4 ms·

Matt says there will naturally be changes, which is usually CEO-speak for layoffs. I don't think anyone is happy that AWS is missing the bus on AI.

andremedeiros 2y ago
Amazon is great at a lot of things, but AI and Machine Learning aren't it. From what I saw when I worked there, they don't have the talent to produce their own models (which is, I think, what we all expected to see), but the surprising thing is that they haven't partnered yet.
- OutOfHere 2y ago
  > the surprising thing is that they haven't partnered yet. Amazon has a partnership with and investment in Anthropic, but I don't consider Anthropic to much good for various technical reasons not having to do with their model. Essentially, Anthropic is user-hostile in many ways. Also, Anthropic keeps spamming me daily with pointless legal changes, sneakingly adding marketing materials into their legal emails.
- brevitea 2y ago
  > From what I saw when I worked there, they don't have the talent to produce their own models (which is, I think, what we all expected to see) The talent is repeatedly run off by managers and executives who don't know how to manage talent. At this point, I'm convinced it's actually part of the Amazon culture to not excel at AI/ML. Mediocre, or else. It's so weird (and abusive) to be around. 10/10 not a rewarding place to work.
  - hughesjj 2y ago
    Which is a shame because MLU was a legit training program
  - chucke1992 2y ago
    Personally I have always felt that AWS has too much of "manager culture" or something. But them missing AI train was crazy though. I am personally more surprised that Microsoft did not miss that train with AI and now are pretty aggressive with integration of AI everywhere. Though I wonder if Microsoft would not have missed mobile and search if Nadella was CEO after Gates. Satya is ruthless. Even despite not being first in cloud, they still are able to compete with AWS.
  - theGnuMe 2y ago
    It is happening all over industry. Those that can't adapt will be eaten by AI. And AI is moving way too fast and the execs who took a wait and see approach are now in panic mode. AI tooling should be a straight forward investment regardless of outcome.
giantg2 2y ago
Are they missing the bus on AI? Hasn't Meta committed to becoming an AI leader and releasing their models for free? Users will need to run those models somewhere.
- zoover2020 2y ago
  They were later to the game but with Claude (anthropic) it does seem they were able to catch IP. I use Claude every day and prefer it over OpenAI's model
belter 2y ago
All these Sales people are extremely dangerous for AWS. Adam Selipsky -> Was an Harvard MBA Andy Jassy -> Joined as Marketing manager as Harvard MBA Matt Garman -> Was first product manager of EC2 but also a business MBA Jeff Bezos for all his slightly goofy style, graduated from Princeton with degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. In the meanwhile people like James Hamilton, Werner Vogels, or others that could look like their heirs are very, very invisible. My prediction is that Jeff Bezos will be back within 2 to 3 years if not sooner.
- amzn-throw 2y ago
  Andy Jassy was the first product manager on AWS, and while there is lore debates whether he "came up" with the idea of AWS (probably not), he's been on it from the beginning and through every single product. I don't know much about Selipsky or Garman, but Jassy absolutely was/is technical enough to get to AWS to where it was today (or know when not to get in the way of those more technical than him). Watch any of his interviews from before he was Amazon CEO. The man knew his shit.
  - belter 2y ago
    I don't dispute he is an excellent manager and an excellent CEO. But excellence is execution does not drive vision. The times demand a different profile, as AI is not there yet, but can within the next 24 months become really disruptive for many business models. One example: Amazon generated $14.65 billion from its advertising services. And Google a gazillion more. But if I send an AI agent searching for me or shop on Amazon, they don't care about the ads.
    - zoover2020 2y ago
      Is this bait? AI coming in 2 years? What are you talking about
      - belter 2y ago
        AI agents are here now. Disruption for many business models within 18 to 24 months...Yes.

andremedeiros 2y ago

Amazon is great at a lot of things, but AI and Machine Learning aren't it. From what I saw when I worked there, they don't have the talent to produce their own models (which is, I think, what we all expected to see), but the surprising thing is that they haven't partnered yet.

OutOfHere 2y ago
> the surprising thing is that they haven't partnered yet. Amazon has a partnership with and investment in Anthropic, but I don't consider Anthropic to much good for various technical reasons not having to do with their model. Essentially, Anthropic is user-hostile in many ways. Also, Anthropic keeps spamming me daily with pointless legal changes, sneakingly adding marketing materials into their legal emails.
brevitea 2y ago
> From what I saw when I worked there, they don't have the talent to produce their own models (which is, I think, what we all expected to see) The talent is repeatedly run off by managers and executives who don't know how to manage talent. At this point, I'm convinced it's actually part of the Amazon culture to not excel at AI/ML. Mediocre, or else. It's so weird (and abusive) to be around. 10/10 not a rewarding place to work.
- hughesjj 2y ago
  Which is a shame because MLU was a legit training program
- chucke1992 2y ago
  Personally I have always felt that AWS has too much of "manager culture" or something. But them missing AI train was crazy though. I am personally more surprised that Microsoft did not miss that train with AI and now are pretty aggressive with integration of AI everywhere. Though I wonder if Microsoft would not have missed mobile and search if Nadella was CEO after Gates. Satya is ruthless. Even despite not being first in cloud, they still are able to compete with AWS.
- theGnuMe 2y ago
  It is happening all over industry. Those that can't adapt will be eaten by AI. And AI is moving way too fast and the execs who took a wait and see approach are now in panic mode. AI tooling should be a straight forward investment regardless of outcome.

giantg2 2y ago

Are they missing the bus on AI? Hasn't Meta committed to becoming an AI leader and releasing their models for free? Users will need to run those models somewhere.

zoover2020 2y ago
They were later to the game but with Claude (anthropic) it does seem they were able to catch IP. I use Claude every day and prefer it over OpenAI's model

belter 2y ago

All these Sales people are extremely dangerous for AWS. Adam Selipsky -> Was an Harvard MBA Andy Jassy -> Joined as Marketing manager as Harvard MBA Matt Garman -> Was first product manager of EC2 but also a business MBA Jeff Bezos for all his slightly goofy style, graduated from Princeton with degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. In the meanwhile people like James Hamilton, Werner Vogels, or others that could look like their heirs are very, very invisible. My prediction is that Jeff Bezos will be back within 2 to 3 years if not sooner.

amzn-throw 2y ago
Andy Jassy was the first product manager on AWS, and while there is lore debates whether he "came up" with the idea of AWS (probably not), he's been on it from the beginning and through every single product. I don't know much about Selipsky or Garman, but Jassy absolutely was/is technical enough to get to AWS to where it was today (or know when not to get in the way of those more technical than him). Watch any of his interviews from before he was Amazon CEO. The man knew his shit.
- belter 2y ago
  I don't dispute he is an excellent manager and an excellent CEO. But excellence is execution does not drive vision. The times demand a different profile, as AI is not there yet, but can within the next 24 months become really disruptive for many business models. One example: Amazon generated $14.65 billion from its advertising services. And Google a gazillion more. But if I send an AI agent searching for me or shop on Amazon, they don't care about the ads.
  - zoover2020 2y ago
    Is this bait? AI coming in 2 years? What are you talking about
    - belter 2y ago
      AI agents are here now. Disruption for many business models within 18 to 24 months...Yes.