Amazon reveals slate of new AI models in bid to catch rivals

STORY: Amazon has unveiled a slate of new AI models.

Dubbed “Nova”, they’ll handle work like text, image and video generation.

Amazon says that could have direct benefits for sellers on its website.

They could use it to, for example, turn still images into short videos for promoting products.

Chief Executive Andy Jassy said the new models are a response to customer demands for AI that performs better and costs less.

He revealed the move at conference in Las Vegas on Tuesday.

It pits Amazon against rivals like Adobe, and Facebook-parent Meta.

They’re all racing to serve customers who want to automate more of their services.

Jassy also said the firm would soon release a version of its Alexa voice assistant enhanced with AI.

Reuters has reported that the project has been plagued by delays amid concern over the accuracy and speed of the bot’s answers.

Amazon has been criticized for lagging rivals in the race to exploit the new technology.

However, the company’s head of artificial general intelligence, Rohit Prasad, said Tuesday that it was still “very early” in the AI era.

He says that gives Amazon plenty of time to catch up and take the lead.