Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, despite stepping down as CEO in 2021, remains actively involved in shaping the company’s artificial intelligence (AI) strategy, according to Rohit Prasad, the company’s head of AI. In a recent interview, Prasad revealed that Bezos dedicates significant time to collaborating and providing guidance.
“He’s still very much connected with AI where I spend a lot of time and so I get to see him,” Prasad said in an interview with Fortune.
Last week, Bezos had said that about 95% of the time he spends at Amazon is related to AI.
Prasad also said that since Bezos is involved with AI innovation at the company, he felt “very fortunate for that partnership and mentorship.”
Alexa’s transformation underway
Amazon’s push into AI is gaining momentum. Prasad also addressed concerns about a potential slowdown in the progress of large language models (LLMs), dismissing the notion that AI development has “hit a wall.” He asserted that new dimensions and breakthroughs continue to emerge.
“Every time we come close to a wall, there’s a new dimension,” Prasad stated, adding, “I think we’ll keep finding that… you continue to shift the curve up on performance.”
Amazon recently unveiled its Nova family of LLMs, positioning the company to compete with AI giants like OpenAI, Alphabet, and Meta. As per the report, these new models are expected to power a range of AI applications and services across Amazon’s ecosystem.
Prasad’s team is also spearheading the development of a revamped Alexa voice assistant. This new version promises more natural and conversational interactions, along with the ability to perform actions on behalf of users, such as booking rides or making reservations, the report said.
While the release has faced delays due to technical and organizational challenges, Prasad assured the audience to “stay tuned” for updates.