Amazon founder and former CEO Jeff Bezos has re-emerged as the tech giant’s driving force, devoting 95% of his time to advancing its artificial intelligence efforts. Speaking at the DealBook Summit on Wednesday, Bezos expressed his enduring ties to the company he founded 30 years ago, even after he steps down as CEO in 2021.
“My heart is in Amazon, my curiosity is in Amazon, my fear is in it, my love is in it,” Bezos said, reinforcing his deep connection to the company and its mission. did.
Bezos’ renewed focus on AI comes as Amazon seeks to assert itself in a rapidly evolving technology landscape. The company currently has more than 1,000 in-house AI applications and aims to leverage this momentum to remain competitive with industry giants such as Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI.
One of the foundational projects Mr. Bezos will oversee includes partnering with Anthropic, an AI startup in which Amazon recently invested $8 billion, to build a cutting-edge supercomputer. The supercomputer is expected to further enhance Amazon’s AI capabilities by powering multimodal AI models that can analyze images, video, and text.
Although Bezos has stepped down as CEO to focus on his space venture Blue Origin, he continues to serve as Amazon’s executive chairman and actively supports CEO Andy Jassy and the company’s management team. His involvement reflects a broader trend of tech founders like Google’s Larry Page and Sergey Brin returning to their companies to steer AI-centric strategies.
“I’m always going to help, and that’s what I’m spending a lot of time on right now,” Bezos said. “It’s really interesting, so why not give it a try?”
Amazon’s AI ambitions are supported by significant investments in infrastructure and talent. The company is betting big on the transformative potential of artificial intelligence to enhance its services and operations, positioning itself as a leading contender in the ongoing AI race.
Mr. Bezos’ hands-on approach demonstrates his commitment to Amazon’s future at this pivotal time of technological innovation. His involvement aligns with the company’s broader goals to integrate AI into various aspects of its operations, from customer service to cloud computing.
Mr. Bezos’ new focus on Amazon coincides with a surge in his net worth, which reached $228 billion last month, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The rise was due to Amazon’s stock hitting an all-time high of $207.09 per share, and Bezos, who continues to own nearly 9% of the company, added $7 billion to his wealth.
