Latest news with #generativeAI
News.com.au
9 hours ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Amazon staff fire up after CEO Andy Jassy drops artificial intelligence bombshell
The boss of tech giant Amazon has just said the quiet part out loud about what artificial intelligence advancements means for the workforce – and employees are not happy. CEO Andy Jassy, who took over from founder Jeff Bezos in 2021, dropped a bombshell on employees, revealing he expects the rise of generative AI to 'reduce' Amazon's corporate workforce over the coming years. The warning was part of a recent memo shared on the company's website, in which he talks about how, as the company 'leans into' generative AI services, it will 'change the way our work is done'. 'We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs,' Ms Jassy wrote. 'It's hard to know exactly where this nets out over time, but in the next few years, we expect that this will reduce our total corporate workforce as we get efficiency gains from using AI extensively across the company.' Do you have a workplace story you want to share? Contact Amazon's corporate workforce is estimated to include around 350,000 people, with the company's total workforce totalling more than 1.5 million workers. The tech company already has more than 1000 generative AI services and applications in progress or being built, with the CEO stating this represents just a 'small fraction' of what they ultimately want to create. Mr Jassy encouraged staff to be 'curious' about AI and to educate themselves on the technology, suggesting they use it to figure out 'how to get more done with scrappier teams'. The bold statement that the company plans to cut jobs in line with technology advancements, unsurprisingly, hasn't gone down too well with Amazon employees. Dozens of messages, reviewed by Business Insider, sent on internal Slack channels allegedly showed staff up in arms following the memo. Many staff members reportedly pushed back, saying the company should be viewing AI as a way to aid productivity rather than downsizing the workforce. 'We need to lead the change in reframing AI as partners (even teammates or colleagues) rather than AI as replacements or tools. It's a slightly different vision than the one Andy alludes to,' one person wrote, according to the publication. In a sarcastic jab, another reportedly said that there was nothing more inspiring than reading that a person's role might be replaced by AI within a few years. One employee branded the focus on cost cutting over customer satisfaction 'dangerous', claiming it could have 'real consequences'. Other sentiments included concerns around using headcount cuts to measure success and the potential ramifications of relying too much on AI. It comes as the head of one of the world's most powerful artificial intelligence labs recently warned the technology could eliminate half of all entry-level, white-collar jobs within the next five years. Anthropic chief executive officer Dario Amodei told CNN's Anderson Cooper that politicians and businesses are not prepared for the spike in unemployment rates AI could prompt. 'AI is starting to get better than humans at almost all intellectual tasks, and we're going to collectively, as a society, grapple with it,' the 42-year-old said. 'AI is going to get better at what everyone does, including what I do, including what other CEOs do.' Anthropic's AI can work nearly seven hours a day, he said, and has the skills typically required of entry-level corporate workers – 'the ability to summarise a document, analyse a bunch of sources and put it into a report, write computer code' – at the same standard 'as a smart college student'. Amazon's new memo isn't the only AI-related announcement from a major company in recent months that has sparked concern. In March, Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke told staff that they would now be expected to prove why certain jobs can't be done using AI. 'Before asking for more Headcount and resources, teams must demonstrate why they cannot get what they want done using AI,' he said. 'What would this area look like if autonomous AI agents were already part of the team? This question can lead to really fun discussions and projects.' The bold announcement was included in an internal memo sent by Mr Lutke, with the CEO then sharing it to his own social media after hearing that it was 'being leaked' and 'presumably shown in bad faith'. The lengthy memo also stated that the use of AI was a 'fundamental expectation of everyone at Shopify', with Mr Lutke also stating AI usage questions would be included in performance and peer review questionnaire. The CEO's email has gained widespread attention, with responses split between praise for embracing new technology and horror at seemingly encouraging the replacement of jobs by AI. One respondent branded the CEO's position as 'cold and lacking empathy to humans', while another claimed they would resign on the spot if their employer sent out this type of directive. Others questioned why the onus should be on the staff to prove the role can't be done by AI, rather than on the company to prove that AI can do a better job than a human. There were also concerns about what this type of mindset meant for graduates who are just entering the workforce and would likely be going into the types of roles the company is encouraging staff to use AI to complete. One person said that, while they believe encouraging AI is the right path, it was 'just a scary one' as it leads to less employment for people over time. 'It also starts to beg the question of how does the next generation get into the workforce if traditional entry level jobs are now being done by AI,' they wrote.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Adobe Drops 9% Post Q2 Results: Should You Buy the Stock on the Dip?
Adobe ADBE shares have dropped 8.6% since the company reported second-quarter fiscal 2025 results on Thursday (June 12) last week. The drop reflects modest revenue growth prospects in the near term, as the company continues to face stiff competition in the AI and generative AI (GenAI) space from the likes of Microsoft MSFT-backed OpenAI, as well as a lack of monetization of its AI AI business is minuscule compared with the likes of Microsoft and Alphabet GOOGL. Microsoft's Intelligent Cloud revenues are benefiting from growth in Azure AI services and a rise in AI Copilot business. Alphabet's focus on leveraging AI to drive growth is a key catalyst. AI is infused heavily across its offerings, including Search, Google Cloud and Pixel. Adobe is also facing stiff competition from DocuSign DOCU in the document services & e-signature second-quarter fiscal 2025 results indicated that Adobe is catching up through the expansion of its AI portfolio with GenStudio and Firefly Services. Adobe's AI book of business from AI-first products, including Acrobat AI assistant, Firefly App and Services and GenStudio for Performance Marketing, is tracking ahead of the $250 million ending Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) target by the end of fiscal 2025. The company exited the fiscal second quarter with Digital Media ARR of $18.09 billion, up 12% year over year. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Is this encouraging enough for investors to buy Adobe shares? Let's dig deep to find out. Adobe reported second-quarter fiscal 2025 non-GAAP earnings of $5.06 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.02% and increased 12.9% year over year. Total revenues were $5.87 billion, which beat the consensus mark by 1.50% and increased 11% year over year on a reported basis and a constant-currency (cc) Media revenues were $4.35 billion (74% of total revenues), up 11% year over year on a reported basis and 12% on a cc basis. The figure surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.77%. Business Professionals and Consumers' group subscription revenues were $1.60 billion, 15% year over year. Creative and Marketing Professionals Group subscription revenues were $4.02 billion, 10% year over Experience revenues of $1.46 billion (25% of total revenues) increased 10% year over year, both on a reported and cc basis. The figure beat the consensus mark of 1.56%. The company's growth was driven by a strong demand for Customer Experience Orchestration solutions, which integrate content, data and journeys, as well as AI-infused tiered offerings like Adobe Experience Platform and GenStudio for Performance now expects revenues between $23.5 billion and $23.6 billion ($21.51 billion in fiscal 2024), up from the previous guidance range of $23.3-$23.55 billion. Fiscal 2025 non-GAAP earnings are now expected between $20.50 per share and $20.70 per share ($18.42 per share in fiscal 2024), higher than the previous guidance of $20.20-$20.50 per share. For fiscal 2025, Digital Media Annual Recurring Revenue is still expected to grow 11% year over year. Digital Media segment revenues are expected to be between $17.45 billion and $17.50 billion. Digital Experience segment revenues are expected between $5.8 billion and $5.9 billion, while Digital Experience subscription segment revenues are expected between $5.375 billion and $5.425 billion. For fiscal 2025, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at $20.60 per share, up by 14 cents over the past 30 days. The figure indicates 11.83% growth over fiscal Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter fiscal 2025 earnings is pegged at $5.16 per share, up 1.8% over the past 30 days, suggesting 10.97% growth from the year-ago quarter. Adobe Inc. price-consensus-chart | Adobe Inc. Quote Adobe's tools, like Acrobat AI Assistant and Adobe Express, are attracting business professionals and creators. Acrobat AI Assistant uses conversational interfaces to make it easier for users to read digital documents and gain insights within a short timeframe. Adobe Express is using AI to enable consumers to quickly design and publish content through conversational AI in an easy-to-use, all-in-one application. Adobe is integrating these solutions to facilitate a smoother creation-to-consumption process across mobile apps, web browsers and desktop offerings. Adobe's monthly active users across these categories surpassed more than 700 million users at the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2025. Adobe's strategy of offering an AI-powered, comprehensive creative platform that extends from idea generation through creation to mass production and delivery is addressing the needs of Creative and Marketing Professionals. Firefly is enhancing the capabilities of Creative Cloud desktop applications. The Firefly App is attracting users for AI-powered content ideation, creation and production, and its support for third-party models, including from Alphabet division Google's Imagen and Veo, Microsoft-backed OpenAI's image generation and Black Forest Labs' Flux, is a key catalyst. Adobe Firefly App availability on mobile is expected to further boost its popularity. Adobe shares are also overvalued, as suggested by a Value Score of D. ADBE stock is trading at a premium, with a forward 12-month price/sales of 6.54X compared with the broader Zacks Computer and Technology sector's 6.36X, Alphabet's 6.13X and DocuSign's 4.71X. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Adobe's focus on improving monetization of its AI tools is a positive for investors despite a premium valuation and stiff competition. ADBE currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and a Growth Score of A, a favorable combination that offers a strong investment opportunity, per the Zacks Proprietary methodology. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Adobe Inc. (ADBE) : Free Stock Analysis Report Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) : Free Stock Analysis Report Docusign Inc. (DOCU) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Apple Taps AI to Design Next-Gen Chips: Exec Hints at Major Shift
June 19 - Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is exploring the use of generative artificial intelligence to help design its in-house chips, according to recent remarks by a senior executive. Johny Srouji, senior vice president of hardware technologies at Apple, discussed the company's approach during a speech in Belgium last month. He said Apple is always seeking to integrate the latest available technologies to improve chip development. Apple has relied on its custom silicon since 2010, beginning with the A4 chip, and shifted its Mac lineup from Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) processors to in-house designs in 2020. That move contributed to a surge in Mac sales at the time. Srouji noted that Apple uses advanced design software from firms like Cadence Design (NASDAQ:CDNS) and Synopsys (NASDAQ:SNPS), both of which have been working to integrate generative AI into their tools. Despite the focus on internal innovation, Apple has been slower than competitors like Samsung and Alphabet's (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google to bring generative AI features to consumer devices. The company offered limited updates on its AI strategy during its June Worldwide Developers Conference. Srouji, a key figure in Apple's custom chip transition, was once considered for a leadership role at Intel, highlighting his influence on the company's silicon efforts. This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Apple Taps AI to Design Next-Gen Chips: Exec Hints at Major Shift
June 19 - Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is exploring the use of generative artificial intelligence to help design its in-house chips, according to recent remarks by a senior executive. Johny Srouji, senior vice president of hardware technologies at Apple, discussed the company's approach during a speech in Belgium last month. He said Apple is always seeking to integrate the latest available technologies to improve chip development. Apple has relied on its custom silicon since 2010, beginning with the A4 chip, and shifted its Mac lineup from Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) processors to in-house designs in 2020. That move contributed to a surge in Mac sales at the time. Srouji noted that Apple uses advanced design software from firms like Cadence Design (NASDAQ:CDNS) and Synopsys (NASDAQ:SNPS), both of which have been working to integrate generative AI into their tools. Despite the focus on internal innovation, Apple has been slower than competitors like Samsung and Alphabet's (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google to bring generative AI features to consumer devices. The company offered limited updates on its AI strategy during its June Worldwide Developers Conference. Srouji, a key figure in Apple's custom chip transition, was once considered for a leadership role at Intel, highlighting his influence on the company's silicon efforts. This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Globe and Mail
12 hours ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Adobe Drops 9% Post Q2 Results: Should You Buy the Stock on the Dip?
Adobe ADBE shares have dropped 8.6% since the company reported second-quarter fiscal 2025 results on Thursday (June 12) last week. The drop reflects modest revenue growth prospects in the near term, as the company continues to face stiff competition in the AI and generative AI (GenAI) space from the likes of Microsoft MSFT -backed OpenAI, as well as a lack of monetization of its AI solutions. Adobe's AI business is minuscule compared with the likes of Microsoft and Alphabet GOOGL. Microsoft's Intelligent Cloud revenues are benefiting from growth in Azure AI services and a rise in AI Copilot business. Alphabet's focus on leveraging AI to drive growth is a key catalyst. AI is infused heavily across its offerings, including Search, Google Cloud and Pixel. Adobe is also facing stiff competition from DocuSign DOCU in the document services & e-signature domain. However, second-quarter fiscal 2025 results indicated that Adobe is catching up through the expansion of its AI portfolio with GenStudio and Firefly Services. Adobe's AI book of business from AI-first products, including Acrobat AI assistant, Firefly App and Services and GenStudio for Performance Marketing, is tracking ahead of the $250 million ending Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) target by the end of fiscal 2025. The company exited the fiscal second quarter with Digital Media ARR of $18.09 billion, up 12% year over year. ADBE Stock's Performance Is this encouraging enough for investors to buy Adobe shares? Let's dig deep to find out. Solid Q2 Results and Positive Fiscal 2025 View Good for ADBE Adobe reported second-quarter fiscal 2025 non-GAAP earnings of $5.06 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.02% and increased 12.9% year over year. Total revenues were $5.87 billion, which beat the consensus mark by 1.50% and increased 11% year over year on a reported basis and a constant-currency (cc) basis. Digital Media revenues were $4.35 billion (74% of total revenues), up 11% year over year on a reported basis and 12% on a cc basis. The figure surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.77%. Business Professionals and Consumers' group subscription revenues were $1.60 billion, 15% year over year. Creative and Marketing Professionals Group subscription revenues were $4.02 billion, 10% year over year. Digital Experience revenues of $1.46 billion (25% of total revenues) increased 10% year over year, both on a reported and cc basis. The figure beat the consensus mark of 1.56%. The company's growth was driven by a strong demand for Customer Experience Orchestration solutions, which integrate content, data and journeys, as well as AI-infused tiered offerings like Adobe Experience Platform and GenStudio for Performance Marketing. Adobe now expects revenues between $23.5 billion and $23.6 billion ($21.51 billion in fiscal 2024), up from the previous guidance range of $23.3-$23.55 billion. Fiscal 2025 non-GAAP earnings are now expected between $20.50 per share and $20.70 per share ($18.42 per share in fiscal 2024), higher than the previous guidance of $20.20-$20.50 per share. For fiscal 2025, Digital Media Annual Recurring Revenue is still expected to grow 11% year over year. Digital Media segment revenues are expected to be between $17.45 billion and $17.50 billion. Digital Experience segment revenues are expected between $5.8 billion and $5.9 billion, while Digital Experience subscription segment revenues are expected between $5.375 billion and $5.425 billion. ADBE's Fiscal 2025 Estimate Revision Shows Upward Trend For fiscal 2025, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at $20.60 per share, up by 14 cents over the past 30 days. The figure indicates 11.83% growth over fiscal 2024. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter fiscal 2025 earnings is pegged at $5.16 per share, up 1.8% over the past 30 days, suggesting 10.97% growth from the year-ago quarter. Adobe's Innovative Portfolio Boosts Prospects Adobe's tools, like Acrobat AI Assistant and Adobe Express, are attracting business professionals and creators. Acrobat AI Assistant uses conversational interfaces to make it easier for users to read digital documents and gain insights within a short timeframe. Adobe Express is using AI to enable consumers to quickly design and publish content through conversational AI in an easy-to-use, all-in-one application. Adobe is integrating these solutions to facilitate a smoother creation-to-consumption process across mobile apps, web browsers and desktop offerings. Adobe's monthly active users across these categories surpassed more than 700 million users at the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2025. Adobe's strategy of offering an AI-powered, comprehensive creative platform that extends from idea generation through creation to mass production and delivery is addressing the needs of Creative and Marketing Professionals. Firefly is enhancing the capabilities of Creative Cloud desktop applications. The Firefly App is attracting users for AI-powered content ideation, creation and production, and its support for third-party models, including from Alphabet division Google's Imagen and Veo, Microsoft-backed OpenAI's image generation and Black Forest Labs' Flux, is a key catalyst. Adobe Firefly App availability on mobile is expected to further boost its popularity. Adobe Stock Trades at a Premium Adobe shares are also overvalued, as suggested by a Value Score of D. ADBE stock is trading at a premium, with a forward 12-month price/sales of 6.54X compared with the broader Zacks Computer and Technology sector's 6.36X, Alphabet's 6.13X and DocuSign's 4.71X. Price/Sales Ratio (F12M) Conclusion Adobe's focus on improving monetization of its AI tools is a positive for investors despite a premium valuation and stiff competition. ADBE currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and a Growth Score of A, a favorable combination that offers a strong investment opportunity, per the Zacks Proprietary methodology. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Only $1 to See All Zacks' Buys and Sells We're not kidding. Several years ago, we shocked our members by offering them 30-day access to all our picks for the total sum of only $1. No obligation to spend another cent. Thousands have taken advantage of this opportunity. Thousands did not - they thought there must be a catch. Yes, we do have a reason. We want you to get acquainted with our portfolio services like Surprise Trader, Stocks Under $10, Technology Innovators, and more, that closed 256 positions with double- and triple-digit gains in 2024 alone. See Stocks Now >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): Free Stock Analysis Report Adobe Inc. (ADBE): Free Stock Analysis Report Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL): Free Stock Analysis Report Docusign Inc. (DOCU): Free Stock Analysis Report
