"Over 1,000 Amazon employees have anonymously signed an open letter warning that the company's allegedly "all-costs-justified, warp-speed approach to AI development" could cause "staggering damage to democracy, to our jobs, and to the earth," an internal advocacy group announced on Wednesday. Four members of Amazon Employees for Climate Justice tell WIRED that they began asking workers to sign the letter last month."
""The current generation of AI has become almost like a drug that companies like Amazon obsess over, use as a cover to lay people off, and use the savings to pay for data centers for AI products no one is paying for," says the employee, who like others in this story, asked to remain anonymous because they feared retaliation from their bosses."
"Amazon, along with other big tech companies, is in the midst of investing billions of dollars to construct new data centers to train and run generative AI systems. This includes tools helping workers write code and consumer-facing services such as Amazon's shopping chatbot, Rufus. It's easy to see why Amazon is pursuing AI."
Over 1,000 Amazon employees anonymously signed an open letter raising serious concerns about the company's rapid, "all-costs-justified, warp-speed" approach to AI development and potential "staggering damage to democracy, to our jobs, and to the earth." Signers span roles from high-ranking engineers and senior product leaders to marketing managers and warehouse staff, and more than 2,400 external supporters from companies including Google and Apple joined. Employees say a manufactured race to build AI has enabled executives to sideline workers and environmental protections, use AI as cover for layoffs, and justify massive investments in data centers for generative systems.
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