Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) CEO Andy Jassy announced that their generative artificial intelligence assistant, Amazon Q, has significantly cut down software upgrade times, saving thousands of work hours.
What Happened: Jassy shared in a LinkedIn post on Thursday that Amazon Q has been integrated into the company's internal systems to streamline foundational software updates.
He noted that the average time to upgrade an application to Java 17 dropped from 50 developer days to just a few hours.
"It's been a game changer for us."
Jassy highlighted that this efficiency has saved Amazon the equivalent of "4,500 developer-years of work." He also mentioned that 79% of AI-generated code reviews were shipped without additional changes, emphasizing the tool's accuracy.
Beyond time savings, Jassy pointed out that the upgrades have enhanced security and reduced infrastructure costs, providing an estimated $260 million in annualized efficiency gains. He acknowledged that AI tools like Amazon Q boost productivity.
"One of the most tedious (but critical tasks) for software development teams is updating foundational software. It's not new feature work, and it doesn't feel like you're moving the experience forward. As a result, this work is either dreaded or put off for more exciting work-or both," Jessy said.
Jassy affirmed that Amazon plans to continue leveraging Amazon Q for further operations, with the Q team aiming to add more transformation capabilities for developers.
Why It Matters: Amazon Q's success in saving thousands of work hours is a significant milestone for the company, especially given its rocky start.
The AI chatbot faced criticism for producing incorrect outputs, known as "hallucinations," shortly after its launch. Insiders attributed these issues to a rushed deployment and the use of a less proficient version of Anthropic's Claude AI model. To address these problems, Amazon expanded its team of human reviewers to manually fine-tune the chatbot's outputs.
Despite these early setbacks, Amazon Q has shown remarkable progress. In April, Jassy highlighted the potential of Amazon Q to revolutionize software development, particularly in helping developers transition from Microsoft Windows to Linux. He noted that the AI chatbot could save developers months by facilitating the move from older versions of Java to newer, more secure ones.
Moreover, the broader implications of AI in coding were discussed by Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman in June. He suggested that AI could soon dominate coding tasks, fundamentally changing what it means to be a developer by 2025.
Amazon's advancements in AI have also caught the attention of investors. Stephanie Link, Chief Investment Strategist & Portfolio Manager at Hightower Advisors, recently doubled down on Amazon stock, citing the company's multi-billion dollar run rate in AI as a key factor.