Here's why instead of copying others Amazon should change the rules of the AI innovation game

Andy Jassy is facing criticism from some quarters because Amazon isn’t chasing AI talent as aggressively as Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg.

Analysts claim Amazon is falling behind in AI, even though the company has already stumped up $75 billion for various initiatives. But, according to Brittain Ladd, a supply chain consultant and former Amazon executive, chasing AI researchers is the wrong game. It’s expensive, it’s unsustainable, and it forces Amazon to play catch-up in someone else’s sandbox.

It doesn’t need to copy others. It needs to change the rules of the game - strategic partnerships over talent wars, Ladd argues. This includes expanding the Meta partnership.

In a LinkedIn post, he said: “Amazon Web Services (AWS) already powers Meta’s Llama models. Expanding this partnership into consumer retail AI - combining Amazon’s commerce expertise with Meta’s social and advertising scale - would be transformative. Together, they could outflank Google Ads, TikTok, and even Apple in shaping the next era of shopping, discovery, and advertising.”

There should also be collaboration with Tesla/xAI.

“Amazon is the largest logistics and warehouse operator in the world. Tesla is the global leader in robotics, autonomous systems, and supercomputing (Dojo). By joining forces, Amazon could use Tesla/xAI innovations to reinvent fulfillment, last mile delivery, and automation at scale, while AWS becomes the compute backbone for Tesla’s AI. That’s a defensible moat no one else can replicate,” Ladd commented.

And there should be a deepening of the Anthropic alliance.

Ladd said: “Anthropic’s Claude is already on AWS Bedrock. Amazon should push Anthropic to go beyond generic chatbots and focus on retail, supply chain, and enterprise optimisation AI - AI models built to directly improve Amazon’s core businesses: dot com, streaming, MGM Studios, 3PL services, groceries.”

“Amazon must focus on growing the revenue and profitability of their core businesses. Instead of vanity projects, every AI partnership would directly strengthen its revenue engines. Partnerships allow it to scale faster without shouldering 100% of the cost or risk. Social and retail (Meta), logistics and robotics (Tesla), enterprise AI (Anthropic) together create advantages Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI can’t copy. Instead of being seen as “behind,” Amazon reframes the narrative as “building the most collaborative AI ecosystem in the world.”

Ladd concluded: “The Manhattan Project succeeded because brilliant but competing minds worked together under a shared mission. It wasn’t about one person - it was about orchestrating genius at scale. That’s the role Andy Jassy must play now. Jassy must become Robert Oppenheimer.”

“By convening Musk, Zuckerberg, Amodei, and Amazon’s own leaders, Jassy can create The Amazon Project - a coalition that doesn’t just keep the company competitive, but sets the agenda for the future of AI in commerce, logistics, and media.”

“No one is going to win the AI talent war. Jassy is smart to avoid jumping into the fray. He has a company to run and grow. Jassy must also make sure to pick the right actor to be the next James Bond. Now that’s real pressure.”

RTIH AI in Retail Awards

RTIH, organiser of the industry leading RTIH Innovation Awards, proudly brings you the first edition of the RTIH AI in Retail Awards, which is now open for entries. 

Deadline for submissions is Friday, 5th December. It’s free to enter and you can do so across multiple categories.

As we witness a digital transformation revolution across all channels, AI tools are reshaping the omnichannel game, from personalising customer experiences to optimising inventory, uncovering insights into consumer behaviour, and enhancing the human element of retailers' businesses.

With 2025 set to be the year when AI and especially gen AI shake off the ‘heavily hyped’ tag and become embedded in retail business processes, our newly launched awards celebrate global technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world and the resulting benefits for retailers, shoppers and employees.

Our winners will be those companies who not only recognise the potential of AI, but also make it usable in everyday work - resulting in more efficiency and innovation in all areas.

Winners will be announced at an evening event at The Barbican in Central London on Thursday, 29th January.