The tensions at Amazon continue to mount as the company doubles down on technological advancements, while employees resist this “warp-speed approach to AI development.” Over 1,000 Amazon workers have signed an open letter to the company, urging it to rethink its commitment to rushing headlong towards technology that could do irreparable damage to the planet. Unlike recent resistance efforts at other organizations, which centered around employee well-being and working conditions on the job, the Amazon workers’ warning is also tailored towards climate action, making it a multi-layered demand for better AI planning.
Amazon’s AI investment risks aren’t unique to the company alone, as many other tech giants have similarly redoubled their efforts towards building expansive data centers and automating work with AI. However, this story serves as a reminder that there is growing discord across workplaces. The incongruence between employer goals and employee sentiments is making an appearance in more ways than one.
Amazon workers have signed an open letter to their employer, highlighting the various harms of this warp-speed approach to AI development. (Image: Pexels)
Over 1,000 Amazon Workers Address an Open Letter to the Employer, Demanding Caution
A campaign organized by Amazon Employees for Climate Justice began gathering signatures for a new open letter to Amazon last month, seeking support from employees who were similarly worried about the actions of the company. So far, over 1,000 Amazon employees have added their names to the letter, with additional support from over 2,400 workers from companies like Google and Apple.
The employees who have signed on include high-ranking engineers, marketing managers, data scientists, economists, senior product leaders, and warehouse staff, indicating that the Amazon workers across the hierarchy are involved in warning the company against spearheading this rapid investment in AI.
The Amazon workers’ open letter to the company outlines a list of reasons and explanations for employee concerns regarding AI investments and their impact on both employees and the broader world outside company doors. “We, the undersigned Amazon employees, have serious concerns about this aggressive rollout during the global rise of authoritarianism and our most important years to reverse the climate crisis,” the letter explains. “We believe that the all-costs-justified, warp-speed approach to AI development will do staggering damage to democracy, to our jobs, and to the earth.”
What Does the Letter Say About Amazon Warp-Speed AI Investments?
The letter pointed to Amazon’s aggressive AI rollout and listed three main reasons for coming together to intervene and call the company to take action with caution. “Amazon is casting aside its climate goals to build AI, Amazon is forcing us to use AI while investing in a future where it’s easier to discard us, and Amazon is helping build a more militarized surveillance state with fewer protections for ordinary people,” were three of the primary reasons separately cited for motivating employees to write the letter, complete with data to validate these claims.
A large portion of the concern stems from the rapid building of AI data centers across the globe and the potential impact they could have on the climate. The letter even accused Amazon of killing legislation regarding the use of clean energy at these data centers, and pointed out the company’s rising annual emissions.
From the perspective of employees personally affected by the decisions at their employers, the Amazon workers’ AI ethics letter also highlighted the shifting culture of the company and the employee experience of being forced to do more despite also facing shorter timelines. All while building the technology designed to replace them. The Amazon workers’ warning letter also mentioned the decline of DEI and the larger socio-political climate within the US that put a further strain on the worker community.
What Do the Amazon Workers Want to Achieve with the Letter?
A significant portion of the letter centers around Amazon’s impact on the climate, and the first demand in the letter calls for action in favor of better regulations in AI establishments. “No AI with dirty energy,” the letter demands, asking the employer to take action to ensure the use of renewable energy to power these data sites, with reduced investments in oil and gas establishments.
In terms of the AI risks that Amazon poses to its employees, the letter asks for ethical AI working groups of non-managers across the company to better represent worker voices. The letter also asks Amazon to step back from any investments in AI that could be used for violence, surveillance, or mass deportation.
The development and proliferation of AI is an unavoidable reality, but the workers’ AI ethics letter to Amazon urges the company to take a more measured approach to the technology. “We want the promised gains from AI to give everyone more freedom to play and rest, to spend time with family and friends, to be moved by nature, to create, to feel safe being who we are,” they explained.
Will Amazon Heed the Workers’ Warnings?
The demands made in the open letter are substantial and could significantly cut into Amazon’s profit margins. Whether Amazon will heed the warning or continue unfettered remains to be seen. However, the climate justice letter addressed to Amazon is not exclusively meant for the company. Over the last few years, workers have rated employers more favorably for investing in the social causes that they have leanings towards. This has not changed in 2025. With the mass distribution of AI, matters have grown complex on multiple levels.
Employees are understandably wary of AI agents and technology designed to perform their roles without them, and the extensive layoffs at Amazon have been clearly linked to AI. While workers are not entirely against using this technology to simplify their work, most remain apprehensive about its progress, not just due to the impact on their jobs but on the climate or simply the content that is being fed to anyone who chooses to go online.
This discord may ultimately do little to disrupt the business or its plans for the future, but it is a reminder that workers across borders are unhappy, unsatisfied, and disengaged from their work. Alignment with employees is often the best way to make progress in any industry, and organizations that choose to bypass this step could see more of both active and passive forms of resistance among workers.
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