Amazon is simultaneously celebrating its strongest cloud growth since 2022 and laying off 14,000 corporate employees. CEO Andy Jassy squared this circle on an investor call by claiming the cuts were about “culture,” not money.
Jassy stated the layoffs were “not really financially driven” or “AI-driven,” but were an effort to make the $2.4tn company “malleable” like a startup. This follows a company blog post that did cite AI as a transformative technology.
The company’s finances are certainly not in trouble. Amazon’s stock jumped 9% after it reported $180.17bn in Q3 revenue, beating estimates. This was driven by its AWS division, which grew 20% to $33bn.
The AWS growth is a major show of strength, as it comes after a recent global outage that took down critical systems. The division’s ability to beat estimates ($33bn vs $32.42bn) highlights its indispensable role.
While Jassy downplayed AI’s role in the cuts, he highlighted its role in future products. The company is pushing its Rufus shopping assistant and Zoox robotaxis to compete in the AI arms race.
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