Amazon, the renowned cloud-based service provider, has just launched Bedrock, a new cloud service intended for developers to build and subsequently scale high-performance generative AI chatbots or other applications in the cloud. This has served to escalate the already prevalent cloud AI wars, adding another powerful player to the arena.
Bedrock harnesses internal organizational data to leverage a variety of pre-trained large language models (LLMs) from partners such as Anthropic, AI21, and Stability AI, as well as two newly released LLMs from Amazon’s own Titan model.
In his interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy explained the rationale behind the launch, citing the incredible cost involved in training the necessary models and associated research, something that most companies will want to avoid. He described how Bedrock provides a layer of usability that allows companies to customize pre-established models to fit their own needs.
Gartner analyst Sid Nag concurred, commenting on the inevitable arrival of Amazon competing in cloud AI. He drew particular attention to the security capabilities of Bedrock, something he believes will entice customers looking to build their own form of AI in a secure and fortified environment.
Another participant in the cloud wars, AI21 Labs’ co-founder and co-CEO Yoav Shoham, endorsed the idea of choice highlighted in Amazon’s plan for Bedrock, utilizing the scale and efficiency of their services.
Meanwhile, Aidan Gomez, CEO of Stability AI, made the strategic decision to not participate in the Bedrock product at this time, though he left the door open for possible salvation in the future.
Low-code platform Pega is one of Bedrock’s early advocates, intending to use the service to create applications and generate reports using natural language processing. CEO and President of Pega Kunal Patel acknowledged Amazon’s commitment to providing customers with a range of prospects when it comes to cloud AI, emphasizing the ability to integrate OpenAI models via Azure.
The article ends with a final thought from Sid Nag, highlighting the irony of the AI cloud wars: the concept of democratized data and the notion of platforms wanting to ‘own everything’, the core conflict that the cloud providers continue to face.
Sid Nag is a Gartner analyst with many years of experience and proficiency in Cloud, AI, and related technologies. He has authored several articles that have been featured in popular tech publications, and frequently participates as a keynote speaker in various tech industry events.
Andy Jassy, current CEO of Amazon, is well-known for his iconic role as the driving force behind Amazon Web Services (AWS), launching the business in 2006 and seeing it rise to become one of Amazon’s most profitable divisions. Jassy serves on the board of directors of The Washington Post Company, and is an executive sponsor of the Amazon Employees for Climate Justice employee organization.
