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Race for AI Isn't Zero-sum, Says Amazon Cloud Boss

Amazon Web Services (AWS) CEO Adam Selipsky says there won't be one artificial intelligence platform to rule them all. Stephen Brashear / AFP
Amazon Web Services (AWS) CEO Adam Selipsky says there won't be one artificial intelligence platform to rule them all. Stephen Brashear / AFP
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Race for AI Isn't Zero-sum, Says Amazon Cloud Boss

Amazon Web Services (AWS) CEO Adam Selipsky says there won't be one artificial intelligence platform to rule them all. Stephen Brashear / AFP
Amazon Web Services (AWS) CEO Adam Selipsky says there won't be one artificial intelligence platform to rule them all. Stephen Brashear / AFP

As Google races with Microsoft and OpenAI to create world-changing generative artificial intelligence, some critics see Amazon as lagging behind.
"I respectfully disagree" with that viewpoint, said Adam Selipsky, Amazon's cloud chief, in an interview with AFP.
Tech giants like Microsoft, Google and Meta have made headlines talking about their own foundational models, or those of their close partners, that are key to AI and its ability to produce written works, images, videos or even computer code from simple user prompts.
But "there is simply not going to be one model to rule them all," argued Selipsky.
AWS, Amazon's industry-leading cloud branch, is already seeing customers "needing multiple models for multiple different use cases," he explained.
He cited the capabilities of various AI models available on the AWS Bedrock platform, such as Meta's Llama and Claude from Anthropic, as well as some from Mistral in France and Amazon's own Titan brand.
Generative AI is regarded in Silicon Valley as poised to revolutionize the way people get jobs done.
And cloud computing companies, which have massive computing power, troves of data and AI expertise, now host generative AI models. They are in a prime position to capitalize on the new technology -- but they have a lot to lose if they don't cough up the latest innovations.
25 years of AI
A pioneer of e-commerce, Amazon also dominates the cloud. AWS had 31 percent of the cloud computing market at the end of 2023, according to Stocklytics.
But rivals Microsoft and Google are gaining ground with their cloud businesses, with 24 percent and 11 percent market share respectively.
Thanks to a $13 billion investment in ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, Microsoft is "in the driver's seat" of an ongoing cloud revolution, according to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives.
Microsoft and Google compete with their in-house, AI-infused digital assistants to help with creating content -- emails, presentations, ads -- and applications (especially chatbots).
AWS is less known to the public and its digital assistant Alexa is not yet as conversational as ChatGPT.
But Amazon has been in the AI business for more than 25 years, said Selipsky. "If you go back to personalization on the retail website in 1998 -- we called it personalization, but it was AI."
The Seattle firm has long had thousands of people working on the technology and has pivoted some of them to the new frontier of generative AI, Selipsky said.
"We've moved rapidly on new generations of our (AI) chips like Trainium, and building Amazon Bedrock, and getting it adopted quickly and coming out with exciting applications on top of the models, like Amazon Q", an AI assistant, he said.
Selipsky, who took command of AWS in 2021, replacing Andy Jassy, who stepped into the chief executive role vacated by founder Jeff Bezos, was confident Amazon would remain a leader in cloud computing.
Clients eye AI programs
As proof, he points to AWS customers and partners, including Nvidia.
The high-profile chipmaker recently announced it is building a "supercomputer" on AWS using Nvidia's own high-performing processors, the ultra sophisticated and coveted GPUs.
Most notably, Amazon has invested $4 billion in Anthropic, an OpenAI rival that is also backed by Google. The start-up will use AWS and its Trainium chips to build AI models and help "improve our technology," said Selipsky,
When asked about exciting aspects of generative AI, Selipsky cited examples of ramped up productivity for its clients.
AWS user pharmaceutical giant Pfizer estimates that it will launch more powerful drugs faster, achieving as much as a billion dollars in annual savings due to AI, according to Selipsky.
Airlines and other industries are already using generative AI to power chatbots that interact with customers.
And while chatbots can make mistakes, companies reason that "human beings don't give 100 percent accuracy either," Selipsky said. "And in many cases, the models are actually outperforming the accuracy and the usefulness of live agents."
AWS cut hundreds of jobs this month, particularly in sales and marketing, to better focus on AI and other priorities.
But Selipsky was adamant that AI has not replaced any of the cloud platform workers.
"AWS has thousands of job postings online today, and yesterday, and the day before, and we will also have (them) tomorrow," he added.

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Technology

Video Game Actors Are Voting on a New Contract. Here’s What It Means for AI in Gaming

A picketer holds a sign for the SAG-AFTRA video game strike at Warner Bros. Games headquarters on Aug. 1, 2024, in Burbank, Calif. (AP)
A picketer holds a sign for the SAG-AFTRA video game strike at Warner Bros. Games headquarters on Aug. 1, 2024, in Burbank, Calif. (AP)
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Video Game Actors Are Voting on a New Contract. Here’s What It Means for AI in Gaming

A picketer holds a sign for the SAG-AFTRA video game strike at Warner Bros. Games headquarters on Aug. 1, 2024, in Burbank, Calif. (AP)
A picketer holds a sign for the SAG-AFTRA video game strike at Warner Bros. Games headquarters on Aug. 1, 2024, in Burbank, Calif. (AP)

An 11-month strike by video game performers could formally end this week if members ratify a deal that delivers pay raises, control over their likenesses and artificial intelligence protections.

The agreement feels "like diamond amounts of pressure suddenly lifted," said Sarah Elmaleh, a voice actor and chair of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists' interactive branch negotiating committee.

Union members have until Wednesday at 5 p.m. Pacific to vote on ratifying the tentative agreement.

Voice and body performers for video games raised concerns that unregulated use of AI could displace them and threaten their artistic autonomy.

"It’s obviously far from resolved," Elmaleh said. "But the idea that that we’re in a zone where we might have concluded this feels like a lightening and a relief."

AI concerns are especially dire in the video game industry, where human performers infuse characters with distinctive movements, shrieks, falls and plot-twisting dialogue.

"I hope and I believe that our members, when they look back on this, will say all of the sacrifices and difficulty we put ourselves through to achieve this agreement will ultimately be worth it because we do have the key elements that we need to feel confident and moving forward in this business," said Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the SAG-AFTRA national executive director and chief negotiator.

Here’s a look at the contract currently up for vote, and what it means for the future of the video game industry.

How did the current strike play out? Video game performers went on strike last July following nearly two years of failed negotiations with major game studios, as both sides remained split over generative AI regulations.

More than 160 games signed interim agreements accepting AI provisions SAG-AFTRA was seeking, the union said, which allowed some work to continue.

The video game industry is a massive global industry, generating an estimated $187 billion in 2024, according to game market forecaster Newzoo.

"OD," and "Physint" were two games delayed due to the strike during the filming and casting stage, video game developer Hideo Kojima wrote in December. Riot Games, a video game developer, announced that same month that some new skins in "League of Legends" would have to use existing voice-overs, since new content couldn't be recorded by striking actors. Skins are cosmetic items that can change the visual appearance of a player and is sometimes equipped with new voice-overs and unique recorded lines.

The proposed contract "builds on three decades of successful partnership between the interactive entertainment industry and the union" to deliver "historic wage increases" and "industry-leading AI provisions," wrote Audrey Cooling, a spokesperson for the video game producers involved in the deal.

"We look forward to continuing to work with performers to create new and engaging entertainment experiences for billions of players throughout the world," Cooling wrote.

Video game performers had previously gone on strike in October 2016, with a tentative deal reached 11 months later. That strike helped secure a bonus compensation structure for voice actors and performance capture artists. The agreement was ratified with 90% support, with 10% of members voting.

The proposed contract secures an increase in performer compensation of just over 15% upon ratification and an additional 3% increase each year of the three-year contract.

How would AI use change in video games? AI concerns have taken center stage as industries across various sectors attempt to keep up with the fast-evolving technology. It’s a fight that Hollywood writers and actors undertook during the historic film and TV strikes that forced the industry to a stop in 2023.

"In the last few years, it’s become obvious that we are at an inflection point where rules of the road have to be set for AI, and if they aren’t, the consequences are potentially very serious," Crabtree-Ireland said. "I think that really made this negotiation extra important for all of us."

SAG-AFTRA leaders have billed the issues behind the labor dispute — and AI in particular — as an existential crisis for performers. Game voice actors and motion capture artists’ likenesses, they say, could be replicated by AI and used without their consent and without fair compensation.

The proposed contract delineates clear restrictions on when and how video game companies can create digital replicas, which use AI to generate new performances that weren't recorded by an actor.

Employers must obtain written permission from a performer to create a digital replica — consent which must be granted during the performer’s lifetime and is valid after death unless otherwise limited, the contract states. The time spent creating a digital replica will be compensated as the same amount of work time it would have required for a new performance.

The agreement also requires the employer to provide the performer with a usage report that details how the replica was used and calculates the expected compensation.

Elmaleh, who has been voice acting since 2010 and had to turn down projects throughout the strike, said securing these gains required voice actors bring vulnerability and openness to the bargaining table.

"We talked a lot about the personal, the way it affects our displacement as workers and just the sustainability of our careers," Elmaleh said. "Our work involves your inner child. It’s being very vulnerable, it’s being playful."

What’s next for the video game industry? The tentative agreement centers on consent, compensation and transparency, which union leaders say are key elements needed for the industry to keep progressing.

As the contract is considered by union members, Elmaleh and Crabtree-Ireland said further work needs to be done to ensure the provisions are as broad as necessary.

"Even though there’s a deal that’s been made now, and we’ve locked in a lot of really crucial protections and guardrails, the things that we haven’t been able to achieve yet, we’re going to be continuing to fight for them," Crabtree-Ireland said. "Every time these contracts expire is our chance to improve upon them."

Elmaleh said she hopes both the video game companies and performers can soon work collaboratively to develop guidelines on AI as the technology evolves — a process she said should start well the proposed contract would expire in October 2028.

Leading negotiations has felt like a full-time job for Elmaleh, who took on the role in a volunteer capacity. As the efforts die down, she said she anxiously anticipates returning to video game acting in a landscape that is safer for performers.

Voice acting "is core to who I am. It’s why I fought so hard for this. I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t love what I do so much. I think it’s so special and worthy of protection," she said.