‘Damage to democracy, our jobs and earth’: Why over 1,000 Amazon employees are protesting against tech giant’s AI policy

In what could be called one of the largest internal protests at a tech company today, more than 1,000 Amazon employees sent the company an open letter to CEO Andy Jassy and his team against the rapid push to expand artificial intelligence.

In the telling letter, employees accused Amazon of developing artificial intelligence at too high a pace; This harms democracy, businesses and the world as a whole.

“We, the undersigned Amazon employees, have serious concerns about the global rise of authoritarianism and its aggressive expansion during our most crucial years to reverse the climate crisis. We believe that a cost-justifying, warp-speed approach to AI development will be staggeringly damaging to democracy, our jobs, and the world,” reads the open letter, signed by 1,039 Amazon employees.

This comes a month after Amazon announced plans for mass layoffs over increasing reliance on artificial intelligence.

The letter was signed by employees including engineers, product managers and warehouse associates, as well as employees from companies such as Microsoft, Google, Meta, Apple, Uber and Salesforce.

What do Amazon employees say in their open letter?

Employees have made a number of demands regarding Amazon’s impact on the workplace and the environment. They accused the company of setting aside climate goals to build a company that prioritizes artificial intelligence.

While Amazon has committed to net zero carbon emissions by 2040, workers claim their annual emissions have increased by nearly 35% since 2019. They said the AI ​​race is “widening this gap.”

Amazon plans to spend $150 billion to build new data centers for artificial intelligence.

The workers also said, “Amazon is forcing us to use AI while investing in a future where it’s easier to divest.”

Citing Andy Jassy’s plans to use more AI tools and agents, they said the company forced them to shorten output timelines, forced them to use AI in unnecessary situations, and did not invest enough in career development.

The letter also demands that Amazon ensure that its AI-powered products and services do not enable “violence, surveillance, and mass deportation.”

“All of this is daunting, but none of it is inevitable. We’re still close to a better future, but it requires us to be realistic about the costs of AI and the guardrails we need.”

They said Amazon should implement a plan to: “1) provide 100% additional local renewable energy to all its data centers 24/7, 2) end proprietary AI solutions for oil and gas companies to extract more oil faster, and 3) publish a detailed, science-backed glide path for how it will meet its climate commitments.”

The letter also emphasized the need for ethical AI working groups of non-executives across the company.

“We want the promised gains from artificial intelligence to give everyone more freedom to play and relax, spend time with family and friends, move naturally, create and feel safe in who we are,” he said.