On Monday, Amazon unveiled plans to establish a new artificial intelligence (AI) research laboratory in San Francisco, named the Amazon AGI SF Lab. This initiative aims to concentrate on the development of AI agents designed for practical applications in the real world. The tech giant, headquartered in Seattle, has recently recruited several prominent executives from Adept AI Labs to bolster this new division, which will be led by David Luam, the former CEO and co-founder of Adept.
Amazon Launches Amazon AGI SF Lab
In a blog post, Amazon outlined that the primary objective of the lab will be to develop foundational AI capabilities that enable agents to function effectively in both digital and physical environments. These AI agents are envisioned as more efficient versions of traditional chatbots, capable of executing tasks through specialized hardware and software integration.
The company emphasized that the team will focus on creating “practical AI” solutions that not only benefit Amazon but also serve its clients. In alignment with its name, the newly formed lab will collaborate with Amazon’s existing artificial general intelligence (AGI) team, which recently launched the Nova family of foundational models.
“Our initial focus is on several key research areas aimed at equipping AI agents with the ability to perform real-world tasks, learn from human interactions, self-correct, and understand overarching goals,” the company stated in its blog. Furthermore, Amazon indicated that the team will leverage large language models (LLMs) alongside reinforcement learning (RL) to enhance reasoning processes, planning capabilities, and adaptability of agents in physical environments.
In addition, Amazon announced plans to recruit “a few dozen” individuals for the Amazon AGI SF Lab, seeking AI specialists who have experience with advanced models, as well as candidates from diverse sectors such as physics, mathematics, and quantitative finance. Notably, the company mentioned that prior experience will not be a barrier to hiring.
Last week, Amazon Web Services (AWS) showcased the Nova family of AI models during its re:Invent conference. This lineup includes three text-based models, along with models for image and video generation. These offerings are available to enterprise clients through the Amazon Bedrock platform.
