Amazon CEO Andy Jassy dropped an AI bombshell on employees today, announcing that Rohit Prasad—who has led Amazon’s so-called AGI (artificial general intelligence) team since 2023, overseeing the development of the company’s Nova models—will depart at the end of the year.
Prasad previously served as the head scientist behind Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant, a role he held from the product’s earliest days. When he was appointed to lead the new ambitious AGI effort after ChatGPT launched in November 2022, as part of ascramble to develop a competitive LLM that could help reinvigorate the Alexa voice assistant. it was led almost entirely by ex-Alexa executives.
In a blog post, Jassy announced that longtime Amazon Web Services (AWS) executive Peter DeSantis will lead a new organization that drives the development of its AI models, custom computer chips (which include its Graviton, Trainium and Nitro chips), and quantum computing efforts. DeSantis had overseen the many teams designing AWS’ global infrastructure.
“With our Nova 2 models just launched at re:Invent, our custom silicon growing rapidly, and the advantages of optimizing across models, chips, and cloud software and infrastructure, we wanted to free Peter up to focus his energy, invention cycles, and leadership on these new areas,” Jassy wrote, adding that DeSantis would report directly to him.
Jassy also said that as part of the organizational change, Pieter Abbeel, an Amazon Distinguished Scientist in robotics who is also an AI and robotics professor at UC Berkeley, will lead the company’s frontier model research team. Abbeel came to Amazon in 2024 along with other cofounders of his robotics startup Covariant, in a deal that also saw Amazon licensing Covariants software, which included AI models that gave robots the ability to quickly adapt to new environments and tasks.
“Pieter is one of the world’s leading AI researchers, and co-founder of Covariant, which pioneered the first commercial foundation model for robotics,” Jassy wrote. “His deep expertise in generative AI and reinforcement learning makes him well-suited to advance Amazon’s AI research as we push the boundaries of what’s possible for customers.”
The news of Prasad’s departure comes as somewhat of a surprise, given that he was recently at Amazon’s Re:Invent conference discussing the latest Nova models. However, over the past two years there has been significant media coverage suggesting that Amazon’s Alexa AI and AGI-related efforts have struggled and fallen behind competitors.
A year ago, for example, Fortune’s Jason Del Rey reported exclusively that leaked Amazon documents identified critical flaws in the delayed AI reboot of Alexa. And in June 2024, Fortune reported that Amazon’s had blown Alexa’s shot to dominate AI, according to more than a dozen employees who worked on it—partly due to a lack of adequate data, even though Prasad, pushed the AGI team to work harder and harder, with a message to “get some magic” out of the LLM.
In addition, last week’s Amazon layoffs fueled concerns about whether Amazon’s was still lagging behind in AI, and whether the cuts reflected slowing growth. That came on the heels of comments in October by analyst Mark Shmulik of Bernstein, who said Amazon’s AWS was in “last place” in the AI cloud race.
However, The Information as well as Bloomberg reported this week that Amazon was in talks to invest $10 billion in OpenAI. OpenAI, in turn, had agreed to use Amazon’s Tranium AI chips, perhaps helping to counter the narrative that the company is behind in AI. OpenAI had previously agreed to spend $38 billion using AWS for computing.
Amazon also has a deal with AI company Anthropic, in which Amazon has invested $8 billion. Anthropic has agreed to use AWS’s Trainium chips for training and Anthropic’s Claude model is being used to answer some queries in the new Alexa Plus.
Amazon has published a lengthy report about the outage that knocked numerous websites, services, apps and games offline on October 20. It all started with a bug in its automation software DynamoDB, where its AWS customers store their data, which then triggered more issues in its other systems that relied on the software.
As Amazon explains, DynamoDB maintains hundreds of thousands of DNS records and is supposed to be able to fix any issue automatically. But on October 20, the DynamoDB DNS management system suffered from a bug that resulted in an empty DNS record for Amazon’s data centers in North Virginia. DynamoDB was supposed to repair the issue on its own, but it had failed to do so, prompting Amazon to fix the problem manually. While the issue was happening, all systems that needed to connect to DynamoDB couldn’t and experienced DNS failures, including the customers of its cloud computing services. It felt like half the internet wasn’t working when that happened.
The websites and services affected by the outage include Amazon itself, Amazon Alexa devices, Bank of America, Snapchat, Canva, Reddit, Apple Music, Apple TV, Lyft, Duolingo, Fortnite, Disney+, Venmo, Doordash, Hulu, PlayStation and even Eight Sleep, whose beds connect to the internet to adjust their temperature and incline. Some of them were slow to respond, while others were completely inaccessible.
“We apologize for the impact this event caused our customers. While we have a strong track record of operating our services with the highest levels of availability, we know how critical our services are to our customers, their applications and end users, and their businesses. We know this event impacted many customers in significant ways. We will do everything we can to learn from this event and use it to improve our availability even further,” Amazon said in a statement.
“It’s pretty exciting and freeing to keep my independence,” Mark says. “Some days can be more challenging, especially depending how I’m feeling, but the layout of the Amazon tablet makes it pretty easy to interact with and complete the tasks I need to.”
Amazon declined to respond to a request for comment.
Synchron has also connected Mark’s BCI to OpenAI’s ChatGPT and the Apple Vision Pro, a mixed-reality headset. Released earlier this year, the Vision Pro requires hand gestures to make item selections. After Synchron’s integration, Mark could use his thoughts to control the cursor on the Vision Pro to play Solitaire, watch Apple TV, and send text messages. In addition to Mark, one of Synchron’s trial participants in Australia is now using these applications as well.
Alexa and the Vision Pro both connect to Mark’s BCI via Bluetooth. A Synchron field engineer visits Mark at his home in Pennsylvania twice a week while he practices using his BCI. Mark says the different platforms provide a range of capabilities that he can use in his daily life, but the experience isn’t always smooth. “We’ve been working through accessibility challenges on all platforms to make it better for the next generation of users,” he says.
Synchron’s BCI resembles a mesh stent and is dotted with electrodes that collect neural signals. Instead of being directly implanted in the brain, it’s inserted into the jugular vein at the base of the neck in a minimally invasive procedure. A surgeon pushes the device through the vein until it sits against the motor cortex—a region of the brain that controls voluntary movement. Once implanted, it’s designed to detect and wirelessly transmit movement intentions out of the brain so that paralyzed people can control personal devices hands-free.
While virtual assistants are already helpful for people with disabilities, they don’t always afford privacy since they rely on voice commands that can be overheard. “Restoring any amount of independence is really important to people, but restoring independent private use is even better,” says Emily Graczyk, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Case Western Reserve University, who is working on restoring sensation with BCIs.
She thinks Synchron’s approach could also help provide a sense of normalcy to people with limited mobility because it means they can use the same devices as their families and friends, rather than special assistive devices.
Ian Burkhart, a quadriplegic who participated in a trial of a different company’s BCI, sees Synchron’s efforts as a positive thing for patients as long as the devices are seamlessly integrated and users can interact with them in a practical way in their day-to-day lives. “It’s really interesting,” he says. “I see the future of BCI as just being a pipe that can let data flow from the brain to control anything that you can control with a computer.” Burkhart received an implant made by Blackrock Neurotech in 2014 but had it removed in 2021 after developing an infection.
Oxley says Synchron is working on more features and says it is talking to other big tech companies about further integrations. The most common thing that paralyzed patients say they want is to be able to multitask, he says.
“Things like scroll, click, drag, menu drop-down, back—all these different things that we use our fingers to do—we’re figuring out ways to identify unique signatures from the brain and can then generate product features to control operating systems,” Oxley says.
Mark is hoping his BCI will eventually allow him to do more complex tasks. For one, he wants to get back to painting.
If you own an Amazon Echo Show 8 Photos edition, be prepared for your device to start showing ads. According to emails posted by customers on and and first reported by , Amazon will discontinue its PhotosPlus subscription feature that let people upload and display their own pictures on the Echo Show 8.
Reddit/amazonecho
PhotosPlus subscriptions will end on September 12 and Amazon will end support for the photo feature on September 23. Instead, affected customers will have to upload their photos to Amazon Photos with 25 GB of storage and learn to live with the ads on their home screen.
The feature, which costs $2 a month, let users upload their own photos for display on the home screen turning the voice and touch controlled screen device into a digital picture frame. The screen would rotate the owners’ photos every 30 seconds, a feature that could be left on indefinitely (or as long as it could last on its chargeable battery).
Any mention of the PhotosPlus subscription has been removed from Amazon’s website. The Amazon Echo Show 8 Photos Edition is also no longer for sale.
Amazon has seen some major struggles with Alexa devices. reported last month that Alexa lost Amazon more than $25 billion from 2017 to 2021. Amazon has tried to recoup some of those losses by . The tech giant is also reportedly working on an advanced version of Alexa known as that could come with a monthly subscription fee.
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One of the pinnacles of summer is Prime Day — Amazon’s two-day super sale where you can score mega savings on basically everything on the site. It’s consumerism at its finest. Just walking down the street, you’ll hear excited murmurs and the happy laughter of friends telling each other about all the super deals they got on Prime Day.
Because if there’s one thing we can’t resist as a society, it’s a good discount. No matter if you need a new television, vacuum cleaner, pink ice cube trays in the shape of bunnies or not, Prime Day makes you act in ways you normally wouldn’t. And all because it’s on sale.
And I’m no different. I love to shop a good sale, especially now that I’m moving and have a few actual needs. Even if I didn’t have a list of items to buy, I’d still find an excuse — any excuse — for retail therapy.
Amazon
From July 16 to July 17, you’ll save on top brands and best-selling products. Rarely do all of these items go on sale at the same time, which makes Prime Day so special. Prime Days usually feature discounts of up to 40%, so you better get your carts ready.
Of course, there are the classic television and electronic deals that your dad may love…but I’m looking for big trends that are on sale, including TikTok favorite recs and more.
If you’re looking to shop Prime Day 2024, but don’t know where to start…here are my favorite deals from Amazon you can shop today! But hurry, Prime Day is only two days long.
I know I said no electronics…but what about appliances? This CREAMi has gone viral because you can make the yummiest of yummy homemade ice cream, gelato, smoothies, and more with no effort involved. Save the trips to ice cream parlors for overpriced scoops… My mom has one and loves it (and yes, the ice cream is really delicious.)
CHI carries salon-quality hair products and tools at extremely reasonable prices. They’re one of my favorite hair brands on the market — are tried and true, have been around for years, are a staple at salons, et cetera. The Spin ‘N Curl makes curling your hair super simple (especially for those like myself who simply can’t use a wand) and quick. If you want beachy waves or big ringlets in no time, this is for you.
Dermatologist-recommended Youth To The People is my go-to skincare brand. From someone who’s tried everything that’s skincare related, Youth To The People’s Air Whip Moisture Cream is lightweight. It’s a great pre-makeup moisturizer, and it’s $12 off.
We’re all making sure our skin is in good shape this summer– and that starts with sunscreen. Yes, unfortunately, your mom and dermatologist are right. You will indeed get wrinkles and skin cancer if you refrain from the sunscreen train. This mini pack is great for your purse or beach bag this summer (and it’s $12 off!)
Hot air stylers are all the rage right now for a reason: better for your hair, quick-n-easy to use, and eliminates the need for separate hot tools. The Shark FlexStyle is a fan-favorite dupe of the Dyson AirWrap, and functions just as well at half the price…plus that extra discount for Prime Day.
We’ve all fallen for the teeth-whitening gimmicks. I’ve done it countless times and always go back to old faithful: Crest Strips. This whitening kit comes with 20 strips and a light to maximize your results. I don’t often plus teeth whitening kits, but this is worth the $30 discount.
Don’t waste your money on expensive speakers that will only break in a year’s time. Amazon Alexa-powered devices are great for room-to-room speakers. Plus, if you buy multiple, you can sync them throughout your home. I love my Echo and they’re always heavily discounted on Prime Day
These alarm clocks will seriously change your life. A clock that helps you develop a healthy sleep routine with customizable options fully curated to your schedule. With multiple sleep sound options, a gentle awakening setting, and a design made for your bedside table…this clock is all you’ll ever need.
If you’re looking to fill your life with more sound, there’s nothing like a good speaker. After thorough testing, we have a reliable list of the best speakers you can buy in 2024. Our list includes everything from $60 portable ones to $450 lounge speakers. It also covers a variety of use cases — from music production to easy listening in the shower.
The editorial staff of Gizmodo independently tests and reviews each product found in our Buyer’s Guides. If you purchase something using our affiliate links, G/O Media may earn a commission. Affiliate linking does not influence our editorial content.
If you’re new to Sonos and unsure about committing to this pricey speaker ecosystem, I’d say the Roam is the best option to see if the whole Sonos thing is your vibe. The $169 Roam may be the cheapest Sonos speaker. Not only is it relatively affordable, but even if the smart features aren’t your jam, at least you still have a great portable Bluetooth speaker.
At 6.6 inches long and 2.4 inches wide, the Roam is small enough to fit in your hand easily. Its triangular shape and matte finish also feel natural when you’re toting it around. It weighs in at slightly less than a pound, which feels substantial enough in your grip, but it’s not so heavy that you’re tempted to leave it at home. When you’re not moving around, you can stack it either vertically to save room or horizontally for more stability.
In terms of durability, the Roam is rated IP67 for dust and water resistance. I stuck it in a bowl of water for 30 minutes, and while it sprayed water all over my kitchen counter, it still worked afterward. It’ll be fine if you get caught in a downpour or accidentally knock it into a pool. Just don’t dilly dally when retrieving it. Read More — Victoria Song
The criteria for portable Bluetooth speakers are not complicated. They’ve got to be easy to carry, sound decent, and not get trashed if you have butterfingers or get caught in the rain. The Sony SRS-XB13 ticks off all these boxes. It’s not without flaws, and you’ll have to compromise. But considering it’s only $60? It’s easy to forgive its shortcomings.
The XB13 is actually portable. It’s a tiny, squat lil guy, measuring 3.43 by 3.43 by 4.41 inches. In-person, the speaker is way tinier than I thought it would be when Sony initially sent over the official images. It also weighs a mere 11.7 ounces, which is noticeably lighter than the Sonos Roam (15 ounces). It also has a removable strap so you can easily hook it onto a bag or off a tree branch—whatever, I’m not judging. Also, it fits in a cup holder for road trips!
It has an IP67 rating and did not die when I purposefully dropped it into a pool. So there’s that. Long story short, this speaker is ideal if you’re on a budget, spend a lot of time outside, or are particularly clumsy. Read More — Victoria Song
Considering this is the first-ever speaker to feature both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, it’s probably the smartest speaker you can get your hands on. Not only does it feature both assistants, it does it incredibly well. It’s impressive how seamlessly the Authentics 300 manages to juggle both while some speakers struggle to get even a single assistant to work flawlessly.
This speaker is gorgeous and justifies its $450 price tag. You get a premium leather-coated body with subtle golden accents on the front. There’s also a helpful handle for easy portability. Though, at around 11 lbs, it’s better suited as a lounge speaker that lives in one place. It lasts around 8 hours on a full charge, though, so if you ever need to move it for an event briefly, you can do that without having an ugly cable sticking out of it.
This speaker means it when it claims that it will fill your space with music. Its sound carries immense power and is always more than enough for my two-bedroom apartment. It never sounds muddy, even at higher volumes, and retains that strength regardless of how much pressure you put it in.
I saved the best for the last. You can (low-key) DJ on this by tweaking your music in real time. Thanks to a pair of huge bass and Treble dials on the top of this speaker, you can customize exactly how much low and high end you want and on which track. My friends and I sometimes like to constantly play around with them during tracks for a fun and hands-on listening experience. I can promise you that the dials work and aren’t just a marketing gimmick. In fact, maxing out the bass will make your entire floor vibrate.
These speakers scream that they’re studio monitors. They have an 8-inch woofer and standard tweeter ensconced inside an unusual oval cone that works to shape the sound. Bass response is excellent and the resulting stereo projection of having two of these in a close position to your mixing desk or computer is amazing. They are big at 15.5 inches high and 13 inches deep and weigh a hefty 21.38 lb.
I tested it using a number of song genres, from techno to jazz. Playing these songs through the VM-80 was like running a DJ booth in my attic office. I had excellent reproduction through most volume levels, and even at max volume, the sound wasn’t muddy or confused. Read More — John Biggs
The Sonos Era 300 is an impressive speaker, even at its eye-popping price point. But don’t think about it unless you’re in an Apple-dominant household.
It has one forward-firing tweeter routed through what the company calls a “custom waveguide” and one tweeter firing upward so that sound bounces off the ceiling. There are also two side-firing tweeters, one on each side, plus two woofers underneath those. I was impressed by the speaker’s ability to thump through deep bass while listening to techno with the volume up high.
I compared the Sonos Era 300 to the discontinued Google Home Max. I also listened to it against the second-gen Apple HomePod, which is not as loud as the Era 300, though it has similar specs (five tweeters and one woofer vs four tweeters and two woofers). In almost all cases, I preferred the way the Era 300 sounded to the aging Home Max and the second-gen HomePod.
But with no Google Cast integration, this speaker doesn’t make a lot of sense in a Google-led household. I would have to rebuild my entire smart ecosystem to integrate the Sonos Era 300—and even then, it would only work with the few AirPlay-capable devices rather than the mass of Google cast devices I have throughout my abode. Read More — Florence Ion
Suppose you’re willing to splurge just a little bit or can split the cost with roommates/a significant other. In that case, the Kohler Moxie is actually a convenient way to get a nicer showerhead and a good quality shower speaker in one easily installed package.
Initially, I was nervous about installation, but it was so easy that even a disaster-prone klutz could do it. All you have to do is unscrew your current showerhead and screw this one on. That’s it!
The speaker’s sound quality was also pretty good, which, in retrospect, shouldn’t have been super surprising as it’s the result of a partnership with Harman Kardon. Once I enabled Amazon Alexa, asking Alexa to play a certain artist or playlist was very easy. Sometimes, it struggled with less common names, but for the most part, Alexa got the job done. It was also nice that I could ask what events were on my calendar or opt for a little news update.
However, if it creeps you out that some Amazon stooge is listening to you in the shower, know you can use this speaker without ever enabling Alexa. Read More — Victoria Song
This list is updated regularly with new recommendations and product forecasts.
There are a ton of tricks that smart displays can do. But not all of them are created equal or are worth doing on this style of advice.
The basics are easy—just about anyone knows how handy it is to ask any smart speaker or smart display to tell you the weather or play music. And you should! It’s their best use case, especially since smart displays like the Echo Show can give you more weather details onscreen. But that’s not all these handy devices do, and for the price you should get the most out of any smart display you buy.
Amazon’s Echo Shows have their own special tricks and ways to activate them. Here are my three favorite uses for an Echo Show and how to fix my least favorite feature. Do you think you would prefer another system? Don’t forget to check out our guides to the Best Smart Speakers and How to Set Up Your Smart Home.
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Play With Widgets
Widgets are my favorite casual feature of Echo Shows. They’re little squares with shortcut content that you can customize, ranging from a sticky note or calendar to managing your smart home, quick access to certain music, and so much more.
Originally, they were only on the massive Echo Show 15, but they’re now available on the Echo Show 8 and 10 as well. On the Echo Show 15, the widgets are constantly onscreen thanks to the large real estate, and there’s a widget panel that can fit up to 10 widgets. For the Echo Shows 8 and 10, they appear in the slideshow that rotates onscreen. You can display up to four widgets on the Echo Show 8 and up to six on the Echo Show 10.
I love using mine to put a calendar view, my smart-home favorites, and the weather in an easy-to-see place. They’re great for customizing your smart-home control if you want your device to focus on that; the Echo Hub (8/10, WIRED Recommends) depends entirely on widgets as a smart-home-focused device.
Photograph: Nena Farrell
Check on Your Kids and Cats
Echo Shows also have a camera at the top of the screen that can be used for both video calls and as an indoor security camera–well, sort of. There are two main features under this umbrella: Live Feed, which allows you to view live feeds happening from an Echo Show device, and Home Monitoring, which you can use with other smart-home devices and set up routines.
You can ask any Echo Show to give you the live feed of another Show device, as long as you know the name of the device (or you can just choose it from the device list if you don’t want to use voice commands). This is an easy way to quickly check in on say, pets and kids, without a full-blown security camera. The device will alert anyone in the room that someone is using the Echo Show to monitor the room, so it’s not as discreet as a true security camera.
Listen in on Santa’s workshop, track letters to Santa, countdown to Christmas with a daily song, plus much more – all via Amazon Alexa
Press Release –
Dec 6, 2022
SEATTLE, December 6, 2022 (Newswire.com)
– Award-winning audio production company ‘Reel2Media’ has today released its latest Amazon Alexa Skill ‘North Pole Plus’ designed to bring joy to girls and boys (and even their parents) this festive season.
Last Christmas, ‘North Pole Live’ allowed users to listen in on Santa’s workshop, bringing the magic of Christmas direct to living rooms across North America. Now, its creators are taking things to another level with ‘North Pole Plus’ – a bundle of six Santa-themed Amazon Alexa skills that capture the magic of Christmas in one festive interactive audio package.
From tracking letters to Santa to singing down the sleeps ’til Christmas or listening to the radio station of choice for Santa and his elves, North Pole Plus provides parents with FREE content to entertain and occupy their children throughout December, providing experiences that will enhance a family’s overall Christmas experience.
The heart of North Pole Plus and the station of choice for Santa and his elves. Ho Ho Radio broadcasts live from the North Pole, delivering news, weather, Christmas music, and even ‘commercials.’
Even kids’ letters to Santa have gone hi-tech. Letters can now be tracked every step of the way with the help of Santa’s mailroom workers.
North Pole Plus has been created by award-winning audio production company Reel2Media. Talking about the decision to expand their original North Pole Live offering into ‘North Pole Plus,’ Reel2Media Co-Founder Anthony Gay said: “When we were creating ‘North Pole Live’ last year, we immediately recognized and were excited by the creative opportunities for expansion. It was very much something we knew we wanted to explore this year, and the success of ‘North Pole Live’ only confirmed to us that this was something we should pursue. We couldn’t be happier with the end result. North Pole Plus combines tradition and nostalgia with cutting-edge interactivity and true theatre of the mind that will leave children and adults alike feeling warm and fuzzy this festive season. We hope that it will become part of many pre-Christmas routines, helping build excitement and anticipation as the big day draws closer.”
North Pole Plus is completely FREE to use and now available from the Alexa Skills store, or just say “Alexa, open North Pole Plus” to get started. Merry Christmas!
ABOUT REEL2MEDIA
Reel2Media is a new audio content company from the team behind ReelWorld – a global leader in audio branding with over 25 years of experience working with the world’s biggest radio stations on their imaging and jingles. ReelWorld provides station sound for thousands of radio stations around the world, including Z100 New York, BBC Radio 1, KIIS LA, and Heart UK.
Reel2Media was formed in 2019 with the purpose of helping brands engage audiences using the power of sound.
Combining rich storytelling, music, and high production values with the latest audio and smart speaker technology, Reel2Media creates innovative and interactive audio experiences, podcasts and sonic branding, delivering content that adds value. Content people want to listen to. Content that connects brands with their audiences.
