Amazon is laying off some employees in its artificial general intelligence unit, the company confirmed on Wednesday, as it continues to reduce its workforce while significantly increasing investments in artificial intelligence.

The company did not disclose the number of employees affected or specify which parts of the AGI division were impacted by the cuts. Amazon’s AGI unit is responsible for developing AI models and also includes teams focused on silicon development and quantum computing initiatives.

“This is a fast-moving space, and we’re sharpening our focus on the initiatives that matter most for customers, so we can move faster on what counts,” an Amazon spokesperson stated, according to CNBC.

“That focus means some difficult decisions, including eliminating some roles within parts of our AGI organization, even as we continue to invest in the areas most important to our customers’ future.”

Amazon has been downsizing for several years after significantly expanding its workforce during the pandemic, while simultaneously committing massive investments to AI infrastructure. The company has eliminated more than 30,000 jobs since October and has continued to cut positions through smaller rounds of layoffs in recent months.

The AGI unit is central to Amazon’s artificial intelligence strategy as the company seeks to compete with industry leaders including OpenAI, Anthropic and Google. AGI generally refers to artificial intelligence capable of performing most tasks at a level comparable to or better than humans.

In 2024, Amazon’s AGI division launched Nova, a family of foundation AI models.