Amazon CEO Discussed AI Strategy at Harvard

Andy Jassy highlighted rapid growth in the company's AI business during a recent appearance.

Updated on Sept. 21, 2026 in Artificial Intelligence

Modern university lecture hall with wooden seating and grey concrete walls, illuminated by cool daylight from tall side windows. — Amazon CEO Andy Jassy addressed attendees at Harvard Business School, citing a $25 billion revenue run rate for the company's AI business. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Amazon CEO Andy Jassy addressed attendees at Harvard Business School to discuss the firm's evolving role in artificial intelligence. He highlighted that Amazon has already generated an AI revenue run rate exceeding $25 billion.

Why it matters

The company is investing in custom chips to lower high processing costs for generative AI applications. Jassy emphasized that customers are seeking a variety of models rather than relying on a single industry standard.

Amazon is producing its own line of budget AI-accelerator chips to reduce compute expenses. The company projects that a diverse landscape of six to eight AI models will eventually compete for market dominance.

The players

Andy Jassy

He is the current CEO of Amazon who previously led the development of Amazon Web Services.

Amazon

It is a multinational technology company that focuses on e-commerce, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence.

The details

Jassy detailed the shift from the company's early infrastructure days to its current focus on generative AI applications. He predicted that autonomous AI agents will soon handle many tasks currently performed by human workers.

1997: Andy Jassy joined Amazon.
2002: Amazon launched AWS.
August 2026: Amazon reached a $3 trillion valuation.
Thursday, September 17, 2026: Andy Jassy spoke at Harvard Business School.

The Tech Race

This strategy mirrors the early trajectory of the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud infrastructure platform, which became a foundational industry utility after its 2002 launch. Amazon is now positioning itself to control the underlying hardware and software layers of the emerging AI market.

Customers can expect more affordable AI services as the company continues to deploy its proprietary accelerator chips to lower processing costs. The move toward multiple competing models may also lead to more specialized tools for users and developers.

The takeaway

Amazon is positioning itself as a diversified platform where users can choose from multiple AI models rather than one single standard. This approach aims to reduce the barrier to entry for businesses by optimizing the hardware required to run complex models.