff the firm's e-commerce warehouses, about 350,000 people also serve the company in office roles.
In his memo, Mr Jassy said Amazon was using AI in "virtually every corner of the company" and he expected the technology to eventually perform routine tasks, such as shopping and daily chores.
