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The Morning Download: Amazon CEO Andy Jassy's Take on AI
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By Isabelle Bousquette | WSJ Leadership Institute
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Good morning. Amazon.com Chief Executive Andy Jassy pressed his case for big AI spending in his annual shareholder letter this week. In it, he described AI as a “as a once-in-a-generation technological shift that will transform nearly every customer experience and have an impact on industries from shopping and entertainment to healthcare and software development.”
He announced plans to invest approximately $200 billion in capital expenditures in 2026, largely focused on the company’s AI infrastructure, saying the company wasn’t investing that money “on a hunch.”
A key theme of the letter was how Jassy expects AI to become much cheaper over time, mainly due to improvements in chips and efficiency. Lower costs, he argues, will unlock broader adoption and accelerate innovation.
But another major theme was how enterprises need to be nimble, rethink existing systems and processes and not be afraid to start over if they are to truly take advantage of AI.
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Content from our sponsor: Deloitte
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Speeding the Permitting Process: AI Innovations to Reduce Backlogs
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Applying agentic AI to permitting processes can flag missing data and operational gaps in real time, cutting review times and potentially saving states millions of dollars daily in lost activity. Read More
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Andy Jassy once again used his annual shareholder letter to highlight Amazon’s vision for AI as a key driver of its next phase of growth. Michael Nagle/Bloomberg News
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Leading through Squiggles:
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Jassy’s letter starts by reminding shareholders that his career to CEO of Amazon didn’t follow a straight line. After pursuing dreams of being a sportscaster, he worked in product management and investment banking, before going back to school and landing at Amazon three days after his final exam.
That penchant for leaning into what he calls the “squiggly line” also characterizes his leadership at Amazon, he says. Some products and businesses have succeeded and others haven’t, but Jassy said he hasn’t shied away from the concept of running back to the drawing board.
And that’s what we need to do now with AI, he argues. The most successful enterprises will be those that aren’t afraid to start over.
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“When you have a product that’s working at scale, one of the hardest decisions to make is to go back to the starting line. It feels like going backwards (because it kind of is). Teams understandably argue that they don’t have time to both run the existing service and reimagine everything anew. But, there are reasons to do so, and AI is making it easier and more imperative.”
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- Andy Jassy's annual shareholder letter
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He cited examples like scrapping and totally rebuilding the inference engine on Amazon Bedrock and completely rewiring the brain of Alexa for its new Alexa+ product.
What do you think? How can you push teams back to the starting line to rebuild your organizations and teams for the AI era? Email me at isabelle.bousquette@wsj.com and let me know!
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Meta Removes Law-Firm Ads Recruiting Clients to Sue It
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Plaintiffs who filed lawsuits against social-media companies holding photos of loved ones. Justin Sullivan/Getty
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Law firms looking for potential clients to sue Instagram can no longer find them using Instagram.
In the wake of recent trial losses, Meta Platforms began removing hundreds of advertisements from Facebook and Instagram that trial lawyers and marketing companies have been placing to recruit new clients. The ads seek to reach eligible plaintiffs to join mounting lawsuits against the social-media platform.
Can Meta's AI ambitions help clear the smoke from its social media lawsuit? Heard on the Street's Dan Gallagher argues it will be tough.
Earlier this week, Meta announced its new Muse Spark AI model this week comes nearly a year after it delayed the rollout of an advanced version of its last model family known as Llama. The launch also comes just two weeks after a pair of stinging court losses that essentially found the Facebook and Instagram parent legally responsible for harms done by content posted to its platforms.
Meta’s stock slumped after those verdicts, but a 9% jump since the Muse Spark release has helped the shares fully recover from that selloff.
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Anthropic scales up with enterprise features for Claude Cowork and Managed Agents. Claude Cowork is losing the “research preview” label as Anthropic introduces enterprise capabilities, 9to5Mac reports. Separately, Anthropic is reclaiming the AI agent narrative with Claude Managed Agents.
OpenAI pauses Stargate UK data center effort citing energy costs. The project is being paused due to the high cost of energy and the regulatory environment, Bloomberg reports.
OpenAI tells investors it has computing advantage over Anthropic. The ChatGPT maker said it has outpaced Anthropic by “rapidly and consistently” adding computing capacity to support wider adoption of its software, Bloomberg reports.
Gen Z is using AI, but doesn't feel great about it. A new study from Gallup found that young adults have grown less hopeful and more angry about AI, the NYT reports.
At David Sacks's behest, White House barrels forward on industry-friendly AI policy. Sacks and other advisers have brushed aside mounting concerns about AI, arguing that the economic benefits of the technology will make it more popular, WSJ reports. Last year, Sacks said, “we’ve got to let the private sector cook.”
Inside the race to protect submarine cables from sabotage. From the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean, a global scramble is under way to protect submarine cables vulnerable to potential sabotage, WSJ reports.
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Biotech in China is Booming. Big Pharma is Paying Attention. China has emerged as a big player in biotech, and major drugmakers and investors are catching on. Plus, meet the whiz kids who dropped out of college to pursue their AI dreams—and are getting investors to pay their bills. The WSJLI's Belle Lin hosts.
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Everything Else You Need to Know
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The U.S. raced Thursday to keep Israel’s war in Lebanon from derailing talks with Iran this weekend, with President Trump asking Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to scale back attacks that were threatening a fragile cease-fire. (WSJ)
U.S. stocks climbed and oil prices settled well off their session highs above $100 a barrel, after reports that Israel and Lebanon will pursue direct negotiations as soon as possible. (WSJ)
China made a rare diplomatic foray in the Iran war, nudging Tehran to agree to sit down for talks with the U.S. Beijing’s role wasn’t decisive, but Chinese leader Xi Jinping now has something valuable: diplomatic capital with President Trump. (WSJ)
First lady Melania Trump denied having ties to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and called on Congress to hold a public hearing for his victims in a surprise announcement at the White House on Thursday. (WSJ)
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The WSJ Technology Council
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