Amazon Workers Issue Warning About Company’s ‘All-Costs-Justified’ Approach to AI Development

Summary

More than 1,000 Amazon employees, organised through Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, signed an open letter raising “serious concerns” about the company’s rapid, high-risk push into AI. The signatories — spanning engineers, senior product leaders, marketing managers and warehouse staff — argue that an “all-costs-justified, warp-speed” drive for AI threatens jobs, democracy and the climate.

The letter demands concrete changes: stop powering data centres with carbon fuels, bar AI uses that enable surveillance or mass deportation, stop forcing staff to rely on internal AI tools, and create ethical AI working groups that include rank-and-file workers. The campaign gained traction after Amazon announced plans to cut around 14,000 jobs and as executives forecast a huge rise in data-centre demand to support generative AI services like the shopping chatbot Rufus.

Amazon has repeated its commitment to reach net-zero carbon by 2040, but activists point out the company’s emissions rose roughly 35% since 2019. Workers say internal AI tools are unreliable and are being used as a pretext for automation-driven layoffs while the company invests heavily in data centres that increase energy demand and emissions.

Key Points

Over 1,000 Amazon employees signed an open letter warning about the firm’s rapid AI rollout; 2,400+ external supporters from other organisations also backed it.
Signatories include senior engineers, product leads, marketing managers and warehouse staff, many speaking anonymously for fear of retaliation.
The letter calls for banning carbon fuels at Amazon data centres, stopping AI-driven surveillance/deportation use-cases, and protections against forced use of internal AI tools.
Workers demand ethical AI working groups that include frontline employees and a say over automation that could reshape roles or trigger layoffs.
Amazon recently announced ~14,000 job cuts tied to shifts for the AI era; executives project a multi-fold increase in data-centre demand by 2027.
Activists warn the AI data-centre boom is already pushing utilities toward higher-emission energy sources, undermining climate goals.
Employees report pressure to boost productivity using immature AI tools — many describe outputs as “slop” and worry about job security.
The campaign is a rare instance of broad employee activism amid a political climate of weakened labour and AI regulations.

Context and Relevance

This matters because Amazon is both a huge employer and a major buyer of the infrastructure that powers modern AI. How Amazon chooses to deploy and power AI systems will shape emissions, labour markets and the governance of potentially intrusive technologies. The story ties into broader trends: a surge in corporate AI investment, growing worker activism in tech, and urgent climate constraints as data-centre demand explodes.

For anyone tracking AI policy, corporate climate commitments, or the future of work, the letter is a key indicator that internal resistance is rising inside major tech firms — and that workers want a seat at the table as automation spreads.

Author’s take (Punchy)

Employees aren’t just grumbling — they’ve written down firm demands and marshalled signatories from across job grades. This isn’t a fringe protest: it’s a serious, cross-divisional push to force Amazon to account for climate and labour costs that come with the AI gold rush. Read it if you care who decides how AI is used — and who pays for it.

Why should I read this?

Because this letter is where climate, jobs and AI collide. It’s short, it’s pointed, and it tells you why Amazon’s AI race could bite back — for workers, for the planet, and for public trust. We’ve done the skimming for you: this is the one to read if you want the headlines without wading through corporate spin.

Source

Source: https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-employees-open-letter-artificial-intelligence-layoffs/