Amazon employees face layoffs as company frees up cash for AI spending

Amazon announced on Wednesday that it plans to cut thousands of jobs, framing the move as a way to reduce bureaucracy. 

The tech giant is set to slash 16,000 jobs. The development comes after similar workforce cuts of 14,000 employees last October were attributed partially to developments in artificial intelligence, as the company is expected to focus on efforts to replace over half a million jobs with robots.

Beth Galetti, Amazon’s senior vice president of people experience, said the latest layoffs were aimed at “reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy,” in a memo to employees.

“Every team will continue to evaluate the ownership, speed, and capacity to invent for customers, and make adjustments as appropriate. That’s never been more important than it is today in