As Amazon bets big on AI, staff tell CEO the company is “drifting off course”

More than 1,000 Amazon employees have warned that the company’s “warp speed” adoption of artificial intelligence risks harming jobs, the climate and democratic institutions, The Guardian reported on Friday. The open letter reflects mounting tension inside the tech giant as it accelerates investment in AI and data-centre infrastructure.

The signatories include engineers, product managers and warehouse associates, alongside more than 2,400 workers from Meta, Google, Apple and Microsoft who endorsed the call. The campaign was organised by Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, an advocacy group that has previously pressed the company on environmental issues.

The letter argues that Amazon’s AI strategy is unfolding at “all-costs justified” pace, with limited internal debate and inadequate protections. Workers urged the company to power all data centres with clean energy, prevent its systems from enabling “violence, surveillance and mass deportation”, and create an employee-led body with authority over how AI is deployed and whether AI-linked layoffs or hiring freezes take place.

Several employees quoted in the letter voiced frustration with the internal use of AI tools, saying managers are pushing staff to adopt them to meet tighter deadlines. One senior software engineer told The Guardian that leadership increasingly uses AI “as justification” for productivity quotas, adding that teams are expected to deliver “twice as much work” despite the tools being unable to close the gap.

Another engineer said AI-generated code had resulted in flawed output that required significant manual correction. A customer researcher cited by the newspaper said AI was becoming a “magic word” used to justify reduced worker power and to funnel resources into high-energy data centres rather than climate-resilient technology.

Environmental concerns feature heavily in the letter. It criticises Amazon for “casting aside its climate goals to build AI,” highlighting plans to spend $150bn on data-centre expansion over 15 years, including major projects in Indiana and Mississippi. The Guardian reported that employees noted Amazon’s emissions have risen about 35% since 2019, despite its pledge to reach net zero by 2040.

Workers warned that new AI infrastructure could increase reliance on fossil fuels in regions where energy grids are already strained, undermining the company’s climate commitments. They argued that the rapid build-out risks prioritising energy-intensive computing over local environmental and community needs.

While the employees stress they are not opposed to AI development, they want stronger safeguards, clearer governance and a more democratic approach to deployment. Several said there is a “culture of fear” around questioning AI inside the company, even as layoffs, workload pressures and surveillance tools become more tightly interwoven with the technology.

The letter adds to growing scrutiny over Big Tech’s AI ambitions as companies race to deploy increasingly powerful models. Analysts say internal dissent at Amazon underscores a broader challenge across the industry: how to balance competitive pressure and innovation against environmental limits, workforce stability and public trust.