Amazon engineers blast company for spending billions on AI while cutting jobs: Desperate to build | Latest Tech News
Amazon engineers blasted their employer at a heated Seattle City Council listening to this week, accusing the tech giant of pouring billions into an AI-fueled data heart increase while slashing tens of 1000’s of white-collar jobs.
The criticism got here as Seattle officers superior a one-year moratorium on new large-scale data heart developments, citing issues about energy consumption, water use and the pressure that AI infrastructure may place on local sources.
“It’s been reported that this year, Amazon is spending $200 billion on capital, with most of it going to data centers and AI,” Patrick Schloesser, a software program engineer at Amazon Web Services, told council members on Wednesday.
Amazon engineers criticized the company’s AI data heart spending during a Seattle City Council listening to as Amazon continues a major workforce discount. Getty Images
“Meanwhile, the leaders at my company have laid off 30,000 corporate employees in the last eight months,” Schloesser said. “What that tells me is that Big Tech is desperate to build as much compute capacity as it can, as fast as it can.”
The feedback highlight a growing pressure inside Amazon as CEO Andy Jassy pushes an aggressive AI enlargement while concurrently finishing up one of the biggest company workforce reductions in company historical past.
Since October, Amazon has cut roughly 30,000 company jobs through two major rounds of layoffs as half of Jassy’s effort to flatten management constructions and scale back paperwork.
The company announced roughly 14,000 company job cuts in October and another 16,000 in January.
At the same time, Amazon has dedicated to spending roughly $200 billion on capital expenditures this 12 months, with the bulk earmarked for AI infrastructure and data facilities, according to company disclosures cited during the listening to.
The conflict between workforce reductions and hovering AI investment has fueled criticism from some workers, significantly members of Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, an activist group made up of current and former staff.
Amazon has cut roughly 30,000 company jobs since October while growing investment in AI infrastructure. REUTERS
Schloesser and fellow Amazon engineers Liesl Wigand and Darius Irani appeared before the Seattle City Council’s Land Use and Sustainability Committee to assist tighter regulation of data heart development.
Wigand, who has labored at Amazon for more than a decade, criticized what she described as an “all-costs-justified AI build-out.”
“The biggest issue is a belief that AI should be how we solve everything, while ignoring the resources that it costs,” Wigand said.
“This culture is omnipresent across tech. That’s why local governments, in collaboration with community stakeholders, should be setting the terms for data center build-out.”
The committee unanimously accepted the one-year moratorium on Wednesday.
The proposal emerged after 4 builders approached Seattle City Light about building 5 large-scale data facilities in the utility’s service territory. Two builders have since withdrawn their plans amid mounting opposition.
The debate has turn into a flashpoint in Seattle, where elected officers are grappling with how to accommodate exploding demand for AI computing energy while addressing issues over electrical energy, water consumption and environmental impacts.
Seattle officers superior a one-year moratorium on new large-scale data facilities as town research their influence on local infrastructure. Agnieszka Gaul – stock.adobe.com
Amazon, however, pushed back against options that it’s planning a major new data heart enlargement inside Seattle.
“We respect our colleagues’ right to voice their opinions,” Amazon spokeswoman Margaret Callahan told The Post.
“Currently, we don’t have any plans to construct data centers within the Seattle city limits.”
Callahan added that Amazon stays dedicated to working responsibly in communities where it does keep data facilities.
“Across the communities where we do operate data centers, we’re committed to being a responsible neighbor — investing in local economic development while prioritizing water and energy efficiency that exceeds industry standards,” she said.
Amazon Web Services engineer Patrick Schloesser urged Seattle officers to require stronger oversight of AI data heart initiatives. Patrick Schloesser/LinkedIn
The company also sought to counter criticisms surrounding water consumption.
According to Amazon, most of its North American data facilities don’t use water for cooling on a daily foundation because exterior air gives enough cooling for a lot of the 12 months. The company says it depends on water-based cooling only about 10% of the time across the Americas.
The company also said it’s more and more turning to reclaimed wastewater fairly than consuming water provides.
Amazon says it at present operates 24 services that use 100% reclaimed water and has contracts in place for 130 further websites globally.
Amazon has pledged to turn into “water positive” by 2030, which means it will return more water to communities than its data facilities devour. The company says it’s already 53% of the best way toward attaining that purpose.
The Post has sought remark from Amazon Employees for Climate Justice.
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