Amazon will host its annual Prime Day sales event from June 23 to June 26 after launching the event in July for the past five years, citing major holidays and sporting events as factors in its decision

Amazon will host its annual Prime Day sales event from June 23 to June 26 after launching the event in July for the past five years, citing major holidays and sporting events as factors in its decision. More here:

Amazon announced three new animated shows created with generative AI through its GenAI Creators Fund and Project Nara. Project Nara integrates AI tools with software such as Adobe, Unreal Engine, and Blender to enable faster production. The shows include >Punky Duck, about a punk rock duck navigating chaos in Los Angeles with aliens and monsters >Love, Diana Music Hunter, about a space-traveling K-pop band that saves aliens through concerts >Cupcake and Friends, about cupcake sleepover adventures. All three pilots were produced in just five weeks and will be available on Prime Video.

Amazon reportedly shut down an internal AI leaderboard after employees started using large amounts of AI tokens just to climb the rankings. The leaderboard, called KiroRank, tracked how much employees used Amazon’s AI tools. Instead of encouraging productive use, it led some workers to run AI agents on unnecessary tasks to boost their token counts. The result was higher AI costs without much added value.

Amazon MGM Studios is going all in on generative AI. The company announced a new GenAI Creators’ Fund with AWS and greenlit three animated shows for Prime Video developed using AI-powered tools. According to Variety, the projects include Punky Duck, Elf Academy, and Marlow Barkley’s Guide to Monster Hunting. Amazon is now actively funding and distributing AI-assisted content on Prime Video rather than just experimenting behind the scenes. They want to help creators move faster by using AI for storyboarding, animation workflows, concept development, and production planning. For smaller studios and independent creators, this could mean lower costs and faster timelines.

Amazon is undertaking another major restructuring, eliminating about 16,000 corporate roles under an internal initiative known as “Project Dawn.” The cuts affect AWS, Alexa, Prime Video, devices, advertising, and operations,with a total announced layoffs since late 2025 to around 30,000. CEO Andy Jassy has said that AI will change how many jobs are done inside the company. Some roles may disappear as more tasks become automated, while new jobs related to AI and technology could grow Amazon is also continuing to spend billions on AI tools, cloud services, and data centers through AWS, even while reducing staff in other areas. Via: reuters