Amazon starts layoffs in HR and cloud units: Read the memos announcing the cuts

Published

2 years ago

April 26, 2023

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Amazon on Wednesday began laying off some employees in its cloud computing and human resources divisions.

Amazon Web Services CEO Adam Selipsky and human resources head Beth Galetti sent notes to staffers in the U.S., Canada and Costa Rica informing them of the job cuts.

“It is a tough day across our organization,” Selipsky wrote in the memo.

The layoffs are part of the previously announced job cuts that are expected to affect 9,000 employees. Last week, Amazon laid off some employees in its advertising unit, and it has let go of staffers in its video games and Twitch livestreaming units in recent weeks.

Amazon wrapped up a separate round of cuts earlier this year that affected approximately 18,000 employees. Combined with the cuts this month, it marks the largest layoffs in Amazon’s 29-year history.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has been aggressively slashing costs across the company as the e-retailer reckons with an economic downturn and slowing growth in its core retail business. Amazon froze hiring in its corporate workforce, axed some experimental projects and slowed warehouse expansion.

By announcing layoffs in ads and AWS, Jassy has shown that two of Amazon’s biggest and most profitable businesses aren’t immune to the cost-cutting. Both AWS and ads have experienced slowing growth in recent months as companies trim their spending amid a challenging economic environment.

Some teams within AWS were included in the earlier round of layoffs. A portion of the cuts on Wednesday is expected to land in AWS’ professional services arm, which helps customers troubleshoot issues with their cloud infrastructure, according to a current employee, who asked to remain anonymous because they weren’t authorized to speak on the matter.

Head count in AWS ballooned during the Covid pandemic, which proved to be a massive boon for Amazon and other cloud providers, as companies, government agencies and schools sped their transition to the cloud.

“Given this rapid growth, as well as the overall business and macroeconomic climate, it is critical that we focus on identifying and putting our resources behind our top priorities — those things that matter most to customers and that will move the needle for our business,” Selipsky wrote in the memo. “In many cases this means team members are shifting the projects, initiatives or teams on which they work; however, in other cases it has resulted in these role eliminations.”

Amazon is scheduled to report first-quarter earnings after the bell Thursday. Investors will look for any insight into whether Jassy’s cost-cutting efforts have improved profitability, and when Amazon executives expect AWS growth to reaccelerate.

Shares of Amazon surged more than 3% in afternoon trading Wednesday.

Here’s the full memo from Selipsky:

AWS team,

As you know, we recently made the difficult decision to eliminate some roles across Amazon globally, including within AWS. I wanted to let you know that conversations with impacted AWS employees started today, with notification messages sent to all impacted employees in the U.S., Canada, and Costa Rica. In other regions, we are following local processes, which may include time for consultation with employee representative bodies and possibly result in longer timelines to communicate with impacted employees.

It is a tough day across our organization. I fully realize the impact on every person and family who is affected. We are working hard to treat everyone impacted with respect, and to provide a number of resources and touchpoints to aid in this transition. This also includes packages that include a separation payment, transitional health insurance benefits, and external job placement support.

To those to whom we are saying goodbye today, thank you for everything you have done for this business and our customers. I am truly grateful. To all AWS builders, thank you for your compassion and empathy for your colleagues.

Both the size of our business and the size of our team have grown significantly over recent years, driven by customer demand for the cloud and for the unique value AWS provides. This growth has come quickly as we’ve moved as fast as we could to build what customers have needed. Given this rapid growth, as well as the overall business and macroeconomic climate, it is critical that we focus on identifying and putting our resources behind our top priorities—those things that matter most to customers and that will move the needle for our business. In many cases this means team members are shifting the projects, initiatives or teams on which they work; however, in other cases it has resulted in these role eliminations.

The fundamentals and the outlook for our business are strong, and we are very confident in our long-term prospects. We are the leading cloud provider by a wide range of benchmarks, from our feature set to our security capabilities to our operational performance. We are focused on continuing to innovate in the areas that matter most to our customers as we help them minimize expense, innovate rapidly, and transform their organizations.

I am optimistic about the future. We’ll tackle our opportunities and our challenges, and continue to change the world.

Thank you,

Adam

And here’s the full memo from Galetti:

PXT Team,

As Andy shared a few weeks ago, leaders across the company have worked closely with their teams to decide what investments they are going to make for the future, prioritizing what matters most to customers and the long-term health of our businesses. Given PXT’s close partnership with the business, these shifts impact our OP2 plans as well, and we have made the difficult decision to eliminate additional roles within the PXT organization.

Today we shared this update with our PXT colleagues whose roles were impacted across the U.S., Canada, and Costa Rica. In other regions, we are following local processes, which may include time for consultation with employee representative bodies and possibly result in longer timelines to communicate with impacted employees.

These decisions are not taken lightly, and I recognize the impact it will have across both those transitioning out of the company as well as our colleagues who remain.

To those leaving, I want to say thank you for your contributions. You’ve helped build Amazon into the extraordinary company it is today, and we are here to support you during this difficult time. In the U.S., we are providing packages that include a 60-day, non-working transitional period with full pay and benefits, plus an additional several weeks of severance depending on tenure, a separation payment, transitional benefits, and external job placement support.

While this moment is hard, I remain energized by the important work that lies ahead of us. Together, we are building a workplace that helps fuel how Amazonians invent and deliver for customers. From making it easier for employees to find the information and help they need, to expanding our benefits, I am proud of the progress we’ve made over the last few years. This meaningful work is a direct reflection of PXT’s perseverance, resilience, and leadership. Thank you.

Please know that the entire PXTLT, including myself, is here to answer your questions and support you.

-Beth

Technology

Google hires Windsurf CEO Varun Mohan, others in latest AI talent deal

Published

22 hours ago

July 11, 2025

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Google hires Windsurf CEO Varun Mohan, others in latest AI talent deal

Chief executive officer of Google Sundar Pichai.

Marek Antoni Iwanczuk | Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Google on Friday made the latest a splash in the AI talent wars, announcing an agreement to bring in Varun Mohan, co-founder and CEO of artificial intelligence coding startup Windsurf.

As part of the deal, Google will also hire other senior Windsurf research and development employees. Google is not investing in Windsurf, but the search giant will take a nonexclusive license to certain Windsurf technology, according to a person familiar with the matter. Windsurf remains free to license its technology to others.

“We’re excited to welcome some top AI coding talent from Windsurf’s team to Google DeepMind to advance our work in agentic coding,” a Google spokesperson wrote in an email. “We’re excited to continue bringing the benefits of Gemini to software developers everywhere.”

The deal between Google and Windsurf comes after the AI coding startup had been in talks with OpenAI for a $3 billion acquisition deal, CNBC reported in April. OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The move ratchets up the talent war in AI particularly among prominent companies. Meta has made lucrative job offers to several employees at OpenAI in recent weeks. Most notably, the Facebook parent added Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang to lead its AI strategy as part of a $14.3 billion investment into his startup.

Douglas Chen, another Windsurf co-founder, will be among those joining Google in the deal, Jeff Wang, the startup’s new interim CEO and its head of business for the past two years, wrote in a post on X.

“Most of Windsurf’s world-class team will continue to build the Windsurf product with the goal of maximizing its impact in the enterprise,” Wang wrote.

Windsurf has become more popular this year as an option for so-called vibe coding, which is the process of using new age AI tools to write code. Developers and non-developers have embraced the concept, leading to more revenue for Windsurf and competitors, such as Cursor, which OpenAI also looked at buying. All the interest has led investors to assign higher valuations to the startups.

This isn’t the first time Google has hired select people out of a startup. It did the same with Character.AI last summer. Amazon and Microsoft have also absorbed AI talent in this fashion, with the Adept and Inflection deals, respectively.

Microsoft is pushing an agent mode in its Visual Studio Code editor for vibe coding. In April, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said AI is composing as much of 30% of his company’s code.

The Verge reported the Google-Windsurf deal earlier on Friday.

WATCH: Google pushes “AI Mode” on homepage

Technology

Nvidia’s Jensen Huang sells more than $36 million in stock, catches Warren Buffett in net worth

Published

1 day ago

July 11, 2025

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Nvidia's Jensen Huang sells more than million in stock, catches Warren Buffett in net worth

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, holds a motherboard as he speaks during the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, on June 11, 2025.

Gonzalo Fuentes | Reuters

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang unloaded roughly $36.4 million worth of stock in the leading artificial intelligence chipmaker, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

The sale, which totals 225,000 shares, comes as part of Huang’s previously adopted plan in March to unload up to 6 million shares of Nvidia through the end of the year. He sold his first batch of stock from the agreement in June, equaling about $15 million.

Last year, the tech executive sold about $700 million worth of shares as part of a prearranged plan. Nvidia stock climbed about 1% Friday.

Huang’s net worth has skyrocketed as investors bet on Nvidia’s AI dominance and graphics processing units powering large language models.

The 62-year-old’s wealth has grown by more than a quarter, or about $29 billion, since the start of 2025 alone, based on Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index. His net worth last stood at $143 billion in the index, putting him neck-and-neck with Berkshire Hathaway‘s Warren Buffett at $144 billion.

Shortly after the market opened Friday, Fortune‘s analysis of net worth had Huang ahead of Buffett, with the Nvidia CEO at $143.7 billion and the Oracle of Omaha at $142.1 billion.

Tesla to officially launch in India with planned showroom opening

Published

1 day ago

July 11, 2025

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Tesla to officially launch in India with planned showroom opening

Elon Musk meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Blair House in Washington DC, USA on February 13, 2025.

Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty Images

Tesla will open a showroom in Mumbai, India next week, marking the U.S. electric carmakers first official foray into the country.

The one and a half hour launch event for the Tesla “Experience Center” will take place on July 15 at the Maker Maxity Mall in Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai, according to an event invitation seen by CNBC.

Along with the showroom display, which will feature the company’s cars, Tesla is also likely to officially launch direct sales to Indian customers.

The automaker has had its eye on India for a while and now appears to have stepped up efforts to launch locally.

In April, Tesla boss Elon Musk spoke with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss collaboration in areas including technology and innovation. That same month, the EV-maker’s finance chief said the company has been “very careful” in trying to figure out when to enter the market.

Tesla has no manufacturing operations in India, even though the country’s government is likely keen for the company to establish a factory. Instead the cars sold in India will need to be imported from Tesla’s other manufacturing locations in places like Shanghai, China, and Berlin, Germany.

As Tesla begins sales in India, it will come up against challenges from long-time Chinese rival BYD, as well as local player Tata Motors.

One potential challenge for Tesla comes by way of India’s import duties on electric vehicles, which stand at around 70%. India has tried to entice investment in the country by offering companies a reduced duty of 15% if they commit to invest $500 million and set up manufacturing locally.

HD Kumaraswamy, India’s minister for heavy industries, told reporters in June that Tesla is “not interested” in manufacturing in the country, according to a Reuters report.

Tesla is looking to recruit roles in Mumbai, job listings posted on LinkedIn . These include advisors working in showrooms, security, vehicle operators to collect data for its Autopilot feature and service technicians.

There are also roles being advertised in the Indian capital of New Delhi, including for store managers. It’s unclear if Tesla is planning to launch a showroom in the city.