Amazon Adds Andrew Ng, A Leading Voice In Artificial Intelligence, To Its Board Of Directors

Amazon has appointed artificial intelligence pioneer Andrew Ng to its board of directors amid fierce AI competition among startups and large technology corporations.

Judy McGrath, a former CEO of MTV who has informed Amazon that she will not run for reelection, will give way to Ng, a managing director at the Palo Alto, California-based AI Fund.

Amazon Adds Andrew Ng, A Leading Voice In Artificial Intelligence, To Its Board Of Directors

Ng’s AI Fund, established in 2017, invests in entrepreneurs developing artificial intelligence enterprises. Previously, he managed AI projects at Chinese internet companies Baidu and Google, where he oversaw a team that taught a computer system to recognize cats in YouTube videos without ever knowing what one was.

Ng’s appointment to the board comes as the company, like other technology companies, invests heavily in generative artificial intelligence. The corporation has invested $4 billion in Anthropic, a San Francisco-based startup working with the company to develop foundation models for generative AI technology. Last year, Amazon also launched Q, a chatbot for enterprises, and Rufus, a generative-AI-driven shopping assistant.

Amazon Adds Andrew Ng, A Leading Voice In Artificial Intelligence, To Its Board Of Directors

In an annual shareholder letter released Thursday, CEO Andy Jassy stated that generative AI may be the next significant pillar of Amazon’s business, alongside the company’s popular online marketplace, Prime membership program, and cloud computing section, AWS. Jassy said generative AI could be the most significant technical shift since cloud computing and “perhaps since the Internet.”

Amazon Adds Andrew Ng, A Leading Voice In Artificial Intelligence, To Its Board Of Directors

Meanwhile, other technologies have had significant setbacks. Last week, the business said it was removing its Just Walk Out technology from Fresh locations in the United States in response to customer concerns. Amazon announced that it was updating the technology that allows consumers to skip the checkout line with smart carts that will allow them to do so while also allowing them to see their spending in real-time.

SOURCE – (AP)