From Investing.com: 2024-06-28 20:21:20

Amazon.com has hired AI startup Adept’s co-founders and team members, echoing a move by Microsoft. Adept CEO David Luan and others are joining Amazon. Adept has raised $410 million and named a new CEO. Microsoft has faced regulatory scrutiny for a similar deal, paying a $650 million licensing fee to Inflection AI.

Amazon will operate independently from Adept but will pay a licensing fee to use their technology for automating business functions. Amazon is investing in training a large language model to compete with Microsoft-backed OpenAI and Google’s Alphabet. Amazon is working on integrating generative AI into its Alexa voice assistant for faster responses.

The Adept employees have already joined Amazon, with around 20 employees remaining at the startup. Adept did not respond to requests for comment. At Amazon, the new hires will work under Rohit Prasad, focusing on artificial general intelligence (AGI). Prasad aims to unite AI efforts across the company for the quest of achieving AGI.

Adept also had discussions with Meta but did not pursue a partnership. Meta declined to comment. Amazon’s move to strengthen its AI capabilities signals the tech giant’s ambition to compete in AI agents and tools development. The hires will boost Amazon’s efforts to develop advanced AI technologies under Prasad’s leadership.



Read more at Investing.com: Amazon lures cofounders from startup Adept to bolster AI efforts By Reuters