Amazon workers issue warning over company’s ‘all costs’ approach to AI development

More than 1000 Amazon employees They anonymously signed an open letter warning that the company’s “purported all-costs, all-speed approach to AI development” could cause “stunning harm to democracy, to our jobs, and to the Earth,” an internal advocacy group announced Wednesday.

Four members of Amazon Employees for Climate Justice told WIRED they have begun asking workers to sign message last month. After reaching its initial goal, the group on Wednesday published the job titles of Amazon employees who had signed and revealed that more than 2,400 supporters had joined from other organizations, including Google and Apple.

Supporters within Amazon include senior-level engineers, senior product leaders, marketing managers, and warehouse employees who work across many departments of the company. One senior engineering manager who worked for more than 20 years at Amazon says they signed this agreement because they believe the artificial “race” to build the best AI has enabled executives to trample workers and the environment.

“The current generation of AI has become almost like a drug that companies like Amazon are snapping up, using as cover to lay off employees, and using the savings to pay for data centers for AI products that no one is paying for,” says the employee, who, like others in this story, asked to remain anonymous because he fears retaliation from his bosses.

Amazon, along with other big tech companies, is in the middle of this problem Investing billions of dollars to build new data centers To train and operate generative artificial intelligence systems. This includes tools that help workers write code and consumer-facing services such as Amazon shopping chatbotRufus. It’s easy to see why Amazon is pursuing AI. Last month, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced that Rufus was on track to increase Amazon sales by $10 billion annually. “It keeps getting better,” he added.

Artificial intelligence systems Demanding great powerThis has forced utility companies to turn to coal plants and other carbon-emitting energy sources to support the data center boom. The open letter demands that Amazon drop the order Carbon fuel sources in its data centersPrevent the use of its artificial intelligence technologies to carry out surveillance and mass deportations, and stop forcing employees to use artificial intelligence in their work. “We, the undersigned Amazon employees, have serious concerns about this aggressive proposition during the global rise of authoritarianism and our most important years for reversing the climate crisis,” the letter read.