Amazon is reportedly racing to build an AI model called Olympus to take on ChatGPT and Bard

Tom Carter
·2 min read

  • Amazon is working on a new AI model that could challenge the likes of ChatGPT and Bard.

  • The new model, which is codenamed "Olympus," is reportedly twice the size of OpenAI's GPT-4.

  • Amazon is doubling down on AI, investing $4 billion in Anthropic and unveiling an AI-powered Alexa.

Amazon is building a new AI model codenamed "Olympus" as it seeks to catch up with rivals OpenAI and Google.

The tech and commerce giant is developing the large language model with the aim of incorporating it into its online store and Alexa smart speakers, according to a report by The Information.

The model could reportedly be unveiled as soon as December. It comes as Amazon gears up to enter the AI arms race, with the company announcing a $4 billion investment in AI startup Anthropic in September.

The commerce giant has made AI a priority as it seeks to build products that can compete with the likes of ChatGPT and Bard, with CEO Andy Jassy taking direct oversight over the group building Amazon's most ambitious models.

The latest of these could potentially be one of the largest AI models ever built. Reuters reported that "Olympus" has two trillion parameters compared to GPT-4's one trillion – although experts have warned that larger models are not necessarily more capable than those with fewer parameters.

Amazon reportedly delayed the launch of another AI model Titan, last year due to technical issues and the launch of ChatGPT, which executives felt was far superior to Amazon's offering.

Since then, Amazon has sought to rapidly close the gap. The company is developing a "conversational shopping agent" known as "Project Nile" for its online store, and announced in September that it would integrate generative AI into its Alexa smart speaker.

The new AI features, which are built on a custom large language model, promise to enable Alexa to hold conversations with users, compose messages, and answer more complex queries.

Alexa's AI tools are still being previewed among select users, and Amazon has hinted that in the future it may charge a subscription fee to access them.

Amazon declined to comment when contacted by Insider.

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