More than 1,000 Amazon employees have signed an open letter criticizing the company’s accelerated adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), warning that the push could harm “democracy, jobs, and the earth.” The letter, published Wednesday and reviewed by The Guardian, represents one of the largest internal protests against AI at a major tech company.
Signatories include engineers, product managers, and warehouse workers, and the protest has gained support from over 2,400 staff at Meta, Google, Apple, and Microsoft, highlighting widespread concern across Big Tech.
Why Workers Are Speaking Out
The letter comes in the wake of Amazon’s recent layoffs linked to AI-driven automation and its announcement of multi-billion-dollar AI-focused data centres in the US. Employees say these initiatives have increased pressure to use AI tools, heightened productivity quotas, and amplified fears of further job cuts.
Organized by the worker-led group Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, the letter calls on Amazon to:
- Power its AI data centres with clean energy
- Limit AI products that could enable violence, surveillance, or mass deportation
- Establish worker-led bodies to oversee internal AI deployment
A senior software engineer told The Guardian that staff are now expected to “produce twice as much work because of AI tools,” while others criticized the use of AI to justify “arbitrary productivity metrics” that do not reflect actual efficiency gains.
Tension Between AI and Climate Goals
Employees argue that Amazon’s ambitious AI expansion conflicts with its climate commitments, pointing to plans to spend $150 billion on data centres over the next 15 years, including massive investments in Indiana and Mississippi. They warn that these new facilities could lock in fossil-fuel-heavy power sources, potentially forcing utilities to keep coal plants running or add gas-fired capacity.
Amazon spokesperson Brad Glasser countered that the company is “the world’s largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy” with over 600 projects worldwide, and noted investments in nuclear technology, including small modular reactors, to support net-zero goals.
A Call for Sustainable AI
Workers emphasize they are not opposing AI outright, but insist that its deployment should be sustainable and guided by input from those building and using it. Many employees report a “culture of fear” when raising concerns internally, reflecting broader unease in Silicon Valley over AI’s impact on labor, the environment, and ethical risks.
Amazon’s internal protest highlights the growing debate over how AI is reshaping corporate practices, workplace expectations, and energy consumption, and underscores the need for balancing technological innovation with social and environmental responsibility.