The disclosure, announced during the annual conference hosted by Amazon for its AWS cloud computing service in Las Vegas, signifies Amazon’s reaction to competitors who have introduced chatbots that have garnered public attention.
The debut of ChatGPT by San Francisco startup OpenAI a year ago triggered a surge in public and business interest in generative AI tools capable of producing emails, marketing content, essays, and other text passages resembling human work. Initially, this attention favored Microsoft, OpenAI’s chief partner and financial backer, with rights to ChatGPT’s underlying technology. Microsoft used it to develop its own generative AI tools called Copilot, but it also motivated rivals like Google to introduce their versions.
These chatbots represent a new era of AI systems capable of conversing, generating readable text on demand, and even creating images and videos based on vast databases of digital books, online writings, and other media.
On Tuesday, Amazon disclosed that Q can perform tasks such as content synthesis, streamlining daily communications, and assisting employees in tasks like blog post generation. The company mentioned that businesses can integrate Q with their data and systems for a customized experience tailored to their specific needs. The technology is currently available for preview.
While Amazon leads Microsoft and Google as the primary cloud computing provider, it is not considered a frontrunner in AI research that has driven advancements in generative AI. A recent Stanford University index assessing the transparency of the top 10 foundational AI models, including Amazon’s Titan, placed Amazon at the bottom. Stanford researchers noted that lower transparency could pose challenges for customers relying on the technology.
Despite these challenges, Amazon continues to make strides. In September, the company announced a potential investment of up to USD 4 billion in the AI startup Anthropic, based in San Francisco and founded by former OpenAI staff. Additionally, Amazon has introduced new services, including an update for its popular assistant Alexa, enabling users to engage in more human-like conversations and providing AI-generated summaries of product reviews for consumers.
