Amazon lays off hundreds in its Alexa division as it plows resources into AI

Amazon is cutting hundreds of jobs in the unit that handles its popular voice assistant Alexa as it plows more resources into artificial intelligence. In a note to employees on Friday, an Amazon executive wrote that the company is is ditching some initiatives within Alexa. He says Amazon is shifting some of its efforts to better align with its business priorities, including generative AI. The company has been implementing a host of AI initiatives. Those range from infusing the technology into customer reviews to providing other services that allow developers to build their own generative AI tools on its AWS cloud infrastructure.