Amazon Restructures Its AI Strategy: End of Flagship Models

Amazon Redefines Its AI Strategy: End of Flagship Models for a New Horizon

Amazon is undergoing a transformation in its artificial intelligence (AI) strategy. The company has decided to discontinue several of its internal models while reorganizing its teams to focus on a new approach. This move aims to maintain its competitiveness in a constantly evolving tech sector, according to information from sources close to the company.

The recent changes follow layoffs within Amazon's General Artificial Intelligence (AGI) organization. The closure of the AGI Lab, a research group founded in 2024 after recruiting the team from the AI startup Adept, is a notable example. This restructuring indicates that Amazon is redirecting its AI strategy. Rather than spreading its efforts across a multitude of text, image, and video models, the company is concentrating its engineering talent and computing resources on its most important strategic priorities.

Amazon has begun to downplay the significance of most of its internal flagship models, known as Nova. Among these are the high-end Premier and Omni models, as well as the video generation model Reel and the image generation model Canvas. Some Amazon employees have described these models as being in "KTLO" (Keep The Lights On) mode, a term that refers to software maintained for existing customers but no longer at the core of future developments.

According to sources, Amazon's resources are gradually shifting away from the Nova models to focus on a new frontier model effort led by researcher Pieter Abbeel. He joined Amazon following the acquisition of the AI robotics startup Covariant. Known internally as Frontier Model Research (FMR), this initiative has become a priority for Amazon this year. As part of this effort, the company is developing a new flagship base model that is expected to be unveiled at the annual re:Invent conference, typically held in the fall.

An Amazon spokesperson told Business Insider that the company has always supported AI models in production over long periods, as customers depend on them. They also stated that Amazon remains committed to investing in frontier models.

Layoffs and Departures

This reorganization does not mean that Amazon is completely abandoning the Nova lineup. The remaining Nova portfolio includes the base models Nova 2 Sonic and Nova 2 Lite, Nova Forge, a model creation and customization service, and Nova Act, Amazon's AI agent technology. The new model being developed by FMR could even be marketed under the Nova brand. This change reflects a broader reorganization of Amazon's AI efforts that began over the past year.

Amazon created its AGI organization in 2023 to develop base models and other technologies capable of powering future AI products across the company. Rohit Prasad, a former Alexa executive, led the organization until his departure in December 2025. The AGI organization oversaw several specialized groups, including the AGI Lab, established in 2024 after recruiting the co-founders of the AI startup Adept and licensing its technology. Led by Adept co-founder David Luan, the lab focused on long-term AI research. Luan left Amazon in February, and the company closed the AGI Lab last week as part of the latest reorganization.

On the other hand, the Frontier Model Research was created within the AGI organization to develop the next generation of Amazon's frontier AI models. After Prasad's departure, Amazon appointed Abbeel to lead the group. Sources close to the transition have stated that FMR has since become the organization's main priority.

DeSantis Refocuses Attention

The broader AGI organization has also been reorganized. In December, Amazon placed it under the leadership of Senior Vice President Peter DeSantis, combining it with the company's silicon and quantum computing development organizations. Sources close to the transition indicated that DeSantis has pursued a more targeted AI strategy than his predecessor. Under Prasad, Amazon was pursuing several families of models covering text, image, and video generation. DeSantis, however, has concentrated Amazon's engineering talent and computing resources on a reduced number of frontier model efforts.

Employees have reported receiving little guidance regarding the long-term future of the Nova models, fueling uncertainty within the organization. The layoffs surprised many employees, as frontier model researchers had long been among Amazon's most sought-after technical talents. Employees also mentioned that the AGI operated differently from the rest of the company, maintaining distinct levels and compensation systems to compete more aggressively for AI talent.

These changes mark a significant turning point in Amazon's AI ambitions. Last year, AWS used its re:Invent conference to unveil Nova Omni 2 as its flagship multimodal reasoning model. In 2023, CEO Andy Jassy personally endorsed AGI as the team that would build Amazon's most ambitious base models, leading to the creation of six new research groups. Less than three years later, the organization is pulling back parts of its flagship Nova lineup and reorganizing around a new frontier model effort.