Head of Amazon’s AGI lab is leaving the company

In a significant shift, the head of Amazon's artificial general intelligence (AGI) lab, David Luan, has announced his departure from the company just under two years after joining. Luan made his intentions clear in a LinkedIn post on Tuesday, stating he will leave at the end of the week to "cook up something new." Luan joined Amazon in December 2024 as the lead of its newly established AGI lab located in San Francisco. His team focused on ambitious long-term projects aimed at developing innovative AI agents. One notable achievement during his tenure was the launch of Amazon's Nova frontier model, which is positioned to compete with leading AI systems like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini. In his post, Luan acknowledged the vast potential within Amazon and the various opportunities available to him. However, he expressed a desire to devote his full attention to advancing the capabilities of AI systems, stating, "With AGI so close, I decided to spend 100% of my time on teaching AI systems brand new capabilities." Luan's exit follows a significant reorganization of Amazon's AGI division, which was brought under the leadership of Peter DeSantis, a veteran of the company with 27 years of experience. In June 2024, Amazon had recruited Luan and several other executives from his former startup, Adept, and also licensed some of Adept's technologies, including AI models and datasets. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been keeping a close watch on such acqui-hire transactions, with Chairman Andrew Ferguson indicating a review of these deals to ensure compliance with regulatory standards. This scrutiny intensified after the FTC opened an investigation into Amazon's acquisition of Adept employees, amid concerns voiced by lawmakers, including Senator Elizabeth Warren. As Luan prepares for his next chapter, Amazon has chosen not to comment on his departure.