Amazon.com Inc.
What Happened: The internal document obtained by Business Insider describes Cedric as a "general purpose AI chatbot" that can assist employees with tasks such as asking questions, summarizing documents, and brainstorming ideas. This tool aims to boost productivity and job satisfaction among Amazon employees, Business Insider reported on Tuesday.
Amazon has been cautious about using third-party AI tools like ChatGPT due to security concerns. The company formalized guidelines earlier this year to ban external AI tools for business purposes. Cedric is part of Amazon's effort to provide a secure alternative.
According to the internal document, Cedric was developed using Amazon's Bedrock AI platform and Anthropic's Claude large language model. It is designed to handle highly confidential data securely, with chat history saved in an encrypted database.
Amazon employees are encouraged to use Cedric for creating memos, turning meeting notes into emails, and generating new ideas. However, for code generation, employees should use Amazon Q instead of Cedric.
Amazon has yet to respond to Benzinga's queries.
Why It Matters: Amazon's introduction of Cedric follows its ongoing efforts to enhance AI capabilities internally. Earlier this year, Amazon was reported to be working on a new AI chatbot, codenamed Metis, designed to compete with OpenAI's ChatGPT. Metis aims to provide real-time information and automate tasks using a technique called retrieval-augmented generation.
Additionally, Amazon has been leveraging AI to improve its finance operations. The company has integrated generative AI into its finance teams to assist with complex analyses, moving beyond traditional rules-based systems and machine learning.
Previously, CEO Andy Jassy also highlighted the significant amount of work hours that have been saved by their generative artificial intelligence assistant, Amazon Q. Calling it a "game changer," Jassy noted that Amazon Q's efficiency is equivalent to "4,500 developer-years of work."
