{"slug": "amazon-engineers-blast-company-for-spending-billions-on-ai-while-cutting-jobs-to", "title": "Amazon engineers blast company for spending billions on AI while cutting jobs: ‘Desperate to build’", "summary": "Amazon engineers publicly criticized the company at a Seattle City Council hearing this week, accusing the tech giant of spending $200 billion on AI infrastructure and data centers while cutting 30,000 corporate jobs in the last eight months. The criticism emerged as Seattle officials unanimously approved a one-year moratorium on new large-scale data center developments, citing concerns over power and water consumption. The clash highlights growing internal tension over CEO Andy Jassy's aggressive AI expansion amid one of the largest workforce reductions in company history.", "body_md": "# Amazon engineers blast company for spending billions on AI while cutting jobs: ‘Desperate to build’\n\nSee more of our coverage in your search results.\n\n[Add The New York Post on Google](https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=nypost.com)\n\nAmazon engineers blasted their employer at a heated Seattle City Council hearing this week, accusing the tech giant of pouring billions into an AI-fueled data center boom [while slashing tens of thousands of white-collar jobs.](https://nypost.com/2026/01/28/business/amazon-axes-16000-more-jobs-as-companies-keep-replacing-workers-with-ai/)\n\nThe criticism came as Seattle officials advanced a one-year moratorium on new large-scale data center developments, citing concerns about power consumption, water use and the strain that AI infrastructure could place on local resources.\n\n“It’s been reported that this year, Amazon is spending $200 billion on capital, with most of it going to data centers and AI,” Patrick Schloesser, a software engineer at Amazon Web Services, [told council members on Wednesday.](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/03/amazon-engineers-in-seattle-slam-employer-for-ai-data-amid-layoffs.html)\n\n“Meanwhile, the leaders at my company [have laid off 30,000 corporate employees](https://nypost.com/2026/02/19/business/amazons-latest-round-of-sweeping-layoffs-hit-hundreds-in-new-york/) in the last eight months,” Schloesser said. “What that tells me is that Big Tech is desperate to build as much compute capacity as it can, as fast as it can.”\n\nThe comments spotlight a growing tension inside Amazon as CEO Andy Jassy pushes an aggressive AI expansion while simultaneously carrying out one of the largest corporate workforce reductions in company history.\n\nSince October, Amazon has cut roughly 30,000 corporate jobs through two major rounds of layoffs as part of Jassy’s effort to flatten management structures and reduce bureaucracy.\n\nThe company [announced approximately 14,000 corporate job cuts ](https://nypost.com/2025/10/29/business/amazon-fires-staffers-via-text-messages-during-round-of-14k-job-cuts-report/)in October and another 16,000 in January.\n\nAt the same time, Amazon has committed to spending approximately $200 billion on capital expenditures this year, with the majority earmarked for AI infrastructure and data centers, according to company disclosures cited during the hearing.\n\nThe clash between workforce reductions and soaring AI investment has fueled criticism from some employees, particularly members of Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, an activist group made up of current and former workers.\n\nSchloesser and fellow Amazon engineers Liesl Wigand and Darius Irani appeared before the Seattle City Council’s Land Use and Sustainability Committee to support tighter regulation of data center development.\n\nWigand, who has worked at Amazon for more than a decade, criticized what she described as an “all-costs-justified AI build-out.”\n\n“The biggest issue is a belief that AI should be how we solve everything, while ignoring the resources that it costs,” Wigand said.\n\n“This culture is omnipresent across tech. That’s why local governments, in collaboration with community stakeholders, should be setting the terms for data center build-out.”\n\nThe committee unanimously approved the one-year moratorium on Wednesday.\n\nThe proposal emerged after four developers approached Seattle City Light about building five large-scale data centers in the utility’s service territory. Two developers have since withdrawn their plans amid mounting opposition.\n\nThe debate has become a flashpoint in Seattle, where elected officials are grappling with how to accommodate exploding demand for AI computing power while addressing concerns over electricity, water consumption and environmental impacts.\n\nAmazon, however, pushed back against suggestions that it is planning a major new data center expansion inside Seattle.\n\n“We respect our colleagues’ right to voice their opinions,” Amazon spokeswoman Margaret Callahan told The Post.\n\n“Currently, we don’t have any plans to construct data centers within the Seattle city limits.”\n\nCallahan added that Amazon remains committed to operating responsibly in communities where it does maintain data centers.\n\n“Across the communities where we do operate data centers, we’re committed to being a responsible neighbor — investing in local economic development while prioritizing water and energy efficiency that exceeds industry standards,” she said.\n\nThe company also sought to counter criticisms surrounding water consumption.\n\nAccording to Amazon, most of its North American data centers do not use water for cooling on a daily basis because outside air provides sufficient cooling for much of the year. The company says it relies on water-based cooling only about 10% of the time across the Americas.\n\nThe company also said it is increasingly turning to reclaimed wastewater rather than drinking water supplies.\n\nAmazon says it currently operates 24 facilities that use 100% reclaimed water and has contracts in place for 130 additional sites globally.\n\nAmazon has pledged to become “water positive” by 2030, meaning it would return more water to communities than its data centers consume. The company says it is already 53% of the way toward achieving that goal.\n\nThe Post has sought comment from Amazon Employees for Climate Justice.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/amazon-engineers-blast-company-for-spending-billions-on-ai-while-cutting-jobs-to", "canonical_source": "https://nypost.com/2026/06/04/business/amazon-engineers-blast-company-for-spending-billions-on-ai-while-cutting-jobs-desperate-to-build/", "published_at": "2026-06-04 19:55:57+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-06-04 20:06:56.871933+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-infrastructure", "ai-ethics", "ai-policy"], "entities": ["Amazon", "Amazon Web Services", "Seattle City Council", "Patrick Schloesser", "The New York Post", "CNBC"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/amazon-engineers-blast-company-for-spending-billions-on-ai-while-cutting-jobs-to", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/amazon-engineers-blast-company-for-spending-billions-on-ai-while-cutting-jobs-to.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/amazon-engineers-blast-company-for-spending-billions-on-ai-while-cutting-jobs-to.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/amazon-engineers-blast-company-for-spending-billions-on-ai-while-cutting-jobs-to.jsonld"}}