Amazon has closed its San Francisco artificial intelligence lab, while also laying off 1,100 Florida warehouse workers as part of a separate renovation project.<\/p>\n
The e-commerce giant shuttered its lab, which had been seeking to achieve artificial general intelligence, the hypothetical breakthrough in which a computer could match a human in intellect, according to the Information.<\/a> The team had a peak of around 80 people but dozens had already left.\u00a0<\/p>\n Amazon didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for comment. The company had yet to file a layoff notice with California officials.<\/p>\n In Florida, Amazon said it was laying off 616 warehouse workers in Homestead, near Miami, and 494 workers in Port St. Lucie, according to a state filing. The company plans to renovate two facilities over the next two years. According to Treasure Coast Palm,<\/a> the new Port St. Lucie location will employ 850 to 1,000 workers after it reopens around 2028.<\/p>\n The company cut 16,000 jobs in January as well as 14,000 jobs in October, a total of roughly 10% of its office workers. The company said in January<\/a> that it was reducing management layers and removing bureaucracy.<\/p>\n Amazon remains a major employer in San Francisco and the rest of the Bay Area. The company leased 741,000 square feet of office space in San Francisco as of April, making it the seventh-biggest office tenant.<\/a><\/p>\n