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Amazon Web Services Launches New Unit Focused on Agentic AI Development

Amazon’s cloud division is reportedly forming a new group dedicated to creating software that leverages artificial intelligence agents, as the tech giant seeks to maintain its competitive edge in the rapidly evolving generative AI space.

Swami Sivasubramanian, an Amazon vice president with nearly 20 years at the company, shared these developments in a recent LinkedIn post. He emphasized the transformative potential of “agentic systems,” suggesting that these technologies could surpass current chatbots and significantly enhance operational efficiency.

Sivasubramanian highlighted that these systems would be capable of managing intricate workflows and solving issues with reasoning akin to human thought processes. He pointed out their ability to maximize performance and cost-effectiveness on a scalable level.

Recent reports from Reuters indicated that Matt Garman, AWS CEO, sees agentic AI as a possible multibillion-dollar opportunity for the cloud service. This insight further solidifies Amazon’s commitment to leadership in this frontier of technology.

Companies are already implementing agent software via AWS, with Amazon itself employing these tools extensively. For instance, developers at Amazon have begun utilizing AWS’s Q developer service for tasks like code writing and updates, leading to significant time savings. Sivasubramanian stated that the firm has effectively saved an estimated 4,500 developer years by employing the code transformation capability of Amazon Q Developer for upgrading Java applications.

In recent months, competition in the field has intensified, with Microsoft launching its Azure AI Agent Service in November. This was followed by Microsoft-supported OpenAI introducing its own agent software called Operator. Also, Google announced in December its plan to provide selective access to its Agentspace tool for a limited number of customers.

Despite increasingly fierce competition, Amazon remains a dominant player in the cloud infrastructure market, boasting nearly $29 billion in AWS revenue for the fourth quarter, significantly surpassing both Microsoft and Google.

Furthermore, Amazon is set to reveal an advanced iteration of its Alexa voice assistant, incorporating AI models from both AWS and Anthropic, a company backed by Amazon. Although there has been speculation about the specifics of this development, an Amazon representative disputed recent claims regarding the project.

WATCH: Clara Shih, head of business AI at Meta, discusses the implications of an ‘agentic’ future for the economy.

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