Amazon is significantly enhancing its artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities by acquiring top talent from Adept, a San Francisco-based startup specializing in automating enterprise workflows with AI “agents.” This strategic move aims to solidify Amazon’s position in the competitive AI landscape.
David Luan, Adept’s co-founder and CEO, along with co-founders Augustus Odena, Maxwell Nye, Erich Elsen, Kelsey Szot, and several other key team members, are set to join Amazon. The hires will integrate into Amazon’s Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) team, led by senior vice president and head scientist Rohit Prasad. Luan will oversee the “AGI Autonomy” division, contributing to the development of advanced large language models.
Adept, established in 2022, has quickly made a name for itself in the AI sector. The startup focuses on creating AI agents capable of performing complex tasks without human intervention. These agents are designed to streamline various enterprise functions, such as information extraction, email processing, and application handling. Despite the departure of its founding members, Adept will continue to operate independently, concentrating on developing its AI agent technology.
Amazon will leverage Adept’s technology under a non-exclusive license, incorporating it to accelerate the development of digital agents that can automate software workflows. This technology integration is expected to enhance Amazon’s AI offerings, particularly in the realm of enterprise automation.
The acquisition comes amidst increasing competition in the AI industry, with tech giants like Microsoft and Google rapidly expanding their AI capabilities. Amazon’s move to hire Adept’s leadership is part of a broader strategy to remain at the forefront of AI innovation. The company has previously invested in AI startups like Anthropic and is working on new generative AI features for its Alexa voice assistant.
In addition to the talent acquisition, Amazon’s cloud division, Amazon Web Services (AWS), continues to roll out new AI services. The company aims to counter perceptions of lagging behind its competitors by showcasing its commitment to advancing AI technology.
As part of its ongoing AI initiatives, Amazon is also developing a consumer-focused AI chatbot, designed to compete with existing products like OpenAI’s ChatGPT. This chatbot, powered by Amazon’s new large language model dubbed “Olympus,” represents another step in Amazon’s effort to integrate cutting-edge AI across its product ecosystem.
The departure of Adept’s co-founders leaves the startup under new leadership, with Zach Brock taking over as CEO and Tim Weingarten continuing as head of product. Despite the changes, Adept remains committed to its vision of developing agentic AI solutions and maintaining partnerships to bring these capabilities to a broader market.