More than 1,000 Amazon workers have signed an explosive open letter that slams the company’s breakneck push into artificial intelligence. The Amazon employees’ concern centres on three major risks: massive harm to the climate, loss of thousands of jobs, and the fueling of surveillance and military uses of AI. They demand that CEO Andy Jassy and senior leaders slow down and listen. The letter, published Monday, has already gathered over 1,000 Amazon signatures and more than 2,400 solidarity signatures from workers at Google, Microsoft, Meta, and Apple.
Why Amazon Employees’ Concern Is Growing Fast
Workers say Amazon sacrifices its own climate promises to feed power-hungry data centers that run AI. At the same time, the company just laid off thousands of employees while praising AI as “transformative.” Many fear they train the very tools that will replace them.
One senior software engineer told The Guardian anonymously: “Leadership uses AI as an excuse to set impossible quotas and force us to work longer hours.”
The letter also accuses Amazon of helping build “a more militarized surveillance state” through contracts with the Department of Homeland Security, Palantir, and defense companies.
Key Demands from Amazon Employees
- Power all new data centers with clean energy only
- Create employee-led working groups to shape AI policy
- Stop selling AI tools that support violence, mass surveillance, or deportation programs
- Protect jobs and give workers real input before AI changes roles
Amazon Fires Back
Amazon spokesperson Brad Glasser called climate accusations “categorically false.” He told Newsweek that the company has remained the world’s largest buyer of renewable energy for five consecutive years and invests heavily in nuclear power to meet its 2040 net-zero goal.
Also Read: Nonprofit Statistics, Facts, and Figures To Consider
CEO Andy Jassy warned employees earlier this year that generative AI “will reduce our total corporate workforce” in the coming years as the company gains efficiency.
So far, Amazon has not said whether it will meet with the workers or address any of the demands directly.
The growing Amazon employees’ concern shows a wider worry across tech: who controls AI, who benefits, and who pays the price? With the company planning up to $50 billion more in AI spending, pressure on leadership is only beginning.
More News To Read: AI Job Losses to Surge: Stability Founder Warns of Chaos