Amazon is in talks to roll out AI coding assistant Cursor internally as employee interest spikes
Amazon staff demanded Cursor. They may be about to get it.
According to internal Slack messages, reviewed by Business Insider, several Amazon employees inquired about using the AI coding assistant Cursor at work. In response, an HR manager wrote that Amazon is in talks with Cursor's team to formally adopt the popular development tool "asap."
The HR manager added that the two companies are addressing "a few high priority security issues" before deploying Cursor's AI tool.
"It all depends on whether we can make it work in line with our high security bar," the HR manager wrote, referring to Cursor's deployment. "But yes, I'm optimistic this could become a reality at Amazon."
The size of the deal is unclear, but the HR manager is part of Amazon's global HR team overseeing "genAI adoption," according to this person's LinkedIn profile. The Slack channel, dedicated to Cursor users, is open to anyone working at Amazon and has about 1,500 participants.
Cursor's potential adoption at Amazon is notable, as the tech giant often urges employees to be cautious when using outside AI tools, particularly when Amazon has a competing product. In some cases, Amazon has banned the use to certain third-party AI tools at work.
The tech giant already offers its own AI coding assistant, Q, and has an internal AI chatbot called " Cedric." Amazon is also developing a more advanced AI coding tool, codenamed " Kiro," which could rival Cursor, BI previously reported.
At least one employee appeared surprised by the potential Cursor deal. "Very cool that Amazon isn't scared to let us use it when we have multiple internal competitors," this person wrote in Slack.
Cursor versus Windsurf and Q
The Amazon deal also reflects Cursor's rapid emergence as one of the most popular AI coding tools.
Anysphere, the maker of Cursor, raised $900 million at a $9 billion valuation last month, the Financial Times reported. The startup was worth $2.4 billion in December, according to TechCrunch. The company lists Stripe, Instacart, and Shopify as customers.
Even Amazon CEO Andy Jassy took notice. During last month's earnings call, Jassy mentioned Cursor, an AWS cloud customer, as a key driver behind the "explosion of coding agents."
In the Slack channel, which was created for those interested in Cursor, an internal poll showed that more than 60 Amazon employees favored Cursor over Windsurf, while just over 10 chose Windsurf. OpenAI recently agreed to acquire Windsurf for $3 billion.
"I'm sure once we've Cursor at Amazon, people will not pay much attention to Windsurf or other IDEs," the HR manager wrote in Slack, referring to Integrated Development Environments, a common type of software that helps engineers write code more efficiently.
Several employees said they liked Cursor's speed and ease of use, according to Slack messages.
One of them wrote that Cursor is "so much faster" than Amazon's own AI coding assistant Q.
"Cursor changes are almost instantaneous, whereas Q dev still takes minutes to make a change," the person wrote.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Insider
36 minutes ago
- Business Insider
5 charts show why Gen Z college grads are hitting the job market at the worst possible time
It's grad season, and Gen Z job seekers are feeling desperate. Zoomers are staring down a tough hiring market: Economic uncertainty has contributed to employees' wariness to quit and companies' hesitancy to hire. Artificial intelligence is disrupting the entry-level rung of the career ladder in industries like tech. Recent graduates have told Business Insider that they're frustrated by hundreds of rejected applications and being ghosted by prospective employers. Some are settling for whatever work they can find. It's long been typical for 20-somethings to have a higher unemployment rate than the general population, and the overall US unemployment rate is still relatively low. One relatively new development, however, is that young people with college degrees are being hit hard by the economic slowdown — especially if they're hoping to land a role in traditionally white-collar fields. Many Gen Zers are losing faith in the ROI of higher education and are turning toward blue-collar opportunities. The following five charts illustrate the tough job market for recent graduates. More people are graduating with a bachelor's degree than in the past Even as the cost of higher education has risen, more people are getting a bachelor's degree at US schools, which means more qualified competition for the available jobs. The National Center for Education Statistics showed there were almost 2 million bachelor's degrees conferred in the 2022-2023 academic year, up from 1.8 million a decade ago. "We are used to thinking about college as being a meal ticket to economic opportunity," said Guy Berger, the workforce economist in residence at Guild and senior fellow at the Burning Glass Institute. Still, he added that having a degree could bring less of a premium in the job market because there are more college graduates than in the past. Unemployment rates have spiked for recent grads The unemployment rate for recent college graduates ages 22 to 27 has soared compared to unemployment for all workers ages 16 to 65 in recent years. This is a new trend: young people with degrees have historically almost always been more likely to be employed than the rest of the labor force. The unemployment rate gap between the total workforce and recent grads was historically wide this spring, meaning that the job market for 20-somethings with degrees is among the worst the cohort has seen in at least four decades. Those who studied anthropology, physics, or computer engineering had the highest unemployment rates in 2023, per the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's analysis of Census Bureau data. Quit rates have fallen — and so have job openings The pool of jobs available for Gen Z — and the workforce as a whole — to apply for has shrunk. Job openings have cooled from 12 million in March 2022 to 7 million this past April. In what's been dubbed the Big Stay, current employees are holding on to their seats as well, with the monthly quit rate falling from 3% in March 2022 to 2% this past April. Cory Stahle, an economist at the Indeed Hiring Lab, said college and high school graduates are entering a job market where people are holding onto their jobs and companies aren't cutting roles or hiring new employees. "The labor market is frozen, these seats are not necessarily opening up for these workers, and that is disproportionately impacting these younger workers," Stahle said. Small and midsize businesses aren't hiring as many recent grads Gusto, a payroll and benefits platform for small- and medium-sized businesses, found the rate of primarily white-collar hires aged 20 to 24 at small and midsize employers has fallen from pre-pandemic levels, declining from 9.4% in May 2019 to 2.7% this past March. Still, Aaron Terrazas, an economist at Gusto, said there are US cities where new grad hiring looks strong, including in the San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley. Plus, he said wage growth is accelerating for graduates. "We all come out of school with grand ambitions and thinking our plan is set," Terrazas said. "Being open to unexpected opportunities is particularly important in an economy like the present." More grads are turning to jobs that typically don't require a college degree Even if new graduates have a job, they may be working in a role that doesn't typically require a college degree. While this figure fluctuates over time, the share of 20-somethings who have jobs they're overeducated for is rising in 2025. It coincides with the generation's pivot toward skilled-trades roles such as electricians or plumbers. Many young people are seeing these opportunities as a safer bet compared to a corporate world hit by layoff waves and hiring freezes. Construction laborers, electricians, and truck drivers are projected to grow faster than the average job-growth rate of 4% from 2023 to 2033, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Business Upturn
43 minutes ago
- Business Upturn
GroomYourGram: The Profit-First Influencer Agency Rewriting India's Marketing Playbook
In a space often defined by vanity metrics and unpredictability, GroomYourGram has emerged as a refreshingly grounded and profitable force in influencer marketing. Founded five years ago, this Mumbai-based agency has worked with over 300 brands and powered more than 1,000 campaigns—ranging from beauty and skincare to automobile and finance. With a team of 32 operating out of its Lokhandwala office, GroomYourGram delivers not only scale but results. A core strength lies in its unparalleled access to India's creator economy. With a curated community of over 400,000 influencers and 10,000+ active campaign participants monthly, GroomYourGram helps brands like Juicy Chemistry, Tira Beauty, Pilgrim, and Dot & Key craft meaningful narratives. On the corporate front, the agency has driven HDFC Bank's LinkedIn growth strategy and supported pharma giants such as Cipla Health and Glenmark in awareness initiatives. From pioneering Instagram Reels marketing to being among the top 4 agencies for Moj, GroomYourGram has always anticipated trends before they broke mainstream. It has led campaigns with celebrities like Kiara Advani, Janhvi Kapoor, and Ranveer Singh for brands including Mercedes-Benz, Renault, Skoda Kylak, Pepe Jeans, Snitch, and Spykar. Spearheaded by Palak Tannaa, who commands a LinkedIn audience of over 62,000 professionals, the team combines creative ingenuity with data intelligence. Despite multiple investment offers, the agency continues to be self-funded—prioritizing vision over valuation. As a brand that has been profitable since Day One, GroomYourGram exemplifies what happens when influence meets intention. What sets the agency apart is its refusal to follow a one-size-fits-all strategy. Each campaign is customized—whether it's for a youth-centric fashion brand like Freakins or a global skincare label entering Tier II cities. Their campaigns aren't just viral—they're valuable. The agency's model blends strategy with scale. In a world saturated by content, it doesn't just amplify messages—it aligns them with audiences that matter. Fashion clients like Libas, Spykar, and Pepe Jeans see tailored influencer-led storytelling campaigns that go beyond 'likes' and drive brand lift. Healthcare and pharma clients get compliance-ready creativity, while finance brands benefit from thought leadership-led influencer models. Internally, the company operates like a startup but performs like an enterprise. Its operational agility allows quick campaign turnaround, while its in-house tech stack and talent pipeline ensure scalability without compromise. The company is in the process of rolling out an AI-powered influencer analytics tool to further help brands measure ROI and sentiment in real time. With its finger firmly on the cultural pulse, GroomYourGram is not just building campaigns—it's building a new marketing DNA for India's digital-first brands. As brands in India increasingly seek partners who can combine storytelling, performance, and trust, GroomYourGram is becoming the agency of choice—not just for creators and companies, but for the future of digital India. For Business Upturn readers who track growth-focused stories and high-ROI ventures, this isn't just about numbers. It's about sustainable scale, high-value execution, and the future of profitable digital innovation. FOR MORE INFORMATION: Ahmedabad Plane Crash
Business Insider
3 hours ago
- Business Insider
Amazon Ditches Kia Trial and Goes Back to Gig Workers for Deliveries
Gig workers have got their gig back at U.S. tech giant Amazon (AMZN) after it ditched a two year long delivery experiment. Confident Investing Starts Here: Car Plan Scrapped Amazon has, according to Bloomberg, scrapped a trial where contract delivery firms in several US states deployed drivers for four- or five-hours shifts in boxy little Kia Corp. hatchback cars. Amazon hoped that the trial, which began to roll out in 2023 in Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Ohio, Texas and Washington, would give it more control of deliveries and reduce its reliance on Flex drivers. These are people who use their own cars to deliver orders to customers' homes. These gig economy workers will now once again get behind the wheel. Reportedly owners of the participating Delivery Service Partners, as Amazon calls its contract delivery firms, were recently notified that the quick-delivery program will be winding down over the next few months. 'After more than a year of gathering feedback from customers, DSPs, and teams at Same-Day Delivery facilities, we've determined that the DSP model isn't currently the right fit for Same-Day Delivery and we'll be moving away from it,' Amazon spokesperson Steve Kelly said. 'We appreciate the contributions from participating DSPs and their teams, and we'll provide support throughout this transition.' Speed Need Kelly said the affected DSPs can operate other Amazon routes. These DSPs lease blue Amazon Prime-branded vans and employ the drivers, who might deliver 200 or more packages a day. Flex drivers opt in via a smartphone app and typically deliver packages from Amazon's same-day delivery depots. (WMT) and Target (TGT). It recently announced plans to invest up to $4 billion to expand its rural delivery network by 2026. Is AMZN a Good Stock to Buy Now? On TipRanks, AMZN has a Strong Buy consensus based on 46 Buy and 1 Hold ratings. Its highest price target is $305. AMZN stock's consensus price target is $241.64 implying a 15.13% upside.
